Latest news with #Bettmann
Black America Web
6 hours ago
- Business
- Black America Web
Target Loses $12 Billion —Biggest Boycott Since Montgomery Bus Protest
Source: Bettmann / Getty In what's being widely recognized as the most impactful Black-led boycott since the Montgomery Bus Boycott of the 1950s, Target has suffered a staggering $12 billion loss in market value. The ripple effects were swift: stock prices tumbled, and the company's CEO saw his salary slashed by nearly half. And it all started with a unified community refusing to spend. At the heart of this movement is a renewed focus on economic justice and buying power, led by Black organizers and everyday consumers who decided enough was enough. The digital front lines were powered by platforms like @miiriya_, a Black-owned marketplace app that promotes shopping from Black businesses and creators. Their viral posts and grassroots messaging helped ignite a widespread movement calling for economic withdrawal from companies perceived to be failing the Black community—Target being a key focus. This boycott didn't just trend—it translated into billions of dollars in real economic consequence. While Target has yet to release a full statement addressing the financial fallout, the damage is already done. More importantly, the message has been delivered: Black consumers are not to be overlooked or taken for granted. The comparisons to the Montgomery Bus Boycott are more than symbolic. That historic protest lasted over a year and reshaped American civil rights. Today's version happened in a digital world, but the strategy is rooted in the same core principle: collective financial action leads to real accountability. The success of this boycott is a blueprint for future organizing. It shows that through tech, social platforms, and intentional spending, Black economic power can shift markets. It also highlights the importance of supporting Black-owned alternatives like Miiriya, which not only gives consumers a place to shop with purpose but also reinforces a vision for long-term community sustainability. RELATED: Target Messed Around And Found Out, Reports 1st Quarter Sales Slump SEE ALSO Target Loses $12 Billion —Biggest Boycott Since Montgomery Bus Protest was originally published on Black America Web Featured Video CLOSE
Black America Web
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Black America Web
Malcolm X's Spiritual Shift: From The Nation Of Islam To Sunni Faith
Source: Bettmann / Getty Today marks 100 years since the birth of Malcolm X, one of the most significant figures in the history of Black America. A century later, his enduring legacy is remembered not just in the United States but across the globe. The impact of his radical activism continues to be honoured worldwide, especially in the face of ongoing injustice. The final two years of Malcolm's life, following his break from the Nation of Islam, marked a pivotal shift toward internationalist and anti-capitalist values deeply embedded in his activism. After returning from the Hajj in April 1964 and undertaking extensive travels across Africa and the Middle East, Malcolm concluded that 'our success in America will involve two circles: Black Nationalism and Islam.' Black Nationalism, he argued, was essential for connecting African Americans with Africa, while Islam served as the 'spiritual link to Africa, Arabia, and Asia.' His famed Letter from Mecca , written during the Hajj, can thus be viewed as a revelatory moment foreshadowing the rapid evolution of his worldview and politics in the two years leading up to his untimely death. The views expressed in the letter, which came as a surprise to his audience back home, not only confirmed the finality of his split from the Nation of Islam but also revealed his newfound commitment to a more universal vision of brotherhood, humanity, and international solidarity in the pursuit of Black liberation. Upon returning to the United States, Malcolm X founded the Organisation of Afro-American Unity (OOAU) as an extension of his earlier Muslim Mosque, Inc. (MMI). His eventual fusion of Black Nationalism and Islam successfully brought together secular activists and Black Muslims from across the country, within a framework that was increasingly anti-capitalist, anti-colonial, and internationalist. Malcolm drew inspiration from various African and Arab nationalist movements that combined socialism with ideals of global brotherhood and solidarity, such as the rise of Nasserism in Egypt and Kwame Nkrumah's anti-colonial efforts in Ghana. He also expressed support for revolutionary movements in China and Cuba, and even personally met with Fidel Castro before his departure from the Nation of Islam. While his travels through the Muslim world reinforced the insights he gained during the Hajj, particularly that Islam is 'the one religion that erases from society the race problem,' his journey across Africa also awakened him to classism and other systemic forms of oppression within Black communities on the continent. These experiences deepened his conviction that European colonialism and exploitation were inextricably linked to capitalist greed. He consistently voiced his anger at how European colonists had severely underdeveloped and continued to exploit African people, both on the continent and across the Atlantic. In the final months of his life, Malcolm also traveled to Europe. He visited the United Kingdom twice, scathingly describing it as the birthplace of imperialism. In February 