Jay Z, Beyoncé Awarding $1M In Scholarships

Jay Z, Beyoncé Awarding $1M In Scholarships

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent

Hip-hop superstar Jay-Z and his wife, Beyoncé, have announced a new scholarship program that will award 10 scholarships worth $100,000 each to “exceptional” high school seniors who demonstrate financial needs.

“This back to school season, students in the On The Run II Tour markets, who are preparing for college, will be chosen by Boys and Girls Club of America,” according to a joint press release from Beyoncé’s “BeyGOOD Initiative” and Jay Z’s “The Shawn Carter Foundation.”

“Qualified students must demonstrate academic excellence and show financial needs that would make it hard for them to enter college or university for the academic year 2018-2019,” the release noted.

The markets will include Atlanta, Orlando, Miami, Arlington, Texas; New Orleans, Houston, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Clara, and Seattle.

The power couple has had a long history of helping students with The Shawn Carter Foundation spearheading college tours to historically Black colleges and universities and providing scholarships to college bound students throughout the country.

Through her BeyGOOD initiative, Beyoncé created the Formation Scholars Award, a merit program to help female students start or further their college education, and this year they announced the Homecoming Scholars Award, a second merit program, opened to qualified students, regardless of gender, to enter or continue their studies at one of eight HBCUs.

COMMENTARY: Education Chief DeVos: Failing to Make the Grade

COMMENTARY: Education Chief DeVos: Failing to Make the Grade

State Representative Leon D. Young


By State Representative, Leon D. Young

Before she was even sworn in as Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos emerged as one of the most controversial members of the Trump Administration. Her confirmation required a historic tie-breaking vote from Vice President Mike Pence after every Senate Democrat and two Senate Republicans voted against her. In the months since, like many others in the Trump Administration, DeVos has set about rolling back Obama-era policies, from Title IX guidance on campus sexual assault to regulations on for-profit colleges. She quickly found support from conservatives who had backed her previous work as a school choice advocate, but she struggled to build broad national support for her initiatives. DeVos, a prominent Republican donor, faced criticism from Democrats, teachers’ unions and civil rights advocates, many of whom noted that she did not have a background as an educator.

It would be an understatement to suggest that DeVos’ first year alone has sparked a number of controversies, some of which include:

  • In September (2017), DeVos rolled back controversial Obama-era guidance on how universities should handle sexual assault complaints on campus. The 2011 guidelines had instructed universities to use a “preponderance of the evidence” standard when adjudicating sexual assault complaints instead of the “clear and convincing evidence” standard, which requires a higher burden of proof and was used by some schools at the time.
  • DeVos stoked further controversy when she held meetings on campus sexual assault in July (2017), speaking with victims of sexual assault as well as students who say they’ve been falsely accused. Coupled with the acting head of the department’s Office for Civil Rights assertion that 90% of sexual assault complaints “fall into the category of ‘we were both drunk.’
  • Under her guidance, the Department of Education and the Department of Justice rescinded guidelines that allowed transgender students to use the bathrooms aligned with their gender identity.
  • In June (2017), an internal memo indicated that the department was scaling back investigations into civil rights violations at public schools and universities. In the two months that followed, the department also closed or dismissed more civil rights complaints than previous administrations had in similar periods of time.
  • DeVos has also led efforts that blocked the Obama Administration’s protections for students attending for-profit colleges. The regulations would have provided debt forgiveness to students defrauded by for-profit colleges and would have cut off funding to for-profit colleges that burdened students with loans while failing to prepare them for gainful employment.

Let’s fast-forward to now. DeVos is once again making waves and headlines as she ponders whether to allow grants from the academic support fund to be used for a highly controversial purpose: guns. The $1 billion Student Support and Academic Enrichment grants is intended for the country’s poorest schools and school districts to use the money toward three goals: providing well-rounded education, improving school conditions for learning and improving the use of technology for digital literacy.

Given the fact that the Every Student Succeeds Act, signed into law in 2015, is silent on weapons purchases, that omission would allow Ms. DeVos to use her discretion to approve or deny any state or district plans to use the enrichment grants under the measure for firearms and firearms training.

