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Lessons From a Team That Helped 27 Family Childcare Programs Get Started in a Year

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — The statewide project had many components, including start-up grants of up to $10,000 and business grants of up to $5,000 for access to business training, software, or devices to manage programs.

Published

8 months ago

June 23, 2025

Oakland Post

By Liz Bell, EdNC.org

Many want to expand family childcare — the home-based sector of licensed childcare — and are looking at pilots to open new programs to meet the needs of families and employers. For the past two years, a team from the nonprofit Southwestern Child Development Commission (SWCDC) has done just that, creating North Carolina’s first statewide system of support for family child care. In the past year, the organization has helped launch 27 new family childcare programs, 20 of which are open, creating at least 160 new slots for children. Two are the first family childcare programs in their counties.

Since September 2023, the team has awarded start-up grants to another 26 programs and business sustainability grants to 38 programs. It has created the first statewide family childcare mentorship program, regional communities of practice, and a marketing campaign that has garnered interest from more than 200 prospective providers since April. The funding to do this work — from a North Carolina legislative pilot in the 2023 budget and a state contract through the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) — ends at the end of June. As state leaders ask how to improve childcare access and affordability, the project’s lessons should carry forward, said Daniel Bates, the statewide project’s manager. “I just really felt like we’ve done something here, and I hope that, no matter what, it still continues, because family childcare is so incredibly important,” Bates said. “And they are part of early childhood education.”

‘People that will be around for a while’

Expanding family childcare takes one-on-one support for new providers who often bring a passion for children but little knowledge of the complex regulations and business challenges that come with starting and operating a program, the project leaders said. It also requires funding. In 2024, SWCDC, a nonprofit focused on early care and education based in western North Carolina, was awarded $525,000 from the Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE) from legislative pilot funding to expand access to family childcare. The project’s expected output was to help 18 programs get started. Instead, it has helped launch 27 programs by awarding grants to cover start-up costs. The grants ranged from $5,000 to $20,000 depending on the providers’ needs and the strategic goals of the project. The average grant was about $13,000. Providers also spent their own money to open their programs outside of the grants. A survey of some of the providers found that most had spent between $1,000 and $5,000 before receiving grants to prepare their homes and buy materials.

The new providers are in 19 counties. In Alleghany and Montgomery counties, grant recipients will be the only family childcare providers in their counties. Two providers speak Spanish fluently, according to the project leaders. At least 18 have college degrees. Four of the new providers were under 30 years old. Six were in their 30s; 10 were in their 40s. “These are people that will be around for a while,” said Vickie Ansley, SWCDC’s Child Care Resource & Referral (CCR&R) regional programs manager, and family child care in-home program activity coordinator.

That grant funding was layered onto a larger statewide family child care project the organization has been leading since February 2023 through a separate $3 million contract with DCDEE from the CCDF, the federal funding stream that helps states raise the quality of child care and helps working families afford it. The statewide project had many components, including start-up grants of up to $10,000 and business grants of up to $5,000 for access to business training, software, or devices to manage programs. It provided 64 professional development workshops to providers on a range of issues. It also created a framework for family childcare substitute pools and a database of zoning contacts and information.

Hands-on support from regional consultants

The crux of the project, however, was all about hands-on support and community building, the project leaders said. The project funded 17 family childcare consultants who reached 477 providers in 73 counties with coaching and consultation. The consultants, trained in the specifics of owning and operating a family child care program, were embedded in the 14 regional CCR&R hubs covering all 100 counties. “We’re talking about people located in those communities,” Ansley said. “They know the (providers), or they know somebody who knows them.”

DCDEE employs licensing consultants who meet with all types of potential childcare owners to begin the licensure process. The licensing consultants began recommending reaching out to the regional family childcare consultants to new providers. The family childcare consultants then could provide knowledge specific to family childcare, dedicate time and energy to decipher the complexities of starting and sustaining a business, and offer support that was independent of regulatory oversight and compliance. Some of the consultants were former family childcare providers themselves. “Prior to that, if an agency had capacity, then they provided support,” Bates said. “The services were somewhat limited, whereas this was full 100% dedication for family childcare.”

