Education
Biden will deliver his commencement address at Morehouse amid turmoil on US college campuses
ATLANTA (AP) — President Joe Biden will deliver the commencement address at Morehouse College on Sunday, a key election-year opportunity to talk before a black audience but could also directly expose him to the anger that a few of these and other students across the country have expressed its strong support for Israel in its war against Hamas militants in Gaza.
The White House suggested Biden would address concerns from students and college at the all-male, historically black college about his approach to the war. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said “stay tuned” when asked whether the Democratic president would address concerns which have sparked weeks of student protests on college campuses across the country.
The speech, a separate one which Biden will deliver later Sunday within the Midwest, is a component of a flurry of outreach to Black voters by the president, who has seen his support amongst those voters wane since their strong support helped put him within the Oval Office in 2020.
After speaking at Morehouse in Atlanta, Biden will travel to Detroit to talk at an NAACP dinner.
Georgia and Michigan are amongst a handful of states that will help resolve the expected November rematch between Biden and former Republican President Donald Trump. Biden narrowly won Georgia and Michigan in 2020 and must accomplish that again — because of strong Black voter turnout in each cities.
Jean-Pierre said Biden was looking forward to Morehouse’s speech, as he did to all of his inaugural addresses. She added that he wrote the remarks himself together with senior advisers.
“When it comes to this difficult moment that we are in, when we talk about protests, he understands that it involves a lot of pain,” Jean-Pierre said. “He understands that people have many opinions and he respects the fact that people have many opinions.”
Biden spent a part of Saturday warming up for a significant speech. At the Atlanta airport, he was greeted by a gaggle of former Morehouse graduates and playfully put their arm around one in every of them. He later stopped at Mary Mac’s Tea Room, a Black-owned restaurant that opened nearly 80 years ago, to briefly address about 50 supporters. It was presented by a 2024 Morehouse graduate.
The president joked that he was surrounded by “Morehouse Men.”
Biden spent late last week reaching out to black voters. He met with plaintiffs and relatives of those involved in Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision that banned racial segregation in public schools. He also met with members of the Black “Divine Nine” fraternities and sororities and spoke with members of the Little Rock Nine who helped integrate a public school in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957.
Morehouse’s announcement that Biden will be the inaugural speaker has sparked a backlash amongst faculty and supporters who oppose Biden’s handling of the war between Israel and Hamas. Some Morehouse graduates circulated a letter online condemning school administrators for inviting Biden and collecting signatures so as to pressure Morehouse President David Thomas to revoke him.
The letter said Biden’s approach to Israel is tantamount to supporting the Gaza genocide and is inconsistent with the pacifism expressed by Martin Luther King Jr., Morehouse’s most famous alumnus.
Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on October 7 killed 1,200 people. According to local health officials, greater than 35,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed within the Israeli offensive.
In a lengthy interview with the Associated Press, Thomas sought to downplay the prospect of student protests throughout the ceremony. He saw the all-male campus as a spot that, like other historically black colleges and universities, could balance social justice and political activism with a way of order and decency befitting a commencement and presidential address.
“I think you’ll find representatives of both sides on the spectrum – those who are adamantly opposed to the president coming to the speech, and those who, on the other hand, think it’s a great thing… and who see no contradiction between their feelings about what’s happening in Gaza and about the president’s arrival,” he said.
However, some students at Morehouse and the adjoining campuses that make up the Atlanta University Center (AUC) are staunchly against Biden’s appearance. They accuse Thomas and Morehouse trustees of prioritizing status and political alliances over the college’s values.
AUC students, faculty and alumni staged a rally and death row against Biden on Friday.
“If our brilliant HBCUs and administrators truly loved the activism they claimed to serve and used as a marketing tool, then… they would stand with us as we pray to God: ‘From the West End to the West Bank,’” the Morehouse junior said Lonnie White of Atlanta was amongst students who took part in two AUC demonstrations in recent weeks.
Student protest leaders said they didn’t know of plans for organized protests at the place to begin itself.
“I don’t even have a ticket,” said Anwar Karim, a Morehouse sophomore who spearheaded a petition calling on Thomas to withdraw Biden’s invitation.
Karim said he expected some students to attend nearby gatherings previously planned to have fun the birthday of Malcolm X, the black leader often credited with promoting the Black Power philosophy as a civil rights-era alternative to King’s practice of civil disobedience.
