Author: Carma Henry

     The idiom “Stay Woke” is the popular phrase du jour. Lost in the banter between the Right and Left is the Black history story of these words. The words began as a cautionary Negro warning in the post Emancipation, Jim Crow era. Succinctly defined, it was a warning to be mindful of every detail going on when you were amongst White folks.

Recent SCOTUS decisions abolishing Affirmative Action, allowing public entities to discriminate against the LGBTQ community (ruling on a fictional, bogus case that shouldn’t have been heard), and prohibiting President Biden from offering relief to students burden with college debt simply fortifies my contention that conscientious student/athletes should strongly consider selecting and attending universities in states that believe in democracy, DEI – diversity, equity and inclusion – and the American dream for all juxtaposed to states with governors, senators, congress persons and politicians who consistently and insidiously vote against minority interests.

     Jackson’s disapproval could easily be summed up in a single and precise sentence: “Our country has never been colorblind.”

 We observe National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month each July to bring awareness to the unique struggles that racial and ethnic minority communities face regarding mental illness in the United States. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health encourages state, tribal, and local leaders, community-based organizations, faith leaders, healthcare providers and individuals to educate their communities regarding mental health stigma. According to data from the CDC, suicide was the third leading cause of death for African Americans ages 10-24 in 2020. The suicide rate is four times greater for African American men than women. African American females in grades 9-12 were 60% more likely to attempt suicide than white females.

Honoring her esteemed leadership and service, Angel Rich-Jones, a graduate of Hampton University, has become the youngest African American HBCU grad to receive the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award signed by President Joe Biden. The annual awards highlight those “who exhibit outstanding character, work ethic and dedication to their communities.

Florida A&M University has partnered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to help build a more equitable and diverse workforce in food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences. FAMU was selected as one of eight 1890 Historically Black Land-grant institutions to receive a combined $18.1 million investment in minority-serving institutions funded by the Inflation Reduction Act.

In a move that could remake Florida’s gambling landscape, a federal appeals court on Friday overturned a ruling that blocked a deal giving the Seminole Tribe control over sports betting throughout the state

Police initially reported that one officer shot at the teenager because he was driving his car at him, but this account has been proven false by a video on social media and authenticated by AFP.

As maternal mortality skyrockets in the United States, a federal program created to improve rural maternity care has bypassed Black mothers, who are at the highest risk of complications and death related to pregnancy.

A new CDC report suggests the majority of people with hepatitis C still have not been cured[1][1] nearly a decade after breakthrough treatments that clear the viral infection were first approved in the United States. The findings highlight the urgent need for a proposed national program that would end much of the suffering and death from hepatitis C by eliminating the disease in the United States.