The Black & Latino Male College Readiness Program of the Lehigh Valley at Moravian University is a comprehensive, 5-day, overnight campus experience that prepares college-eager students and their families for the extensive college search process.
This program is made possible by a generous gift from Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
Who: Black & Latino male students from Greater Lehigh Valley high schools
When: Tuesday, June 27th through Saturday, July 1st, 2023
Where: Moravian University, Bethlehem, PA
Please share the below link with parents, students, and the community. It’s an excellent opportunity for our high school boys.
The deadline to apply is May 15.
For the last three years, the federal government, primarily through the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, has declared both national and public health emergencies with the goal of increasing access to critical services, including testing, vaccination, direct payments, insurance coverage, etc. The Public Health Emergency for COVID-19 has been renewed several times, most recently in February, but will expire on May 11, 2023.
If expanded Medicaid coverage is terminated, more than half of those who will lose healthcare will be people of color.
Join us Monday, May 8 at 7 p.m. ET to discuss how we'll make sure this change doesn't negatively impact the Black community.
Featured speakers will include:
“We're now seeing this concerted attack by the state legislature — the majority-white state legislature — and then a white state governor who signed these bills into law to say that Jackson residents, their voices, what they've been asking for is not important,” says Abre’ Conner, director of environmental and climate justice at the NAACP.
More than 200 people gather on the steps of the Mississippi Capitol on Jan. 31, 2023, to protest against a bill that would expand the patrol territory for the state-run Capitol Police within the majority-Black city of Jackson and create a new court with appointed rather than elected judges. (Rogelio V. Solis/AP)
COLUMBIA, S.C. – A lawsuit filed today in United States District Court seeks to reverse the Pickens County School Board's decision to remove Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi's Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You from every school in the district. The lawsuit alleges that the District's removal of Stamped is politically and racially motivated censorship that cannot be tolerated under the First Amendment.
According to the lawsuit, which was brought by three families on behalf of their minor children in Pickens County Schools and the Pickens Branch of the NAACP through their attorneys from the NAACP and the ACLU of South Carolina, Stamped was reviewed and unanimously approved for classroom and library use by separate school- and district-level review committees. Those committees — which were comprised of educators, administrators, and parents — concluded that Stamped is developmentally appropriate for high school students, that it is aligned with SC Department of Education's English Language Arts standards, and that it should remain as a resource in classrooms, libraries, and media centers. But in September, without explanation, the Pickens County School Board rejected those conclusions and voted unanimously to remove the book entirely from district schools.
"The Board's decision to remove Stamped was antithetical to the First Amendment and reflects a deep hostility towards America's promise of a free and pluralistic society," said Allen Chaney, Legal Director for the ACLU of South Carolina. "We are hopeful that the courts will vindicate the Constitution and rebuke the cresting wave of censorship we're experiencing across South Carolina."
"The NAACP and the Office of General Counsel are proud to stand in support of the Pickens County Branch of the NAACP and the local families advocating on behalf of their children as they fight against this unjust and unlawful censorship," said Martina Tiku, Assistant General Counsel of the NAACP. "This lawsuit represents a continuation of their unwavering advocacy and will act as the next step in ensuring that children in Pickens County have access to an education free from such political attacks."
"Educators and library systems are under attack through this newfound increase of support to ban culturally relevant books from our schools, curriculum, and educational institutions. The groups who are behind these book bans are discriminatively targeting books that highlight and discuss race, culture, women's issues, and LGBTQ issues. The NAACP is actively fighting against any unjustified book bans and will continue to support teachers, libraries and other institutions who are targeted by censorship," said NAACP State Conference President Brenda Murphy. "It has been made inherently evident that the true intent behind banning certain books is to destroy the relevance of Black history and that of historically marginalized groups. The South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP will not stand by, voiceless, allowing politicians and radical groups to erase our history or culture."
NAACP Pickens County Branch President Shelia Crawford stated, "Black history is American history. We have a responsibility to provide our students with a complete teaching of our nation's history – both the good and the bad. The Pickens County School Board's decision to ban "Stamped" from the public school curriculum is a disservice to all of our students. The Pickens County Branch of the NAACP is proud to stand with the national NAACP and ACLU of South Carolina in this lawsuit to protect a curriculum that celebrates diversity, promotes equity, while furthering justice for Black America."
The lawsuit asserts that the school board's vote to remove the book aligns with Freedom Caucus ideology meaning it is politically motivated censorship and therefore unconstitutional. The lawsuit asks the court to declare the removal of Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You unconstitutional, allowing for its return to classrooms, libraries, media centers in Pickens County.
We support students getting the education and skills development they need, so they can be successful on the job or in an academic environment. College costs should be affordable. Forgiving student loan debt and decreasing the overall cost of college is an economic imperative.
We support students getting the education and skills development they need, so they can be successful on the job or in an academic environment. College costs should be affordable. Forgiving student loan debt and decreasing the overall cost of college is an economic imperative.
We need strategies and investments that build accountability to advance the success of children of color. Black children deserve to experience culturally relevant, student-centered learning — not extreme punishments or hallways staffed with police officers. We work to expand policies and interventions that equip families and communities to better support their kids' needs in school.
Video of Shawn Redmond, President NAACP Allentown Youth Branch, speaking at the St. Timothy Lutheran Church Welcome Worship Center Land of Promise Worship On Wednesdays (WOW) June 22,2022, at 7PM. The WOW will be held each Wednesday through August at 7:00 PM, 140 S. Ott St, Allentown 18104.
The Allentown Mayor and Allentown City Council members held the first Juneteenth Day Flag Raising Event. They invited the Allentown NAACP Freedom Fighters to raise the Juneteenth Flag.
NAACP Allentown Branch Freedom Fund Fighters raised the Allentown City Hall First Annual Juneteenth Flag in front of City Hall. The Mayor, City Council Members, and the community watched as the NAACP President Walter Felton, officers, and executives raised the 1st Juneteenth Flag in the history of the Lehigh Valley.
Mrs. Esther M. Lee, President NAACP Bethlehem and Walt Felton, President NAACP Allentown at the First Annual Juneteenth on Friday, June 18, 2021. The event was held Bethlehem Sculpture Garden
Black Lives Matter movement, which three women founded in 2012, denounce racism and police brutality. Dozens of demonstrations in support of the cause erupted following the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
The monumental impact of George Floyd's death on Black America.
"Black people were the ones that were sort of the most mobilized to learn more, to pay more attention and to take action in their own lives.
While Floyd's death changed the world at large, the tragedy was a stark reminder, specifically for Black Americans,
Copyright © 2021 NAACP ALLENTOWN UNIT - All Rights Reserved.