In addition, such a move would reverse a longstanding position taken by the federal government that it should not pay to outfit schools with weaponry. It would also undermine efforts by Congress to restrict the use of federal funding on guns.

DeVos is clearly an anomaly, who is ill prepared for the job. She is the first education secretary in the department’s 35-year history to not have been a public-school parent or student. DeVos attended private institutions for both grade school and college, and her four children were educated at private schools, too.

In my view, Betsy DeVos is unqualified, clearly unfit, and obviously too conflicted to serve as the U.S. Education Secretary and who, for all intents and purposes—appears bent on taking down the very institution she’s entrusted with.

This article originally appeared in The Milwaukee Courier.

NNPA Journalism Fellowship Open to all HBCUs

NNPA Journalism Fellowship Open to all HBCUs

By Freddie Allen, Editor-In-Chief, NNPA Newswire

The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), in partnership with Chevrolet, recently announced that the 2018 Discover The Unexpected (DTU) Journalism Fellowship will now accept applications from communications and journalism students attending any one of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) across the country.

In 2016, the DTU Journalism Fellowship launched at Howard University. The following year, the program expanded to include Morehouse College, Spelman College and Clark Atlanta University. Now communications and journalism students at more than 100 HBCUs can apply.

“This year’s program also provides an opportunity for the aspiring, young journalists to look beyond the newsroom for story ideas,” said Michelle Alexander, the diversity marketing manager for Chevrolet. “They will have an opportunity to travel across several states in the all-new 2018 Chevrolet Equinox to discover inspiring stories along the way.”

Hip-hop legend MC Lyte will also return as the program’s ambassador.

For the third year in a row, The Washington Informer and The Atlanta Voice will participate in the program; the New York Amsterdam News in New York City and The New Journal & Guide in Norfolk, Va. will also host DTU journalism fellows.

“DTU fellows will be assigned to write stories that spotlight positive and powerful people and events,” according to a media advisory about the program. “The fellows will be responsible for all aspects of storytelling: writing, videography, photography, research, on-camera reporting and social media posting.”

This year, “the fellows will be placed in two, three-person teams,” the media advisory explained. “Over the course of the internship, each team’s road trip will take them to two different cities where they will spend four-week intervals working alongside experienced staffers at NNPA member newspapers.”

Alexa Imani Spencer, a journalism student at Howard University participated in the program last summer, working at The Washington Informer.

“Working for a historically Black publication helped me to understand the full worth of our institutions, as Black people,” Spencer said. “[The fellowship] helped me to understand that there has always been a voice throughout history that has advocated for us and there will always be somewhere, where we can advocate for ourselves, so long as we continue the legacies of these publications.”

Spencer continued: “The Black Press is an institution that the next generation of young, Black journalists has to preserve.”

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. the president and CEO of the NNPA, said that the third year of the DTU Journalism Fellowship represents significant progress in the NNPA’s ability to tap into the rising genius of African American millennials, exposing them to the power of the pen.

“Journalism has experienced renewed interest in the Black community,” Dr. Chavis said. “There has always been a need to not only report the news of Black America to the world at large, but also to be an advocate for the empowerment of African and African American communities across the United States and around the world.”

Dr. Chavis said that the partnership between the NNPA and Chevrolet is setting a standard for the rest of corporate America.

“This is not about philanthropy, this is more about engaging the African American community through the contributions of Chevrolet to the NNPA,” Dr. Chavis said. “It really strengthens one of the fundamental institutions in the Black community, which is the Black Press.”

Spencer said that the 2018 DTU fellows will not only experience personal growth, but that they will also gain a family by completing the program. Spencer also said that the Black Press represents another avenue, where HBCU students can help the Black community thrive.

Dr. Chavis agreed.

“There are tremendous opportunities [in the Black Press] for HBCU journalism and communications students to not only to make their mark in the profession, but to also provide an invaluable service in the Black community,” Dr. Chavis said.

The deadline to submit applications is April 30. Learn more about the NNPA’s Discover The Unexpected Journalism Fellowship at www.nnpa.org/dtu.

