Volume 26 Issue 17

May 16, 2021

GREATER HOUSTON EDITION

Vol. 26, Issue 17

“Addressing Current & Historical Realties Affecting Our Community”

Benjamin Crump Social Justice Endowed Scholarship at TSU By: N.L. Preston

Why Aren’t More Black Students Attending HBCUs?

By: Roy Douglas Malonson

This past year put Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) on the map. The election of Howard University graduate Kamala Harris for the second highest position in the nation – Vice President -- along with the historic accomplishments of esteemed political leader and voting rights activist Stacey Abrams from Spelman College, put an end to the myth that claims HBCUs don’t prepare you for the real world once and for all.

So why are so many of our children running to the white folks?

HBCUs have witnessed an unprecedented

influx of incoming freshmen this year. But are these trends in HBCU applicants permanent?

What makes Black college prospects choose Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) over HBCUs? As a business owner and a large supporter of African American youth, our company has given out multiple scholarships in the past to graduating high school seniors to launch them on their college careers, but we noticed something, most of the students took that money and fed it into white colleges, HBCU cont’d page 3 instead of going around

Benjamin Crump, renowned attorney, civil rights leader and author, presented Texas Southern University with a $20,000 check after serving as commencement speaker at the university’s Spring 2021 graduation.

The ceremony was held Saturday, May 8th, at the Alexander Durley Stadium, where Crump addressed the 1,073 students who participated both in-person and virtually. During the event, he announced the Benjamin Crump Social Justice Endowed Scholarship at Texas Southern University and presented them with the funds.

Crump is the founder and principal owner of Ben Crump Law and has established himself as one of the nation’s foremost lawyers and advocates for social justice. His tireless advocacy has led to legislation preventing excessive force and developing implicit bias training and policies. He has represented families in several high-profile civil rights cases including, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown as well as the residents of Flint, Michigan, who were affected by the Flint River’s poisonous water. Crump also represented nine of the 13 black women who were victims in the Holtzclaw Oklahoma City TSU cont’d page 4

“OUR VOTE AND OUR MONEY ARE THE TWO MOST POWERFUL THINGS WE HAVE. BE CAREFUL WHO YOU GIVE THEM TO.” - ROY DOUGLAS MALONSON

2 AFRAMNEWS.COM

May 16, 2021

EDITORIAL

President/Chief Editor

Tristar

Griselda Ramirez: Production

A Revival of God

Consciousness Bobby E. Mills, PhD Office: (713) 692-1892 Wednesday – Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

GREATER HOUSTON EDITION

Don’t stop now….

VOTE! The right to vote in American democracy has been and continues to be a sacred hard fight for Civil Rights issue.

Voting is the spiritual essence of freedom in a democratic society. The 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution guaranteed Blacks the right to vote, but institutional racism denied that right. Unfortunately, the evil of institutional racism and the denial of voting rights to Blacks are grounded in the evilness of the love of money and power. However, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was enacted to overcome legal discriminatory racial barriers aimed at preventing Blacks from exercising their Constitutional right as citizens.

Our ancestors fought and were severely brutalized, marginalized, lynched, and even private parts of our bodies desecrated in order to deny the Civil Right to vote for all Americans.

Apparently, White Privilege oriented males are in panic mode, because

they never thought that the minority one day potentially might become the majority.

This White Nationalism Panic embedded in groups such as the Oath Keepers, KKK, Qanon, and the Proud Boys has consumed the GOP, and this evil-mindset has caused an extreme panic of ungodly irrational thinking/actions that produced an insurrection on January 6, 2021.

Thus, what America proclaims as sacred was desecrated, and now we know that American society is in danger of a spiritual-moral-collapse.

Families, Christian Right Evangelicals and the GOP did absolutely nothing to off-set this ungodly White Nationalist Mindset. In fact, in the Presidential election of 2016 they voted for it, and for four years were faithfully supportive of the mindset of “Make America White Privilege Oriented” (exclusion). The only thing that can change an evil mindset into a godly mindset is the Word of God: TRUTH! Therefore, “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darknes, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all

sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not is us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1: 6-10).

Thus, without the right to VOTE Blacks and other permanent-tanminorities are slaves without chains. Voting should free an individual’s mindset to know the difference between right and wrong.

