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Celebrating

NATIONAL NURSES WEEK

Volume 133 No. 40

THE BLACK MEDIA AUTHORITY • AFRO.COM

$2.00

MAY 3, 2025 - MAY 9, 2025

AFRO Photo / Alexis Taylor

AP Photo / Rod Lamkey, Jr.

Col. Ret. Edna Cummings (right) joins Judith Earley and Stanley Earley III, children of Lt. Col. Charity E. Adams-Earley, as they receive the Congressional Gold Medal on behalf of the women in the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. Adams-Earley led the 6888th during their time as the only unit for Black and Brown women to serve overseas during World War II. Cummings spearheaded efforts to have members of Congress bestow their highest honor upon the women.

Women of 6888th receive highest Congressional honor By Alexis Taylor AFRO Managing Editor

afro.com

Roughly 300 descendants of the women who served in the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion came together on April 29 to get a glimpse of history in the making. Sitting inside of Emancipation Hall on Capitol Hill, the men, women and children witnessed their mothers, grandmothers, aunts and sisters receive the Congressional

Gold Medal for their sacrifice in World War II (WWII). “It’s a day long overdue but it’s here at last,” said Tara Garcia, granddaughter of Crescencia “Joyce” J. Garcia of Maunabo, Puerto Rico. The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest honor that can be awarded by the U.S. Congress. Recognition for the 855 Black and Brown women who did the impossible in the European Theater of WWII comes eight decades after their service.

Only two women who served in the all- Black, all women’s unit are alive today. Fannie McClendon lives in Arizona and turned 104 in September of last year. Anna Mae Robertson lives in Milwaukee and is 101 years old. According to information released by the Library of Congress (LOC), the 6888th was formed in 1944 after the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) was developed in 1942. Black women received the right to join the WACs in 1943 after a hard fought

battle by Mary McLeod Bethune and her allies. “Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune and First lady Eleanor Roosevelt opened a path for service and encouraged women to serve our nation. As a result, hundreds of thousands of women answered their call,” said Col. Ret. Edna Cummings, the woman who spearheaded efforts for the unit members to receive the medal. “With 85 percent of the Six Triple Eight having college degrees or working as former school teachers, the Six

Triple Eight were among the nation’s most educated workforce, armed with education and patriotism.” Tasked with clearing a postal backlog of mail that was leading to low morale, the women of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion cleared roughly 17 million letters and packages that were stacked to the warehouse ceilings when they arrived. Working in shifts, the women “processed an average of Continued on A3

Rev. William Barber arrested in Capitol Rotunda

AFRO High Tea returns to Baltimore

By Jack Jenkins

Nearly one thousand gathered at Martin’s West on April 26 for the AFRO High Tea. The event was an opportunity to fellowship

Prominent pastor and anti-poverty activist the Rev. William Barber and two others were arrested while praying in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on April 28, an action he said would be part of a recurring series of demonstrations aimed at challenging the Republican-led budget bill. The arrests occurred roughly 15 minutes after Barber, the Rev. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and Steve Swayne, director of St. Francis Springs Prayer Center, started praying in the Rotunda as dozens of police stood nearby, some prepared with plastic handcuffs. The three took turns praying,

“Arresting Rev. Barber and others at the Capitol after announcing a task force to eradicate anti-Christian bias in government is an absolute travesty.”

lamenting potential budget cuts to social safety-net programs such as Medicaid, often chanting together: “Against the conspiracy of cruelty, we plead the power of your mercy.” “When we cannot depend on the courts and the legislative power of human beings, we

can still depend on … the power of your love and your mercy and your truth,” Barber said in the Rotunda as police began to surround him. While arresting protesters at the Capitol is not unusual, the Continued on A3

and honor local organizations that have served the community. Check out the full coverage on page A7!

AFRO Photo / Stephen Hopkins

Shown here, Rhonda Clyburn (left) with Monica Truesdale, Crystal Scott Harris and Patricia Johnson at the AFRO High Tea on April 26.