South Carolina coach Dawn Staley named AP coach of the Year

Dawn Staley helped guide South Carolina to No. 1 and has now earned coach of the year honors from The Associated Press for the first time.

The veteran Gamecocks coach received 20 votes from the national media panel that selects the Top 25 poll each week.

“It’s a great feeling. It’s cliche as I represent the best team in the country and our coaching staff and our support staff. Our trainers and everybody. It’s great,” she said. “It’s something that we haven’t been able to celebrate, but we will celebrate it together at a later time.”

South Carolina finished the season 32-1, winning the SEC season and tournament championships. The Gamecocks won their final 26 games and were No 1 in the AP poll for the final 10 weeks of the season.

became the second African-American coach to win the AP award, joining Carolyn Peck, who was honored in 1999 when she coached Purdue. The two have long been connected; Peck gave Staley a piece of the NCAA championship net she won that season.

Staley brought that story to light when South Carolina won the NCAA title in 2017. She thought the Gamecocks would have had a good chance to win the title again this season had the NCAA Tournament not been canceled by the coronavirus outbreak.

“I would have liked to continue to face the challenges in the NCAA Tournament,” she said.

[SOURCE: YAHOO SPORTS]

The Supreme Court sides with Comcast in Byron Allen’s racial discrimination case

The U.S. Supreme Court sided with Comcast in a high-stakes civil rights case Monday, ruling that media mogul Byron Allen must show race was the determining reason that the cable company refused to carry his channels in order for his discrimination case to survive.

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ruled that a lower court used the wrong legal standard in allowing Allen’s $20 billion racial discrimination lawsuit to proceed. The Supreme Court sent the case back to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in California for reconsideration.

Allen, an African American entertainment executive, says the Philadelphia cable giant racially discriminated against him when it refused to carry his cable-TV channels on its systems. Comcast says race had nothing to do with rejecting Allen’s channels, noting that they had low ratings.

The high court did not weigh the merits of Allen’s allegations. At issue was whether a person filing a racial-discrimination lawsuit must allege that race was the determining reason that a contract decision was made, or if a person can merely allege that race was one “motivating factor” for a case to proceed.

“To prevail, a plaintiff must initially plead and ultimately prove that, but for race, it would not have suffered the loss of a legally protected right,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote on behalf of the court, in an opinion released Monday morning.

Allen said he would continue his fight by asking Congress and presidential candidates to revise the statute in question to overcome the Supreme Court’s ruling.

“Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has rendered a ruling that is harmful to the civil rights of millions of Americans,” Allen said in a statement. “This is a very bad day for our country.”

Read the full article here: The Philadelphia Inqurier

Reps. Ayanna Pressley Introduces Legislation to Protect Individuals Experiencing Homelessness During COVID-19 Crisis

WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswomen Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) introduced the Public Health Emergency Shelter Act of 2020, legislation to provide critical funding to states and local governments responding to the needs of families and individuals experiencing homelessness during the COVID-19 crisis.

In January, Congresswoman Pressley, along with colleagues in the Congressional Progressive Caucus, launched the People’s Housing Platform—a groundbreaking, progressive housing framework that declares housing as a fundamental human right and underscores progressive’s commitment to tackle the affordable housing crisis. The Public Health Emergency Shelter Act builds on the People’s Housing Platform by specifically calling for emergency grants to protect families and individuals experiencing homelessness and the frontline service providers who work with people experiencing homelessness during the COVID-19 outbreak.

“Housing is a critical determinant of public health, and that has never been more true than during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Congresswoman Pressley. “We have a moral obligation to protect the health and safety of all people, particularly our most vulnerable. By investing $15.5 billion in emergency grants to state and local governments, the Public Health Emergency Shelter Act will ensure that frontline workers have the resources and support they need to protect the health and safety of the nearly 500,000 people across this country experiencing homelessness. In these unprecedented times, this bill boldly affirms that poverty is not a character flaw, and nobody deserves less because they can’t afford more.”

“Our response to the COVID-19 pandemic must be comprehensive and, as such, it must center those most vulnerable among us,” said Congresswoman Tlaib. “Families and individuals dealing with homelessness are more vulnerable to this disease at no fault of their own and need access to safe shelter and necessary medical care. I’m grateful to be joining Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley in prioritizing resources for those experiencing homelessness and those working to serve them.”

Across the United States, more than 500,000 people are experiencing homelessness. Many people experiencing homelessness, including more than 50,000 families with children, often reside in environments that can accelerate the spread of COVID-19 among those experiencing homelessness as well as frontline healthcare workers and human services workers.

Congresswoman Pressley is committed to protecting the right to safe and affordable housing for all in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last week, she joined colleagues in introducing the Housing is a Human Right Act, which would authorize more than $200 billion in federal spending over 10 years to expand crucial housing infrastructure and reduce homelessness. She also sent letters to Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and several of the largest trade associations for landlords urging a moratorium on evictions during this public health emergency.