1965, shortly before his assassination, he visited a town in England's West Midlands after learning that local Black residents were being denied the right to buy or rent property in the area. His first visit to the UK, only a few months earlier, was to debate at the Oxford Union, where he argued in favor of the motion: 'Extremism in the defence of liberty is no vice; moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.' Thus, while Malcolm's break from the Nation of Islam reflected a shift toward a more internationalist approach to Black self-determination, his commitment to justice remained as radical and as 'extreme' as ever. One hundred years since his birth, the profound legacy of Malcolm's 'extremism' continues to inspire and endure. If the liberation movements of today are successors to the radical sixties, when Malcolm X still walked among us, then his fearless fight for freedom remains an eternal symbol of justice, transcending time. SEE ALSO Malcolm X's Spiritual Shift: From The Nation Of Islam To Sunni Faith was originally published on Black America Web Featured Video CLOSE
CBS News
08-05-2025
- CBS News
Live: 1985 MOVE bombing to be remembered as Philadelphia City Council calls for "reflection" 40 years later
May 13, 2025, will mark 40 years to the day after the MOVE bombing, when the Philadelphia Police Department dropped a bomb on the headquarters of the Black liberation, back-to-nature group's Osage Avenue headquarters. The bomb started a fire that ended up destroying more than 60 row houses in the West Philadelphia neighborhood. Five children and six adults in the MOVE house were killed. All shared the adopted surname Africa. Aerial view of smoke rising from smoldering rubble where some 60 homes were destroyed by fire after a shoot out and bombing by police at the back-to-nature Black liberation group MOVE's house in West Philadelphia while police were attempting to force the group's eviction. Bettmann via Getty Images On Thursday, Philadelphia City Council will hold a hearing addressing the decades since the bombing and vote on a resolution that would establish May 13 as a day of remembrance and reflection. You can watch the vote live on CBS Philadelphia's YouTube channel and hear speeches from members of the Africa family in the player above. The city is still dealing with the aftermath of the incident decades later. In 2021, remains of some of the victims were discovered to be in the custody of the Penn Museum, and more remains, believed to be those of 12-year-old Delisha Africa, were discovered in 2024. The Africa family has since purchased the original Osage Avenue plot that contained their home and headquarters. This is a developing story and will be updated.
National Geographic
07-05-2025
- General
- National Geographic
These daredevil women pilots helped beat Hitler in WWII
Banned from flying in the U.S., these 25 American women headed to Britain to help ferry military aircraft—and fascinated the public with their free-wheeling lives. The women Of Air Transport Auxiliary flew the biggest bombers and the sleekest fighters. Photograph byThe United States barred women pilots from the armed forces during World War II, but that didn't stop 25 courageous young trailblazers. They bolted for Great Britain in 1942 to become the first American women to fly military aircraft. The pilots have been mostly forgotten ever since. But during the war, they shook things up wherever they landed, prompting headlines like one in the New York Herald Tribune. The pilots, it said, 'Fly 121 Types of Planes, Sleep Wherever They Land, Find Romance and Tragedy.' Jacqueline Cochran, American aviatrix, winner of Bendix Transcontinental Air Race, 1938. Photograph by Bettmann, GETTY IMAGES No wonder the public was fascinated. Noble, glamorous, and bold, the pilots represented a cross-section of American womanhood, from crop dusters to debutantes, college girls to performers in flying circuses. The famous aviatrix Jacqueline Cochran was the most celebrated, having risen from childhood poverty to become a millionaire cosmetics mogul who won cross-country air races and shattered records for speed. She set the adventure in motion by inviting the others to join her across the Atlantic. Britain, suffering under constant aerial attack from Germany, was desperate enough to accept a mix of pilots—even foreigners, and yes, even women. Those who made the grade performed one of the most dangerous jobs of the war for a unit called the Air Transport Auxiliary. One in seven pilots died in the course of the work, which called on them to deliver ultimately up to 147 different models of relatively untested fighters and bombers from factories to the frontline airfields of the Royal Air Force, then turn around and return shot-up wrecks for repair. They knew very little about what could go wrong until they were high in the sky. Many pilots crashed or made spectacular saves. Far from home, the free-wheeling, free-thinking American women proved themselves in the air, flying the world's most advanced aircraft in all conditions. On the ground, they reinvented themselves as they pleased, defying expectations for women at the time and often shocking their British hosts with thoroughly modern behavior. Under simulated flight conditions, Women's Air Service Pilots learned the intricacies of proper handling of equipment at high altitudes in a pressurized room at Randolph Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas, 1940s. Photograph(These female pilots broke down