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St. Paul may be ailing, but the city has sharply reduced gun violence

St. Paul may be ailing, but the city has sharply reduced gun violence

Yahoo25-04-2025

At the insistance of St. Paul mayor Melvin Carter, pictured here at an affordable housing event, Saint Paul police have successfully reduced non-fatal shootings and homicides. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)
Saint Paul is a mess these days.
Hannibal Buress once joked about St. Paul at a Turf Club show by saying, 'fraternal twins,' i.e., there's Minneapolis and then its runtier, sleepier, duller twin.
We've lost our only grocery store downtown, which is looking like a modern day Dickens novel since the pandemic. Most of the downtown real estate is owned by a zombie outfit called Madison Equities, whose neglect of its own buildings has eroded downtown property values.
A failed rent control policy hamstrung development that might have increased housing options and bring more life — and taxpayers — to the city. Our dysfunctional city government — featuring a council that struggles to make it to their own meetings — had to declare an emergency just to get the trash picked up.
No doubt you've driven the roads of our glittering state capital, so you know what that's like.
We also have the highest sales tax in the state and among the highest property taxes.
But you know what we don't have much of anymore? Shootings.
We've had just two homicides this year, compared to eight last year at this time, and neither from gunfire.
The Pioneer Press' Mara Gottfried has been covering this remarkable story.
One key to this success is that St. Paul police are solving non-fatal shootings.
St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry credits Mayor Melvin Carter — whose father was among St. Paul's first Black police officers — with asking this question:
'How is it that the clearance rate for murders — when 'your best witness is dead' — is so much better than cases where there is a surviving witness?'
This question has bothered me for more than a decade, when I wrote about a different police department's lackadaisical attitude toward non-fatal shootings.
More recently, Reformer reporters tracked the problem in 2021 in Minnesota and particularly Minneapolis, with this headline: 'If you shoot someone, you'll probably get away with it.'
Think about it: The perpetrator of a non-fatal shooting is a wannabe murderer who is a bad shot, so why are we allowing so many of them — 90% in some communities — to roam free, especially when shootings often set off multiple rounds of violent retribution?
Carter also delivered resources, which allowed SPPD to devote nine officers to investigating non-fatal shootings.
What do you know: The clearance rate on non-fatals shot up, from 27% to 71% between 2022 and 2024, Gottfried reports. And as the risk of getting caught has gone up, the shootings have declined: As of early April, eight people had beeen injured in shootings, compared to 26 at the same time last year.
Once you take the failed murderers off the street, you see a sharp reduction in murders.
The city also created the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Project PEACE, which they credit with employing what we might call soft power to dissuade specific at-risk young people from going down the wrong path.
Collective safety is the first responsibility of government, and St. Paul is making progress on this front. (Minneapolis has also made strides.)
Consider how this reduction in violence will change lives, families, entire neighborhoods.
Imagine what it's like to go to bed without hearing gunshots, or living without the fear that your kids will catch a stray bullet or get caught up in a cycle of retributive violence.
This governing success has other important implications.
Some people will always believe crime hysteria, but many fair-minded Minnesotans will happily visit the cities or even move here if they know it's safe.
The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party is dominant in the cities, which means that urban governance plays an outsized role in how the party is perceived everywhere else. If the cities are plagued by gunfire, the DFL will own it, and it will drag down the brand, such as it is.
Although the Minnesota DFL held their urban margins in 2024, Democrats in other major cities across the country lost ground in the face of urban disorder, including among Black and immigrant voters.
If the cities can reduce gun violence, however, undecided Minnesotans may find new confidence in the DFL's ability to solve problems.
This is why it's so important for local and state elected officials to prioritize tangible problems that can be solved with proven, local solutions.
A counterexample: St. Paul could spend a billion dollars and have no measurable impact on climate change.
But we can make the city safer and more vibrant.
So, congrats, St. Paul.
Let's start a bonfire in the parking lot of the abandoned CVS on Snelling and have a party.
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Bruises, Threats And Obama-Shaped MDMA: 7 Shocking Revelations From Diddy's Trial
Bruises, Threats And Obama-Shaped MDMA: 7 Shocking Revelations From Diddy's Trial

