By Edward Henderson, California Black Media

The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) announced that its Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) resumed collection of its defaulted federal student loan portfolio on May 5.

The department has not collected on defaulted loans since March 2020.

‘Collections on defaulted federal student loans are resuming. This means that your tax refund or other federal benefits may be withheld,” reads an email affected borrowers in California and around the country received from the DOE last week.

“Later this summer, your employer may also be required to withhold a portion of your pay until you begin to repay your defaulted federal student loan,” the email continues.

According to the DOE, 42.7 million borrowers owe more than $1.6 trillion in student debt. More than 5 million borrowers have not made a monthly payment in over 360 days and their loans have been declared “in default.” Another 4 million borrowers are in late-stage delinquency (91-180 days). As a result, there could be almost 10 million borrowers in default in a few months. If this happens, almost 25% of the federal student loan portfolio will be in default.

“American taxpayers will no longer be forced to serve as collateral for irresponsible student loan policies,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon in a release.

The DOE is urging borrowers in default to contact the Default Resolution Group to make a monthly payment, enroll in an income-driven repayment plan, or sign up for loan rehabilitation. Later this summer, FSA will send required notices to begin administrative wage garnishment.

Student loan debt statistics among racial and ethnic groups reflect dramatic differences in financial health, habits, and resource availability from one community to the next, according to the Education Data Initiative.

Black and African American college graduates owe an average of $25,000 more in student loan debt than White college graduates (Black and African American bachelor’s degree holders have an average of $52,726 in student loan debt).

“The level of concern here really depends on the reasons a borrower has not paid their federal student loans. If they don’t have the capacity, they may be overstretched,” Michele Raneri, vice president and head of research at TransUnion, said in a statement. “They may not know they have to pay them, may not be able to find the information on how to do so, or may not have a willingness to pay for one reason or another,” she said.

Top tips to manage any pending student loan payments include reviewing your student loan balance on your Dashboard.

Affected borrowers can visit their loan servicer’s website for assistance if needed. Setting up auto pay to ensure on-time payments is recommended. Individuals are also encouraged to review many loan forgiveness options and qualifications.

Most programs have strict eligibility requirements, but student loans can be forgiven under programs such as the following:

• Public Service Loan Forgiveness for people who work for eligible government and nonprofit employers
• Teacher Loan Forgiveness for people who work in eligible teaching jobs
• Income-driven repayment (IDR) forgiveness for people who repay their loans on an eligible IDR plan
• Total and permanent disability discharge for people with a disability that severely limits their ability to work

Learn about other loan forgiveness programs at Studentaid.gov.

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By Terri Schlichenmeyer

Author: by Mark Whitaker, c.2025, Simon & Schuster, $30.99, 448 pages

Who will remember you in fifty years’ time?

A handful of friends – at least those who are still around – might recall you. Your offspring, grandkids, and greats, maybe people who stumble upon your tombstone. Think about it: who will remember you in 2075? And then read “The Afterlife of Malcolm X” by Mark Whitaker and learn about a legacy that still resonates a half-century later.

Betty Shabazz didn’t like to go to her husband’s speeches, but on that February night in 1965, he asked her to come with their daughters to the Audubon Ballroom in New York. Did Malcolm X sense that something bad would happen on that night? Surely. He was fully aware of the possibility, knowing that he’d been “a marked man” for months because of his very public break with the Nation of Islam.

As the news of his murder spread around New York and around the world, his followers and admirers reacted in many ways. His friend, journalist Peter Goldman, was “hardly shocked” because he also knew that Malcolm’s life was in danger, but the arrest of three men accused of the crime didn’t add up. It ultimately became Goldman’s “obsession.”

Malcolm’s co-writer for The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Alex Haley, quietly finished the book he started with Malcolm, and a small upstart publishing house snatched it up. A diverse group of magazines got in line to run articles about Malcolm X’s life, finally sensing that White America “’needed his voice even more than Blacks did.’”

But though Malcolm X was gone, he continued to leave an impact.

He didn’t live long enough to see the official founding of the Black Panther Party, but he was influential on its beginning. He never knew of the first Kwanzaa, or the triumphs of a convert named Muhammad Ali.

Malcolm left his mark on music. He influenced at least three major athletes.

He was a “touchstone” for a president …

While it’s true that “The Afterlife of Malcolm X” is an eye-opening book, one that works as a great companion to the autobiography, it’s also a fact that it’s somewhat scattered. Is it a look at Malcolm’s life, his legacy, or is it a “murder mystery”?

Turns out, it’s all three, but the storylines are not smooth. There are twists and tangents and that may take some getting used-to. Just when you’re immersed, even absorbed in this book, to the point where you forget about your surroundings, author Mark Whitaker abruptly moves to a different part of the story. It may be jarring.

And yet, it’s a big part of this book, and it’s essential for readers to know the investigation’s outcome and what we know today. It doesn’t change Malcolm X’s legacy, but it adds another frame around it.

If you’ve read the autobiography, if you haven’t thought about Malcolm X in a while, or if you think you know all there is to know, then you owe it to yourself to find “The Afterlife of Malcolm X.”

For you, this is a book you won’t easily forget.

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By April Ryan

“Companies have not necessarily been transparent” in the corporate data collection process about their commitments following the police-involved death of 46-year-old George Floyd, says Marc Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League. The highly publicized Floyd death almost five years ago garnered worldwide attention and protests in search of justice on May 25, 2020, deadly case. Corporations saw the massive outpouring and offered support then. However, Morial summarizes the findings: “We use publicly available data. We use commitments that people have made.” When it comes to corporate commitment to the Black community, it is a mixed bag, “I think even some that have remained committed have made cosmetic changes, have changed names of programs. They’ve dropped a program here and there. But some have maintained most of what they do,” added Morial who spoke to the audience of the Substack show The Tea with April. The Urban League head also offered that some companies spread the support by contributing to HBCUs and civil rights organizations. The report also captures, in an Urban League written statement, how institutions, advocates, and the business community have mobilized since George Floyd’s death to advance policing reform and racial justice. However, the report also traces the political and cultural backlash. It shows that some progress has reversed.

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What’s going on in Downtown Minneapolis? Adam Duininck & Mary Taris

One of the most recent real-time reversals is the current request by Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, pushing for a presidential pardon of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. He was the first officer convicted of the death of George Floyd for kneeling on his neck at the time of his death. President Trump can only pardon federal sentences. Keith Ellison, the Attorney General of Minnesota, says it’s just “a rumor” right now. However, if a Chauvin pardon were to happen, President Trump could only pardon Chauvin of the federal prison sentence. He is currently serving 20.5 years. When it comes to the state of Minnesota, there are still 22 years left on Chauvin’s state prison sentence. Ellison feels “it would be worse” for Chauvin to be pardoned. Chauvin would be transferred to a state prison to serve his 22-year sentence. Chauvin would be expected to be segregated from the general population for 23 hours daily. Ellison went on to tell Black Press USA that if a pardon does happen, “it’s a slap in the face to the Floyd family” and the multiple cultures of people around the world that called for justice for George Floyd’s death. Ellison fears that if there is indeed outrage in the streets over a pardon for Chauvin, President Trump will try to use Martial Law and the Insurrection Act against those in the streets. Damon Hewitt, President and Executive Director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law tells Black Press USA President Trump’s anticipated actions against protesters is “the legal process equivalent to wiping out Black Lives Matter Plaza.” Hewitt went on to say, “It’s another way of saying Black lives do not matter.”

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