Donna Brazile Keynotes the State of the Black Press in 2018

Donna Brazile Keynotes the State of the Black Press in 2018

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire

Political analyst and author Donna Brazile delivered a stirring address about the “State of the Black Press in 2018” at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., capping off the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s (NNPA) annual Black Press Week.

The NNPA is a trade group that represents more than 200 Black-owned media companies operating in the United States. NNPA member publications reach more than 20 million readers in print and online every week.

“I’ve known Donna Brazile for about 40 years and, in 2016, the Democrats couldn’t have selected a better person to lead them,” said Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., the president and CEO of the NNPA.

Brazile, the veteran political strategist and former chair of the Democratic National Committee, said that the Black Press is the “pulse of the community.”

“You are carving out stories that the mainstream [media] won’t. You’ve been at the forefront of change, even before change was in vogue,” Brazil said. “That’s why I’ve always supported the Black Press.”

Brazile said she’s walked in and out of many campaign headquarters with a simple, yet critical question for those seeking political office: “Have you engaged the Black Press?”

She recalled working for Michael Dukakis during his failed 1988 presidential campaign against George H.W. Bush.

When she realized the former Massachusetts governor had not spoken with or taking out any advertisements in the Black Press, she stopped working for him.

“I went on strike,” said Brazile, adding that Dukakis told her that he was advised that “it was a waste of money to advertise in the Black Press.”

“I said, ‘Oh, you’ve won this race? You don’t need the Congressional Black Caucus, you don’t need the Black Press?” said Brazile; she convinced Dukakis of the importance of engaging African American-owned media.

“They wound up spending $10,000 with the Black Press…a pittance,” she said. Bush handily defeated Dukakis and Brazile said that the 2016 election proved a repeat of Dukakis’ error. “It’s the same type of thinking that cost Hillary Clinton the election. Had they invested [in advertising in the Black Press]—out of the billions they spent—we would be in this room celebrating.”

Chavis said that if the Democratic Party had listened to Brazile, they could have won.

This year, Chavis said that the NNPA will lead a massive voter registration drive to add 5 million, new Black voters to the rolls.

“This is our payback year!” Chavis said.

Dorothy Leavell, the chairman of the NNPA, said that Brazile spent her career advocating for the Black Press and working to help people understand the value of the Black Press.

“[Donna] has run some of the most influential campaigns, including Reverend Jesse Jackson’s historical presidential campaign and we could never really repay her for the services she’s given to the Black Press,” Leavell said.

The best-selling author of “Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-Ins and Breakdowns that Put Donald Trump in the White House,” Brazile has devoted her life to working for progressive change, responsible governance, and the advancement of all people in a society that’s fair and equitable, according to her biography.

“This is another moment in our journey for equality for all,” Brazile said. “[The Black Press] should not be marginalized. You’ve been instrumental and vital, and you understand what’s at stake.”

Brazile continued: “You’re making sure untold stories find themselves in your newspapers and this is a moment when our story needs to be told. We’ve come a long way and we need your coverage. We especially need the Black Press, now during this crisis.”

NNPA Torch Awards Honor Icons During Black Press Week 2018

NNPA Torch Awards Honor Icons During Black Press Week 2018

Three icons of their respective industries were honored at the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s annual Torch Awards dinner at The Dupont Circle Hotel in D.C.

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), James Farmer of General Motors, and Rev. Dr. Amos C. Brown, a student of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and pastor of the Third Baptist Church of San Francisco took home the coveted trophies which are bestowed upon those who demonstrate excellence in their chosen profession or endeavor.

This year’s honorees join a legacy of high-achieving, community-serving African Americans.

“The San Francisco Sun Reporter gave me a voice,” said Lee, as she accepted her award from NNPA National Chair Dorothy Leavell, NNPA President Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., and NNPA Foundation Chair Amelia Ashley-Ward, the publisher of the Sun Reporter.

Lee called Ashley-Ward, the publisher of the Sun Reporter, “truly a treasure,” before tearing into a recent secret FBI report that identified some activists in the Black community as “Black Identity Extremists.”