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Bruises, Threats And Obama-Shaped MDMA: 7 Shocking Revelations From Diddy's Trial

Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex trafficking and racketeering trial is well underway, with witnesses painting a picture of a violent and controlling Combs. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have accused the media mogul of using his money and prestige to run a criminal enterprise since at least 2004. He was indicted on five federal charges: one count of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs' apparent downfall comes after his ex, R&B singer Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura filed a damning lawsuit against him in November 2023. The lawsuit was settled quickly and quietly the following day, but additional accusers came forward alleging that Combs had abused and/or sexually violated them. Some of the accusers were minors at the time of the alleged events. He has denied the allegations against him and pleaded not guilty to the charges. He also rejected a plea deal shortly before the trial started. Combs' attorneys have attempted to downplay the case against him as an attempt to bring down a thriving Black man. In the months that followed, federal authorities raided his homes in Los Angeles and Miami, and CNN released a video showing Combs attacking Ventura in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel in 2016. Combs, who was once celebrated as a beacon of Black male success, has been held at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center since his arrest in September. The trial, which is not being televised or recorded, is expected to last around two months. Jury selection began on May 5. Opening statements occurred the following Monday. Many of the witnesses who have taken the stand essentially described Combs as evil. Kid Cudi called him a 'marvel supervillain;' Ventura said his 'eyes [would] go black;' and Bryana Bongolan, a friend to Ventura, said he called himself the 'devil.' If convicted, Combs could spend the rest of his life in jail. Here's a look at some of the most explosive and jarring moments from the trial. 'There was a line of questioning where your client was nodding vigorously and looking at the jury,' Judge Arun Subramanian told Combs' attorneys on June 5, according to NBC News. 'There should be no efforts to have any interactions with this jury.' The nodding the judge referred to came while Bongolan was on the stand. The judge said that Combs would be removed from the courtroom if he continued. Combs' lead attorney Marc Agnifilo told the judge that the interaction is 'not going to happen again.' 'This cannot happen again,' Subramanian reiterated. A pregnant Ventura took the stand for about a week at the beginning of the trial. At one point, she described what Combs called 'freak-offs.' 'It basically entails the hiring of an escort and setting up this experience so that I could perform for Sean,' Ventura said. The freak-offs allowed for Combs to 'watch me with the other person and actually direct us on what we were doing,' she added. 'Eventually it became a job for me, pretty much,' she claimed, adding that she had to personally reach out to the male escorts and had to participate in the freak-offs even if she was menstruating. She also claimed that he recorded the performances and used them as blackmail against her. Ventura described Combs during sexual encounters: 'His eyes go black. The version of him I was in love with was no longer there,' she said, according to The New York Times. Ventura also discussed being physically abused by Combs. Prosecutors showed the jury images of Ventura's injuries. Some of those images included bruises on her face, back and thigh, and a gash on her eyebrow, USA Today reported. Within two weeks of testifying, Ventura gave birth to her third child with her husband, Alex Fine. Kid Cudi, born Scott Mescudi, briefly dated Ventura in 2011. Mescudi testified on May 22 that Combs broke into his home when he was with Ventura and that he believes he set his luxury vehicle on fire with a Molotov cocktail. 'I'm going to be very candid,' Mescudi said while describing the break-in, according to Rolling Stone. 'I was like, 'Motherfucker, are you in my house?' And he said, 'I just want to talk to you.' I was like, 'I'm on my way over right now.' He was like, 'I'm here.'' But Mescudi did not find Combs when he arrived. He did, however, find that his dog was locked in a bathroom and that Christmas presents had been opened. He said Combs wanted to talk to him, but Mescudi said he responded by telling him, 'You broke into my house. You messed with my dog... Like, I don't want to talk to you.' Mescudi and Ventura stopped seeing each other in late December of 2011. 