By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
The federal government is once again facing a shutdown deadline, with funding set to expire at midnight Friday, January 30, just two months after the nation emerged from a prolonged lapse that disrupted lives far beyond Washington. That October to November shutdown left deep scars across the country. Families who rely on federal nutrition programs saw benefits delayed, reduced, or halted altogether. Some households receiving SNAP and WIC assistance stopped getting benefits entirely, while others received only partial payments. Many of those families are still struggling to recover, juggling rent, utilities, and food costs after weeks of instability caused by the funding lapse. Despite those recent consequences, Senate Republicans are moving ahead with plans to advance a sweeping funding package as a single vote, even as Democrats warn that no workable agreement has been reached. A Senate Republican leadership aide told NBC News that GOP leaders intend to press forward. “Government funding expires at the end of the week, and Republicans are determined to not have another government shutdown,” the aide said. “We will move forward as planned and hope Democrats can find a path forward to join us.” Democrats say discussions with Republicans and the White House have not produced a viable solution. A Senate Democratic leadership aide said outreach has occurred but “have not yet raised any realistic solutions.” The timeline remains tight. The House is on recess for the week, making it unlikely that any revised package requiring another vote could be approved before the deadline. Severe winter weather has also disrupted congressional schedules, further narrowing the window for negotiations as the clock runs down. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats will block the current Department of Homeland Security funding bill, tying the standoff to broader concerns about immigration enforcement and public safety nationwide. “Senate Democrats will not allow the current DHS funding bill to move forward.,” Schumer stated. “The appalling murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti on the streets of Minneapolis must lead Republicans to join Democrats in overhauling ICE and CBP to protect the public. Senate Republicans must work with Democrats to advance the other five funding bills while we work to rewrite the DHS bill.”
By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
History often remembers movements by their most recognizable moments. It less often remembers the teenagers who moved first. Claudette Colvin, whose refusal to surrender her seat on a segregated Montgomery bus came months before the moment that would enter textbooks, died Tuesday at 86. Her death was confirmed by the Claudette Colvin Legacy Foundation, which said she died of natural causes in Texas. On March 2, 1955, Colvin was 15 years old and riding home from school when the bus driver ordered Black passengers to give up their seats to white riders. Three students stood. Colvin did not. Police arrested her, charged her under segregation laws, and placed her on probation. She later said she was thinking about the Constitution and the rights she believed belonged to her. Colvin’s arrest came at a time when Montgomery’s Black community was already pressing against the daily restraints of Jim Crow. Her stand did not ignite a boycott that day, but it did register. It landed in conversations, church meetings, and legal strategy sessions that would soon follow. “This nation lost a civil rights giant today,” Tafeni English-Relf, Alabama state director of the Southern Poverty Law Center, said. “Claudette Colvin’s courage lit the fire for a movement that would free all Alabamians and Americans from the woes of southern segregation.” Unlike others whose names became shorthand for the era, Colvin paid a quieter price. She was young and outspoken and was later judged by standards that did not apply to older leaders. She was never elevated as the public face of the movement. Her life unfolded mostly outside the spotlight she helped create. Yet Colvin’s role proved decisive. She became one of four plaintiffs in Browder v. Gayle, the federal lawsuit that reached the Supreme Court and ended bus segregation in Montgomery and across Alabama. The case dismantled the legal framework that made her arrest possible. “At age 15, Ms. Colvin was arrested on March 2, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, for violating bus segregation ordinances, nine months before Rosa Parks,” Phillip Ensler wrote. “In 2021, it was the privilege of a lifetime to serve on the legal team that helped Ms. Colvin clear her record from the conviction.” “As we worked on the court motion, I had the honor of spending time with Ms. Colvin to hear her story and get to know her,” Ensler wrote. “Today we lost an unsung yet significant hero of the civil rights movement,” Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock said. “Her courage paved the way for Rosa Parks’ decision and the launching of a movement that would end segregation.” “History did not always give Claudette Colvin the credit she deserved, but her impact is undeniable,” Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said. “Her life reminds us that progress is shaped not only by moments, but by sustained courage and truth,” Bernice King said.
