The Department of Health and Human Services has fired the entire office that sets federal poverty guidelines, which determine whether tens of millions of Americans are eligible for health programs such as Medicaid, food assistance, child care, and other services.
Category: Opinion
Posted inEnvironmental Justice
DOJ Reneges on Sewage Deal Biden Reached With a Black AL County
The Trump administration has backed out of a 2023 settlement with the Alabama Department of Public Health that would have helped find a solution to straight piping in Lowndes County, which has been a source of disease-bearing mosquitoes and parasites for decades.
Posted inPolitics
House Republicans Approve Budget Slashing Medicaid, Nutrition Aid While Pushing $5.5 Trillion in Tax Breaks for the Rich
House Republicans have approved a budget that slashes programs like Medicaid and child nutrition assistance in order to help fund an extension of the 2017 Trump tax law, which would cost $5.5 trillion over the next decade.
Posted inEducation
Decades of Data Show Deadly Gap for Black Children
A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that Black children in the US have consistently faced significantly higher mortality rates than their white peers, with no improvement in relative disparities since the 1950s, resulting in over half a million avoidable infant deaths and nearly 690,000 childhood deaths among Black Americans between 1950 and 2019.
Posted inMental Health
Is Travel Really a Balm for Racism?
A Black queer woman left the US to escape the terror and grief caused by wildfires, the Trump administration’s assault on Black America, and the stripping of LGBTQ+ rights, and found hope and inspiration in the UK and Europe.
Posted inOpinion
Thriving, Not Surviving: The New Black Agenda
Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 energized demands for police accountability, support for Black-owned businesses, and addressing the black-white wage gap, but a long-term movement is needed to make lasting change, focusing on factors such as home and business ownership, income, education, gun violence, family structure, and healthy and clean environments.
Posted inOpinion
Cory Booker’s 25-Hour Filibuster: A Beacon of Hope for the Democratic Party
Senator Cory Booker took the Senate floor for 25 hours to protest the Trump-Musk Administration’s damage and offer a new glimpse of hope to the Democratic party, reading letters from American citizens and advocating for the American people.
Posted inEnvironmental Justice
Climate Justice Isn’t Dead
Environmental justice programs are being dismantled by the Trump Administration, but Ryan Hathaway believes the backlash will fail and is working to preserve environmental justice efforts.
Posted inEducation
Why Libraries Are Still a Lifeline for Black K-12 Students
The American Library Association has released a report revealing a rise in efforts to censor books in libraries, often targeting books that focus on race, history, and identity.
Posted inHealth
HHS Staff Cuts Mean Uneasy Breathing in Black Communities
The federal Department of Health and Human Services has announced sweeping staff cuts, which will gut government programs that address asthma rates, smoking and health, global tuberculosis rates and control of tobacco products, potentially leading to a rise in preventable lung-related illnesses.