barriers in aviation) Bulgaria's cultural capital Socialites and speed demons Twenty-three-year-old Dorothy Furey was a stunning beauty determined to overcome an impoverished background and an eighth-grade education. She passed in England as a sort of American aristocrat by acting imperious and recycling a single red evening dress. Impervious to scandal, she carried on an adulterous affair with a British lord. Eventually she married him and became a countess. Meanwhile, Virginia Farr, also 23, was known back home as 'the flying socialite.' Her wealthy family expected her to marry well, but she seized on her service in Britain to escape from that gilded cage. Thanks to discipline and rock-solid nerves, Farr advanced quickly to the most difficult assignments in rugged outposts. In private, she fell in love with a woman. January 10th, 1940: Women pilots of the Transport Auxiliary Service, who ferried new RAF aircraft from factory to aerodromes, ran to their planes to give a demonstration of their skills. Photograph by Hudson/TopicalFarr's archrival in the sky was Winnie Pierce, a 25-year-old who lived for thrills and delighted in breaking the rules. When she first arrived, the British rolled their eyes at the hard-drinking party girl. But early in her service, the entire airfield watched in horror as her engine failed just after takeoff in a brand-new Hurricane fighter. Everyone knew this was one of the most perilous circumstances a pilot could face. The Hurricane was too low to offer time for Winnie to find a suitable farming field where she might glide down to safety. Protocol called for her to aim straight ahead and crash into some buildings, because any other alternative was even more likely to be fatal. To try to turn back to the airport was a maneuver known as 'the impossible turn,' because few pilots possessed the skill to pull it off. In a snap, Winnie decided to defy procedure. She pushed through shock with shaking hands as she swung aircraft around, wobbled into position and hit the field without a swerve. Suddenly, she was treated with new respect— 'all that rot about 'good show,'' she wrote in her diary. Hazel Jane Raines, a 25-year-old former stunt pilot in Georgia air shows, also showed her mettle when the engine of a Spitfire fighter failed just as she entered a cloudbank. The whiteout made it impossible to judge left from right, up from down. Raines slipped into a deadly spin that could have drilled the aircraft straight into the ground. But when she finally broke free from the haze, she used her stunt flying expertise to level out in time and save her life. On land, Raines befriended the rich and powerful Lady Astor, who wanted Hazel to marry one of her sons, but Hazel declined. She insisted, 'The sky is my home as long as there is a place up there for me.' American pilot Jacqueline Cochran (far right) talked to members of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force at work on a Hawker Hurricane MkIIb fighter aircraft of 242 (Canadian) Squadron Royal Air Force Fighter Command. Photograph by Central Press/The women competed to fly the biggest, fastest, scariest aircraft, hoping that they could secure careers in the air when the war was over. Jackie Cochran returned home early in the fall of 1942 to help launch the Women Air Force Service Pilots [the WASP]. They delivered aircraft within the United States based on the success of the women in Britain. After the war, Cochran achieved more aviation landmarks, becoming the first woman to break the sound barrier. It was tough going for others as the war ended. Passenger airlines wouldn't hire female pilots, yet some found other aviation work. Ann Wood had been a college graduate who spent her downtime in London making connections with diplomats, generals, journalists, and spies who might help her career. After the war she had to decide between marrying a man she loved and pursuing a serious job. Wood eventually landed a position at Pan Am as the first woman vice president of an American airline. Nancy Miller, who today is the last surviving pilot at the age of 105, became the second American woman to earn a commercial helicopter license. She and her husband founded the first helicopter charter company in Alaska. Nancy Harkness Love, 28, director of the U.S. Women's Auxiliary Ferry Squadron, adjusted her helmet in the cockpit of an Army plane before taking off from an eastern United States base. The women under her command flew planes from factories to coastal airports, for transport to overseas battle fronts. Photograph by National Archives (208-N-4223) At the age of 19, Mary Zerbel had been the youngest woman flying instructor in the United States. When she returned from England, she delivered dicey surplus aircraft to dodgy locations around the world. Her career was so dramatic that Lana Turner starred in the movie The Lady Takes a Flyer based on Zerbel's life. Yet when she died in 2012, her obituary consisted of only three sentences in a newspaper in Idaho—no mention of her flying career. Few of her colleagues received any notice either. The pilots had lived as women ahead of their time, but despite their pioneering service, they were barely remembered when a busy world moved on after the war. Because they weren't permitted to serve within the United States military, they have been excluded from commemorations, and from history itself. With the 80th anniversary of VE-Day marking the end of the war in Europe on May 8th, 2025, it's time these Spitfires got their due.