Farmer, whom Chavis praised as one of the most active advocates of the Black Press, completed more than 50 years of dedicated service to “not only his profession, but to the many organizations he served,” Chavis said.

A 1967 graduate of Central State University in Ohio, Farmer entered the automotive industry that year at Airtemp Division, Chrysler Corporation, as an advertising clerk, according to his biography.

There, he began a relationship with the only Black newspaper in Dayton, Ohio, the Dayton Black Express newspaper. After 10 years with Chrysler, Farmer took a position at General Motors where he continued to advocate and support the Black Press—a relationship that continues today.

Farmer said he appreciated the honor and will cherish it.

“This is a group that’s really in my heart,” he said of the Black Press. “If I gave up on the NNPA, I know corporate America could too.”

Brown, who also serves as president of the San Francisco branch of the NAACP and was only one of eight students who took the only college class ever taught by King, said the Black Press has and remains vital in America.

“Again, and again, you have heard from this ‘Dream Team’…this five-star [leadership team],” Brown said of Chavis, Leavell, Ashley-Ward and the leadership of the Black Press. “What African American leaders ought to be about in this nation. You have the chemistry to relate to all people around the word with compassion and courage and I hope you will keep this ‘Dream Team’ intact.”

The ceremony included remarks from Houston Forward Times Publisher and NNPA Vice Chair Karen Carter Richards, who said it was important that the Black Press honor its own.

“If we don’t honor our own, who will? Tonight, we are here to honor distinguished individuals in their fields,” Richards said.

Jackson Caesar, the nephew of gospel great Shirley Caesar, performed two solo songs during the awards ceremony while the group, One Vision Band, provided the entertainment.

Dr. Frederick D. Haynes, III, the senior pastor of the Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas, served as keynote speaker.

Howard Students Help to Rebuild in Puerto Rico

Howard Students Help to Rebuild in Puerto Rico

By Tatyana Hopkins
(NNPA Newswire Special Correspondent)

ARECIBO, Puerto Rico—When Howard University Student Jasmine Stevens fled New Orleans in 2005 to avoid Hurricane Katrina, she left with just enough clothes for two days. The Category 3 storm would cover her family’s neighborhood in eight-feet of water, destroy their belongings and force them to abandon their home and flee to Port Arthur, Texas, where they remained for three years.

“We lost everything,” Stevens, 20, said. “It didn’t hit me until I watched the news and saw my city underwater.”

Now, Stevens, a junior biology major, finds herself in a familiar spot, but this time hundreds of miles away in Puerto Rico, where another hurricane has wreaked havoc on the lives of millions of Americans.

Stevens is here with fellow Howard students to help the people still recovering from Hurricane Maria, which six months ago destroyed thousands of homes, wiped out the island’s already out-of-date electric grid, and limited access to clean drinking water for millions.

Most of the island now has electricity and water, but the restoration of destroyed homes, businesses and churches continues.

Stevens and six other Howard students spent Monday rebuilding La Hermosa Church in downtown Arecibo, a town of 96,000 on the island’s northern coast. Stevens, who is participating in Howard University’s Alternative Spring Break (ASB) program, traveled to Puerto Rico during her spring break to assist in recovery efforts.

The students in Puerto Rico and more than 700 other Howard students have given up their vacation week, the parties and trips home to help people in various distressed areas, including Haiti, Anguilla, St. Martin, St. Thomas, Flint, Mich., New Orleans, Chicago, Texas and Florida.

“I believe that, as a global citizen, it’s important to help those in need,” said Ngodoo Iye, 21, a senior on her third ASB trip.

Stevens echoed those sentiments.

“For me, this trip is a way to give back to those who helped my family when we were victims of Hurricane Katrina,” Stevens said.

Once a place of worship for a congregation of about 40 people, La Hermosa Church remains without power and running water. After the storm, the 12,000-square foot, one-story building church was submerged in at least eight-feet of water, said La Hermosa’s pastor, Miguel Asegarra.

“I was outside watching the hurricane, and it never touched my home,” Asegarra said, “but it destroyed our church.”

