HBCU COLLECTIVE PREPARES
FOR APRIL 17, 2ND
DAY OF ACTION”
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
On
Tuesday, April 17th, they’re coming back to Washington.
An
estimated 200 students from historically black colleges and universities
(HBCU’s) across the nation, coming to lobby members of Congress to increase
financial support for students, increase funding for federal research grants,
and more funding for campus facility upgrades.
The
event is called, “ The Second Day of Action,” modeled after the first a year
ago, sponsored by the HBCU Collective, and two of its designated leaders are
from North Carolina HBCU’s.
Founder
Robert Stephens, 32, is a 2008 alum of Winston-Salem State University, while
one of his co-leaders, Shambulia Gadsden Sams, is an alumna hailing from Shaw
University in Raleigh.
According
to Stephens, who lives and works in Washington, D.C., he got the idea for the
HBCU “Day of Action” last year after seeing Pres. Trump invite various
presidents and chancellors from HBCU’s to the White House, under the guise of
wanting to help their schools more than the previous Obama Administration.
Stephens
said he was “very concerned,” especially after the president moved the HBCU
Initiative from the Education Dept. to the White House.
“I
thought it was a dangerous position to be in,” Stephens said. Indeed, some
member so the HBCU contingency “felt (going to the White House) was just a
photo opt.”
Stephens called student body presidents
at various HBCU’s, and all agreed that they didn’t trust the Trump
Administration to be genuine in its promises. So they decided to mount the
first “Day of Action” on Capital Hill, invited Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC-12), a
retired Bennett College professor, among others, to speak at their press
conference, and the rest is history.
The
students, alumni, and other HBCU supporters walked the halls of Congress,
lobbying on behalf of their cause.
When
Pres. Trump released his budget proposal last year, Stephens said one look
convinced him that HBCU’s were not a priority for the president. In fact, a lot
of Title III funding that HBCU’s traditionally got under Pres. Obama, were cut
by Trump.
It
wasn’t until Congress put forth its own Omnibus budget funding proposal, which
indeed prioritized Pell Grant funding; increased funding for the HBCU Capital
Financing Program; and also increased funding for the TRIO and GEAR Up
programs.
Overall,
a $35 million increase in HBCU funding, which Stephens calls “Significant.” But
he adds that HBCU students shouldn’t have to twist arms every year, and that
their schools should receive the same funding and consideration that
predominately-white colleges and universities receive.
“The
oldest HBCU has been around for 200 years, “Stephens says. “We produce the most
science, technology, engineering and math scholars; most black doctors, black
lawyers, most black engineers. We’re saying that HBCU’s make a huge
contribution to society, and we just want to make sure that our schools are
sustainable.”
Buses
to attend the “Second Annual Day of Action” will leave from HBCU’s across North
Carolina early Tuesday morning, joining other buses from across the country
headed towards Washington.
Stephens
added that he’s very supportive of a voter registration drive for HBCU
students, so that they can vote during the upcoming 2018 midterm elections.
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DEAdLINE FOR PUBLIC
COMMENT
ON REMOVING
CONFEDERATE STATUES
IS MIDNIGHT TONIGHT
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
If
you, like many in the black community statewide, feel strongly about moving
statues paying tribute to the Confederacy from state government grounds, then
you have until midnight tonight, April 12, 2018, to electronically submit them
to the NC Historical Commission’s
Confederate Monument Study Committee.
The
online address to obtain the form is https://www.ncdcr.gov/comment-relocation-monuments.
Once
you fully fill out the form, which includes your name, address, and comments on
whether you are for, or against removing all Confederate statues and memorials
from state government grounds, you simply click the submit button to turn it in
online.
You
must submit the completed form no later than 12 midnight tonight, April 12,
2018.
Thus
far, over 4,600 comments – both pro and con – have been submitted by the public
to the study commission for consideration. During a public hearing last month
held by the committee, about 60
people attended , with the majority expressing objection to removal of any of
the Confederate memorials.
There
are three statues/memorials in question:
-
The 75-foot Capitol Confederate Monument in
front of the State Capitol Building, which commemorates the “Confederate dead.
It was erected in 1895.
-
The Henry Lawson Wyatt Monument commemorating
the first Confederate soldier killed during the Civil War “Battle of Bethel.”
The monument was erected in 1912.
-
And the Monument to North Carolina Women of the
Confederacy. It was erected in 1912.
Shortly after the racial violence
last August in Charlottesville, Va. over the
controversial removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee in a
local park, and a group of activists toppled a statue of a Confederate officer
in front of the old Durham courthouse in downtown, Gov. Roy Cooper proposed
removing all Confederate memorials from state government grounds. He asked the
NC Historical Commission to look into how to do so, while adhering to a 2015
law passed by the Republican-led NC General Assembly, making it difficult to
remove “objects of remembrance.”
The
commission, after receiving the public comments about removing Confederate memorials
from state grounds by midnight tonight, will then solicit legal opinions from Wake
Forest University, NCCU Law School, UNC-Chapel Hill Law School, Elon University
,and Duke University law schools.
The
full commission will then meet in May to hear the results of the public
comments, and other considerations, in a special report from the Confederate
Monument Study Committee.
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STATE NEWS BRIEFS FOR 04-12-18
ETHICS COMMISSION PROBES COUNCILMAN FOR ALLEGED BRIBE
[FAYETTEVILLE] An ethics commission for the Fayetteville City Council is investigating allegations that Councilman Tyrone Williams asked a developer for money to support an upcoming project. Williams is refusing to resign his seat, despite the fact that the FBI is reportedly investigating as well, and the alleged transaction was captured on audio tape. Mayor Mitch Colvin and eight other council people gave Williams a letter Monday asking him to step down, but he refused. All he would say was, “Sorry for my mistakes.”
CHARLESTON CHURCH SHOOTING SURVIVORS SPEAK AT NC HISTORY MUSEUM
[RALEIGH] Two survivors of the 2015 Emmanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, S.C., where a young white supremacist fatally shot nine people during a Bible study, spoke at the NC Museum of History Tuesday, reflecting on the event that forever changed their lives. Polly Sheppard and Felicia Sanders told how they lost family members who were in that prayer meeting when Dylan Roof pulled out his gun and opened fire. Ms. Sanders lost her son and aunt that day. She says she still asks herself is she “did enough.” The pair spoke in honor of Crime Victims’ Week.
NC TO RECEIVE ANOTHER $189 MILLION IN HURRICANE MATTHEW AID
[WASH., D.C.] Expect another $189 million in recovery aid coming from the federal disaster relief for victims of Hurricane Matthew. Matthew struck the eastern parts of North Carolina in October 2016, causing hundreds of millions of property damage to homes and businesses. Thus far, North Carolina has received 1.4 billion in congressional appropriations for Hurricane Matthew relief. $168 million is being provided by HUD for housing redevelopment and rebuilding, business assistance and economic revitalization, and $21 million is going towards disaster assistance from the US Dept. of Transportation.
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