THE CHICAGO DEFENDER — In this new year, and particularly around MLK Day, you can set a 2022 goal to volunteer as a family. Honeycomb’s schedule of upcoming volunteer opportunities is on their website. Families can, for example, sign up to prepare a home-cooked meal for those staying at a Wicker Park shelter, help protect a nature preserve along the Chicago River, pack and donate boxed meals for a food pantry in Auburn Gresham, or create activity kits for pediatric patients. With more than a dozen projects, there’s something for everyone.
THE CHICAGO DEFENDER — John Lewis was 25 when he marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, and was beaten by state troopers who fractured his skull. The Greensboro sit-ins at the Woolworth’s lunch counter were led by four college students. And the nine students who bravely integrated Little Rock Central High School in 1957 were all between fifteen and seventeen years old. The moment called for action, and Dr. King and countless other young, Black leaders stepped up and answered the call, by fighting against injustice and achieving real progress for the Black community.
NNPA NEWSWIRE — “The fight for the ballot is as old as the Republic. Over the coming weeks, the Senate will once again consider how to perfect this union and confront the historic challenges facing our democracy. We hope our Republican colleagues change course and work with us. But if they do not, the Senate will debate and consider changes to Senate rules on or before January 17, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, to protect the foundation of our democracy: free and fair elections.”
NNPA NEWSWIRE — White House Senior Advisor Cedric Richmond, who served as Louisiana’s representative in the U.S. House for a decade before assuming his current role as the White House Office of Public Engagement Director, said during a Zoom gathering of reporters, that voting rights are the “bedrock of democracy.”
NNPA NEWSWIRE — “It’s about putting $6 billion into state and local government to improve safety on the roads,” Vice President Harris pronounced. “It’s about funding for local communities for better streetlights, ensuring crosswalks are safe. We’re talking about the elderly, the mother with the stroller, the father with the stroller – people given enough time to cross the street. It’s a very big thing when you talk about the quality of life and when you live in communities where they rely on public streets to walk to church, to get the kids to school, to get them to the bus stop.”
NNPA NEWSWIRE — “President Biden is working to bring long-overdue diversity to the leadership of the Federal Reserve,” Erica Lowe, the White House Director of African American Media, wrote on Twitter. “Lisa D. Cook would be the first Black woman in history to serve on the Board,” Lowe concluded.
NNPA NEWSWIRE — “Each time we redesign our currency, we have the chance to say something about our country — what we value, and how we’ve progressed as a society,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen said in a statement. “I’m very proud that these coins celebrate the contributions of some of America’s most remarkable women, including Maya Angelou.”
NNPA NEWSWIRE — The philanthropy and corporate leadership of Robert F. Smith is appreciated by numerous recipients and Smith should be applauded for helping make a difference and providing hope to millions of people in underserved communities. The issues of economic equity and racial justice are still critical for the future of the nation.
NNPA NEWSWIRE — In commemoration of the upcoming Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Monday, January 17, 2022) as well as Dr. King’s iconic, groundbreaking 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech, the Santa Monica College Emeritus Current Events class—co-taught by Nat Trives and Jay Johnson—welcomes distinguished guest speaker, Reverend Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr.
NNPA NEWSWIRE — Professor Guinier worked in the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice and then headed the voting rights project at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in the 1980s. She published such scholarly articles and books as The Tyranny of the Majority, Becoming Gentlemen: Women, Law School and Institutional Change, and Lift Every Voice: Turning a Civil Rights Setback into a New Vision of Social Justice.
John F. Kennedy Middle School eighth-grader Sofia Mercado wrote a letter to Civil Rights advocate Edith Lee-Payne, prompting her to visit the school and speak to the entire eighth-grade class about her experiences in the Civil Rights movement.
