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Years
Vol. 65 No. 21 | Thursday, May 22, 2025
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Serving San Diego County’s African & African American Communities 65 Years
INSIDE
THIS WEEK'S ISSUE:
‘MODEST’
RESTORATIONS TO SAN DIEGO BUDGET
WWII VETERAN, FLOYD E. GREENLEE, 100th BIRTHDAY SEE PAGE 6
MEMORIAL DAY: A Creation of African Americans Voice & Viewpoint Staff Writer
In spite of a number of people and locations who seek to take the credit, the first Memorial Day was held by former slaves in Charleston, South Carolina. During the Civil War, Union Army soldiers who were prisoners of war were held at the Charleston Race Course. It is
reported that at least 257 Union prisoners died there and were quickly buried in unmarked graves. The bodies had been buried under the bleachers of the race track. After the war, a group of Black workmen dug up the bodies and reburied them to properly honor the fallen. See MEMORIAL DAY page 2
MALCOLM X STILL SCARES AMERICA
Mayor Todd Gloria delivering the 2025 State of the City. PHOTO: City of San Diego
By Macy Meinhardt V&V STAFF WRITER, CA LOCAL NEWS FELLOW Mayor Todd Gloria’s revised budget is out, and the difference from his draft budget proposal is minimal. While restorations have been given to police budgets and the humane society services, unpopular cuts to neighborhood services, including library and recreation center hours, remain.
DR. MICHELLE R. THOMPSON AMONG HONOREES AT
“BREAKFAST FOR MI LADY” CELEBRATION SEE PAGE 7
See RESTORATIONS page 2
May 19, 2025, would have been his 100th birthday
Malcolm X speaks to reporters in Washington on May 16, 1963. PHOTO: AP Photo, File
By Quintessa William
WORD IN BLACK Despite Malcolm X being one of the most influential figures in American history, his story is still largely missing — or misrepresented — in K-12 education. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), just 13 states explicitly mention Malcolm X in their K-12 social studies standards, compared to 37 states that mandate teaching about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “When young Black students don’t learn about Malcolm X,” Hagopian says, “they lose the opportunity to understand systemic oppression and their own power to challenge it. Malcolm’s brilliance was that he spoke plainly about injustice. He named it. And he made it clear that another world was possible.”
Flattening Malcolm’s Legacy When Malcolm does appear, he’s reduced to
a foil — King’s “angry” counterpart. Teachers instruct students to compare and contrast the two. The standard classroom narrative goes like this: King was peaceful, and Malcolm was violent. King had a hopeful dream about integration, while Malcolm hated white people. And that’s been the case for decades. A 1992 opinion piece in the Harvard Crimson noted that “Little is taught regarding Malcolm X and the limited amount said usually portrays him as Dr. King’s violent alternative who marginalized whites while contributing little to the movement’s success as a whole.” “Failing to teach Malcolm X isn’t just a curricular oversight—it’s a deliberate act of erasure that robs Black students of their rightful legacy, “ said Jesse Hagopian, educator and director of the Teaching for Black Lives at the Zinn Education Project. See MALCOLM X page 2
PHOTO: Courtesy of CBM
STUDENT LOAN COLLECTIONS HAVE RESUMED Here’s What You Need to Know By Edward Henderson CALIFORNIA BLACK MEDIA The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) announced that its Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) resumed collection of its defaulted federal student loan portfolio on May 5. The department has not collected on defaulted loans since March 2020. ‘Collections on defaulted federal student loans are resuming. This means that your tax refund or other federal benefits may be withheld,” reads an email affected borrowers in California and around the country received from the DOE last week.
“Later this summer, your employer may also be required to withhold a portion of your pay until you begin to repay your defaulted federal student loan,” the email continues.
According to the DOE, 42.7 million borrowers owe more than $1.6 trillion in student debt. More than 5 million borrowers have not made a monthly payment in over 360 days and their loans have been declared “in default.” Another 4 million borrowers are in late-stage delinquency (91-180 days). As a result, there could be almost 10 million borrowers in default in a few months. If this happens, almost 25% of the federal student loan portfolio will be in default. See LOAN page 2
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