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A Different News Experience: Baltimore Times, Houston Forward Times in Step with Future of News Delivery

NNPA NEWSWIRE — “Peer research says that 86 percent of consumers get their news online. I go deeper and say that they get it from Twitter because Twitter hits first,” offered DaNeisha “Totally Randie” Bell, a media personality with the Forward Times.

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By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

The metaverse represents a new medium for news reporting. The National Newspaper Publishers Association’s live national news show, Let It Be Known, explored how using wearables effects the media production process.

“I sat on the consumer committee for Upsurge and had the opportunity to meet with a lot of tech founders, and we began to look at how technology can improve the lives of Baltimore city residents,” said Paris Brown, associate editor for the Baltimore Times.

“I started a consumer streaming shopping network and met LaKisha Greenwade, the founder of Wearable Tech Ventures and the creator of the Global Hackathon 2022 for Wearable Technology. My interest began to grow.”

Brown said that was just the beginning.

“The Baltimore Times was approached to be a media partner for Wearable Technology, and we wanted to amplify the voices of the Black tech people and make sure people knew what was happening, and then we were asked to participate as a virtual newsroom,” she stated.

“We expected participating in this would create an interesting opportunity.”

Greenwade amplified Brown’s excitement, noting that Wearable Technology touches almost every business sector, from mobile connectivity to medical monitoring to fitness trackers and smartwatches.

Forecasters predict that the global wearable tech market will reach 300 million tech shipments by 2026 – or five times the shipments completed in 2018 and 2019.

“What we do is we develop and promote wearable technology. We’ve been redefining what wearable technology is,” Greenwade remarked.

“We use wearable technology every day. For example, someone with diabetes might wear a pump. Someone with kidney failure uses wearables in their treatment, and someone with heart failure uses a defibrillator. That’s wearable technology,” she continued.

“So, especially when we talk to the Black community where we are most impacted by these technologies that are being developed, we want to move from a consumer to a developer.

“We have become the industry. We are developing talent and direct connections to corporations, government institutions, research institutions, and funding. That headline we hear relating to the lack of funding and a lack of representation. That won’t exist in wearable technology.”

Ursula Spencer, the founder of Dope Nerds, said her company plans to ascend as one of the best virtual reality arcades in the world.

Backed by several years of planning and strategy, Dope Nerds proclaims that its virtual reality “edutainment” solutions could transform how educational content is delivered.

“There are so many facets to how this is going to innovate, and how it’s innovated, the industry,” Spencer stated.

“Right now, we’re in this headset phase, but soon we will be at a point where we are projecting something on our arms, and a screen pops up,” she said.

“I think this will create a more social and immersive component on how we interact with the news.”

The Houston Forward Times also has joined the wearable community to enhance its product.

“Peer research says that 86 percent of consumers get their news online. I go deeper and say that they get it from Twitter because Twitter hits first,” offered DaNeisha “Totally Randie” Bell, a media personality with the Forward Times.

“With media being injected into this, I can see breaking news and exclusivity. I’m excited that we’re not going to have a learning curve for the Black community because we have these resources that are assisting with educating the Black community to keep us up with the technology and being a part of creativity,” Bell asserted.

“Technology is here, and media will step in and keep going forward. So, we’re going to have to be in that space providing that because people already are wearing that technology.”

Click here to view the program and for more information.

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#NNPA BlackPress

Chavis and Bryant Lead Charge as Target Boycott Grows

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Surrounded by civil rights leaders, economists, educators, and activists, Bryant declared the Black community’s power to hold corporations accountable for broken promises.

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By Stacy M. Brown
BlackPressUSA.com Senior National Correspondent

Calling for continued economic action and community solidarity, Dr. Jamal H. Bryant launched the second phase of the national boycott against retail giant Target this week at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta. Surrounded by civil rights leaders, economists, educators, and activists, Bryant declared the Black community’s power to hold corporations accountable for broken promises. “They said they were going to invest in Black communities. They said it — not us,” Bryant told the packed sanctuary. “Now they want to break those promises quietly. That ends tonight.” The town hall marked the conclusion of Bryant’s 40-day “Target fast,” initiated on March 3 after Target pulled back its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) commitments. Among those was a public pledge to spend $2 billion with Black-owned businesses by 2025—a pledge Bryant said was made voluntarily in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020.“No company would dare do to the Jewish or Asian communities what they’ve done to us,” Bryant said. “They think they can get away with it. But not this time.”

The evening featured voices from national movements, including civil rights icon and National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) President & CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., who reinforced the need for sustained consciousness and collective media engagement. The NNPA is the trade association of the 250 African American newspapers and media companies known as The Black Press of America. “On the front page of all of our papers this week will be the announcement that the boycott continues all over the United States,” said Chavis. “I would hope that everyone would subscribe to a Black newspaper, a Black-owned newspaper, subscribe to an economic development program — because the consciousness that we need has to be constantly fed.” Chavis warned against the bombardment of negativity and urged the community to stay engaged beyond single events. “You can come to an event and get that consciousness and then lose it tomorrow,” he said. “We’re bombarded with all of the disgust and hopelessness. But I believe that starting tonight, going forward, we should be more conscious about how we help one another.”

He added, “We can attain and gain a lot more ground even during this period if we turn to each other rather than turning on each other.” Other speakers included Tamika Mallory, Dr. David Johns, Dr. Rashad Richey, educator Dr. Karri Bryant, and U.S. Black Chambers President Ron Busby. Each speaker echoed Bryant’s demand that economic protests be paired with reinvestment in Black businesses and communities. “We are the moral consciousness of this country,” Bryant said. “When we move, the whole nation moves.” Sixteen-year-old William Moore Jr., the youngest attendee, captured the crowd with a challenge to reach younger generations through social media and direct engagement. “If we want to grow this movement, we have to push this narrative in a way that connects,” he said.

Dr. Johns stressed reclaiming cultural identity and resisting systems designed to keep communities uninformed and divided. “We don’t need validation from corporations. We need to teach our children who they are and support each other with love,” he said. Busby directed attendees to platforms like ByBlack.us, a digital directory of over 150,000 Black-owned businesses, encouraging them to shift their dollars from corporations like Target to Black enterprises. Bryant closed by urging the audience to register at targetfast.org, which will soon be renamed to reflect the expanding boycott movement. “They played on our sympathies in 2020. But now we know better,” Bryant said. “And now, we move.”

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#NNPA BlackPress

The Department of Education is Collecting Delinquent Student Loan Debt

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — the Department of Education will withhold money from tax refunds and Social Security benefits, garnish federal employee wages, and withhold federal pensions from people who have defaulted on their student loan debt.

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By April Ryan

Trump Targets Wages for Forgiven Student Debt

The Department of Education, which the Trump administration is working to abolish, will now serve as the collection agency for delinquent student loan debt for 5.3 million people who the administration says are delinquent and owe at least a year’s worth of student loan payments. “It is a liability to taxpayers,” says White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt at Tuesday’s White House Press briefing. She also emphasized the student loan federal government portfolio is “worth nearly $1.6 trillion.” The Trump administration says borrowers must repay their loans, and those in “default will face involuntary collections.” Next month, the Department of Education will withhold money from tax refunds and Social Security benefits, garnish federal employee wages, and withhold federal pensions from people who have defaulted on their student loan debt. Leavitt says “we can not “kick the can down the road” any longer.”

Much of this delinquent debt is said to have resulted from the grace period the Biden administration gave for student loan repayment. The grace period initially was set for 12 months but extended into three years, ending September 30, 2024. The Trump administration will begin collecting the delinquent payments starting May 5. Dr. Walter M. Kimbrough, president of Talladega College, told Black Press USA, “We can have that conversation about people paying their loans as long as we talk about the broader income inequality. Put everything on the table, put it on the table, and we can have a conversation.” Kimbrough asserts, “The big picture is that Black people have a fraction of wealth of white so you’re… already starting with a gap and then when you look at higher education, for example, no one talks about Black G.I.’s that didn’t get the G.I. Bill. A lot of people go to school and build wealth for their family…Black people have a fraction of wealth, so you already start with a wide gap.”

According to the Education Data Initiative, https://educationdata.org/average-time-to-repay-student-loans It takes the average borrower 20 years to pay their student loan debt. It also highlights how some professional graduates take over 45 years to repay student loans. A high-profile example of the timeline of student loan repayment is the former president and former First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama, who paid off their student loans by 2005 while in their 40s. On a related note, then-president Joe Biden spent much time haggling with progressives and Democratic leaders like Senators Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer on Capitol Hill about whether and how student loan forgiveness would even happen.

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#NNPA BlackPress

VIDEO: The Rev. Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. at United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent

https://youtu.be/Uy_BMKVtRVQ Excellencies:       With all protocol noted and respected, I am speaking today on behalf of the Black Press of America and on behalf of the Press of People of African Descent throughout the world.  I thank the Proctor Conference that helped to ensure our presence here at the Fourth Session of the […]

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Excellencies:

      With all protocol noted and respected, I am speaking today on behalf of the Black Press of America and on behalf of the Press of People of African Descent throughout the world.  I thank the Proctor Conference that helped to ensure our presence here at the Fourth Session of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent.
      The focus on AI and digital equity is urgent within the real time realities today where there continues to be what is referred to as the so called mainstream national and international media companies that systematically undergird racism and imperialism against the interests of People of African Descent.
         We therefore call on this distinguished gathering of leaders and experts to challenge member states to cite and to prevent the institutionalization of racism in all forms of media including social media, AI and any form of digital bias and algorithmic discrimination.
            We cannot trust nor entertains the notion that  former and contemporary enslavers will now use AI and digital transformation to respect our humanity and fundamental rights.
              Lastly we recommend that a priority should be given to the convening of an international collective of multimedia organizations  and digital associations that are owned and developed by Africans and People of African Descent.
Basta the crimes against our humanity!
Basta Racism!
Basta Imperialism!
A Luta Continua!
Victory is certain!
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