Therefore, if we know the truth, we can walk in the truth, vote for the truth, and live in the righteousness of the truth embracing the spiritual truth of God that: equal is equal.

Hence, God is LIFE and every God-fearing-American should know that: “Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” (1 John 5: 4). America, we must Fight! Fight! The Good Fight, because the “Battle is the Lord’s” and as former Congressman John Lewis stated ours is: “Good Trouble.”

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! -- AANI

Partin’ the Waters

By Omowale Luthuli-Allen

Tim Scott and Parallel Universes I am beginning to take the idea of living in parallel universes seriously. This means that I must abandon the noble idea that once we form a hypothesis, it must be supported by observable facts.

Senator Tim Scott, a Black Republican from South Carolina, gave the response to President Joe Biden’s recent address to the nation. His message was designed to turn Republican manure into gold. As with King Midas, I predict that he will come to regrets about his parroting of the ruling class apology for America’s disturbing racial past.

I once made friends with a parrot at a hotel in South Africa. Every time that I would enter or leave the hotel I would converse with my feathered friend.

“Julia, how are you?”

“What’s up?” “Good morning!” After two weeks of budding and

warm relationship with Julia, upon leaving the hotel I said, “Good morning, Julia,” to which the parrot replied, “Go to hell Omowale, SHUT UP.” My feelings were hurt as that was the end of a beautiful friendship.

Senator Scott has asked us to forget about America’s racial past. He has asked us to repudiate the truth of Langston Hughes: “I too, am America but America has never been America to me.” A parrot can be witty, but the parrot becomes delusional when she denies that she is in a cage. Malcolm was clear, being at table while others are dining, and your plate has only chicken gravy does not make you a diner.

The bone that we pick with Senator Scott is not only that he shamelessly attacked “Wokeness,” but he also tries to get us to drink muddy water as pure rainwater.

Why did he vote for HR 1242, which acknowledged the survival and resilience of enslaved Black people in America from 1619 to 2019? 400 years.

Did he forget that a deranged 21-year-old white man in 2018 -Dylan Roof slaugh-

Tim Scott cont’d page 3

GREATER HOUSTON EDITION Tim Scott cont’d tered nine black members of the Emanuel AMEZ church in South Carolina? His motive was hatred for Black people.

Senator Scott says that America is not a racist country. Neither is Mother Goose a nursery rhyme.

Senator Scott has been given the baton by sponsoring the George Floyd Policing Act from which modest reform will flow to address systemic racism and police misconduct via chokeholds and entire departments holding the blue line in the face of eyewitness and video revelations of the killing of un-

HBCU cont’d their own people. It’s not their fault, it is society’s, because so many of us are taught that “the white man’s ice is colder.”

When deciding on what colleges to attend, students have a lot of options to weigh, and ask themselves many questions.

How will my university affect my career?

We’ve all heard the saying, “it’s not what you know, but who you know,” and to a certain extent, we know this to be true. So, when thinking about what universities to attend, most students want to know how their choice would affect future job prospects. According to a study by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, first-year earnings for identical degrees can have as much as an $80,000 difference based on which college an employee attended. For many Black students, it can feel as though going to a more wellknown university will open doors to a higher salary or a chance with competitive companies. While there are well known HBCUs like Howard University, Spelman College, Morehouse College and Texas Southern University, the vast ma-

May 16, 2021

AFRAMNEWS.COM 3

armed Black men.

About three years ago, I started e-mailing Senator Scott and asking him about whether he would resist anti-democratic trends in the country, particularly the drift toward authoritarianism. He politely told me that my queries would be best addressed by my sensitive Texas senators, Ted Cruz and John Cornyn. Being targeted and ticketed for “Driving while Black” is not nearly equivalent to 9 minutes and 29 seconds of oxygen deprivation from a knee on George Floyd’s neck.

The examples that I have given are not about an individual act of be-

ing insulted by a sick white brother; they are about institutional racism that is woven into law, politics, health, economy, policing and major systems. The results of institutional racism are a lot worse than being called the “N” word.

Senator Scott, bring home to the American people the watereddown version of police reform that is contained in the George Floyd Policing Act. All we ask is that you recognize that you don’t have to be emotionally committed to the oppressor of people and a mythical end of racism paradigm.

Is Senator Scott’s statement a resurrection of the idea that President

Barack Obama’s election signaled that we were now living in a postracial America? Evidently, Officer George Chauvin and the NYC police officers who suffocated Eric Garner to death didn’t get or refused the 2008 President Obama post racial America declaration.