The regional consultants received business training to advise providers on budget planning, financial reports, marketing, and recruiting and retaining staff. Kathleen Hoffler, a regional consultant at the Partnership for Children of Cumberland County who once owned a family childcare home, described the role as her “dream job.” Hoffler said she has helped providers take better care of their businesses, their children, and themselves. She encouraged providers to take time off and to reach out for help. “If you’re having issues with enrollment, if you’re having issues with collecting payments from parents, if you’re having behavior issues with kids or you’re worried that one of your kids might need some developmental screening, and you don’t have anybody to talk that out with, it’s real easy to get discouraged and possibly decide it’s not for you and you’re going to close your program,” Hoffler said.

The family childcare consultants connected providers to the pilot grant opportunities and helped them budget what they needed and how they should spend the funding. Since the consultants were embedded in CCR&R agencies, they could connect providers with a variety of professional development opportunities and resources. They connected providers to mentors — seasoned family childcare providers who provided a listening ear and advice on overcoming obstacles — and to communities of practice, and regional teams that met to share ideas and support one another. Annette Anderson-Samuels, owner of Phenomenal Kids Child Care Services, a family childcare home in Kings Mountain, was one of those mentors. She said her advice to two new providers on how to advertise their programs kept them from closing. She recently helped a provider navigate a tough conversation with parents who were not following her policies. “It’s to help each other become better at what we do as childcare providers,” Anderson-Samuels said.

There were 22 mentors and 44 mentees across the state. In his decades working in early childhood, Bates said the group has been a standout. “They’ve crossed county lines to go help each other in person,” he said. “The interest and the willingness, wanting to improve themselves, is really out there if they have the opportunity to do that.”

‘The lost segment of early childhood education’

The number of family childcare programs, and childcare businesses within a residence, has fallen by about 36% since 2018, compared with an overall 15% decline in all types of licensed childcare. Eighty-five percent of licensed childcare closures from February 2020 to June 2024 were home-based programs. As a generation of providers ages out of the work, a lack of awareness, funding, and support — along with increased regulation — has kept new providers from entering the field, project leaders said. The team was intentional about listening to providers’ experiences and needs before developing a system of support. Low funding from public sources and private tuition leads to low compensation for family childcare professionals. The median wage for home-based providers in 2023 was $10.20.

The team also heard about obstacles due to HOA rules and zoning regulations. They found that local ordinances were putting up barriers to new programs in some places. Septic tank requirements were among the most common and most expensive problems. “(Providers) have recognized, ‘I don’t really need to run to Raleigh; some of the challenges I have are really just in my own backyard, and I just need to talk to my town or county,’” Bates said. The team heard about the isolation many providers feel, being alone in their homes all day without a network to air ideas or lean on when challenges arise. Providers said they did not feel respected or supported by the state.

‘Like a prayer answered’

For Helen Cole, assistance and funding were key to opening her family childcare home in Taylortown in Moore County. “I just feel like this wouldn’t have been possible without the support and the funds,” said Cole, who recently earned her four-star license to care for children from infancy to 12 years old at Helen Cole’s Day Care. She received more than $17,000 to start her program from the legislative pilot funding. She bought new outside equipment, furniture, dramatic play sets, age-appropriate toys and books, a new kitchen faucet, a state-approved curriculum, and a new laptop. Cole heard about the potential grant funding for start-up costs from the state licensing consultant. She was also connected with Hoffler.

Cole was excited to open after hearing about a local demand for second-shift care. After retiring as a substitute teacher in her local school district, she needed more income and was eager to fill a community need. However, after her initial meeting with a licensing consultant, she received a long checklist of everything she had to do. She said she felt overwhelmed. “It was just so much information,” she said. “There are things on the website, but how do you adjust it for your daycare?”

Plus, Cole had experience helping in her sister’s childcare program, but she did not know the ins and outs of operating a small business. Even with a background in accounting, she knew the role would be challenging. So she reached out to Hoffler for an in-person meeting. “It was like a prayer answered,” Cole said. “She broke it down for me.” Hoffler helped Cole navigate the tough decisions that come with operating a business from your home, such as how much living space she was willing to sacrifice and what renovations were needed. And she helped Cole create a budget to apply for grant funding through the legislative pilot. She gave her ideas on high-quality and age-appropriate materials.

