Odessa Woolfolk honored with 2024 Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award
By Birmingham Times Via Black Press USA
The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI) last week presented Odessa Woolfolk, the city’s renowned educator, civic leader and lifelong advocate for civil and human rights, with the 2024 Fred L. Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award.
“That is an award of a lifetime,” Woolfolk said before the ceremony. “Rev. Shuttlesworth has been my idol since I first met him when he was here doing his work in the late ’50s and ’60s. To be associated with his values, his mission, his courage, his belief in people, equality and justice to … have something on my shelf that associates me with those values doesn’t get better than that.”
“Most of those people I have worked with on various civic endeavors, and all of them are known for being involved with social justice,” Woolfolk said. “I call them my brothers in spirit because we have been in the vineyards of social justice and civil and human rights for a long time.”
The award, named after the legendary civil rights leader and co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), recognizes individuals who have made enduring contributions to the ongoing fight for equality, justice and human dignity.
“We are honored to present the Fred L. Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award to Odessa Woolfolk, whose lifelong dedication to human and civil rights has shaped the course of history in Birmingham and beyond,” said Rosilyn Houston,
dental and well-being items
newly elected chair of the BCRI Board of Directors, in a statement.
“Her vision, leadership and tireless advocacy continue to inspire new generations to stand up for justice and equality. Odessa Woolfolk exemplifies the very essence of what this award stands for.”
Previous Shuttlesworth Award winners include former Birmingham Mayor Richard Arrington; Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Andrew Young.
mshosales@healthpartners.com
Odessa Woolfolk, center, renowned educator, civic leader and lifelong advocate for Civil and Human Rights and the 2024 Fred L. Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award winner with Rosilyn Houston, Birmingham Civil Rights Institute Board Chair; and Mike Goodwich, (Mike & Gillian Goodrich Foundation) at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute’s 32nd Anniversary Celebration.
Photo: Submitted
Guest Commentary by Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr.
Credit card swipe fees are financial inequities for Black America
America’s financial system is quietly reinforcing old inequities. Black American communities — historically denied access to wealth-building tools due to practices like redlining and restrictive banking — now face a new predatory financial hurdle: credit card swipe fees.
For Black Americans, swipe fees — which credit card companies use to fund luxury points programs — act as yet another layer of systemic discrimination, forcing many to pay more while receiving less in return.
Consider how credit card swipe fees work. Every time someone uses a credit card, the merchant is charged a fee — usually between 2% and 4% — which is often passed on to consumers through higher prices. Wealthier cardholders benefit from this system, recouping costs through rewards like fancy hotel stays and airline miles. But a legacy of discrimination has left Black families with fewer wealth-building opportunities, resulting in lower homeownership rates, lower credit scores, and higher debt burdens — putting those premium credit card and their luxury rewards out of reach for many.
In simple terms, Black Americans and other communities of color are left to foot the bill for the flights and perks of those who are considerably more affluent.
Black Americans are less likely to hold credit cards — 72% ownership compared to 88% for White Americans — and often face higher interest rates. 58% of Black Americans have more credit card debt than emergency savings, compared to 30% of White Americans. Black college graduates carry $25,000 more in student loan debt than their White counterparts, which can further harm their credit scores and financial stability.
It’s a painful irony: Black Americans, who are systematically excluded from wealth-building tools, end up paying more to access the same basic financial services. These financial pressures make it hard to escape revolving debt, and harder still to enjoy the rewards that banks offer. The promise of “free” rewards from swipe fees is an illusion for those who can barely afford to pay down their balance every month. While swipe fees aren’t solely responsible for racial wealth disparities, they compound existing financial burdens, mak-
ing it even harder for Black families to build savings and financial security.
Black Americans are far from the only group that would benefit from comprehensive swipe fees reform: Small business owners and advocates across the country have been sounding the alarm and leading the calls. For small merchants, swipe fees are often their second-highest monthly cost after labor. These businesses — which operate on razor-thin profit margins — are forced to raise prices to stay afloat. The average American family pays more than $1,100 a year in higher prices due to these fees.
The current swipe fee structure exists because the Visa-Mastercard duopoly controls 90% of the U.S. credit card processing market, allowing them to set and increase rates for merchants while blocking out competitors.
Swipe fee reform isn’t radical; it’s about fair competition and a level playing field. The Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) — a bipartisan bill being considered in Congress — aims to introduce competition into this marketplace by requiring at least two competing processing networks on each credit card. This could save American consumers and businesses an estimated $15 billion annually.
The CCCA won’t end rewards programs — only the banks that offer them can decide that. In fact, a recent study found that the CCCA would have little to no impact on rewards. What the bill would do is end a broken system that preys on those with the least and benefits those with the most.
Reducing swipe fees through pro-competition reform won’t undo generations of economic inequality, but it’s a step toward dismantling one of the structures that reinforce it. A fairer financial landscape benefits everyone, not just those most impacted — and Black Americans have paid more to receive less for too long. It’s time for that to change. An inequality anywhere is a threat to equality everywhere.
Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. is President and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) representing the Black Press of America and Executive Producer of The Chavis Chronicles on PBS TV Network.
Okonjo-Iweala given 2nd term as WTO chief as Trump’s return looms over trade body’s future
By Jamey Keaten Associated Press
GENEVA (AP) — The World Trade Organization chief said Friday she’s “eager” to work with U.S. Presidentelect Donald Trump and his trade team, while taking a wait-and-see stance about Trump’s plans to impose new tariffs on goods from other countries including China, Mexico and Canada.
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala made the comments to reporters after member countries handed her a second four-year term, in a vote with no opposition.
The Geneva-based trade body’s future is clouded by Trump’s looming return to power in January in the U.S., home to the world’s single biggest economy, because his pledges to slap unilateral tariffs on foreign goods entering the country could face challenges at the WTO.
“I think that I look very much forward to working with President Trump — with all the new people who will be appointed,” she said. “I’m eager for it.”
While Trump before his first term threatened to pull the U.S. out of the WTO, Okonjo-Iweala said there’s a “general recognition that the organization needs to be supported” and pointed to U.S. interests in intellectual property protections and product safety fostered by the trade body.
“The WTO and its rules underpin 75 to 80% of global goods trade,” she said. Okonjo-Iweala expressed hopes to help strike a deal in the WTO that would phase out $22 billion in
Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), speaks during the panel
Presidential Lecture Series, at the headquarters of the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland,
“harmful subsidies” in the fisheries industry that raise worries about damage to ocean fish stocks.
During his first term, the Trump administration largely bypassed WTO rules by imposing tariffs on steel and other goods from countries including China and even U.S. allies.
On Monday, Trump vowed sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada, as well as China, as soon as he takes office as part of his effort to crack down on illegal immigration and drugs.
Trump said he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering
the country from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10% tariff on goods from China, as one of his first executive orders.
Such tariffs, if imposed, could face a challenge through the WTO’s dispute resolution process, though its body that hears appeals is not operating — largely because of U.S. unwillingness to let new members be appointed to it.
Okonjo-Iweala, a former Nigerian finance minister who also has U.S. citizenship, took office in 2021 as the first woman and first African to hold the job of WTO chief.
Her second term will officially begin next September.
“Until we get specifics in terms of what is planned, I think it would be a bit premature to try to pronounce on these issues,” she said, referring to Trump’s plans.
“I think we should wait ... for actual policies,” Okonjo-Iweala said. “And we’re very much looking forward to working in a productive fashion.”
The WTO’s 166 members take decisions by consensus, meaning that any one country can block them.
discussion at the WTO’s
Friday, Nov. 1, 2024.
Photo: Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP, File
President-elect Trump nominates first Black cabinet member
By Lauren Victoria Burke NNPA Newswire Corresponden
On November 23, PresidentElect Donald Trump announced the nomination of Scott Turner for the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
Turner is the first African American selected by Trump for his cabinet or any other high-level Administration position. The former NFL player has also previously worked in government. Turner was the executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council. He also is a former Texas state representative.
Though it is becoming increasingly clear that Trump’s Administration is guided by the goals as published in Project 2025, Turner could lead an agency that is responsible for policy that impacts the lives of many African Americans. How much control members of Trump’s cabinet will have remains to be seen. During Trump’s first Administration, there was a great deal of turnover in cabinet-level and senior staff-level positions.
The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shapes policies that connect to the enforcement of fair housing laws, government money that subsidizes lowerincome rents and mortgages, and other policies, including:
• Fair Housing: Enforcing fair housing laws and ensuring equal housing opportunities
• Homeownership: Supporting homeownership through mortgage insurance programs
Turner currently serves as chair of the Center for Education Opportunity at the America First Policy Institute, a group with ties to Trump’s transition team.
“I am pleased to nominate Scott Turner, from the Great State of Texas, as the Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Scott is an NFL Veteran who, during my First Term, served as the First Executive Director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization
Council (WHORC), helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities,” the Trump transition team said in a statement.
“Those efforts, working together with former HUD Secretary Ben Carson, were maximized by Scott’s guidance in overseeing 16 Federal Agencies which implemented more than 200 policy actions furthering Economic Development. Under Scott’s leadership, Opportunity Zones received over $50 Billion Dollars in Private Investment,”
the statement concluded.
During Ben Carson’s tenure as Trump’s HUD Secretary, millions were allocated for new housing developments in Norfolk and Newport News, Virginia using TIGR grants. The Newport News development is almost complete. Turner served alongside Sec. Carson at the time.
Turner was drafted in 1995 by the Washington Redskins and played cornerback for the Redskins from 1995 to 1997 and then became a coach for the team.
While serving as Executive Director of the White House Opportunity & Revitalization Council, Scott Turner delivers remarks at the 2019 National Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Conference Tuesday, Sep. 10, 2019/. Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead
