Author: Carma Henry

       Imagine a private company wants to build a potentially dangerous pipeline through your backyard and the government decides your rights as a property owner matter less than the profits of said company. And it uses eminent domain – the power to seize private land for public use – to take control over part of your land as a gift to the company. For four years now, farmers and other landowners, environmentalists, Indigenous groups, and Iowans from all walks of life have come together to fight this outrageous idea.

    In the lead-up to Israel’s devastating attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities and its military leadership, Pres. Trump posed as a peacemaker and concerned bystander. He said that he much preferred a nuclear deal with Iran to war but hinted that he might not be able to keep Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from ordering a strike.

     “Freedom isn’t free” is a slogan I have heard much of my adult life, almost always associated with praising our military and the sacrifice veterans have made. We are well educated about soldiers freeing us from British tyranny in the American Revolution and keeping us free from the Nazis and Japanese in the Second World War. The question of this moment is, what are the greatest threats to our freedom in the here and now, and what price will they demand from us? It is time to reconsider how we think about the price of freedom and who needs to pay it. 

     This Father’s Day, let’s commit to raising a generation of sons who can grow into manhood not shackled by rigid roles but liberated by love, equality, connection.

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — The figures are a dramatic increase from the previous delinquency rate, which had remained below 1 percent due to the years-long pause in federal student loan payments.

According to the National Association of Home Builders, nearly 75 percent of families – 100.6 million households – cannot afford a median priced new home in 2025. With a price tag of $459,826 and an accompanying 30-year mortgage rate of about 6.5 percent, it’s no surprise that both families and government are challenged like never before when it comes to securing affordable housing.

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Jones-Harrell outlined her top priorities: increasing female representation on the force, enhancing community engagement, and securing state accreditation for the department.

       According to CBS News, the USNS Harriet Tubman is among several ships named after prominent Black Americans, abolitionists, labor leaders, and more that the Defense Department, led by Secretary Pete Hegseth, might rename.

       Grief is not always about death, but it always involves loss. The loss of a dream. The loss of normalcy. The loss of health, time, strength, or hope as we once knew it. It is not linear, predictable, or easy. It’s messy, sacred, and deeply personal. I know this not just as a pastor or a counselor, but as a father and husband who has had to sit with the weight of heartbreak far too often.

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Tributes have continued to pour in for Ananda Lewis, the former MTV VJ and host of BET’s Teen Summit, one day after her death at the age of 52.