By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
The Heritage Foundation is beginning to come apart in public, and what is unraveling is not simply a think tank but a long-maintained illusion. More than 60 senior staff members, fellows, and trustees have now resigned from the institution that spent decades presenting itself as the sober custodian of conservative thought. Board members tied to major donors have stepped down. Veteran policy writers have walked away. What remains is an organization forced, perhaps for the first time, to reckon with the distance between how it spoke about America and what it planned to do to it. Philosophers have long maintained that power, when it believes itself righteous, often mistakes silence for consent. The Heritage Foundation thrived on that mistake. For years it wrote in careful abstractions, never naming the people its policies would dispossess, never acknowledging the communities that would be bruised by its ideas. Project 2025 changed that. Nearly 900 pages long, the document spoke plainly. It described how to bend the federal government toward a single will. It explained how to weaken civil rights enforcement, how to hollow out agencies, how to turn immigration into mass detention, and how to place ideology above law. It did not whisper. It declared. Donald Trump told the country he had nothing to do with it. He said he did not know the authors. He dismissed the warnings as political theater. Those words collapsed the moment he returned to the White House and appointed Russell Vought, one of Project 2025’s principal architects, to run the Office of Management and Budget. The blueprint Trump denied became the machinery through which his presidency now moves. “A lot of the policies from Day 1 to the last day and in between that the administration has adopted are right out of Project 2025,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said, as his office and others prepared lawsuits not in reaction, but in expectation. What followed has been neither theoretical nor restrained. In Minneapolis, a federal agent shot and killed a man during an operation, igniting protests in a city that already carries the memory of unchecked force. Immigration hardened into something colder still when the administration suspended visa processing for applicants from 75 countries, closing pathways without warning and without apology. Across the nation, demonstrations rose as Americans confronted a government that now acts as though consent is an obstacle rather than a foundation. Project 2025 anticipated this atmosphere. Its immigration chapter calls for ending asylum at the border, canceling legal status for millions, compelling local police to serve federal deportation goals, and expanding detention camps through executive authority alone. It treats people as numbers to be managed and rights as technicalities to be brushed aside. For Black America, this moment is not unfamiliar. Civil rights organizations have warned that Project 2025 threatens voting access, education protections, housing enforcement, and reproductive autonomy. The document rarely names Black communities directly, yet it targets the very systems that protect Black citizenship and political power. The danger lies not in what it says aloud, but in what it dismantles quietly. Abroad, the same logic has spilled beyond U.S. borders. On January 3, American forces struck Venezuela and captured President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, transporting them to New York to face federal charges. Governments across Europe and Latin America condemned the action as a breach of international law. The United States escalated further by seizing Venezuelan oil tankers, tightening control over the country’s resources and deepening regional instability. In the Arctic, Trump renewed his demand for U.S. control of Greenland, declaring anything less unacceptable. Denmark deployed troops. Protests filled streets in Greenland and Copenhagen. A Greenlandic official broke down on live television after a White House meeting failed to soften Washington’s posture. At Davos, Trump’s confrontations with European leaders turned diplomacy into spectacle and strained alliances that had taken generations to build. This is not chaos without authorship. Analysts tracking implementation estimate that roughly half of Project 2025 has already been executed through executive orders, agency restructuring, and enforcement changes. This was not improvisation. It was preparation made visible. Now the institution that helped write the script is fracturing. Donors have pulled back. Trustees have resigned. Senior figures have said privately that Heritage no longer distinguishes between conservative governance and extremism. The organization insists the departures are part of a realignment, yet those who left describe something else entirely. They describe an unwillingness to confront hatred. They describe a tolerance for rhetoric that stains everything it touches. They describe an institution that chose influence over responsibility. “When an institution hesitates to confront harmful ideas and allows lapses in judgment to stand, it forfeits the moral authority on which its influence depends,” former trustee Abby Spencer Moffat said.
The prison reform advocate called his 35-day strike a “failure” after ADOC met none of his demands before medical issues forced him to stop.
By Alx Jobin, Alabama Political Reporters
From November 20 to December 25, 2025, Kenneth Shaun Traywick did not eat.