Asegarra has led the church for two years. He lives 15-minutes away in a residential neighborhood.

La Hermosa rests in the city’s downtown, which was flooded by the Rio Grande Arecibo, a river just blocks away.

“This is one of the oldest churches in this city and we lost everything,” Asegarra said. “But, God has blessed us, because many people have come to help us.”

The Howard students picked up restoration of the church where several other groups left off. The church, once covered in mud and debris, had been cleaned and gutted by previous groups. The ASB team was tasked with repainting the church’s walls.

The church was one of dozens of buildings—businesses, homes, schools, government offices—that were severely damaged in Arecibo, which lies about an hour and a half west of the capital city of San Juan.

Irma Sierra Cordova, owner of a downtown pharmacy, said she used her savings to re-open her business, which closed for two months.

“I lost all of my inventory,” Cordova said, “but homes should be the priority.”

Others are still repairing homes ripped apart by the fierce winds of the storm.

“I lost my whole roof, and I have a blue tarp on top of my house to prevent it from leaking [when it rains],” said Roberto Valez, 68, a Puerto Rican native who retired here after 30 years working construction in New London, Conn. “In the first month, rain would get in and damage everything.”

While Stevens’ team worked on the church, other Howard students helped restore a building in nearby Dorado. A third group visited the local Boys and Girls Club in Las Magaritas, a neighborhood in San Juan. While there, they tutored older students and danced and played hide-and-seek with the younger ones. They taught the kids the “Cha Cha Slide” and the students taught them salsa.

Pastor Humberto Pizarro of Connected Life, a ministry in San Juan, helped Howard’s ASB program connect with those most in need. Pizarro’s church organization, Shining Bright International, is a missionary and outreach ministry that has helped more than 40 teams from the United States and the Caribbean work more than 240,000 volunteer hours to restore the island.

“God has trained us for this, and we hit the ground running,” Pizarro said.

Within two days after the hurricane, his church began delivering meals, fuel and water to residents, and by the end of the week, they had flown in their first group of helpers from the U.S. mainland.

“Everyone in our church is trained to respond to these [types] of disasters,” Pizarro said. “The church is a temple to worship, but [the church’s mission] happens outside of its four walls. We focus on outreach.”

Howard student Audre’ana Ellis said she was impressed with the work Pizarro’s church had done to move recovery efforts along.

“I’m excited to help and serve,” Ellis, 18, said. “I’m surprised to see that everyone here is so strong and has come together to get through this.”

Dallas ISD Trustee Joyce Foreman: Good news travels fast in District 6

Dallas ISD Trustee Joyce Foreman: Good news travels fast in District 6

North Dallas Gazette logoNORTH DALLAS GAZETTE — Perhaps, the most gratifying part of serving District 6 is celebrating the student and faculty wins along the way. And while countless unheralded victories occur in our classrooms and on our campuses every day, it’s important that we pause to acknowledge the ones that manage to surface to the top.

Dallas ISD Trustee Joyce Foreman, District 6 (Courtesy Photo)

[/media-credit] Dallas ISD Trustee Joyce Foreman, District 6

School counselors are often the unsung heroes in education. Their value is immeasurable, as they provide support to our students and their families, ensuring a healthy and successful learning experience for every child. I’m elated that the tireless efforts of two elementary school counselors in District 6 have been duly noted. Kailee Mitchell, a counselor at Maria Moreno, and Rashunda Mendy, a counselor at Thomas Tolbert, received the Lone Star State Bronze Award from the Lone Star State School Counseling Association. Both counselors were recognized for their excellence in advocacy, leadership, collaboration and systemic change.

Another District 6 big stage win goes by the name of Karina Flores. A student at Clinton P. Russell Elementary School, Flores is among the top 18 Dallas ISD spellers who have advanced to the County Spelling Bee. A standout competitor among 138 students from 77 schools, she will compete for a chance to win more than $50,000 in scholarships and prizes at the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. What a wonderful opportunity for District 6 to unite as we root for the success of our very own.

