NABJ Announces ESPN’s Michael Wilbon as Honorary 2020 Convention Chair
National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) President Dorothy Tucker has announced that Michael Wilbon, one of the nation’s most respected sports journalists, will serve as the NABJ honorary chair for the 2020 joint convention with the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ).
NALEO Educational Fund Calls on Congress to Step in on Census 2020
Strong oversight by Congress is paramount to salvaging the 2020 Census
The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund today released a statement from CEO Arturo Vargas on the Census Bureau’s request for a 120-day statutory relief of critical legislative deadlines amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) public health crisis:
Houston First Corp. Rallies With Resources And Events To Support Hospitality Community
To support local businesses during COVID-19, Houston First Corporation has launched several initiatives and programs including a comprehensive landing page called, A New Way To HOU, dedicated to sharing information, opportunities and collaboration. The organization is also rolling out a #MissingHOU campaign, encouraging community engagement.
Individual Stimulus Checks Begin to Arrive, What Should You Expect?
The IRS will base the payments on the adjusted gross income of taxpayers’ 2019 return. If a 2019 return hasn’t been filed (the deadline has been extended for two months), the IRS will use information from the 2018 return. If the return doesn’t contain direct deposit information, or if the IRS doesn’t have returns from 2018 or 2019, a paper check will be issued later.
Gov. Abbott Unlawfully Exceeded Authority with Executive Order Limiting Jail Releases, Argues New Lawsuit
Governor Abbott unlawfully exceeded his constitutional authority by issuing an executive order that suspends the rights that individuals, who are presumed innocent, have while facing criminal prosecution, according to a new lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Texas, Texas Fair Defense Project, the ACLU’s Criminal Law Reform Project and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
CAHS Mourns The Loss Of Mr. Benny Lockett
Prairie View A&M University, notably the College of Agriculture and Human Sciences, has suffered a tremendous loss. On Wednesday, April 8, 2020, PVAMU alumnus, Mr. Benny Lockett, passed away. Lockett most recently served the university as a Board of Trustee member after serving for years as the former Associate Administrator for the CAHS Cooperative Extension Program. Following active duty in the United States Army and brief employment with an Information Technology Company in Dallas, Benny Lockett joined the Cooperative Extension Program administration in 1977.
Scholarship Classic 2020 — New Date, Same Location, Same Cause
As COVID-19 continues to spread across the United States and affect and claim the lives of African Americans and countless others, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. (CBCF) has rescheduled the Scholarship Classic originally slated for June. Your health and wellness are paramount!
U.S. Carbon Emissions Are Actually Dropping
Increased natural gas consumption helped bring down U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2019, according to a recent report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Tune In: Aspire TV's "One Sided Love" Film Block
Independent Film Series, In Partnership with Damn Write Originals, Airs Every Tuesday at 8pm ET on Aspire TV
Tomorrow night, Aspire TV, in partnership with Damn Write Originals, will present the second installment of its new weekly independent film series, the 2020 Urban Indie Film Block. The network’s 2020 programming block features the best of urban short films by up and coming filmmakers, and presents passionate stories that touch upon a variety of themes and genres including romance, friendship, drama, human connection, comedy and even action and sci-fi.
Understanding the risky combination of diabetes and the coronavirus
While most people are anxious about the coronavirus, people with underlying conditions such as diabetes may be especially so.
Texans' Whitney Mercilus takes school shopping for groceries
Smartie Pants Academy receives foo
Houston Texans' Outside Linebacker Whitney Mercilus partnered with his foundation WithMerci for a grocery shopping spree for Smartie Pants Academy. Mercilus and his foundation focus on helping families of children with disabilities, and Smartie Pants Academy is a long-time partner of the WithMerci Foundation.
Harris, 22 Senators Reintroduce Resolution Designating April 11-17 as Black Maternal Health Week
On Monday, U.S. Senator Kamala D. Harris (D-CA) led 22 of her colleagues in reintroducing a resolution to designate April 11-17, 2020 as Black Maternal Health Week to raise awareness about the Black maternal health crisis. The resolution was led in the House of Representatives by Congresswoman Alma Adams (D-NC).
Harris County Attorney ready to take on price gouging
Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan has set up a website for residents to file complaints about price gouging.
Mothers on low incomes left out of pandemic support, say Baker Institute experts
COVID-19 impact on child development addressed in new brief
Government relief packages have failed to provide adequate support for low-income mothers, say experts at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, and that will have a long-term impact on their children.
Governor Abbott, Goldman Sachs, LiftFund Announce $50 Million in Loans For Texas Small Businesses
Governor Greg Abbott today announced that Goldman Sachs and the LiftFund, along with other community development financial institutions (CDFIs), are partnering to provide $50 million in loans to small businesses in Texas that have been affected by COVID-19 as part of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program. These loans, made through the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), will primarily be used for payroll so that employees can continue to receive paychecks and small businesses can retain their employees and will be partially or wholly forgiven.
New website gives specific location of COVID-19 cases in Fort Bend County
Fort Bend County today launched an updated website that gives the exact zip code, precinct and jurisdiction of people who test positive for COVID-19. To see the data, go to the response hub and look at the map on the right side of the dashboard. The map lands on cases by zip codes. Underneath the map, there is an arrow to toggle to jurisdiction and precinct.
Prosecutors agree that death row inmate is not eligible to be executed because of intellectual disability
Prosecutors said Monday that a man who has been on death row for almost 20 years cannot be executed because he is intellectually disabled,
Governor Abbott Continues to Mismanage the Unemployment Crisis in Texas
Under Abbott’s Leadership, Over 1 Million Texans Have Filed for Unemployment
This past month, more than 1 million Texans filed for unemployment, more than the total number of Texans who filed for unemployment in all of 2019. The Texas Workforce Commission failed to upgrade its “outdated and broken” unemployment benefits system. Abbott’s hand-picked Commissioners were “well-aware of [these] shortcomings.” This failure leaves unemployed Texans “locked . . . out of the system.”
Beyond the Rhetoric: They Blame it on Us?
It is absolutely shocking! In Illinois, 43 percent of people who have died from the disease and 28 percent of those who have tested positive are African-Americans, a group that makes up just 15 percent of the state’s population. African-Americans, who account for a third of positive tests in Michigan, represent 40 percent of deaths in that state even though they make up 14 percent of the population. In Louisiana, about 70 percent of the people who have died are black, though only a third of that state’s population is.
Loni Love Welcomes #ClubQuarantine's D-Nice and Star of The Clark Sisters Biopic Kierra Sheard to #QuarantineWithLoni
In light of COVID-19, Emmy and 2x NAACP Image Award winner Loni Love has been providing fans an opportunity to escape for an hour a day. #QuarantineWithLoni is an Instagram Live series (via @ComicLoniLove) in which Love brings on fans to chat about how they are dealing with the 'stay at home' order. Many fans have checked in with her from around the world giving various perspectives of regulations within their country. To add some fun, fans look forward to playing the popular 'Shoutragous!' game as seen on "The Real" that requires blurting out things related to a specific topic before time runs out!