'The drama, it was just getting out of hand,' Mescudi testified. 'I kind of wanted to give her some space … for my safety, for her safety…' He also told the courtroom that he believed Ventura was 'playing' both him and Combs. Combs' former personal assistant from 2007 to 2009, David James, testified on May 19 that he personally acquired drugs for Combs before. James claimed that Combs used to take opiates during the day and ecstasy at night, according to CNN. Some of the ecstasy pills were shaped like former President Barack Obama, according to James. James also described Combs' drug use in more depth, including informing the jury of a 'medicine bag' that Combs brought around with him, according to Business Insider. 'There were probably 25 to 30 different pillboxes or pill bottles,' James said, according to BI. 'Some were like Advil, Tylenol. He had water pills to help him lose weight. He had Viagra in there. He had some pills that helped increase his sperm count, for example.' 'He did have ecstasy and Percocets in there, as well,' James added. Former member of the music groups Danity Kane and Diddy—Dirty Money, Dawn Richard, testified on May 16 that Combs compelled people in his orbit to stay quiet because 'where he comes from, people who say something can end up missing.' Richard described watching Combs beat Ventura when she took too long to cook his dinner, Business Insider reported. 'He took the skillet with the eggs in it and tried to hit her in the head, and she fell to the ground,' Richard testified. The next day, Combs told Richard and Ventura that 'what we saw was passion, and it was what lovers in a relationship do.' He also told them 'he was trying to take us to the top, and that, where he comes from, people go missing if they say things like that, like, if people talk. And then he gave us flowers,' according to Business Insider's report. Richard filed her own lawsuit against Combs in September 2024. She accused him of sexual assault, retaliation, threatening to end her life and refusing to pay her. Capricorn Clark had an on-and-off working relationship with Combs between 2004 and 2018, at one point working as his former assistant and as the marketing head for Sean Jean at another. She testified on May 27 that Combs kidnapped her at gunpoint in 2011 to kill Mescudi when he learned that Ventura was dating him. According to Clark, Combs came to her home in the early morning with a gun out, told her to get dressed, and said, 'We're going to go kill [Mescudi],' according to NPR. They went inside of Mescudi's house while he was not home, which Mescudi described in his own testimony. Clark claimed that Combs threatened to kill her if she informed the authorities. In a separate instance, Clark said Combs locked her in a building in Manhattan and subjected her to numerous lie detector tests when some of his jewelry went missing, NPR also reported. She said the man testing her told her that she would be 'thrown into the East River' if she failed. 'I was petrified,' Clark said. Mia, the pseudonym for a former assistant for Combs who he tasked with keeping an eye on Ventura, while taking the stand on May 29, described an instance in which Combs attacked Ventura at Prince's house in 2011 or 2012, according to The New York Times. 'Cass and I debated like little kids if we should sneak out of the house,' Mia reportedly said. But Combs showed up at the party. 'Oh, crap,' Mia recalled thinking when she saw her then-boss. 'Me and Cass just booked it.' When Combs caught them, he beat Cassie until a security guard for Prince interfered, according to USA Today. Mia claimed she was fired the next day for 'being insubordinate.' While on the stand, she also testified that Combs sexually assaulted her on more than one occasion. 'I couldn't tell him no about a sandwich — I couldn't tell him no about anything,' she said, according to the Times. 'There was no way I could tell him no, because then he would know that I thought what he was doing was wrong and then I would be a target.' Need help? Visit RAINN's National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center's website. Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) for the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Trump Weighs In On Possible Sean 'Diddy' Combs Pardon: 'He Used To Really Like Me' Cassie's Lawsuit Against Diddy Started A Movement Many Didn't See Coming 'Marvel Supervillain': Kid Cudi Describes Meeting With Diddy After Molotov Cocktail Hit His Porsche

