The USDA has suspended its 1890 Scholars Program which awarded scholarships to students at 1890 Land-Grant Institutions, which are historically Black colleges and universities that focus on agricultural education. They were created by segregated states after the second Morrill Act made funding for land-grants available only to states that allowed students of all races to access admissions.

“The 1890 Program was one for agriculture and related sciences, and I was in the related sciences – computer science,” explained Larissa Bryant, an 1890 Scholar who graduated from Tennessee State University in 2006. 

According to the USDA website, the program has been “suspended pending further review.” 

When Bryant heard about the decision to suspend the scholarship program, she was “saddened” for her friends who still work for USDA. Bryant left the department in 2014 but credits the opportunity with giving her career a significant boost.

“Being a scholar, you were basically able to start working right out of high school,” Bryant recalled. “Within a month after high school graduation, I was put on a plane and flown to Washington, D.C., where I was able to gain corporate experience right off the bat.”

President Trump’s executive order calling for an end to “DEI policies” including Black History Month celebrations at federal institutions has generated a fierce backlash. Late Friday, a federal judge blocked sweeping executive orders from Trump that seek to end government support for programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion. 

Bryant said, “Considering the 1890 program was built to have young and fresh talent brought into the government, and that’s what the government struggled with, I think it’s doing the government an injustice as well as all of the people who’ve had a part in it. It feels like we’re being targeted, and even though we’re the target, it’s going to hurt the whole picture.”

Sports at HBCUs

The Commissioners of four Historically Black Colleges and Universities have contacted the Congressional Black Caucus to register their growing alarm over the Trump administration’s rapid dismantling of legislation created to address longstanding disparities in education, employment and other opportunities. 

According to the letter, the specific concern is focused on the idea that college athletes will become employees of the institutions where they are enrolled, increasing the payroll of HBCUs at a time when federal budget cuts are all but assured. A few weeks ago, Trump signed an executive order freezing federal funds that Congress had already approved. Two federal judges halted Trump’s freeze, but at HBCUs and other academic institutions, there is deep uncertainty, and administrators are looking for ways to prepare for impending cuts.

“To ensure that college sports broadly –and HBCU sports especially – can continue to thrive, it’s essential that Congress allow for consistent and nimble national governance and affirm that student-athletes are not designated as employees of their universities,” the letter said.

A Jan. 6 defendant who was arrested near former President Barack Obama’s home last year is facing new felony charges. Taylor Taranto found the Obamas home after Donald Trump posted a screenshot with the family’s Washington address.

A federal grand jury has returned a superseding indictment against Taranto. Online sleuths identified Taranto among the insurrectionists who carried out the assault on the U.S. Capitol in 2021, but he was not arrested until he was found near Obama’s home.

Guns and ammunition were found in Taranto’s van when he was arrested, and three of the charges stem from that discovery. He faces a felony charge of obstruction of an official proceeding for his conduct on Jan 6, 2021. He also faces a charge of false information and hoaxes, accused of falsely saying he was going to detonate an explosive at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

After Taranto was identified by “sedition hunters” for his role on Jan. 6, he was sued by the widow of Jeffrey Smith, a Capitol police officer who died by suicide, after Taranto and David Walls-Kaufman allegedly contributed to his death.

Taranto will be held until his trial which is set for July. He was seen near the jail in Washington where some Jan. 6 defendants were held before their pardons.

After Trump posted the screenshot with Obama’s address. Taranto reposted it on his Truth Social account, saying he had been to the residence that day.

He posted, “We got these losers surrounded!” Taranto wrote, according to prosecutors. “See you in hell, Podesta’s and Obama’s.” Taranto was taken into custody after he remained in the woods near the home.

Donald Trump’s shock and awe campaign stunned Americans of all races – what many consider his unabashed disregard for the rule of law making headlines around the globe. But as the astonishment wears off, Black Americans – along with many others – are organizing to fight back.

From coast to coast, the 50501 Project earlier this week sent thousands to their state capitals in all 50 states for at least 50 protestsl in one day.

One of the organizers of the mass protests said, “People need something to connect to.”

FOLLOW THE MONEY 

Plans to boycott major retailers like Walmart, Target and Starbucks for abandoning their DEI initiatives is gaining traction. And companies that continue to honor their commitment to equitable opportunities are seeing a groundswell of support. Apple, Microsoft and Home Depot – among others – have stayed the course.

In New York, Rev. Al Sharpton and members of his National Action Network chose Costco as the recipient of their financial support by holding a “buy-in” to demonstrate appreciation of Costco’s adherence to DEI.

“We are not going to allow him to turn back the clock on our rights,” Sharpton said.

But 19 state Attorneys General have warned Costco and threatened to sue the retailer for its plans to maintain DEI programs.

As Trump and his billionaire friend Elon Musk turn the federal government topsy-turvy by firing some federal employees and offering buyouts to 40,000 others, Gwynne Wilcox has filed a lawsuit against Trump and Marvin Kaplan who Trump installed as the chairman of the National Labor Relations Board.

Wilcox has been a member of the NLRB since 2021 and was selected as its chair by former President Joe Biden in 2023. She says her firing was “a blatant violation of the law.” 

According to Wilcox’s lawsuit, her firing “defies ninety years of Supreme Court precedent that has ensured the independence of critical government agencies.” The filing also says the president failed to cite examples of “neglect of duty or malfeasance in office”, as required when firing the agency’s board members.

Through a flurry of executive orders and subsequent injunctions issued by federal judges, Trump has ushered in a chaotic and tense period of governance that even some members of the Republican-controlled Congress have suggested is an audacious power grab.