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COMMENTARY: A Tale of Two Graduations

NNPA NEWSWIRE — “…while the students are demographically different, one can hope that the call to “practice humanity” is one that will be heeded. It is, perhaps a sign of the times, that graduates have to be urged to practice humanity, but so much of our world is inhumane, placing profits over people, that the admonition is appropriate.”

Published

7 years ago

June 18, 2019

Oakland Post

By Julianne Malveaux, NNPA Newswire Contributor

I love graduations! I thoroughly enjoy the sense of achievement and possibility that permeates the air. Graduations signify an ending, but the term “commencement” is used to signify beginnings since they are not only an opportunity to mark completion, but also to mark the beginning of a new chapter of life. In some ways, commencements, regardless of the college or university, with the pomp and circumstance, the ritual robes, the rousing speeches, the tearful families. The two commencements I attended during this graduation season shared those characteristics, but in many ways, they could not have been more different.

I attended the commencement at the University of the District of Columbia because my dear friend and fearless leader, Rev. Jesse Jackson received an honorary degree. Congresswoman Maxine Waters also received an honorary degree and delivered the commencement address. Nearly a month later, I attended the commencement ceremony at Dartmouth College, where my beloved godson, Matthew Elijah Brown, earned his undergraduate degree.

Dartmouth is located in bucolic Hanover, New Hampshire, miles away from anything that resembles an urban space (Boston is more than 2 hours away). Its student body is overwhelmingly white, with nonwhite students (which includes African American, Latin, Asian American, Native American, and others) representing less than 15 percent of the population. The cost of attendance at Dartmouth exceeds $60,000.

UDC an urban, land-grant HBCU, has several campuses, including a flagship campus in upper Northwest, DC and a community college not too far from Union Station. Its student body is predominately minority. Tuition at the flagship campus is a bit over $5000. Most UDC students are part-time students; most Dartmouth students attend full-time. The UDC student body is predominately female, while Dartmouth didn’t admit its first women to the college until 1973.

While Congresswoman Waters was the commencement speaker at UDC, the cellist Yo-Yo Ma was the commencement speaker at Dartmouth. I’m not sure what my expectations were of the cellist, but he exceeded them! He delivered provocative and challenging remarks in a still, soothing voice, reminding students that they have a power that should never be abused. He challenged students to be human beings before they are professionals or careerists. Most interestingly, he urged stillness. He said, “Learn to listen to the voice in the wilderness. Learn to be the voice in the wilderness.” What a message to give a group of young people who will easily earn six figures upon graduation, many headed to Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and the venture capital world! If I didn’t know any better, the gentle Yo-Yo Ma could have been delivering a rebuke to the current inhabitant of the House that Enslaved People Built and the many other conformists who do not embrace the value of humanity. “Practice your humanity daily,” the cellist said. He offered solid and stirring advice in an extremely graceless age. And then he played the cello.

While Yo-Yo Ma didn’t mention the name of the cretin in the House that Enslaved People Built, Maxine Waters, calling for activism certainly did. Like Yo-Yo Ma, she encouraged students to find their voices. The fiery Congresswoman urged them to activism. She took on hypocrisy in tones far more strident than Yo Yo Ma’s, but she was equally inspirational. And while Yo Yo Ma didn’t tackle public policy much, Waters did, focusing on the oppressive legislation that has been characteristic of this administration.

The similarity in the two commencement addresses lay in the call for self-awareness, disruption, humanity, and focus. While many students don’t remember their commencement speaker, it is unlikely that students at either UDC or Dartmouth will forget the speakers they experienced. And while the students are demographically different, one can hope that the call to “practice humanity” is one that will be heeded. It is, perhaps a sign of the times, that graduates have to be urged to practice humanity, but so much of our world is inhumane, placing profits over people, that the admonition is appropriate.

There are more than 4000 four-year colleges and universities in our nation. The students graduating from Dartmouth and UDC represent a small fraction of the total. The UDC students, many nontraditional, are more likely to shoulder student debt than the Dartmouth students. But both sets of students will face challenges, and both have the responsibility, as Maxine Waters urged, to find a cause and tackle it. And, in the words of Yo-Yo Ma, to “practice humanity.”

Julianne Malveaux is an author and economist. Her latest project MALVEAUX! On UDCTV is available on youtube.com. For booking, wholesale inquiries or for more info visit www.juliannemalveaux.com.

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LIVE from the NMA Convention Raheem DeVaughn Says The Time Is Now: Let’s End HIV in Our Communities #2

Set against the backdrop of the NMA conference, Executive Officers from the National Medical Association, Grammy Award Winning Artist and Advocate Raheem DeVaughn, and Gilead Sciences experts, are holding today an important conversation on HIV prevention and health equity. Black women continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV despite advances in prevention options. Today’s event […]

Published

3 days ago

February 3, 2026

Oakland Post

Black women continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV despite advances in prevention options. Today’s event is designed to uplift voices, explore barriers to access, and increase awareness and key updates about PrEP, a proven prevention method that remains underutilized among Black women. This timely gathering will feature voices from across health, media, and advocacy as we break stigma and center equity in HIV prevention.

Additional stats and information to know:

● Black women continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV, with Black women representing more than 50% of new HIV diagnoses among women in the U.S. in 2022, despite comprising just 13% of women in the U.S.

● Women made up only 8% of PrEP users despite representing 19% of all new HIV diagnoses in 2022.