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Thomas said in an interview that quiet, non-disruptive protests can be tolerated, but reiterated that he promised to halt the ceremony if disruptions worsened.
Former U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, a Morehouse graduate and co-chair of Biden’s campaign who helped broker the president’s speech, called the graduation ceremony a “solemn event” and said the gravity of the moment should give potential protesters pause.
“I hope people won’t interrupt a once-in-a-lifetime moment like this for the students and parents and grandparents who are there to see these young men walk across that stage,” Richmond said.
In Detroit, Biden was scheduled to go to a small Black-owned business before delivering the keynote speech at a dinner hosted by the NAACP Freedom Fund, which traditionally draws hundreds of attendees. The speech gives Biden a probability to succeed in hundreds of individuals in Wayne County, an area that has voted overwhelmingly Democratic previously but has shown signs of resistance to his re-election bid.
Wayne County also has one in every of the most important Arab-American populations within the country, primarily in town of Dearborn. Leaders there spearheaded a “non-aligned” initiative that won greater than 100,000 votes within the state’s Democratic primary and spread across the country.
A protest rally and march against Biden’s visit is planned for Sunday afternoon in Dearborn. Another protest rally is predicted later that evening outside Huntington Place, the venue for the dinner.
Education
Mississippi College changes name and eliminates football program
Mississippi College embraces its Christian ideology with a name change.
Mississippi College, a non-public institution, is changing its name to Mississippi Christian College. The decision was approved by the Mississippi Board of Supervisors on November 18.
The university can be eliminating its Division 1 football team in an effort to prioritize academic offerings. In an announcement, the university cited the upcoming bicentenary because the inspiration for the changes.
Mississippi Christian College wants to construct on its Christian ideology, in line with President Bake Thompson.
“These transformational and necessary changes are critically important to the future of this institution. As we look ahead to the institution’s bicentennial in 2026, we want to ensure that MC is a university recognized for academic excellence and commitment to Christ for another 200 years.”
The college is rededicated to making a space where Christian education stays a priority.
“The institution may even undergo restructuring. A brand new structure will likely be introduced, which can mix the College of Christianity and Art with the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the College of Pedagogy will change its name to the College of Pedagogy and Human Sciences. The chancellor was charged with evaluating the potential consolidation of a limited number of educational departments on campus.
Mississippi Christian Athletic Director Kenny Bizott reaffirmed his commitment to former student-athletes.
“We will support our current student-athletes who wish to continue their education at MC, as well as those who wish to transfer,” Bizott added.
Many may view these changes as extreme, but Mississippi Christian believes that every latest organizational change will help the institution fulfill its core functions.
Another Mississippi institution can be within the news for its failures on the legislative level. reported the Mississippi State Senate no payment Legislative Services Office (LSO) attorney Kristie Metcalfe is paid commensurate along with her peers.
The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the Mississippi LSO on Metcalfe’s behalf. An office investigation found that Metcalfe was earning half the salary of white LSO lawyers. The investigation also found that Metcalfe is the one non-white worker employed within the office’s 34 years of operation. Race discrimination violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Education
Florida education officials report hundreds of books pulled from school libraries, including Toni Morrison, Richard Wright and Maya Angelou
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye.” “Forever” by Judi Blume. “Slaughterhouse Five” by Kurt Vonnegut.
According to the newest information, all of them have been withdrawn from the shelves of some Florida schools list developed by the Florida Department of Education and containing books removed by local school districts.
Recent changes in state law have made it possible for fogeys and residents to take this motion challenge books to school libraries and required districts to submit an annual report to the state detailing which books were restricted of their schools. Florida continues to steer the nation in withdrawing books from school libraries, in accordance with an evaluation by the American Library Association and the advocacy group PEN America.
“Restricting access means limiting the freedom to read,” said Kasey Meehan of PEN America. “Students are losing the opportunity to access books that reflect their own life experiences, to access books that help them learn and to empathize with people who… have different life experiences.”
The list, published for the 2023-2024 school yr, includes titles by American literary icons similar to Maya Angelou, Flannery O’Connor and Richard Wright, in addition to books which have turn into top targets for censorship across the country as a consequence of LGBTQ+ characters, discussions about gender and sexuality and descriptions of sexual encounters, e.g. “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George Johnson and “Gender Queer” by Maja Kobabe. Supporters of conservatism have described such content as “pornographic.”