Traywick is a prison reform advocate also known as Swift Justice, and his 35-day hunger strike came in response to an incident at Bullock Correctional Facility in which ADOC correctional officer Darius A. Glover pepper-sprayed Traywick from behind. According to Traywick, the assault came as retaliation for Traywick’s own advocacy on behalf of other inmates who were also being assaulted by Bullock staff.
His hunger strike now over, Traywick spoke with APR from inside Bullock to share his experience and how he plans to continue fighting for reform.
“Physically… I’m still having issues with my stomach, but that’s to be expected,” Traywick said of how he has been feeling following the strike. “Mentally, emotionally… I’m pretty stressed out that I didn’t accomplish anything outside of getting a little bit of media attention. As far as accomplishing what I wanted to accomplish, to me it’s a failure.”
While on strike, Traywick made several demands of ADOC, including transfer out of Bullock; the end of “retaliatory and excessive force practices;” the ability to send and receive written mail; a meeting with ADOC Commissioner John Hamm and an investigation “into CERT Officers Glover and Bowen as well as any other officer accused of excessive force or retaliatory discipline/citation write ups.”
According to Traywick, ADOC met none of those demands before medical complications with his kidneys forced him to end the strike.
“One of the issues I’m having now is how easily ADOC ignored my strike and the fact that I was willing to go to the extreme just to be heard,” Traywick told APR. “They’re sending me a message and that, to me, is emotionally draining after so many years of us peacefully protesting in nonviolent ways and trying to reclaim our humanity so-to-speak instead of acting like animals, which is what we used to have to do to get the public to hear us.
“They’re sitting there saying they’re not going to pay me any attention or address the issue—or even just listen to the issue… they just ignored it, so, they’re basically telling us they don’t care about us acting like human beings,” he continued.
Traywick also told APR that ADOC had not discussed the possibility of transferring him from Bullock to a different correctional facility per his demands. However, he said that he is fine staying in Bullock for now, as it could give him another opportunity to shed light on malpractice and mistreatment within the facility.
“If I can’t have all of my demands met, then I don’t want not one of them met,” Traywick said. “Matter of fact, the longer I stay here, the more likely [Glover] is to mess up again and do something again, so I’d much rather just stay here… even since I’ve been out, he’s been aggressive and been taunting me… eventually I expect him to wind up blowing and playing into my hand.”
According to Traywick, the only communication he had with ADOC officials during the course of his hunger strike was with a warden who would simply ask Traywick if he was ready to end his strike.
“The warden would only come around and ask me, ‘when are you coming off the strike?’” Traywick said. “He wouldn’t even engage in why I was on strike.”
Traywick said that ADOC did allow him to file an official grievance related to the assault by Officer Glover, but that grievance was dismissed with ADOC declaring that the officer’s actions were justified. However, Traywick noted that he was able to have disciplinary infractions related to the incident dropped from his record.
Even though he expressed disappointment at the lack of tangible results from his hunger strike, Traywick told APR that he will continue to advocate for reforms in any way he can—including by drafting legislative proposals.
“One of the things I want to do is continue to show the public and our lawmakers the issues inside ADOC,” Traywick said. “One of the things me and my team are doing right now is drafting a piece of legislation and that’s something we’d like to see get [bipartisan sponsorship] dealing with the oversight of ADOC.”
Traywick and his nonprofit organization, Unheard Voices of the Concrete Jungle, UVOTCJ, shared with APR a draft of the legislative proposal he and other inmates are currently working on and hoping to find sponsorship for.
The proposal, which has been titled the “Alabama Correctional Transparency, Accountability, and Risk-Reduction Act,” looks to establish an Independent Oversight Authority, IOA, that would operate outside of ADOC. The IOA would be led by a director selected through a “merit-based process administered by the Alabama Personnel Board” and confirmed by the Alabama Joint Prison Oversight Committee.
Under the proposal, no more than one-third of IOA staff would be allowed to be former ADOC employees or contractors, and any such individuals would need to be separated from ADOC for at least two years before joining the IOA. The body would be tasked with reviewing use of force incidents within ADOC; analyzing systemic trends related to use of force, training, staffing and facility conditions; and issuing reports on their findings, both to the public and to the Joint Prison Oversight Committee.