● Gilead Sciences is increasing awareness and addressing stigma by encouraging regular HIV testing and having judgment-free conversations with your healthcare provider about prevention options, including oral PrEP and long-acting injectable PrEP options.

● PrEP is an HIV prevention medication that has been available since 2012.

● Only 1 in 3 people in the U.S. who could benefit from PrEP were prescribed a form of PrEP in 2022.

Oakland Post

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TRUMP: “Washington, D.C. is Safe”

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — President Trump, who typically travels with a full contingent of high-level protection, insinuated that he finally felt safe enough to go to dinner in the District of Columbia. “My wife and I went out to dinner last night for the first time in four years,” said the nation’s 47th president.

Published

3 days ago

February 3, 2026

Oakland Post

By Apriil Ryan
BlackPressUSA Washington Bureau Chief and White House Correspondent

“Washington, D.C. is safe,” President Trump declared from the Oval Office today. Those words came while Trump was hosting Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. During the question-and-answer session, which primarily focused on a peace deal in the Russian-Ukrainian war, Trump explained, “You did that in four days.” He was speaking of how fast the National Guard quelled the violence in what was once called Chocolate City.

The President deployed the National Guard to D.C. a week ago, to a city with reduced crime rates over the previous year. Violent crime dropped by 26%, marking the lowest level in 30 years. Homicides also fell by 11%.

President Trump, who typically travels with a full contingent of high-level protection, insinuated that he finally felt safe enough to go to dinner in the District of Columbia. “My wife and I went out to dinner last night for the first time in four years,” said the nation’s 47th president.

Trump reinforced his claim about the newly acquired safety in D.C. by relaying that a friend’s son is attending dinner in D.C., something he would not have done last year.

After the president finished his comments, a reporter/commentator in the room with close connections to Marjorie Taylor Greene jumped into the high-level conversation to affirm the president’s comments, saying, “I walked around yesterday with MTG. If you can walk around D.C. with MTG and not be attacked, this city is safe.”

That reporter was the same person who chastised President Zelenskyy months ago during his first Oval Office meeting with Trump for not wearing a business suit. Zelenskyy, a wartime President, has been clad in less formal attire to reflect the country’s current war stance against Russia.

Without any sourcing, President Trump also said, “People that haven’t gone out to dinner in Washington, D.C., in two years are going out to dinner, and the restaurants the last two days have been busier than they’ve been in a long time.”

The increase in policing in Washington, D.C. is because a 19-year-old former Doge employee was carjacked in the early hours of the morning recently.

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Rising Energy Costs Weigh Heaviest on Black Households

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — For many African American families, the cost of keeping the lights on and homes heated or cooled is not just a monthly bill — it’s a crushing financial burden.

Published

3 days ago

February 3, 2026

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

For many African American families, the cost of keeping the lights on and homes heated or cooled is not just a monthly bill — it’s a crushing financial burden.

A new national study from Binghamton University and California State University, San Bernardino, finds that Black households spend a far larger share of their income on energy compared to white households, even when income levels are the same. “We often say that African Americans suffer more, but we often blame it just on income. And the reality is, there is something more there,” study author George Homsy, associate professor at Binghamton University, wrote. “It’s not just because they tend to be poor. There is something that’s putting them at a disadvantage. I think what happened is it happens to be where they live.” The study, published in Energy Research & Social Science, analyzed 65,000 census tracts across the United States. It found that while the average American household spends about 3.2% of income on energy bills, households in the majority African American census tracts spend an average of 5.1%.

Homsy and researcher Ki Eun Kang point to the age and condition of housing stock, along with lower homeownership rates, as key drivers. Their research concludes that “energy burden is not simply a matter of income or energy cost but also race, which might be driven by place.” Older, less energy-efficient housing and high rental rates in Black communities mean residents often cannot make upgrades like improved insulation or new appliances, locking families into higher bills.

Tradeoffs and Health Risks

The consequences go beyond money. Families forced to spend 10% or more of their income on energy — what experts classify as “unmanageable” — may cut back on food, medicine, or other essentials. More than 12 million U.S. households report leaving their homes at unsafe temperatures to reduce costs, while millions more fall behind on utility bills. The health effects are severe. High energy burdens increase risks of asthma, depression, poor sleep, pneumonia, and even premature death. The issue is especially acute for African Americans, who are disproportionately exposed to housing and environmental conditions that amplify these risks.

Washington, D.C.: A Case Study

In Washington, D.C., the problem is particularly stark. A recent analysis by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) shows that SNAP-eligible households spend more than 20% of their income on energy bills. Across the metro area, nearly two-thirds of low-income households devote over 6% of their income to energy, and 40% face what researchers call a “severe financial strain,” paying more than 10%. Pepco, the District’s primary electricity provider, has implemented three consecutive annual rate hikes, pushing the average household bill to $114 per month as of January 2025. Shutoffs have followed — nearly 12,000 customers lost service in 2024, with disconnections doubling after a summer rate hike. Washington Gas has also sought a 12% rate increase and pushed a controversial $215 million pipeline replacement project, rebranded as “District SAFE.” The plan could ultimately cost D.C. households an additional $45,000 each over several decades, or nearly $1,000 annually added to bills.

Historical Roots

Researchers argue that these inequities are not accidental but rooted in history. The ScienceDirect study reveals that African American communities living in formerly redlined neighborhoods continue to face disadvantages today — from poor housing quality to higher climate risks. Homsy says policymakers must make targeted efforts. “It is harder to get to rental units where a lot of poor people live,” he noted. “We need to work harder to get into these communities of color.”