News Bites From Across South Carolina And The Nation

Biden Honors Chavis, Others with Lifetime Achievement Award

National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) President and CEO Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. has received the President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award for Community Service and Civil Rights.

Chavis received the award during a ceremony Friday at Morehouse College in Atlanta.

“On behalf of the NNPA and the Thurgood Marshall Center Trust, as well as on behalf of all my fellow civil rights movement comrades who were present at the President Joe Biden 2022 Lifetime Achievement Awards on the campus of the historic Morehouse College in Atlanta, I express my profound gratitude to President Biden and Vice President Harris,” Chavis said.

Black Farmers Concerned Inflation Reduction Act Will Impact Promised Debt Relief

The National Black Farmers Association is worried that the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 will roll back debt relief provided Black, indigenous, and other farmers of color in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

When President Joe Biden signs the law, which just passed both houses of Congress, approximately 15,000 farmers of color across the country — including over 400 in California — will be affected, according the National Black Farmers Association (NBFA).

Of the 70,000 farms in California, less than 1% are Black-owned or managed, while more than 90% are White-owned or managed. In 2012, California had 722 Black farmers according to an agriculture census report released that year. By 2017, the number had decreased to 429. Nationally, 45,508 Black farmers (1.3% of all farmers) were counted in the 2017 agriculture census, making up 0.5% of the country’s farmlands.

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan which included $4 billion to help Black and other “socially disadvantaged” farmers will be replaced with a plan that makes relief funds available to all United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) farmers suffering hardships.

“I’m very, very disappointed in this legislative action,” John Wesley Boyd, Jr., NBFA’s founder and president, said in an Aug. 9 statement. “I’m prepared to fight for debt relief for Black, Native American, and other farmers of color all the way to the Supreme Court. I’m not going to stop fighting this.”

The NBFA is a non-profit organization representing African American farmers and their families. It serves tens of thousands of members nationwide. NBFA’s education and advocacy efforts are focused on civil rights, land retention, access to public and private loans, education and agricultural training, and rural economic development for Black and other small farmers.

The American Rescue Plan debt relief program was expected to pay off USDA loans held by 15,000 Black, Native American, Alaskan Native, Asian American, Pacific Islander, and Hispanic and Latino farmers, Kara Brewer-Boyd, NBFA’s Program and Event Coordinator, told California Black Media in a telephone interview on Aug. 12.

Danette Anthony Reed Installed as President of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorprated

Danette Anthony Reed has ascended to Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated’s highest office becoming the 31st woman to be installed as its International President & CEO during the organization’s biennial international convention on Thursday, July 14, in Orlando, FL. Thousands of sorority members and dignitaries were present for her installation. She becomes the first Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated®

She takes the helm of the nation’s first African American sorority 114 years after its founding at Howard University. Alpha Kappa Alpha is the oldest Greek-letter organization established by

African American college-educated women; it comprises over 320,000 members in over 1,046 undergraduate and graduate chapters throughout the United States and 11 nations worldwide.

The sorority’s international headquarters are in Chicago, IL. A Dallas, TX resident and retired PepsiCo executive, Danette Reed brings decades of corporate leadership, community engagement, service, and progressive sorority governance. Her 46 years of continuous sorority service at local, regional, and international levels has well-prepared her for this role.

NAACP Defends Black Students in Lawrence County, MS Schools

Last week, Shanon Terry, Lawrence County school board chair and chair of the county's Republican Party, posted a picture of a GOP elephant on Facebook with Ku Klux Klan hoods portrayed through the legs. While Terry has apologized and claimed the post was a mistake, the image is a painful reminder that unintentional racism can cut just as deep as intentional racism. In a community that is struggling with its history of racism, the NAACP Lawrence County branch has been working hard to improve racial relations and fight against discrimination. As the National Director of Education Innovation and Research for the NAACP, I applaud the Lawrence County branch of the NAACP for fighting against racism.

According to the U.S. Department of Education's Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), Lawrence County Public Schools in Moulton, AL is 72 percent white and 11 percent Black. However, Black students account for 23 percent of all out-of-school suspensions and 30 percent of expulsions. Contrarily, Calculus enrollment in the district is 100 percent white and 0 percent students of color, according to the CRDC.

During a time when many members of the GOP are gutting diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and belonging initiatives, under the guise of anti-Critical Race Theory legislation, we cannot afford to have accidental or implicit racism among people making decisions that impact Black students.

Make no mistake, posting Ku Klux Klan hoods is not a simple mistake, and it is not disconnected from the racial disparities in suspensions and college prep that Lawrence County Public Schools is experiencing. Simply removing the image is not enough. The implicit racism that makes a GOP school board leader oblivious to racist images, is the same implicit racism that causes Black students to be suspended and not recommended for Calculus.