Additionally, the proposal outlines standards for preserving evidence related to reported incidents of misconduct or harm within ADOC, and includes provisions for the implementation of body-worn cameras, BWCs, in ADOC facilities.
“My goal isn’t to take away any of the authority of ADOC, but at the same time we’re going to have to have independent oversight,” Traywick explained, arguing that the current lack of independent prison oversight in Alabama allows ADOC officials to skirt accountability and squash calls for reform.
“The only thing that anybody can go by is what ADOC says… and there is no independent oversight in this,” Traywick continued. “We actually need [independent oversight], not only to expose any kind of corruption, but to look after the taxpayer and the public. The simple fact is we’re spending millions, hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements every year in lawsuits, and that’s not even counting the hundreds of millions of dollars we’re paying these lawyers to represent the ADOC. So, we’ve got a huge cost that’s being impacted on the taxpayers just to fuel the corruption that’s going on on the inside.
“I want, not only our legislators, but I want the public to know this: these pieces of legislation are coming from guys on the inside, and who better else is there to know the situation or the problems than the ones that are closely, directly involved in the problem?” Traywick said.
Traywick is currently serving a 25-year sentence after being convicted on charges of first-degree robbery and first-degree sodomy in 2009. He has maintained his innocence since his conviction, leading him to become an outspoken advocate for prison reform in Alabama—including by writing several opinion pieces published by APR. The Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles denied Traywick’s latest parole application in June of 2024, with his next parole hearing set for 2029.
By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
Black unemployment surged to 7.5 percent by December 2025, a level that would signal a recession if it were reflected across the national workforce. But the latest “State of the Dream 2026” report makes clear the damage extends far beyond jobs. From broadband access and housing to artificial intelligence and federal workforce policy, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies finds that 2025 marked a sharp economic breakdown for Black America driven by policy reversals and the removal of long-standing safeguards.
Released this week, “State of the Dream 2026: From Regression to Signs of a Black Recession” draws on research from the Joint Center and partners including United for a Fair Economy, the Center for Economic Policy Research, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, and the Onyx Impact Group. The report situates rising unemployment within a wider retreat from equity-focused policy across nearly every sector shaping economic opportunity.
Employment remains the most visible signal. Black unemployment rose from 6.2 percent in January 2025 to 7.5 percent by December. Black youth experienced severe instability, with unemployment spiking from 18.6 percent in September to 29.8 percent in November before falling back to 18.3 percent in December. The report finds that if Black workers had maintained their 2024 prime-age employment rate, roughly 260,000 more Black adults would have been working in 2025, including about 200,000 prime-age Black women. The collapse of federal employment accelerated the trend. Roughly 271,000 federal jobs were eliminated in less than a year, hitting Black workers particularly hard because they have historically been overrepresented in government roles offering stable wages, benefits, and protections. Before the cuts, Black Americans made up nearly 19 percent of the federal workforce, compared with about 13 percent of the overall labor force. “Federal employment has historically functioned as an important sector for Black workers,” the report notes, warning that buyouts, hiring freezes, and the dismantling of diversity-focused recruitment pipelines removed one of the most reliable pathways to middle-income stability. Tax policy deepened the strain. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 made permanent tax cuts for high-income households and corporations while reducing investment in poverty-alleviating programs. Business preferences such as Section 199A, bonus depreciation, and estate tax benefits overwhelmingly favored wealthy households, while refundable credits that matter most to Black workers were left unchanged. Black-owned businesses faced a parallel contraction. Executive orders issued early in 2025 redirected federal support away from disadvantaged firms, lowered small, disadvantaged business contracting goals, and moved to dismantle the Minority Business Development Agency. The Joint Center estimates these actions threaten $10 billion to $15 billion annually in lost federal support for Black-owned firms. At the same time, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institution Fund, a key source of capital for minority businesses, was defunded. Beyond jobs and business, the report documents setbacks in broadband policy that risk widening the digital divide. The cancellation of the Digital Equity Act, the removal of mobile hotspots and school bus Wi-Fi from E-Rate eligibility, and weaker broadband pricing transparency requirements undercut efforts to expand internet access and adoption in Black households. The information environment also shifted. While federal social media policy remained largely unchanged, platforms themselves pulled back on fact-checking and content moderation. The report notes that these platform-driven decisions reshaped the online information ecosystem, raising concerns about misinformation and its impact on communities that already face barriers to accurate and timely information. Artificial intelligence policy marked another turning point. A new executive order titled “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence” moved federal policy away from precautionary regulation toward a deregulatory, innovation-first approach. The report warns that unchecked AI deployment risks embedding bias into hiring, lending, housing, and public services without accountability. Workforce policy changes further reinforced inequality. While apprenticeship programs expanded, initiatives designed to advance African American workforce participation stalled or were cut, setting the stage for reinforcing racial disparities rather than closing them. Housing remains one of the most entrenched fault lines. U.S. Census Bureau data show Black homeownership at 45 percent compared with 74 percent for white households, a nearly 30-point gap that has persisted for generations. “At a moment when hard-won rights and safeguards are being eroded, rigorous analysis is essential to building a fair economy,” Joint Center President Dedrick Asante-Muhammad said in the report.
