Special commissioner Albert Pike completes treaties with the members of the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes, giving the new Confederate States of America several allies in Indian Territory. Some members of the tribes also fought for the Confederacy. A Boston native, Pike went west …read more

A commitment to lasting change in sport culture and the world means supporting Black communities and making a space for powerful stories. In partnership with VICE TV and Religion of Sports, our 3-part docuseries ‘Running While Black’ returns with Episode 2 ‘We Represent’.

Often referred to as “the father of long-distance running,” Ted Corbitt became the first African American to win a national marathon championship and first president of the New York Road Runners. Gary Corbitt, son of Ted Corbitt, curator of Ted Corbitt Archives and official historian for the National Black Marathoners Association discusses his father’s legacy and impact on running in the United States. Also featured are We Run Brownsville co-founders Dionne Grayman & Sheila Gordon, shining a light on their community for women of color and prioritizing physical, mental, emotional and societal wellness and growth. Episode 2 ends by highlighting Andraya Yearwood, a trans athlete who has faced discrimination on the track and continues to love running despite adversity.

Join us on our journey by watching Episode 1 and 2 online now, and tune-in July 6th to watch live on VICE TV.

July 10, 1925: In Dayton, Tennessee, the so-called Scopes Monkey Trial begins with John Thomas Scopes, a young high school science teacher, accused of teaching evolution in violation of a Tennessee state law.

The law, which had been passed in March, made it a misdemeanor punishable by fine to “teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals.” With local businessman George Rappleyea, Scopes had conspired to get charged with this violation, and after his arrest the pair enlisted the aid of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to organize a defense. Hearing of this coordinated attack on Christian fundamentalism, William Jennings Bryan, the three-time Democratic presidential candidate and a fundamentalist hero, volunteered to assist the prosecution. Soon after, the great attorney Clarence Darrow agreed to join the ACLU in the defense, and the stage was set for one of the most famous trials in U.S. history.

For the complete article …. history.com

Deadline to Submit Applications is Friday, July 22

 June 29, 2022 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that to date, agricultural producers have already received more than $4 billion through the Emergency Relief Program (ERP), representing approximately 67% of the more than $6 billion projected to be paid through this first phase of the program. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) mailed out pre-filled applications in late May to producers with crop insurance who suffered losses due to natural disasters in 2020 and 2021. Commodity and specialty crop producers have until July 22 to complete applications.   

“We recognize the financial recovery need is great and worked deliberately to create a program delivery process that would ensure quick payments to producers,” Vilsack said. “I am extremely proud to share that the strategically streamlined ERP application and program implementation process have yielded the desired results – reduced burdens on and expedited payment to approximately 120,000 disaster-impacted agricultural producers, to date.”

USDA is implementing ERP and ELRP in two phases, with the first phase utilizing existing claim data to provide relief expediently, and the second phase focusing on ensuring producers not covered by other programs receive assistance. For phase one, USDA used crop insurance and Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) claim data.  

Both ERP and the previously announced Emergency Livestock Relief Program (ELRP) are funded by the Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act, which President Biden signed into law in 2021. The law provided $10 billion to help agricultural producers impacted by wildfires, droughts, hurricanes, winter storms and other eligible disasters experienced during calendar years 2020 and 2021, of which $750 million is committed to livestock producers who experienced losses to drought or wildfire in calendar year 2021. Eligible livestock producers received ELRP payments totaling more than $590 million since the program was rolled out in late March. 

For the complete article, fsausda.gov