Your next apology for never ending institutional racism will prompt us to send the next conversation to your ventriloquists. That is, your STOP THE STEAL, INSURRECTIONIST REPUBLICAN COLLEAGUES! - AANI

jority of Black universities are under the radar.

How much financial aid can I receive from my HBCU? The most important factor for many students, especially Black students, in choosing a university, is the amount of financial aid they will receive. For many HBCUs, funding is just enough to keep the doors open. HBCUs are fighting to provide more funding for better financial aid offers, but while many PWIs have the funding to provide full ride scholarships and large amounts of need-based scholarships, most HBCUs do not.

According to the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans, Black student graduates acquire nearly $25,000 more student debt than their white counterparts. With this reality, many Black students find it difficult to choose between a full ride from a PWI and financial aid from HBCUs. To give an example of how drastic the financial aid between PWIs and HBCUs can be, one student shared that her financial aid offer from Spelman College included a $45,000 loan for just one year and no university scholarships, while the majority of her tuition, housing, and other fees from Syracuse University were covered.

So, it’s not hard to see why the student could have chosen one school over the other.

Our best effort is to direct students applying to HBCUs to scholarship sites such as the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and the United Negro College Fund, whose scholarships cater to HBCU applicants.

Will attending an HBCU hurt my chances at pro sports?

Many student athletes choose primarily white institutions over Black universities because of the limited exposure HBCUs receive in sports, particularly in collegiate football. For student athletes hoping to make it to the big leagues, attending an HBCU can seem like a risky situation. Pro football scouts are notorious for depending on televised games to seek talent. This was proven by this year’s NFL draft, which ended with no players from HBCUs being signed due to shutting down the football season because of COVID-19. A new generation of celebrity student athletes such as Shaquille O’Neal’s son, Shariq O’Neal, are dedicated to attending HBCUs and changing the narratives surrounding Black universities. A recent trend in top players from around the nation attending Black universities is inspiring more and more student

athletes to choose HBCUs. What is an HBCU really about?

Finally, there are Black students who have not been exposed to HBCUs. Many are surprised to learn the amount of people who came up in predominantly white schools and had little exposure to Black universities. Kamala Harris, Stacey Abrams, and many other political leaders and celebrities are putting the spotlight on HBCUs, in addition to various entertainers like Chadwick Boseman, Phylicia Rashad, Debbie Allen, Anthony Anderson, Spike Lee, Toni Morrison, Taraji P. Henson, Spike Lee and many others.

The rise in social injustice and the amount of HBCU graduates in leadership positions are turning a new leaf in how many Black teens view HBCUs. Stigmas surrounding the quality of education and experience at HBCUs are changing as more and more Black students choose Black universities. More than likely these trends in Black university admissions are here to stay. We hope you learn, stick together and build your own future leaders. In the end, there is NOTHING like the BLACK experience! - AANI

4 AFRAMNEWS.COM

May 16, 2021

KNOW YOUR HISTORY

GREATER HOUSTON EDITION

Houston bull riding pioneer Myrtis Dightman

By: N.L. Preston

Since the pandemic is keeping us all from enjoying the full Houston Livestock Show this year, we want to honor one of own legendary Black cowboys. Myrtis Dightman (born 1935) is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding. He is a ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductee.

Known as the “Jackie Robinson of Rodeo.” Dightman was the first African American to compete at the National Finals Rodeo.

Dightman was born in 1935 on a 4,000-acre ranch in Houston County near Crockett, Texas. His father worked for rancher Karl Leediker.

Dightman started his career in rodeo in Houston.

In 1964, he became the first black cowboy to compete at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR). He qualified for the NFR in 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, and 1972. In 1967, he had the best yearend finish of his career by

TSU cont’d Police rape case in 2015 and worked on the precedentsetting U.S. Supreme Court case involving excessive police force against Houstonian Robbie Tolan in 2008.

“Ben Crump exemplifies moral courage. Throughout his career, he has spoken

placing third in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) World Standings. In 1971, he won both the Calgary Stampede and Cheyenne Frontier Days.

Dightman was hired to do stunts and play as himself in the rodeo movies J.W. Coop and Sam Peckinpah’s Junior Bonner in 1971.