The Greene County Commission has met three times this month, a work session on January 7, a regular meeting on January 12 and a follow-up meeting on January 16 to deal with critical items tabled in the prior meeting. All members of the Commission were present for the three meetings.
The Commission received a request from Sheriff Benison for repairs to the jail. At the January 16th meeting, the Commission approved spending an estimated $40,000 for repairs from left over COVID funds that are still on hand.
The Commission considered the status of the Greene County ambulance services at each of the three meetings. The Commission advanced $87,000 to the ambulance service to pay bills, including payrolls, at a special meeting in December 2025. The Commission advanced these funds with the understanding that some portion of the funds would be returned based on contributions from municipalities, agencies and businesses service by the ambulance service
The Commission also pressed the EMS Board to reorganize and have full representation from all supportive municipalities and agencies interested. The Commission also is examining the finances of the EMS to see what long term support is needed to supplement the fees received from Medicaid, Medicare, insurance companies and users of the service. A meeting of the Greene County EMS Board is scheduled for Wednesday, January 21, 2026 , at 5:00 PM in the William M. Branch Courthouse to make further decisions on the future of this vita service.
After the discussion, a representative of Jamie Gray, State EMS Director, read a letter indicating that the state had selected ASAP Emergency Medical Service to “provide temporary operational oversight of EMS services in Greene County… This arrangement will remain in effect until such time that Greene County can submit formal confirmation and provide a guarantee to the State Office of EMS that continued oversight and operation of EMS can occur without interruption.” Commission Chair Garria Spencer said that the Commission will be working with the County EMS Board to provide these assurances to the state as it works to reorganize the Board and staff of the EMS.
The Commission approved an agreement that the Department of Parks and Recreation do an assessment over the next six months of upgrading, beautifying and adding to the nine-hole public golf course owned by the County. The study will allow for a plan to improve the golf course area, over time and provide additional park and creational opportunities for residents of Greene County.
In other business, the Greene County Commission approved:
• A resolution for installation of doors and hardware, at a cost of $19,000 to the Eutaw Activity Center annex, utilized by the Greene Co. Children’s Policy Council.
• Several requests from the Greene County Highway Department, including submission of the 2025 County Rebuild Alabama Annual Report; fund annual membership in the ACCA for $1,400; and support training for the staff at a Conference in Huntsville, AL on February 4-5, 2026.
• Approved appointment of Tamieka King as District 2 representative to the Green Thumb Improvement District Board.
The Commission also received a December financial report from CFO Altheria Wilder. The report showed that the Greene County Commission had a total of $ 9,330, 992 in bank of which $ 2,591, 261 are unrestricted and $6,739,731 were restricted for specific program purposes. The report indicated that the Commission had paid $2,011,740 in claims and bills, including payroll, for December2025. An additional $82,794 was paid in electronic claims mostly for payroll taxes and retirement fees.
As the holiday quickly approaches, tap in to some ways that you can make a difference, whether big or small, to honor a legend’s dream.