The list of books removed from libraries also includes Holocaust accounts similar to “The Diary of Anne Frank: A Graphic Adaptation” and “Sophie’s Choice.” It’s an analogous story with the graphic novel, an adaptation of “1984,” George Orwell’s groundbreaking work on censorship and surveillance.
“Everywhere from Toni Morrison to Alice Walker to Slaughterhouse-Five to George Orwell,” said Stephana Farrell, co-founder of the Florida Freedom to Read Project, which tracks book challenges within the state. “If you take the time to look through this list, you will see that there is a problem with… this movement.”
In an announcement to the Associated Press, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Education maintained that no books have been banned in Florida and defended the state’s efforts to remove “sexually explicit material” from schools.
“Once again, far-left activists are promoting the book ban scam to Floridians. “The better question is why these activists continue to fight to expose children to sexually explicit material,” spokeswoman Sydney Booker said.
The list shows that the number of book withdrawals varies widely across the state, with some districts reporting no restrictions and others reporting hundreds of titles pulled from shelves. Farrell of the Florida Freedom to Read Project said that based on the group’s evaluation of public records, the department’s report is an undercount since it doesn’t include books removed in consequence of an internal staff review, only those withdrawn in consequence of a grievance filed by a parent or resident.
Farrell believes that almost all Florida parents want their children to have broad access to literature.
“We live in a country where parental rights should be recognized, heard and taken into account,” Farrell said. “We are asking for accountability and an accurate record of the impact of these laws on our children and what is available to them.”
Schools have restricted access to dozens of books by Stephen King, a master of the horror genre known for bestsellers similar to “It” and “Pet Sematary.” Clay County officials also found his book, “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft,” inappropriate for college kids.
King, who spends part of the yr in Florida, talked about attempting to get his books out of students’ hands, urging readers to run to the closest library or bookstore.
“What the hell?” In August, King posted on social media reacting to the choice of some Florida schools to drag his books from shelves.
Multiple school districts in Florida have filed legal challenges for restricting students’ access to books, including Escambia County, which is being sued by PEN America and Random penguin housethe biggest publisher within the country.
Nassau County School District in September settled lawsuit brought by the authors of “And Tango Makes Three,” an image book based on the true story of two male penguins who raised a chick together at New York’s Central Park Zoo. Under the terms of the settlement, the district needed to return three dozen books to the shelves.
Education
Issa Rae meets with Georgia law students
Rae will speak to students about legal issues related to her success.
Georgia State University College of Law announced that Issa Rae will meet with students to debate the legal elements of her successful profession as a part of the course “The Legal Life of Issa Rae.”
On November 7, the producer-actress will hold a hearing at Rialto Art Center. The visit is the culmination of a course exploring Rae’s decades-long profession within the entertainment industry. Rae’s profession provides a wealth of legal diversity to explore as her profession extends beyond visual entertainment.
The classes are held as a part of the “Legal Life…” series. The series was created by George State University law professor Moraima “Mo” Ivory.
As a professor at Georgia State College of Law, Ivory curated a series that examined the legality of maintaining a prestigious profession. As reported, Rae is a course subject this semester BLACK ENTERPRISES.
The creator’s team worked with Ivory to take an in depth take a look at the contracts that helped Rae secure her deals.
“With the support of her team, we will also have the unique opportunity to analyze her real-world deals and discuss how her approach to deals is shaping today’s entertainment landscape. We are incredibly fortunate to have this opportunity,” Ivory told .
It was classy access for 10 years value of contractual agreements to be analyzed.
“This is the first class where every contract was an actual contract with the artist,” Ivory said. “Students can see how real deals actually happen and what real entertainment lawyer Issa Rae has been doing over the last 10 years.”
Ivory, a professor and Fulton County commissioner, believes that the language of the law is vital and that the power to see the language in connection with a noteworthy product allows students to beat the barrier of unfamiliarity.
“You have to look at what people are actually doing and what is happening at the moment. The more familiar they become with the language, the faster they will be able to master it and start representing clients.”
According to Ivory, Rae’s family and business partners were instrumental in checking out the complicated details of her business. The course was attended by “Rae’s mother, siblings, network executives and members of her staff.”
The longtime artist began her profession on YouTube with “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl.” The show’s success led to a collaboration with host Larry Wilmore and a multi-show deal with HBO. Outside of television, Rae is a successful actress and producer of many shows including (2022). She also created her own media company HooRae media and music label Raedio.
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