And speaking of our own, I want to ease the uncertainty that many District 6 families face due to recent changes to the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). Dallas ISD is committed to following the law and providing a high quality education to all students regardless of their immigration status, ethnicity, national origin, language, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, disability, or socioeconomic status. Our top priority is to provide a welcoming and protective environment for all students and staff.

Looking Ahead

Eleventh graders who attend a Dallas ISD high school will take the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) during the school day on Wednesday, March 7. In preparation, students may access free personalized lessons at satpractice.org. All students are encouraged to take advantage of this resource to improve testing performance and best position themselves for admission to top-choice colleges and scholarship opportunities.

Mark Twain Leadership Vanguard is expanding to fourth through eighth grade magnet campus by 2020. The school is currently accepting applications for grades four through six. The application deadline is February 28. I’d like to invite parents to attend the Information Session and Onsite Application Workshop on Wednesday, February 21 to get questions answered and complete an application. The info session and workshop will be held at the Mark Twain campus located at 724 Green Cove Lane, Dallas, Texas 75232.

Control of public schools transferred back to the city in Newark

Control of public schools transferred back to the city in Newark

AMSTERDAM NEWS — Newark Public Schools is back under the control of the city, ending nearly 25 years of state control. The formal transfer was made at a news conference at Science Park High School last week. New interim Superintendent A. Robert Gregory, Mayor Ras J. Baraka, members of the Newark Board of Education and students were in attendance.

The state took control of the school in 1995 after years of low high school graduation rates and low standardized test scores. Christopher Cerf was the state-appointed superintendent of NPS. He resigned when the city regained control.

“I know firsthand the important role Newark schools play in the lives of the thousands of young people who attend them,” Gregory said. “On their behalf, we must move forward with a continued sense of urgency. I look forward to working closely with the school board, our educators and the Newark community to ensure that we are doing everything we can to continue to improve outcomes for Newark students.”

In December, the commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Education approved the transition plan that allows for the Advisory Board to become the official Newark Board of Education Feb. 1. The plan provides the board the full authority and responsibilities afforded to local school boards and includes a detailed timeline and set of milestones to guide the district’s transition over a period of two years.

The search for a new superintendent will be headed by a seven-person committee made up of school board members and Newark stakeholders.

“This day has been in the making for some time and is long overdue,” said Marques Aquil Lewis, chairman of the Newark Board of Education. “The Board has worked very hard to make sure that the district is returned to local control. Now, all decisions rest with us and we are ready, willing and have the capacity to take Newark Public Schools to the next level.”

NPS serves approximately 36,000 students and is the largest and one of the oldest school systems in New Jersey. Nearly 90 percent of students are Black and Latino.

NNPA Publishers Address Equity in Education in their Newspapers

NNPA Publishers Address Equity in Education in their Newspapers

Today, more than ever before, parents, educators and stakeholders around the country are learning about the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and the opportunities it presents for school districts to innovate learning in their classrooms and to address academic achievement gaps—through the pages and websites of the Black Press.

“It’s critical for [Black] parents to be involved and the Black Press is strategically embedded in our communities, so that we have more opportunities to get the word out about ESSA,” said Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., the president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA). “The NNPA is pleased to partner with and applauds the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for working to raise public awareness throughout the United States about equity in education.”

Chavis continued: “Bridging the academic gap in education, in particular for African American students and others from disadvantaged communities, is of critical importance.”

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation partnered with the National Newspaper Publishers Association to create a three-year, multi-media public awareness campaign focusing on the unique opportunities and challenges of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

Dr. Elizabeth V. Primas, the project manager for the NNPA ESSA awareness campaign and a life-long educator, said that ESSA was established to help increase the effectiveness of public education in every state.

ESSA, which reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary School Act (ESEA) and replaces the No Child Left Behind Act, received bipartisan support and was signed into law by President Obama on December 10, 2015.

Under ESSA, states have more flexibility to craft elementary and secondary education programs designed to improve educational outcomes in the nation’s public schools. The law also ensures that every child, regardless of race, income, background, or where they live, has the opportunity to obtain a high-quality education.

“Education is the pathway out of poverty,” Primas said.