By Davonta Herring, NewsOne
Martin Luther King Day—more specifically, Martin Luther King Day of Service—is right around the corner. Every year, the holiday gives us a moment to pause, reflect, and tap back into the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., one of the most influential civil rights leaders this country has ever known. Dr. King wasn’t just about powerful speeches and historic marches; he was about action, community, and showing up for one another in real, tangible ways. Dr. King’s birthday became a federal holiday in 1983, with the first official observance taking place in 1986. Years later, Congress designated it as a “Day of Service,” shifting the focus from a day off to a day on. The idea is simple but powerful: instead of just honoring Dr. King with words, we honor him through service. By giving back, helping others, and strengthening our communities, we live out the values he fought for. On MLK Day of Service, communities across the country come together to volunteer, organize, donate, and uplift. From food drives and marches to teach-ins and mentorship programs, the day is all about collective impact. It’s one of the few holidays rooted in the idea that change doesn’t just come from the top – it comes from everyday people doing what they can, where they are. What makes this day especially meaningful is that anyone can participate. You don’t need a big platform, a lot of money, or a large group to make a difference. Whether you’re moving solo, with friends, or as part of an organization, there are countless ways to show up and serve with purpose. Even small actions can ripple outward and create real change. If you’re looking for ways to get involved this year, here are 10 meaningful ways to observe MLK Day of Service and make an impact – all rooted in community, intention, and love for the people 1. Volunteer At Local Shelters & Food Banks Spend the day serving meals, organizing donations, or helping families in need. It’s one of the most direct ways to support your community and meet people where they are. 2. Organize A Community Clean-Up Grab some gloves, trash bags, and a few friends to clean up a park, a block, or a neighborhood. A cleaner environment shows care, pride, and respect for where we live. 3. Mentor A Youth Or Student Offer guidance, encouragement, or academic support to a young person. Your lived experience and advice could be exactly what they need to stay motivated and focused. 4. Donate To Civil Rights Or Social Justice Organizations Even with limited time, giving financially is still impactful. Supporting organizations that fight for equity helps sustain long-term change beyond one day. 5. Host Educational Events Or Discussions Create space for conversation around Dr. King’s legacy, civil rights history, or current social issues. Knowledge-sharing keeps the movement alive and evolving. 6. Support Black-Owned Businesses Put your dollars where your values are. Shopping Black helps circulate money within the community and supports entrepreneurs building generational wealth. 7. Create Care Packages For Essential Workers Assemble bags with snacks, hygiene items, or thank you notes for healthcare workers, teachers, or first responders. A small gesture can go a long way. 8. Advocate For Policy Change Or Attend Rallies Use your voice by calling representatives, signing petitions, or attending peaceful demonstrations. Civic engagement is a key way to honor Dr. King’s work. 9. Use Social Media To Spread Awareness & Inspire Action Share resources, volunteer opportunities, or educational content. Your post might motivate someone else to get involved or think differently. 10. Commit To A Year-Round Service Plan Martin Luther King Day is a starting point, not the finish line. Choose one cause you care about and find ways to serve consistently throughout the year. MLK Day of Service reminds us that change isn’t seasonal – it’s a lifestyle. However you choose to participate, the goal is to move with intention, compassion, and community at the center. That’s how we truly honor the dream!