15 Incidents That Remind Us How Close We Still Are To Jim Crow America
15 Incidents That Remind Us How Close We Still Are To Jim Crow America

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15 Incidents That Remind Us How Close We Still Are To Jim Crow America

Every time a slavery-set film like 'Sinners' hits the screen, Black folks are inevitably pulled in two directions: a necessary reckoning with our history and a painful confrontation with how that history continues to bleed into our present, fueling a chilling, subconscious awareness of racist violence. It's a pattern that repeats itself with agonizing regularity. Each time we see an unarmed Black man fall victim to police brutality, each time we witness a Black person targeted by racist vigilantes, and each time a crime that reeks of hate goes inexplicably unclassified as such, we are reminded that the specter of Jim Crow still haunts our modern-day reality. Let's be clear: the rope and tree are not the only instruments of lynching. The legacy of white supremacy finds new and insidious ways to manifest. Here are 15 true crime cases that remind us… we're not that far from the 1960s. In one of the most horrifying police killings to date, Floyd was reported for using a fraudulent bill at a corner store before he was apprehended by a group of Minneapolis Police officers. The 2020 incident shook the world after people watched the bystander video of the arrest, where former officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for nearly 10 minutes as he yelled out for his mother and voiced that he couldn't breathe. Floyd died as a result of the incident but sparked an international movement against police brutality. What happens when a group of white cops have a Black inmate all to themselves? Attorneys say a 'modern day lynching.' Robert Brooks was allegedly beaten to death by a group of New York prison correctional officers. Surveillance footage shows the officers punching him in the chest, striking him in the face and pinning him up against the wall all while he was restrained in handcuffs. At some point, officers were seen pinning him down on his neck and groin with their feet while others took turns punching him. He then fell unresponsive and was declared dead by asphyxiation. Only one of the few officers charged pleaded guilty. The family of Javion Magee took to social media to sound alarms about his mysterious death. The 21-year-old truck driver was found dead in a rural part of North Carolina, leaning up against a tree with a rope around his neck, police said. Authorities ruled his death to be a suicide, arguing that evidence shows he bought the rope from Walmart. However, Magee's family claim he was lynched, arguing he never had a history of mental illness. Three young Black men say they were chased down but a group of seventeen outlaws from biker gang Hell's Angels in a KKK-like pursuit. They recalled being called racial slurs and told they 'didn't belong in the neighborhood,' per prosecutors. One of the men was kicked and punched by one of the gang members while another was stabbed in the chest and suffered a cracked sternum. Prosecutors said these individuals have a history of touting Nazi symbols and displaying white supremacy. They were also slammed with assault charges. Back in 1998, 49-year-old James Byrd took a ride home from a truck full of white men – Shawn Berry, Lawrence Brewer and John King. Unbeknownst to Byrd, the men had strong ties to the Ku Klux Klan. Byrd hopped in the back of the truck and the men took him down an old town road, dragged him out of the back of the truck and brutally beat him with hands, feet and beer bottles. Byrd was then chained by his ankles to the back of their pickup truck and driven wildly down the road for about three miles, leaving a trail of flesh and blood on the ground. Forensic experts say he was conscious for most of the dragging until he was swung over a concrete drainage culvert causing his head to sever from his body along with one of his arms. Once the car stopped, the three men dumped the remains of Byrd's body in a cemetery and drove off to a barbeque like nothing happened. The authorities say they found 81 different places where Byrd's scattered remains were found. Shawn Berry was sentenced to life in prison after cooperating with the investigation into Byrd's death, Lawrence Brewer was executed by lethal injection in connection to the murder and John King was placed on death row but wasn't executed until 2019. When the only Black guy on a camping trip ends up dead, you can expect there to be questions. Spencer, 29, was found shot to death at a home in rural Pennsylvania after being invited on a trip with a former co-worker, per NBC. Spencer's family believed the cops were trying to paint their loved one out to be the aggressor and argue that he was murdered in cold blood. None of the four witnesses were immediately arrested or charged despite a number of firearms and substances collected from the scene, police said. The man accused of shooting him will not face charges in the incident after authorities claim he acted in self-defense. Father and son duo Travis and Greg McMichael, initiated a chase in their pickup truck behind Arbery as he jogged through the neighborhood, suspecting he was looting a nearby property that was under renovation. Travis hopped out of the truck and fatally shot Arbery at close range. Despite arguing that they were trying to protect the neighborhood, investigators