Herman Cain Suits Conservatives To A Tea Party

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By: Tonyaa Weathersbee

It’s not surprising that the Tea Party people would embrace a black man like Herman Cain.

The 65-year-old contender for the Republican presidential nomination reminds one of a younger, shaven version of Uncle Remus; the kind of black man whose success story serves as the comforting, de-contextualized tale they need to egg them on in their anti-government, anti-Obama fervor.

Cain is a man whose father, who, according to The Washington Post, worked as a chauffeur for the former head of Coca-Cola and used the stocks that his boss tipped him with to send his son to Morehouse College. Morehouse, as most of us know, is a historically-black college that was created during the segregated times that some Tea Party favorites, such as U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, would like to return to. CONTINUE....

New HBCU Network May Debut During Black History Month

By Lynnette Khalfani-Cox

Calling all HBCU alum: If you're really into your alma mater, now you'll get a chance to root for your college team on TV, all the time. In 2011, Historically Black Colleges and Universities will have their own television network, mainly featuring black collegiate sports programming, via ESPN.

ESPN has struck a programming deal with the HBCU Network because ESPN owns the rights to games from various athletic conferences. HBCU Network is based in Atlanta and is headed by Curtis Symonds, who was previously head of affiliate sales and marketing at BET. Published reports say the HBCUs will jointly have a 20% equity stake in the network.

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Obama Gets An A From HBCUs

By: Michael H. Cottman, BlackAmericaWeb.com

President Barack Obama reinforced his commitment to historically black colleges Monday, telling a gathering of African-American educators at the White House that he’s investing $850 million in black institutions of higher learning over the next 10 years.

Obama also declared this week to be National HBCU Week.

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TROUBLING HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE UPDATE: Many Face Severe Problems and Possible Extinction.

Many of the nation's historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are strapped for cash, have suffered cutbacks in both state and federal government funding and questions are being raised about the need for their continued existence in the post-Civil Rights Movement era.

The above represent some of the thoughts expressed last week by the presidents of some of the nation's top Black colleges as they testified before the House Education and Labor Committee.

But Kentucky State University President Mary Sias spoke for the group telling the committee, "HBCUs are and continue to be needed and are as vital now to the educational system in America as they have ever been."

Experts currently estimate that while historically Black colleges represent only 4 percent of all institutions of higher education, they graduate 40 percent of all African American students.

In addition, the single biggest problem facing the Black schools appears to be adequate funding.

For example, a 2005 report by the National Science Foundation found that six percent of the nation's top predominantly white universities received more federal funds for research than 79 historically Black colleges and universities combined.

BUSH BUDGET PLAN CUTS HBCU FUNDING

President Bush's 2009 education budget proposal would slash $85 million in funds earmarked for historically black colleges and universities, reports Amanda Lehmert of North Carolina-based news-record.com.

The budget proposal essentially cancels an increase for those schools provided by the 2007 College Cost Reduction Act in September. That was the first increase in funding the Department of Education's Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and Universities program has received since 2005.


Higher education leaders said they will wait out the legislative process to see how the schools fare once the budget moves through the Democrat-controlled Congress. They wonder what the cut could mean for the grant program's future.

"The HBCU community, it's safe to say, they would be disappointed but not necessarily surprised," said Edith Bartley, director of government affairs at the United Negro College Fund.


The $238 million grant program provides funding to 96 federally recognized schools that have historically served black students. The money is allocated based on a school's amount of recent graduates, the number of low-income students and how many students go on to graduate programs. The federal funds may be used to for campus facilities, improve academics or enhance a school's endowment.