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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Campaign: Canceling Student Debt Major Boost for Black Women

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Wednesday, July 21, 2021   

MINNEAPOLIS -- Black women carry more student loan debt than any other group, and a national petition has been launched to cancel $50,000 in student debt for every borrower.

Supporters said it would help build a better future for Black women. More than 28,000 people already have signed the petition, asking the Biden administration to cancel out the debt, which advocates say will help close the racial wealth gap by at least 20%.

Shakya Cherry-Donaldson, executive director of the nonprofit 1000 Women Strong, said there is not enough focus on solutions to liberate Black women from the ever-growing burden of debt.

"We know that a Black woman who graduates with a bachelor's degree is paid the same as a white man who has a high school diploma; a Black woman with a master's degree is paid the same as a white man with a bachelor's degree," Cherry-Donaldson observed. "We cannot catch up, even with the education and the experience on our side."

U.S. Department of Education data show significant race-based differences in the amount of debt that students of color assume and can readily pay.

The goals of the campaign and petition are to empower Black women and close the gap on current trends. Minnesota is among the states with the worst racial gaps in areas such as wealth and educational attainment.

Studies show African American families are more likely to borrow than white, Latino or Asian families, and Black women often are the primary breadwinners.

Cherry-Donaldson explained they are looking for opportunities to build wealth.

"For our current families, but also to invest in things such as property, real estate, starting our own businesses, that all require capital or some type of loan process," Cherry-Donaldson outlined. "We are completely shut out because we are holding the burden of student debt."

She added the group hopes to find an ally in Kamala Harris, given her background as the first female, first Black and first Asian American vice president.


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