found loads of social media posts riddled with racist rhetoric suggesting their targeting of Arbery was racially motivated. The two were convicted of hate crimes. Tamla Horsford was found dead in a friend's backyard years ago. She had been invited to a slumber party where she'd been drinking, per 11Alive News. Witnesses claimed Horsford went out on the balcony for a cigarette when she allegedly fell over the balcony to her death, leading police to rule her death as an accident under the influence of alcohol and marijuana. However, the position of her body at the crime scene as well as an independent autopsy found Horsford sustained serious injuries before she fell including blunt force trauma to her body. Also, photos from throughout the event don't show Horsford being sick or incoherent. Being she was the only Black person present at the party, her family believed foul play was afoot. Authorities say Johnson was found by classmates in the school gym, stuck upside down in a gym mat. Georgia Bureau of Investigation ruled he died of asphyxia in some weird accident, suffocating while trying to retrieve a shoe. However, the teen's cause of death later showed he suffered blunt force trauma to the head and other injuries from what seemed like a Taser according to his death certificate and a third autopsy done in 2018. Johnson's family still believes foul play was involved despite the authorities' claim that there's no evidence to support that theory. Instead, they believe two white brothers beat him to death and hid his body out of retaliation of Johnsons talking to one of their girlfriends. They also believe the boys' fathers, who were connected to law enforcement, helped clear the boys of any criminal fault. Eddie Parker and Michael Jenkins accused a gang of former Ranking County sheriff's deputies – Hunter Elward, Brett McAlpin, Christian Dedmon, Daniel Opdyke, Jeffrey Middleton and former Richland Police Department officer Joshua Hartfield – of torturing them in a no-knock raid. The two outlined the horrifying incident in a lawsuit detailing that they were profiled by a neighbor who saw them entering a white woman's home – which was a friend of theirs. When the officers pulled up on them, Jenkins and Parker said they were bound, forced to strip nude, sexually assaulted as well as beaten. Jenkins was also shot in the jaw after an officer shoved his firearm in his mouth. The so-called 'Goon Squad' pleaded guilty to federal charges in connection to the incident. On his way to meet some friends, Booker walked onto property he didn't know was private. He told police he was then apprehended by a group of white men accusing him of trespassing. Though he tried to calmly explain himself, he says the men proceeded to beat him, rip out his hair and threaten to break his arms. In the midst of the chaos, he said he heard one of them say 'get a noose.' The two men involved were criminally charged. However, Booker claims he was retaliated against by authorities who threatened to charge him in the incident if he didn't drop the charges against the two men. A 22-year-old Black woman escaped Haslett's captivity, running from his house screaming with a metal dog collar around her neck, police say. The woman told authorities Haslett said two other women 'didn't make it' – one dying by electrocution during a sexual encounter and another dying by a gas mask. The Kansas City Defender found Haslett had social media riddled with racist posts, including nasty references to Breonna Taylor. He was charged with first-degree rape, aggravated sexual offense, first-degree kidnapping, second-degree assault and first-degree murder of another Black woman. Taylor and his girlfriend were kidnapped by a group of Philadelphia police officers and frisked for their money and drugs. While his girlfriend was let go, Taylor disappeared and his mother and sister were shot and injured. It wasn't until a dozen years later that police located Taylor's remains in a shallow grave. Prosecutors found he was suffocated to death by the group of cops, per CBS. Also, those cops weren't cops but impersonating law enforcement. The five were charged with kidnapping resulting in death. One of them was acquitted. Authorities say McClain was walking home from the convenience store when someone called 911 to report a suspicious-looking Black man. Within eight seconds of exiting his patrol car, an officer ran up on McClain and immediately tried to grab him, prosecutors argued. Per USA TODAY's report, they also claim that instead of de-escalating the situation, the officers made the situation more intense as they tackled McClain to the ground and placed him the now-banned carotid artery control hold which rendered him temporarily unconscious. The responding officers and EMTs argued McClain displayed 'superhuman' strength leading to a fatal dose of ketamine. Two of the three officers was acquitted of criminal charges. Over the past few years, neighborhoods all over the nation have randomly been taunted with flyers from KKK or white supremacist groups either telling people of color to get out or inviting racists to be recruited into their antics. On the other hand, some communities have seen the hate firsthand by Nazi or white supremacist marches coming through town. The last one we saw went through a predominantly Black neighborhood and almost got f-cked up! The residents burned their flags, snatched their posters and forced them out of their town limits.