Dightman was a big influence on Charles Sampson.

In October 2006, a benefit concert featuring Michael Martin Murphey and Don Edwards was held to raise funds for a bronze statue in his honor. It was placed at the entrance of the Porth Ag Arena in Crockett, Texas.

This rodeo arena hosts the annual Labor Day Rodeo that bears his name. All we can say is “Yee-hawww!”- AANI

truth to power, reminding us of the impact that a single voice can have,” said TSU Interim President Ken Huewitt. “As our graduates prepare to make their difference in the world, I have no doubt they will find both strength and inspiration in his words.”

Crump is the President of

the National Civil Rights Trial Lawyers Association and previously served as President of the National Bar Association. He was the first African-American to chair the Florida State University College of Law Board of Directors and currently serves on the Innocence Project

Board of Directors. Crump is the founder and director of the Benjamin Crump Social Justice Institute.

Among dozens of accomplishments, Crump has been recognized with the NAACP Thurgood Marshall Award, the SCLC Martin Luther King Servant Leader Award,

the American Association for Justice Johnnie Cochran Award, and the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated Eleanor Roosevelt Medallion for Service.

Crump graduated from Florida State University and received his law degree from FSU College of Law. -AANI

GREATER GREATERHOUSTON HOUSTONEDITION EDITION

POLITICS

May May16, 2, 2021 2021

reckoning.

On Wednesday, the three men who were previously President/Chief Editor ings to be released. charged in the killing of Tristar Bakari Sellers, one of the Ahmaud Arbery were Griselda Ramirez: Production Brown family attorneys, indicted by a federal says that even though the body camera foot- grand jury and charged age is not a public docu- with hate crimes and atment, the Sheriff has the tempted kidnapping. authority to release the On Feb. 23, 2020, Arbery By: N.L. Preston footage to the family in was “jogging while Black” in Brunswick, Georgia, private.

Office: (713) 692-1892 Shortly after the news when Travis McMichael, conference, the Federal 35, and his father, GregoWednesday – Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Bureau of Investigations ry McMichael, 65, chased (FBI) opened a Civil him down in their truck Rights investigation sepa- and shot him dead. The rate from the state’s exami- father and son used the bogus excuse that they nation of the shooting.

Why do we have to thought the Black jogger jump through hoops to was breaking into homes get the full footage of the in their neighborhood.

William “Roddie” Bryshooting released? The an, 51, was driving bevideo showing the deadly hind the father-son duo shooting of 16-year-old in a separate truck and Ma’Khia Bryant in Cofi lmed the shooting. lumbus, Ohio was reThe father, a retired leased several hours after police officer, leaked the the incident, so what’s video because he wanted different about this case? “the public to know the Democratic state lawtruth, ” his attorney said. makers are advocating Th at video is what sealed for legislation to require their fate and brought that all body-cam and dashboard-cam footage be about the initial murder released to the public within charges against the Mc48 hours, unless a court or- Michaels. Now, the Department of Justice said it der restricts access.

Civil Rights Attorney is clear that the men conBenjamin Crump is fronted Arbery “because coming right out with it, of his race.”

Arbery, who was deasking, “What is the Passcribed by all as loving quotank County Sheriff ’s and compassionate, was Office hiding?” killed at the young age We have to ask the same thing, but we should al- of 25. He went out for a Mayor Sylvester Turner ready of Housnationfolks forward.

Wejog, have unique simple andanever reknow. White ton, Texas was sworn in (virtually) understanding of the needs our a burtrying to protect other turned. He wasn’tof Tuesday as the new President of while local Black communities thea criminal, tailored White folks glar, heand wasn’t the African American Mayors As- ready policies necessary to address folks getting to bury his only “crime” them. in the sociation (AAMA), taking over for also deeply with the another one of We theirare own. eyes ofinatune racist White outgoing AAMA President, MayorArbery challenges communities of color Ahmaud America was being born McKinley L. Price, DDS of Newface and theBlack. support needed to And with the continuport News, Virginia.

Mayor ous spree of overcome murdering those Keepobstacles, your eyes”open and “I am honored to lead Blacks, the AfriTurner said. your “As heads up, people. In another former law enforcement officer can American Mayors Association.

