(TriceEdneyWire.com) – Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) produce 20 percent of all of America’s Black college graduates. That includes 80 percent of Black judges; 70 percent of Black doctors; 50 percent of Black teachers; and 25 percent of Black students who major in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Despite this level of success in educating primarily the descendants of enslaved people – many who are the first to attend college from their families – HBCUs have suffered historical challenges, including underfunding and difficulty attracting and retaining students. That is why educational experts are now applauding the fact that…
Author: Hazel Trice Edney
(TriceEdneyWire.com) – It was an autumn morning in 2018 when my phone rang in Washington, D.C. and I’ll never forget the sound of Mama’s voice on the line. She was calling from her home in Virginia, 100 miles away. Her voice, normally warm and sweet, was instead rife with anger. “Who took the knobs off my stove?” she demanded. My heart broke toward her. All she wanted was to fry herself an egg for breakfast. How could I tell her that we, her four adult children, had met and decided to have the knobs removed from her kitchen stove? In…
By Hazel Trice Edney VIRGINA — The announcement that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is being treated for prostate cancer has hit home with millions of families across the nation. But in Virginia, the announcement is particularly relevant as the state’s legislature is gathering on the heels of an opinion by the state attorney general that said insurances should be covering a specific prostate cancer treatment that could save more lives. Proton beam cancer therapy, administered by the Hampton University Proton Therapy Institute, was cast front and center just before Christmas as Attorney General Jason Miyares issued the opinion, which…
(TriceEdneyWire.com) – African-American families have known for generations that retirement at the age of 65 is often a mirage. We hope and pray it will happen, but it’s a dream that generally never gets fulfilled. In fact reports have shown that the typical White family – even at retirement age – has eight times the wealth of the typical Black family, with a typical Latino family faring only slightly better. These historic inequities will not change by themselves. Community leaders, policymakers, and industry experts must come together to identify and promote new solutions to this retirement wealth gap. Opportunely, a…
By Hazel Trice Edney A major acquisition that civil rights leaders and advocates for Black-owned media had hoped would increase media ownership, opportunity, and participation by African-Americans and other minorities has apparently “hit a brick wall.” Following months of advocacy and public support for a $5.4 billion acquisition of Tegna by Standard General, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has essentially killed the deal by sending it to an administrative judge for a hearing, a process that could mire it down in red tape. Standard General is led by Soo Kim, a Korean American immigrant who moved to Queens, NY when…
By Hazel Trice Edney TriceEdneyWire.com — The benefits of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are well known by those who enroll in them, support them or otherwise associate with them. Among the top five benefits, according to the United Negro College Fund, HBCUs meet the needs of low-income students; they serve first-generation Black students; they narrow the racial wealth gap; they address the nation’s unemployment and underemployment crisis and they foster success with their Black cultural climate. But, in the opinion of Lawrence Davis, a master mechanic who was diagnosed with prostate cancer nine years ago, an HBCU actually…
Nashville, Tenn. (TN Tribune)-Tennessee has been generous to Amazon over the past decade, lavishing one of the world’s richest companies with hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks so that it will expand its operations here. But now state and local leaders may need to prepare for Amazon to repay this generosity by stabbing Tennessee taxpayers in the back. This summer, the retail giant announced it would delay until 2023 the opening of its Clarksville fulfillment center, which was supposed to be up and running this August. Despite having completed construction and committing to employing 500 people, Amazon cited…
By Hazel Trice Edney (TriceEdneyWire.com) — By his outrageous statements during the first presidential debate, we have now witnessed clear evidence that President Donald J. Trump is far more dangerous to this nation and its people than any of us really know. We have seen hints of it over the past four years as he has repeatedly identified himself as one who gives comfort and friendship to people who would kill for the cause of race hatred and white supremacy. This was evident in his “very fine people on both sides” comment after the murder of Heather Heyer by a…
By Hazel Trice Edney (TriceEdneyWire.com) — Civil rights icon Dr. Benjamin Chavis, former NAACP executive director and current president/CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), will become host of a weekly Black-oriented public affairs talk show on PBS (Public Broadcasting System) in October. As racial tensions and disparities have skyrocketed in almost every category of American life, Chavis and the show’s producer Clara Wilkerson says it’s time for a program that challenges the mind and focuses on solutions. They believe the show, “Chavis Chronicles,” is among the answers. PBS apparently agrees. “Our nation is polarized by race; polarized by…
By Hazel Trice Edney NASHVILLE, TN— Prominent figures in the African-American community are calling on Congress to rein in large insurance companies as lawmakers look to address an increasingly urgent problem in the health care market that falls especially hard on working families, including African-Americans. The problem is known as surprise medical billing, a situation that occurs when a patient is hospitalized and then receives a hefty bill from a doctor who turns out to be outside of his or her insurer’s network. The practice is costing American patients tens of millions of dollars in unforeseen medical fees, at a…