82% of HBCUs Fight Internet Deserts: One Institution's Strategy for Change
82% of HBCUs Fight Internet Deserts: One Institution's Strategy for Change

CNET

time2 hours ago

  • CNET

82% of HBCUs Fight Internet Deserts: One Institution's Strategy for Change

Imagine trying to complete your senior research project without access to a stable internet connection. Or consider how difficult it might be to do work on a group project if you're constantly getting kicked off your Wi-Fi. That's the reality for many students at historically Black colleges and universities. Dr. Dwaun J. Warmack, president of Claflin University, shared a story about an email he received a few years ago from a student facing that very scenario. The student wrote: 'It is my prayer that Claflin's passion for education aligns with its compassion. I am currently typing my senior research paper at the local McDonald's that I drive to nine miles every day to do this work because my town doesn't have Wi-Fi bandwidth.' She said she would sit in the parking lot for four hours daily to work on her senior thesis. Shortly after receiving this email, Claflin University partnered with the Student Freedom Initiative to help provide students with broadband access. According to a 2021 McKinsey report, 82% of HBCUs are located in broadband deserts. These broadband deserts are areas that either severely lack access to adequate internet or have little internet at all. Despite this, broadband programs aimed at closing the digital divide in the US are currently in retreat. In May, President Donald Trump announced the termination of the Digital Equity Act, calling it 'racist' and 'unconstitutional.' This $2.75 billion program was part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law from 2021. It was established to help close the digital divide by increasing broadband adoption. This program was also essential to funding digital literacy initiatives for public schools and colleges, with some states and local governments already beginning to receive grant rewards. With the untimely end of the DEA, those funds never reached their destination. Locating local internet providers In 2020, students at Claflin University and the surrounding areas in Orangeburg, South Carolina, struggled with inadequate internet access because they lived in a broadband desert. 'The only way for students to actually get access to content was to come together in areas that provided [broadband] access, which created a problem,' said Keith Shoates, the president and CEO of the Student Freedom Initiative. He highlighted that at a time when students were supposed to be in quarantine, they were forced to come out of isolation and put themselves and their peers at risk just to do their schoolwork. The Student Freedom Initiative is a nonprofit organization that seeks to reduce the wealth gap through education. In 2023, SFI partnered with technology company Cisco, providing 5G internet service across campus. While the Orangeburg community still faces challenges from being in a broadband desert, Claflin University has since transformed its broadband desert into a thriving space for students. A long history of HBCUs in broadband deserts Access to an adequate internet connection equips students to do better in the classroom and beyond. But many HBCUs are in broadband deserts. These broadband deserts are located primarily in the Black Rural South of the US. According to a report from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, the Black Rural South consists of more than 152 counties in 10 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. This information pretty much matches data from the Student Freedom Initiative. As seen from the map above, the Student Freedom Initiative currently works with more than 25 HBCUs in broadband deserts, all located along the Black Rural South in the US. These include Tuskegee University, Florida A&M University, Xavier University of Louisiana and Hampton University. Knowing the history of HBCUs helps one better understand these broadband deserts and how they exist. HBCUs are among the most underfunded institutions in the country because of the effects of historical and present-day systemic racism and practices like digital redlining. The term redlining dates back to the New Deal era in the 1930s when banks denied residents from 'at-risk' neighborhoods, predominantly from Black communities, to qualify for loans. During this era, government agencies created color-coded maps, highlighting which neighborhoods are least to most risky in terms of loan-worthiness. Digital redlining is a discriminatory practice that involves internet providers excluding their services in certain locations. If you take a look at a map, you can see the distinction between areas with broadband and those without. According to data from the US Census Bureau (PDF), residents in urban areas were more likely than those in rural areas to have broadband internet subscriptions. Moreover, more than 90% of households in the urban south had broadband access in 2021, versus 85% in the rural south. For example, Mississippi, New Mexico and West Virginia ranked the lowest in broadband access. US Census Bureau Although redlining has been illegal for quite some time, a form of digital redlining still exists, as seen by the lack of competition among internet providers in the Black Rural South. HBCUs are located in areas with inadequate broadband infrastructure and it doesn't help that these institutions are severely underfunded by at least $12 million in more than 15 states. According to a Brookings Metro report (PDF), 'HBCUs are chronically underfunded due to state underinvestment, lower alumni contributions (related to lower Black incomes and Black wealth), and lower endowments.' Plenty of studies have shown that low-income communities often lack access to adequate home broadband connections. The McKinsey report noted earlier also shows that more than 81% of HBCUs are in counties where the median wage is below the national average and, compared to non-HBCUs, are in areas where the projected job growth is below the national average. Why does this matter? Improving broadband infrastructure would not just benefit HBCUs or the millions of disconnected Americans in rural communities but could help the US economy at large. Broadband access for HBCUs could mobilize the economy There seems to be a wave of uncertainty regarding the country's current state of broadband programs. The Affordable Connectivity Program ended in May 2024, leaving more than 23 million households without access to affordable home internet and, with the recent news about the Digital Equity Act, disconnected Americans may rely on federal funds primarily from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program. But states have run into delays in receiving those funds because of bureaucratic changes. Additionally, there could be further holdups in light of potential changes to the program from the new administration. According to some estimates, most states may not hear back on a timeline until June or July. Shoates emphasized SFI's commitment to helping students, regardless of where federal broadband programs stand in this country. 'We're still moving forward because the problem still exists,' Shoates said. He emphasized the significance of moving forward with non-federal sources to address the broadband gap for students. In addition to their partnership with Cisco in deploying 5G internet hotspots for Claflin University, SFI also connects these HBCUs to high-net-worth individuals, organizations and other philanthropists in their network. The Student Freedom Initiative was founded after Robert F. Smith, a philanthropist and Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, gave nearly $34 million to the graduating class of Morehouse College in 2019, paying off their student loans. Smith currently serves as SFI's chairman. Without the federal backbone support, nonprofit groups such as SFI will work with state legislatures and their corporate partners to keep the wheels moving. Still, eliminating or stalling federal funding from this equation will slow the reduction of the broadband gap. Warmack, Claflin's president, conveyed that federal broadband funding can really help, especially for severely underfunded institutions such as HBCUs. For example, Claflin University received a $2.9 million grant from the Connecting Minority Community Project through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which helped provide wireless internet on campus and in the surrounding areas. Shoates maintains that investing in HBCUs and improving their broadband infrastructure could potentially increase economic activity by half a trillion dollars, which would be reflected in the country's GDP. McKinsey According to data from McKinsey, a strong HBCU network could increase Black worker incomes by about $10 million, contribute at least $1.2 billion in incremental business profit, reduce student loan debt by $300 million and provide $1 billion in additional consumer expenditures. Broadband access and future student outcomes According to a 2021 report from the Institute for Higher Education Policy (PDF), 13% of Black students primarily use a tablet or cellphone to complete their coursework, compared to 8% of college students who do not. More than half of Black students who reported having unreliable internet connections complained about being able to access only some content online and or that it's difficult because of slow internet. From the 2021 report, Online Isn't Optional. Student Polling on Access to Internet and Devices. Institute of Higher Education Policy Yvette Thomas, SFI's program director of Institutional Transformation, said that HBCUs face persisting challenges because of the lack of high-speed broadband and the digital gap, which restricts students from accessing resources and online professional opportunities. Thomas spearheads the execution of HBCU capacity building, including modernizing the Information Technology infrastructure. 'When kids come to college, they usually come with at least five to six devices for the network and it slows the network down,' Thomas said. Without access to a high-speed internet connection, students can fall behind in the digital landscape, especially in the new era of artificial intelligence. 'There's gonna be this 26-mile marathon and they're gonna be on mile two … and that puts them at a competitive disadvantage,' Shoates said. He added that broadband access is imperative to students as it equips them with the proper digital literacy skills they need in the workforce. Claflin University has since transformed its broadband desert into a space that provides 5G internet for students but what about the other 82% of HBCUs still living in these internet deserts? Who's to say that there aren't others with similar experiences to that Claflin student driving to a McDonald's parking lot for Wi-Fi just to complete work? Without the federal backbone support, the work of SFI, its corporate partners and generous donations from philanthropists are vital to help reduce the broadband gap in the meantime.

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