I look to–thethe fu-meanwhile, will there Turner cont’d and his son – may fi nally The nation’s 500+ Black mayors ture of AAMA, be justice for Ahmaud page 6 have their day offorward and Andrew? -- AANI play a crucial role in advancing our own I look

AFRAMNEWS.COM AFRAMNEWS.COM 53

Justice cont’d

Mayor Turner sworn in as president of African American Mayors Association

CONGRATULATIONS 2021 Graduates

03.11.21.06

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Turner cont’d to elevating our voices on the most pressing issues facing our nation. Black political leaders can and should be a driving force on climate change, voting rights, and so much more.”

Turner has been touted as an esteemed public leader with a strong record of uplifting and strengthening local communities.

Since being elected to lead Houston in 2015, he has spearheaded and supported efforts to curb homelessness, implement policing reform recommendations, address budget deficits, create jobs, and more. He also heads the Climate Mayors, a bipartisan group of more than 470 mayors dedicated to combating climate change.

As president of AAMA, Turner’s role will include uplifting Black mayors’ voices on critical policy issues, particularly those that disproportionately affect communities of color. He will advocate for efforts to tackle climate change, support Black businesses, bolster funding for infrastructure, expand voting access, and address policing reform, among others.

He will also elevate innovative, effective programs from Black

mayors nationwide that bolster communities of color and can be replicated elsewhere.

Mayor Karen Weaver, former mayor of Flint, Michigan and interim executive director of the African American Mayors Association, said, “We are very excited to have Mayor Turner at the helm of our organization.

He is a champion for voting rights and environmental justice and a leader on our nation’s most important issues. We know that he will help ensure the needs and perspectives of Black mayors are amplified on all fronts.”

Outgoing AAMA President Mayor Price, DDS, said, “It was an honor to lead the African American Mayors Association. As I reflect on the past year, I am deeply proud of how our organization and mayors led on policing reform, support of HBCUs, COVID recovery and so much more. We speak on behalf of those who are often overlooked and marginalized and advocate for the change our nation needs to create strong, equitable communities. I am excited to see Mayor Turner advance the organization even further.”

-AANI

GREATER GREATERHOUSTON HOUSTONEDITION EDITION Antiquity cont’d “We obviously believe that the content that we offer in classics is important, but we also must contemporize that teaching with practical application,” Dr. Wutoh, provost and chief academic officer at HowBy: N.L. Preston ard University, told the New York Times.

City official have outIn 2017, relined plansanother to impleview ofaHoward Uniment significant versity’s of theacademic number recomprograms based on mendations on Policenrollment maing Reform toand improve triculation suggested accountability, transthat the university parency, change police dissolveand thebuild classics policies mudepartment because tual trust and respectit doesthe notcommunity. provide mawith jor courses andCoungenJoined

by City eralMembers, courses can be cil Houstaken through ton Police Chief other Troy Finner, Task Force Chair Larry Payne, Chief Medical Officer HBCU cont’d Dr. David Persse and others, Mayor Sylvesleges and universities ter shutTurner downannounced their footthe steps he ballfollowing seasons due to Cohas taken to implevid-19, many HBCU ment the recommenhopefuls were rendations: dered invisible.

• Changed the HousThe MEAC, CIAA, ton DepartSIAC,Police and the debut ment’s policy on of an NFL-organized Body-Worn combine for Cameras HBCUs to allow the release were allfor canceled beof video 30 days cause ofwithin the pandemic.

•A ban on “no-knock” Milwaukee industrialwarrants for ist Ulice PaynenonvioJr. and lent offenses Bethune Cookman as•sistant Appointed coacha Deputy Charles Inspector Generaltheir of Jones arranged the Officecombine of Poownnew HBCU licing Reform and Acfor April in Birmingcountability ham, Alabama. For •many Signedplayers, an Executive this Order to restructure combine served as the the PoonlyIndependent way for prospects lice Oversight Board to demonstrate their (IPOB) and named a skills to scouts. new boardthat chair.

It seems the com-

May May16, 9, 2021

POLITICS

departments.

According to Dr. Wutoh, limited funding, low enrollment, and low student interest were reasons for

and Sciences, while the contracts of four non-tenured faculty members will not be renewed.

Dr. Prather, one of

• Changed how the public can file complaints and access information on a newly designed website with five data dashboards regarding police transthe closing of the hisparency.