Forbes
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
Indiana Budget Bill Makes Last-Minute Higher Ed Policy Changes
The Indiana General Assembly recently passed a budget bill that makes several major changes to ... More higher education policy in the state. (Photo by UPI/Bettmann/Getty Images) The Indiana General Assembly passed a budget bill last week that includes last-minute additions giving the governor greater control over Indiana University's Board of Trustees and making several other highly significant changes to higher education policies. In a normal year, the fact that the bill included a 5% cut for higher education would have been the big news. But this 215-page budget bill contains several provisions that the Republican majority inserted — as the legislative session reached its final hours — that will change university governance, faculty tenure, academic programming, and the power of the governor to control the Indiana University Board of Trustees. The cumulative significance of those changes may outstrip the long-term impact of the 5% reduction in the state's appropriation for higher ed. The budget bill passed the Indiana House by a 66-27 vote and the Senate by a 39-11 margin. It now goes to Governor Mike Braun for his signature. Here is a summary of some of the policy changes contained in the bill. One section of the bill gives the governor total control over the composition of the Indiana University Board of Trustees. Currently, three seats on the nine-member IU board are elected by alumni, with the other six appointed by the governor, including the student member. Now, the bill repeals the alumni elections and further authorizes that 'the governor may at any time remove and replace a member of the board of trustees who was elected by the alumni of Indiana University.' This provision is scheduled to sunset on Jan. 1, 2028, when Braun's current term would come to an end. In addition, this section of the bill specifies that at least five members of the board must be IU alumni. According to Indiana Public Media, Braun believed the current process at IU hasn't 'yielded the proper results," adding that he wants "to get a board there that is going to be maybe a little more rounded, that's going to produce better results. I think that we're going to have a different configuration. That doesn't mean that an alumni wouldn't be on it as one of the picks that you'd have to constitute the board. It would just mean that it's not required for those three slots.' The bill mandates 'tenured faculty member productivity reviews' at state institutions. This post-tenure review process will require measuring a faculty member's teaching workload, how many graduate and undergraduate students the faculty member instructs, time spent on instructional assignments and on overseeing graduate students, and the research and creative scholarship productivity of the faculty member. The process also requires that the 'institution place a faculty member on probation, which may result in dismissal of the faculty member, if productivity requirements established by the institution are not met.' The review process would apply to new faculty and to current tenured faculty unless they had some type of contrary agreement in place prior to July 1, 2025. Another section of the bill limits the power of 'faculty governance' organizations, referring to those university or faculty senates whose members represent an institution's faculty on important policy matters. The input of these governance organizations will now be "advisory" only, and their meetings must be open to the public. Another provision establishes the minimum average number of graduates that degree programs at state colleges and universities must produce over a three-year period. If that number falls below 10 students in an associate degree program, 15 students in a BA program, seven students in master's degree program, and three students in a doctorate degree program, the institution would need to request that the Indiana Commission for Higher Education permit it to continue to offer the program. The university would need to eliminate the program if the commission does not grant that permission. Not surprisingly, the bill has stirred criticism both because of its cloaked process as well as its contents. No hearings on its policy provisions were held, no testimony about them was heard, and lawmakers did not advance any of the higher education changes through the regular bill process. Minority Caucus Leader and state Senator Shelli Yoder (D-Bloomington) said the changes were a 'direct attack on the independence of one of our state's premier public universities.' Quoted in Indiana Pubic Media, Yoder added, 'Sneaking this power grab into the final pages of a 200-plus page budget—without public input or legislative debate—is not just bad governance, it's dangerous. Stripping alumni of their voice on the Board of Trustees and giving the governor unchecked control undermines the very principles of shared governance and academic freedom.' Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, defended the trustee change, claiming that only a small percentage of IU alumni have voted in elections for alumni trustees. "It is not a fair representation and therefore not what the drafters intended. Many trustees across our public universities are selected by our governor, so this is a logical change," said Bray. In recent years, Indiana has become an active battleground for attempts by conservative legislators to exert greater control over the state universities. In 2023, the legislature passed a bill prohibiting state appropriations from being used to support IU's Kinsey Institute, well-known for its long and sometimes controversial history of research into human sexual behavior. And last year, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb signed into law Indiana Senate Bill 202, which was designed to increase "intellectual diversity" in higher education. Many faculty saw that bill as an attack on tenure and promotion policies at the state's institutions. It requires a board of trustees to reject tenure or promotion for faculty members who it finds are, among other things, 'unlikely to foster a culture of free inquiry, free expression and intellectual diversity' or 'unlikely to expose students to scholarly works from a variety of political or ideological frameworks that may exist.' Boards could also take action against faculty who are 'likely,' while performing their teaching duties, "to subject students to political or ideological views and opinions that are unrelated to the faculty member's academic discipline or assigned course of instruction.' Coupled with SB 202, the new policy language contained in Indiana's budget bill represents a substantial increase in the state's politicalization of higher education oversight, and — more ominously for college leaders elsewhere — it may portend moves by other states to exercise greater higher ed policy controls through budgets rather than stand-alone legislation.