Parks speaks in front of the Alabama State Capitol on March 25, 1965. Matt Herron / Jeannine Herron and Stanford University Libraries via AP file
By The Associated Press
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Seven decades after Rosa Parks was thrust indelibly into American history for refusing to give up her bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama, new photos of the Civil Rights Movement icon have been made public for the first time, and they illustrate aspects of her legacy that are often overlooked. The photos were taken by the late Civil Rights photographer Matt Herron, and they depict Parks at the march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 — a five-day-long, 54-mile (87-kilometer) trek that is often credited with galvanizing political momentum for the U.S. Voting Rights Act of 1965. History lessons tend to define Parks by her act of civil disobedience a decade earlier, on Dec. 1, 1955, which launched the Montgomery Bus Boycott. On Friday, some boycott participants and many of the boycott organizers’ descendants gathered to mark 70 years since the 381-day struggle in Alabama’s capital caught national attention, overthrowing racial segregation on public transportation. The never-before-seen photos released to the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery in December 2025, taken a decade after the boycott, are a reminder that her activism began before and extended well beyond her most well-known act of defiance, said Donna Beisel, the museum’s director “This is showing who Ms. Parks was, both as a person and as an activist,” Beisel said. There are plenty of other photos placing Parks among the other Civil Rights icons who attended the march, including some that were taken by Herron. But others were never printed or put on display in any of the photographer’s numerous exhibits and books throughout his lifetime. Herron moved to Jackson, Mississippi, with his wife and two young kids in 1963 after Civil Rights activist Medgar Evers was assassinated. For the next two years, his photos captured some of the most notable people and events of that time. But in most of his photos, Herron’s lens was trained on masses of everyday people who empowered Civil Rights leaders to make change. Herron’s wife, Jeannine Herron, 88, said that the photos going public this week were discovered from a contact sheet housed in a library at Stanford University. The photos weren’t selected for print at the time because they were blurry or included people whose names weren’t as well known in Parks’ case, the new photos show her sitting among the crowd, looking away from the camera. Now, Jeannine Herron is joining forces with historians and surviving Civil Rights activists in Alabama to reunite the work with the communities that they depict. “It’s so important to get that information from history into local people’s understanding of what their families did,” Jeannine Herron said.
Three in four Alabama counties were found to have no record of noncitizen voting activity.
By Jacob Holmes, Alabama Political Reporters
New data reported by Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen shows that no Alabama county saw more than three votes potentially cast illegally by noncitizens. Allen announced last week that 186 individuals would be purged from voter rolls after identifying them as potential noncitizens through the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program. Of those 186 individuals, Allen said voting records showed 25 of them had actually cast ballots. APR emailed Allen’s office seeking clarification on whether those individuals cast votes over multiple election cycles or a single cycle. A spokesperson for the office responded that because referrals have been made to law enforcement, “we can’t provide specific information about any case.” Allen released a breakdown Monday of how many potentially illegal ballots were cast in each Alabama county. The 25 “non-citizen registered voters with voting history” were spread across 18 Alabama counties. That means the purge only identified any cases of noncitizen voting in 25 percent of Alabama’s 67 counties. The 18 counties identified were Baldwin, Blount, Chilton, Clarke, Colbert, Franklin, Henry, Houston, Jefferson, Lee, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Mobile, Montgomery, Morgan, Pike and Tuscaloosa. Of those 18 counties, 13 of them saw just one potential noncitizen each with a recorded voting history. Colbert, Jefferson and Lee Counties had two potential noncitizen voters each while Baldwin and Montgomery had three apiece. It follows that in 13 Alabama counties; potential noncitizen votes could only affect the outcome of any particular race if it came down to one vote. Similarly, in the other counties, the noncitizen vote would only impact races separated by up to two or three votes. Those situations do arise at the smallest, most localized races, but are rare.
Henry County, one of the smallest counties listed, saw 9,320 ballots cast in the 2024 general election. The potential noncitizen vote would account for just over 0.01 percent of the vote in that instance. Over in Madison County, in that same election, its potential one noncitizen vote would account for 0.0005 percent of the vote, rounded to the nearest ten-thousandth of a percent. The closest race in 2024 came down to 40 votes in Monroe County, where there is no evidence that noncitizen voting could have occurred. A Republican primary for the Alabama State Senate seat representing Auburn did come down to a tie in 2022, in Lee County, where two potential noncitizens have a voting history. It is unclear, however, whether either of those individuals voted in that particular race or cycle. While individuals have been purged from the rolls and referred to law enforcement, the actual citizenship status of each individual has not yet been confirmed. While Allen’s release refers to the individuals purged as “illegally registered noncitizens,” the legal status of the voters has not been proven in court, and the program used to identify potential noncitizens is known to contain potential errors. Allen’s office afforded flagged individuals on the voter rolls the opportunity to respond and show proof of citizenship, and purged those who did not respond with that proof. “Our elections must be decided by American citizens and only American citizens,” Allen said. “While liberal organizations and media outlets claim noncitizen voting is not a problem, my office has proven otherwise. Under my watch, illegal registration and illegal voting by noncitizens will not be tolerated in Alabama. My office will continue to identify these violations, refer them to law enforcement, and ensure the full force of the law is applied.”