Kamala Harris Statement on Vote Opposing Consideration of GOP Coronavirus Package

U.S. Senator Kamala D. Harris (D-CA) on Sunday released a statement after voting against cloture on Republican bill that aims to address the coronavirus outbreak in the United States by putting the interests of large corporations ahead of the needs of working people.

“The coronavirus pandemic is a public health emergency that is driving an economic disaster for millions of families across our country. People are in their homes scared and suffering right now—Congress must act immediately to strengthen our health care system, expand access to emergency assistance like we do in the midst of any other disaster, and lift up and support working people, families, and small businesses. We need to get this right.

“The Republican bill released today does not address the pain everyday Americans are feeling, nor does it provide support for our overloaded health care system. This bill fails our workers by bailing out big industries without requiring them to keep people employed or ensure workers are protected. I voted against this bill because it fails to meet the urgent demands of this moment.”

Cory Booker request for $1.5B in Immediate Assistance to HBCUs during COVID-19 outbreak

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Doug Jones (D-AL) today urged Senate Leaders Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senate appropriators to direct $1.5 billion in emergency funding to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) to support urgent COVID-19 related costs. Over the past month, MSIs have had to cover substantial emergency expenses for students from low-income families, yet these colleges tend to have fewer financial resources than other institutions. Additionally, the move to distance education has forced MSIs invest in infrastructure that they did not previously have, and purchase expensive technology, such as WiFi hotspots, for students without Internet at home.

“As the Senate anticipates consideration of a third supplemental appropriations package in response to COVID-19, we respectfully request that a one-time increase of $1.5 billion is added to Minority-Serving Institutions and Historically Black Colleges and Universities under Title III, Part A and B, Title V, and Title VII of the Higher Education Act,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Leaders McConnell and Schumer. “Title III and V  and VII institutions are a refuge for the communities of students that they serve, and in these uncertain times they are needed now more than ever. Assuring an increase in funding for Title III and V will allow these schools to continue operating without fear of going bankrupt or having to raise tuition next year.”

Minority Serving Institutions include Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Predominantly Black Institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities, and Native American-Serving, and Nontribal Institutions. Even though these institutions serve many of the country’s most marginalized and promising students, many MSIs have smaller endowments, less money from alumni giving, and lower levels of federal investment. New Jersey is home to 13 Minority-Serving Institutions.

“The National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education, NAFEO, the 50-year membership and advocate association of all HBCUs and PBIs, is grateful for the tremendous support Senator Booker continues to provide HBCUs, TCIs and MSIs,” NAFEO President and CEO Lezli Bakersville said. “Today, he is making a wise and just decision to urge America to further invest in HBCUs, TCIs, and MSIs because these institutions  are essential to closing the Nation’s persistent education and liberation gaps; the economic, wealth, and health gaps. These 800 equal educational opportunity American colleges and universities, are graduating 4.8 million undergraduate students in the U.S., 24% of ALL students. They are doing this despite their woeful underfunding. They are “punching way above their weight.” We urge all United States Senators to Senator Booker’s request for $1.5B for HBCUs, TCUs and MSIs in the third Coronavirus supplemental.”

"In this time of tremendous uncertainty, in the midst of this ongoing health emergency, it is imperative that neither our Nation's HBCUs and MSIs, nor their students find themselves a casualty of the disease COVID-19", Thurgood Marshall College Fund President and CEO Harry L. Williams said.  "Like other institutions of higher education, our HBCUs and PBIs are attempting to transition their academic instruction to a virtual environment, while simultaneously trying to manage the financial, technological and environmental challenges faced by many of their students, and doing so in the face of the resource limitations that our schools have historically encountered.  That is why the $1.5 billion in emergency Title III aid that Senator Booker and other Members of Congress are supporting is critical to helping our schools not only navigate this dynamic situation, but also ensure that our schools and their students are not unduly impacted by its ill effects. At a time when Congress is attempting to shore up our economy against the Coronavirus, it should be cognizant of the fact that our schools help educate some of our Nation's most vulnerable communities and, as such, they are particularly worthy of our federal government's support in this season of heightened need."

“HBCUs and their students are in need, expressly because of the response to the coronavirus, and we are calling on Senators and Members of the House to respond,” United Negro College Fund President and CEO Dr. Michael L. Lomax said.  “Our institutions are dealing with unique circumstances because of who we serve.  The digital divide is real in our community, and a stimulus bill should definitely reflect our needs and proposed solutions.  We applaud Senators who are stepping up to the plate to advocate for our institutions and the students they serve.”

The full text of the letter is available here.

Last week, Booker wrote to the White House urging it to unlock emergency funds to help libraries and schools purchase mobile hotspots for students who lack internet access at home. And last fall, he was instrumental in pushing the Senate to reauthorize lapsed funding for MSIs by passing the Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education (FUTURE) Act, a bill he had cosponsored.