(View demo toric department. at Th thee board bottomofoftrustthe news release) ees of the university •have Invest $25 million approved of the in crisis intervention department’s four over threefaculty years. memtenured “As atonative Houstobers remain within nian who grew in the College ofupArts underserved communities, I believe this is abine verybenefi important ted at moleast ment.

But it is even two participants inmore becludinggratifying North Carocause it was defensive Houstolina A&T nians who put together back Mac McCain and these recommendaFayetteville State tackle tions, and weBoth are playnow Kion Smith. acting on them and ers signed as undraft ed will continue to act on free agents with Mcimplementation, ” said Cain signing with the Mayor am DenverTurner.

Broncos“I and also by the Smithinspired signing with the council members beAtlanta Falcons. cause hasofbeen col“For it a lot theseaguys, lective effort. ” the only look they got Crystal has was the Okorafor HBCU combeen appointed as the bine,” said Payne. “Our city’s inspector goal deputy was to give them general thelook newor of-a either ainfirst fice of Policing Reform second look. So, we’re and gratefulAccountability. for the chance Okorafor is that currently to give them look.” an assistant district atSeeing numerous torney with the Harris players, including County District AttorSmith and McCain, get ney’s Stephen signedOffice. after the draft Ives, CEO of of assured theYMCA HBCU Greater will combineHouston, organizers

chair the restructured oversight board.

The Task Force recommended that the city expand existing partnerships between the Houston Police the non-tenured facDepartment, mental ulty members of the health classics professionals, department, and orsaidsocial in anservices interview ganizations lighten that seeingtothe dethe load ondissolved officers partment when responding to was disheartening at vulnerable populaa university where the tions, as thoseis study such of antiquity experiencing mental health crises, domestic that violence, they were human making trafficking, substance the right decisions reabuse, gardingand whohomelessthey were ness. inviting.

To implement the Payne and his partners crisis intervention recare continuing the comommendations, bine next year and the are city will: encouraging even more •prospects Expandand crisis case scouts to diversion. $272,140 attend. The organizers annually to hire are confident thatfour the additional counselors. next HBCU combine •willIncrease the numyield even better ber of Mobile Crisis results.

Outreach by 18 While theTeams 2021 HBCU teams; hire 36 shutout raised theaddifears tional clinicians; local of many about the fumental health authorture of HBCUs and the ity will funding NFL, it isneed worth noting to $4.3 million thathire. all small schools were annually severely disadvantaged •because Add six Teams, of CIRT the pandemic. six“Iadditional counselbelieve it’s not intenors and six additional tional, ” Payne said of the MHD at $2.4 “so million HBCU shutout, we’re annually going to give you an op•portunity Implement to Clinician see them Officer Remote Evaluagain.” - AANI

AFRAMNEWS.COM AFRAMNEWS.COM 77

told from a Black perspective.

Dr. Prather says she focuses on “tearing down the colonization of our minds.”

She takes students on a voyage through time starting with Blacks in antiquity all the way up to Black people in the present day. The ation projourney(CORE) emphasizes posal to provide telethat slavery is only one health to piece oftechnology the many expe80 HPDofCIT riences BlackTrained people.

Officers onUniversity, patrol.

At Howard $847,875 annually. the classics department •is a rebuttal Fund Citywide to arguDomestic Abuse Rements that perceive sponse Team with a the study of the ancient victim advocate and foGreco-Roman world rensic nurse examiner as an erasure of Black $800,000 heritage. - $1.2 Million annually.

- AANI Students learn how common themes in antiquity are present

Policing reform recommendations in Houston

in the works of our most esteemed political leaders such as Huey P. Newton and Angela Davis. Abolitionist Frederick Douglass read the speakers of Cicero and many other classic texts and dialogues.

What does the disbandment of the classics department mean for Howard students pursuing antiquity, better yet, what does the disbandment mean for the entire field of antiquity?

The classics field is suffering from unrelentless white-washing.

Howard University’s classics department plays a pivotal role in creating a pipeline of Black people in the

field of antiquity.

Closing the classics department at Howard University, the only classics department at a historically Black university, is allowing the field of antiquity to continue to be told from white narratives.

At a time where the contributions to society

by Black people are being covered up by white experts in the field, Howard University’s goal should be to continue being the backbone of diversity in the classics field. Black people in antiquity is crucial to exposing the true history of not only Black people, but Western civilization as well.

- AANI

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