By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
Donald Trump’s presidency has long carried a familiar weight for Black America. What feels different now is that the force once aimed primarily at Black and brown communities is no longer contained there. With the fatal shooting of Renee Good, a 37-year-old white mother of three, by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, the unchecked power of the federal government has moved into spaces many Americans once believed were insulated. Good was killed during an immigration operation after her vehicle moved forward as agents blocked a roadway. Federal officials quickly labeled the shooting self-defense and branded Good, a “domestic terrorist,” even as video and eyewitness accounts raised questions and Minnesota officials accused the Trump administration of weaponizing immigration enforcement. Protests spread across the state, and Minnesota, Minneapolis, and St. Paul sued the federal government, calling the deployment of immigration agents a “federal invasion.” As the unrest grew, Trump responded with a Truth Social post aimed at Minnesotans that read less like a call for calm and more like a threat. He warned that a “DAY OF RECKONING & RETRIBUTION IS COMING,” while painting entire communities as overrun by criminals and praising ICE for removing “thousands of criminals,” claims local leaders sharply disputed. For many Black Americans, the moment felt grimly familiar. “This is what unchecked power looks like,” said Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of National Action Network. “Donald Trump sent up his latest test balloon for erasing Black history with his twisted, alarming claims that white Americans were discriminated against from the civil rights protections that many fought, bled, and in many cases died for.” Sharpton’s remarks came after Trump told The New York Times that white people were “very badly treated” by laws adopted during the Civil Rights Movement. The president framed civil rights protections as a form of “reverse discrimination,” echoing a broader administration effort to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives across the federal government. “The facts simply don’t match up to the reality Donald Trump has chosen to live in,” Sharpton said. “Even more than 60 years after the Civil Rights Act or the Voting Rights Act, many Black Americans continue to lack access to equitable education, capital dollars, or even their right to exercise democracy.” Under Trump, those disparities have widened. His administration has eliminated DEI programs, curtailed civil rights enforcement, and backed legal efforts that have weakened affirmative action and pushed the Voting Rights Act closer to irrelevance. Civil rights leaders say the policies are not abstract. They translate into lost jobs, closed pathways, and communities left unprotected. The timing of Trump’s comments struck another nerve. “That he made these statements on the eve of the King federal holiday is perhaps the most telling,” Sharpton said. “The Trump administration has already made attempts to minimize this holiday, as well as Juneteenth, while propping up his own birthday.” At the same time Trump has elevated claims of discrimination against white Americans, his administration has expanded aggressive immigration enforcement that critics say operates with little transparency or accountability. Investigations have documented immigration agents using banned chokeholds, detaining U.S. citizens, and conducting masked operations that leave communities fearful of leaving their homes. The consequences now extend beyond immigrant communities. Good’s killing, and the administration’s rapid defense of the agent involved, has jolted Americans who once viewed federal force as distant or theoretical. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus say the pattern is unmistakable. In a separate statement, caucus leaders condemned Trump for bypassing Congress to carry out an unauthorized military operation in Venezuela, calling it a grave abuse of power and warning that the president is increasingly willing to act without legal restraint, whether abroad or at home. “While Nicolás Maduro is, in fact, an illegitimate leader, the deployment of U.S. military power to impose political change in a sovereign nation without the consent of Congress threatens to draw the United States into an indefinite conflict,” the caucus said in its statement. For Black institutions, the pressure has been economic as well as political. The Black Press of America, founded nearly two centuries ago to give voice to people denied access to mainstream media, has seen corporate advertisers and sponsors retreat under the Trump era’s hostility toward racial equity. Newsrooms have shrunk. Resources have dried up. The mission has grown harder just as the stakes have risen. What Black America has warned about for years is now playing out in real time. A presidency that treats civil rights as disposable, dissent as criminal, and federal power as personal authority does not stop at one community.