Since receiving the Gates Foundation grant, the NNPA has engaged its 211-member publications in more than 60 markets across the country in a campaign designed to heighten public awareness about ESSA, and to focus on efforts and policies aimed at closing the achievement gaps for students of color and low-income students.

Due to the importance of education in the Black community, NNPA members have paid particular attention on the NNPA ESSA awareness campaign; three NNPA members were rewarded for that engagement at the Mid-Winter Conference for their relentless reporting on ESSA.

“I do believe that the last chance anybody has to hold anybody down is education,” said Bobby Henry, the publisher of the Westside Gazette in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, who was one of those publishers that received an award for his engagement with the awareness campaign. “The state of Florida is not doing too well in educating our children, so I thought it was out of duty and respect that we do our due diligence to bring awareness to our readers.”

Henry added that the ESSA law and reporting on it helps to hold school districts accountable and he said that it’s also important that more teachers of color are recruited and hired.

Brandon Brooks, the managing editor of the Los Angeles Sentinel, said that education is the key to helping to end poverty in the Black community and all NNPA members are a testament to that.

Danny Bakewell, the publisher of the Los Angeles Sentinel was also rewarded for his newspaper’s engagement with the NNPA ESSA awareness campaign, and Brooks accepted the reward on behalf of the Sentinel.

For numerous reasons, Brooks said he didn’t hesitate to run articles about ESSA and educational equality in the Los Angeles Sentinel—in print and online.

“The content [produced by NNPA Newswire] was there and it was rich and educational and informative. Running the articles has never been too much of a directive, especially when I got the green light,” Brooks said.

Brooks continued: “The goal of the Black Press has always been to advocate for justice for Black people. ESSA is a campaign for social justice and equality in education. It’s our duty to reach out to our students, our kids and to make sure that they have the information to succeed. If I didn’t do that, I wouldn’t be doing my job.

Freddie Allen, the Editor-In-Chief of the NNPA Newswire, called NNPA publishers “MVPs” of the NNPA team for their work in publishing stories about ESSA.

“Education is a civil rights issue and we must be engaged,” said Allen. “Imagine the Civil Rights Movement without the Black Press. Where would we be today? So, imagine the future of education without the Black Press. That’s why we have to get involved and stay involved with this issue.”

San Diego Students Study History and Create History with “Hamilton”

San Diego Students Study History and Create History with “Hamilton”


By Barbra Smith

VOICE & VIEWPOINT — In describing his runaway hit “Hamilton,” actor and playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda said, “It’s this incredible way to explore how history isn’t told.” For students in San Diego City Schools and surrounding areas, this thought-provoking notion took center stage with their participation in eduHam, an innovative educational program coordinated with the Tony-winning play’s run at the San Diego Civic Theatre, which provided nearly 3,000 students entrée to a special matinee performance on January 11, including a lively Q & A session with some of the cast members, and, for some, the opportunity to perform their own original creative pieces—songs, rap, poetry, scenes, monologues—before an audience of their peers.

The Hamilton Education Program, or eduHam, is a multi-week program for high school students studying American history in Title 1 schools, culminating in an all-day field trip to the theatre. Hoover High School was one of 46 schools taking part in the special event. Students earned their spot at the coveted affair by participating in class activities and/or after school and Saturday sessions during which they researched extensively, studied primary sources provided by the philanthropic Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History in conjunction with the producers of “Hamilton,” and let their imaginations go full throttle to create individual projects that were informative and entertaining. Connections to current events are not lost on these thoughtful and curious students, adding dimension to their learning experience.

On a recent afternoon, three of the participating students from Hoover, Alexis Harnage, Edy Canaca, and Lilia Ruvalcaba, gathered in the classroom of ELA teacher Kristiana Riego de Dios in anticipation of the big day and shared thoughts on how the project had stimulated new learning experiences that helped them look at history in new and different ways.

