May 23, 2021
GREATER HOUSTON EDITION
Vol. 26, Issue 18
who police the police? “Addressing Current & Historical Realties Affecting Our Community”
rIP PAUl MooNey
By: N.L. Preston
A degree Is Not for everyoNe
By: Roy Douglas Malonson
While we definitely promote higher learning in the Black community, we need to stop telling our children that it’s the only way to go. There are other alternatives that lead to success without our children incurring a bulk load of debt before they even land their first jobs. The richest Black man in the world made one of the biggest acts of philanthropy in America by paying off the student loans of the entire Morehouse class of 2019. While Robert Smith’s generous contributions are something to be applauded, where does this leave the rest of Black students with immense amounts of student debt? Like damn-near everything in America, race plays a significant role in the amount of debt acquired after students graduate from college. Recent studies from Education Data report
that Black college graduates owe close to $25,000 more than their white counterparts. Almost 48% of Black students owe 12.5% more than they borrowed four years after graduating college, and are most likely to struggle financially due to monthly payments of $350 or more. To make matters worse, more than 50% of Black graduates report that their net worth is less than what they owe in student loan debt. Our students depend heavily on scholarships to pay for school and graduate with the least amount of debt possible. How many white students do you see earning one to two million dollars-worth of scholarship money to pay for college? Not many. Whether it’s trust funds, savings, or funding from Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs), white College cont’d page 7
Fans across the nation are mourning the loss of legendary comedian and civil rights activist, Paul Mooney, who died Wednesday at the age of 79. The comedian, who was the lead writer for the iconic Richard Pryor Show, died due to a heart attack, his family confirmed. Paul Gladney was born in 1941 in Shreveport, Louisiana, and moved to Oakland, California, seven years later. He was raised primarily by his grandmother, Aimay Ealy, known among the family as “Mama.” Gladney coined the nickname “Mooney” after the original Scarface (1932) actor Paul Muni, and continued with that stage name throughout his career. Mooney became a ringmaster with the GattiCharles Circus. During his stint as ringmaster, he always found himself writing comedy and telling jokes, which later helped him land his first professional work as a writer for Richard Pryor. Mooney wrote some of Pryor’s routines for his appearance on Saturday Night Live, co-wrote his material for the Live on the Sunset Strip, Bicentennial Nigger, and Is It Something I Said albums, and Pryor’s film Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling. As the head writer for The Richard Pryor Show, he gave many young comics, such as Robin Williams, Sandra Ber- Mooney cont’d nhard, Marsha Warfield, John page 2
“OUR VOTE AND OUR MONEY ARE THE TWO MOST POWERFUL THINGS WE HAVE. BE CAREFUL WHO YOU GIVE THEM TO.” - ROY DOUGLAS MALONSON