July 9

1863—Eight Black regiments play a major role as Union troops capture Port Hudson in Louisiana. They had laid siege to the Confederate fortress since May 23. The victory, along with the July 4 capture of Vicksburg, Miss., gave U.S. forces control of the Mississippi River, cut the Confederate army in half and laid the foundation for ending the Civil War. The Civil war would drag on for another two years but the Confederate troops fighting to maintain slavery were never able to recover from the loss of Port Hudson.

(NNPA)—A highly-touted U.S.-Africa trade bill comes up for renewal in 2015 and some Kenyans are demanding to see better results for Africa.

The Kenyan officials were speaking at the close of the recent African Growth and Opportunity Act Forum in Lusaka, Zambia.

AGOA, as the bill is known, was designed to provide preferential access to Africa’s products in U.S. markets.

U.S. TRADE SECRETARY RON KIRK

In the spirit of “trade not aid,” Kenyan Trade Minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere criticized foreign countries for showering African countries with aid. “If you look at the amount of money [given as aid] that has been pumped into Kenya and Africa, it has not been effective,” he said. “If you give money to people there is no sustainability. But if you have a business, it is a bit more dignified. It is good for employees, but also the business and the economy.”

Autum Ashante, a shockingly bright Brooklyn, N.Y., girl, is outpacing her peers in education, the arts and sports. This fall, she will reportedly become a student at the University of Connecticut at 13—about five years younger than the average incoming freshman.

According to the New York Daily News, she will study medicine at the massive six-campus school, which educates roughly 30,000 students.

AUTUM ASHANTE

In an interview with the New York Daily News, Autum’s father, Batin Ashante, said his daughter’s early college entrance is remarkable, but more importantly sets the tone for other children of color.

“What she’s doing is groundbreaking but this is not about vanity,” the single father said. “It’s about setting the tone for other Black and Latino children who will come behind her. They’re always being told they are underachievers. We want to show this can be done.”

A report by the College Board Advocacy & Policy Center paints a bleak picture of the state of young Black males in America.

According to the report, nearly half of the U.S. men of color now between the ages of 15 and 24, who graduate from high school, will end up jobless, in jail or prematurely dead.

This jarring statistic is just one of many highlighted in one of two new reports released June 20 by the College Board Advocacy & Policy Center at an event held in collaboration with the Harvard University’s W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research in Cambridge, Mass. The report, The Educational Experience of Young Men of Color: A Review of Research, Pathways and Progress, is especially relevant given the need for these young men to attain postsecondary degrees if the nation’s economy is to thrive and compete globally.