“I thought it was cool that people were combining history and the arts because usually you see history as more academic, and dance and art as different,” said 11th grader Harnage. The use of contemporary music—hip hop and rap—along with the more traditional genres of R & B and jazz was a hook for the high school junior, who plays an instrument herself, part of a rigorous curriculum that includes AP US History. Harnage, at 17, is articulate and focused, a self-described overachiever who said she drew on prior knowledge of George Washington, supplemented with extensive research to create a rap about our founding father and his role as a revolutionary leader in America’s road to independence. Her hard work paid off, as her project, which she wrote and performed with fellow Hoover 11th grader Bernard Drake, was one of only 15 selected for presentation at the Thursday event. “What I learned is that every leader, every president sets a tone for how they will lead the country. George Washington was widely respected as the first president of the United States and as a leader. I constantly make the connection with our first president of the United States vs. our current president Donald Trump, because I know there is controversy as to whether he is a good president or not. What you put out and what you do for the people of the country will stick around for a really long time.”

Edy Canaca, whose AP US History teacher Ellen Towers describes as “a consummate learner, was drawn to the duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. The 11th grader created a poem, which he and two of his classmates acted out. Prior to his research, Canaca was not aware of the outcome of the duel, which Burr won when Hamilton chose to shoot his gun in the air. “But it still ended badly for Burr,” Canaca concluded, “and I’m pretty sure he regretted it. Destroying his enemy actually made it worse for him and he could not advance politically.”  In his research, Canaca made an important discovery as to discrepancies in how history is told. “Every source says something different. It’s not always accurate and there are people who change it up. They always tweak it, depending on their perspective.”

Lilia Ruvalcaba, who loves writing poetry, found a fascinating subject in Abigail Adams. “When we look at history, we see a lot of men, and in our history class, we learned about the politics, but we didn’t really learn her side.” Ruvalcaba’s poem, written from the perspective of Adams, who was both wife of President John Adams and later the mother of 6th president John Quincy Adams, explores the woman’s role as intellectual confidante, but one who, as a product of the times, remained largely behind the scenes. Lilia is soft-spoken but delivers a powerful message in her observations about women’s roles that is especially timely. “One of the things she said that stands out to me,” said the 16-year-old, “was ‘Remember us ladies.’ That’s a significant line and important even today.”

“This is a story about America then, told by America now,” writer/producer Miranda has said. AP History teacher Towers, who worked with de Dios as eduHAM coordinator on the Hoover campus, encouraged inquiry in her students as they drew facts from their primary sources and at the same time humanized the historical figures they read about. “My focus since I’ve gotten into history is telling the untold story or telling the story from a different perspective,” she says. “It’s nice to see people thinking about history as a multi-dimensional and multi-perspective idea. I think in the back of every history teacher’s mind is ‘who have we missed and how can we bring them forward without being dishonest.’”

This point is not lost on Harnage, who adds, “Being African American, I sit in a lot of history classes and know that it is Eurocentric. When it comes to African Americans and the struggle of our people and what we have to overcome, I don’t hear about that in school that often, and I don’t necessarily think that it’s the teacher’s fault because I think that they are just teaching the curriculum. But,” she adds, “when I think about how history is told, I think that certain types of history are overtold and other types of history or other perspectives of history or types of people are undertold or not told at all.”

Projects like eduHAM can narrow this learning gap. And by casting African Americans and Hispanics in the “Hamilton” production, Miranda highlights the diversity of people who were there and not in the shadows, Towers says, “And,” adds De Rios, “why can’t a person of color play Hamilton or Aaron Burr? Who is to say that color has to define your role?”

Who indeed?

On the big day, when 2,833 high school students—the largest eduHAM ever—filled the seats of the San Diego Civic Theatre, love, laughter, and gratitude was palpable. “This is an honor,” said Hoover 11th grader Bernard Drake after his performance with student Harnage. “It’s amazing to me how an assignment for a class can lead to you seeing a performance of ‘Hamilton.’ Working towards a goal this way is very rewarding. It pushed me to do my best and I know will lead to even greater things.”

And, as Karli Dinardo, “Hamilton” cast member advised, “No dream is too big. Learning is endless. No matter how hard, throw yourself into the deep end and surround yourself with people who are positive, who encourage and nurture your dreams.”