Virginians React to Booker; Norfolk to Close 10 Schools; Legacy Orgs Push Back on Trump and Defend Diversity; Behold the NSU Football Schedule
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Last Night Sen. Cory Booker Broke the Record of a Segregationist Trying to Block a Civil Rights Bill
New Jersey U.S. Senator Cory Booker said it “always irked” him that racial segregationist Senator Strom Thurmond held the record for the longest filibuster in the U.S. Senate. Last night, Sen. Booker broke Thurmond’s record which stood since 1957 when Thurmond spoke over 24 hours in a protest against the 1957 Civil Rights Act. Sen. Booker spoke for 25 hours and 4 minutes.
Below: Reaction to Sen. Booker’s historic moment.
Capitol Hill: Legacy Civil Rights Orgs Defend Diversity, Push Back on Trump
WASHINGTON — Rep. Bobby Scott hosted an April 1 forum of civil rights organizations that pushed back hard on the Trump Administration and did something rare on the left these days: They defended diversity and equity.
“Some of the proponents of elimination of the Department of Education campaign on the slogan of states' rights. We remember that campaign was used in the 1960s for those who wanted to maintain segregation,” Rep. Bobby Scott stated in his opening remarks.
"I think the single dumbest phrase in military history is our diversity is our strength," Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stated at a Department of Defense event on Feb. 7. Since then, the Administration has moved to remove Black historical figures, such as Jackie Robinson who served in WWII, from positions of prominence on social media platforms.
Participants in the April 1 forum on Capitol Hill spoke pointedly on President Trump’s opposition to diversity as well as what their organization is doing in opposition. Many in the Democratic Party have been quiet on the issue of whether or not to defend “DEI.”
“This is about distraction and it is about division. That is the point. They are trying to distract and divide us in order to attack the fundamental protections against discrimination for Black communities, Latino communities, Asian American communities and women,” said Amalea Smirniotopoulos, Senior Policy Counsel and Co-Manager of LDF's Equal Protection Initiative of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
“This is a decades-long organized campaign that began as soon as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. It was designed to take away the protections that were hard fought and won by the civil rights movement, and to return us to a time when racial segregation and other forms of segregation are the norm in this country,” she added.
Above: Wisdom Cole, Senior National Director of Advocacy for the national NAACP
Stats related to the impact of the proposed closing of the Department of Education by President Trump
26 million kids across every school district – rural, suburban, and urban – will lose access to critical funding to help them get ahead.
12 million students will lose access to career and technical education, including pathways to well-paying jobs through apprenticeship programs in trades or STEM
10 million students from low-income families could lose access to two-and four-year colleges due to costs
7.5 million students with Individualized Education Plans – accounting for 15 percent of all students nationally – will lose access to special education service funding.
ChildSavers Gala 100th Anniversary Gala
On March 29 at the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond, ChildSavers hosted their “Celebration of a Century: A Night to Remember” gala.
ChildSavers is the only nonprofit in Virginia using a coordinated prevention and intervention model to address children’s mental health, preparing them for lifelong learning and helping them recover from trauma.
Photos by 📸 Paulette Singleton
April 5: Large Anti-Trump Rallies Planned for Saturday
Large rallies agains the policies of the Trump Administration are being planned for Saturday, April 5. Hampton and Richmond have events planned for Saturday. Below are a few flyers for the planned April 5 events.
Norfolk School Board Faces Deadline on Plan to Close 10 Schools
By Nathaniel Cline. Closing one public school or merging it with another can make a big impact on a community. The city of Norfolk is considering doing just that — ten times over.
Last month, the Norfolk City Council requested the city’s school board to prepare an action plan to close and consolidate 10 schools before the start of the 2026-2027 school year. The move would help “reinvest savings into major school capital improvement and maintenance projects” the council said, including at Maury and Booker T. Washington High Schools, and three new elementary schools slated to replace aging buildings.
Norfolk City Public Schools operates five high schools, six middle schools and 30 elementary schools.
Depending on the plan, the city’s move could be the most significant action taken to close and/or consolidate public schools in the commonwealth’s history. During the 2014-15 school year, Alexandria City Public Schools consolidated five middle and elementary schools within its two larger school buildings. However Norfolk’s plan shapes up, its ripple effects will be felt far and wide, some education leaders say.
“Closing any school in any school division is a significant leadership challenge for a superintendent as they work with their school board, their students and staff and their entire community,” said Scott Brabrand, a former public school superintendent and now executive director for the Virginia Association of School Superintendents.
In its March 25 resolution, the council directed the school board to “prioritize achieving these savings” when developing an action plan by Aug. 1 to close a minimum of two schools per year afterward. READ ENTIRE
Youngkin Puts Virginia Schools on Notice
By Nathaniel Cline. The U.S. Department of Education is putting Virginia schools on notice, warning they could lose federal funding and face further investigation if they fail to comply with parental rights laws.
On Friday, the department directed Virginia and other states to submit documentation proving compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), specifically regarding key “priority concerns” by April 30.
These concerns include parental rights to inspect and review education records, student safety, annual notification of rights, military recruiter access, and overall compliance. The directive follows reports that state educational agencies and school divisions are hiding critical information from parents, such as details about a child’s gender transition, or their mental and physical wellbeing.
The Virginia Department of Education said in a statement that it will continue to review all guidance and correspondence from USED to ensure complete compliance.
“Governor Youngkin’s first and second executive orders reiterated and emphasized parents’ rights and directed the removal of inherently divisive concepts from department materials,” the statement said. READ ENTIRE
Tributes to Henry Marsh III 🎙️ Listen to the podcast
Advice for Federal Workers 🎙️ Listen to the podcast
Congressman Bobby Scott hosts Civil Rights v. Trump panel 🎙️ Listen
Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan 🎙️ Listen
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