She also connected Cole with a mentor, helped her with business skills, and connected her with other resources through the Smart Start partnership. Hoffler has helped her advertise her program and hold on through the ups and downs of enrollment, Cole said. Because she needed to hire another teacher, her niece Danielle Dixon, Cole said she is breaking even but has not started making a profit or been able to pay herself. She said she has been advised that it can take nine months to a year. She said low subsidy rates and her parent’s inability to afford her private rates have also been financially challenging. She serves one student whose parents are both working, making too much to qualify for a subsidy, but cannot afford her private rate of $200 per week. She only charges that family $85 per week. Dixon, who has been working in childcare professionally for 11 years but informally since she was 16 years old, has both of her children enrolled in the program. Dixon said her grandmother and mother, as well as three of her aunts, have worked in childcare. She decided to partner with her aunt, Cole, to return to working with young children in a creative, exploratory environment after working in public schools.

Helen Cole’s Day Care opened in December in the home she was raised in, where her mother used to take care of children whose parents were at risk of losing custody. “All of our lives, we’ve had other children here,” Cole said. Both Dixon and Hoffler have helped Cole strengthen her understanding and practice of early childhood care and education. Her program’s philosophy is based on relationships, exploration, and emotional and social development. The academic foundations are added. “It’s that give and take between you and this child,” Hoffler said. “They’re going to learn more from you if you are actively engaging with them and talking to them throughout the day, than they’ll ever learn if you give them a coloring sheet and try to teach them how to stay in the lines. There are no lines in early childhood.” “That was a wow moment,” Cole said. “I understand that we have to have a curriculum, and we do, but the biggest thing is for them to develop on their own.”

It is this one-on-one attention and intimate environment that make family childcare appeal to so many parents. Rural children, low-income children, and children of color are more likely to access home-based care than center-based, according to the national advocacy and research group Home Grown. It is often more affordable, more convenient, and flexible for nontraditional working hours, and more culturally and linguistically relevant to diverse families. Kailyn Green, whose daughter has been at the program for a month, said she toured other programs with open spots but they “didn’t feel right.” Then she visited Cole’s program and did a walk-through. “I was like, ‘I’m sold. I’m good,’” Green said. A licensed clinical social worker, Green said she has been able to return to work without worrying. She receives texts and videos of her daughter’s days and has been impressed by how much she has progressed, especially with eating more consistently. “I love that she truly gets the attention,” she said. “She’s been able to form a relationship with her. It’s been great.” Hoffler said she was excited to hear about Cole’s recent accomplishment: earning four out of five stars on the state’s quality rating scale. “I’m just so proud of her,” she said. “She handled it like a pro.”

What’s next?

There are multiple efforts to build different kinds of support for family childcare. DCDEE said the project with SWCDC taught them that “Family Child Care Homes (FCCHs) would benefit from additional funding, continued community engagement, and professional development to improve quality,” according to a DCDEE spokesperson. “FCCHs are a vital part of our state’s early care and learning network, and DCDEE is committed to continuing our support for these small businesses,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement. Though the contract for the statewide project ends on June 30, the spokesperson said the division will continue using CCDF funds and federal funds from the Preschool Development Grant (PDG) Birth through Five to provide business technical assistance and other services to family childcare programs.

The PDG contract is in process but will be awarded to Acelero Charitable Foundation “in collaboration with multiple agencies that support family child care.” It will focus on increasing quality and family engagement, the spokesperson said. DCDEE is also contracting with Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at UNC-Chapel Hill to provide evaluation and coordination of the PDG Elevate FCCH project, which will provide extra subsidy funding to family child care programs to increase wages for providers. Jones-Ruff said SWCDC will continue supporting family childcare by retaining a statewide team with organizational funding — and will seek outside funding to continue other aspects of the project. Some of the family childcare consultants will continue their work through local CCR&R or Smart Start funding. “I can see just the monumental amount of work and the progress that has happened in such a short amount of time,” she said. “We’re not going away.”

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PRESS ROOM: NBA Hall of Fame Nominee Terry Cummings Joins 100 Black Men of DeKalb County to Launch Victory & Values Initiative

NNPA NEWSWIRE — NBA Hall of Fame nominee and Basketball Legend Terry Cummings was administered the official member’s oath and ceremonially pinned during a special induction ceremony held on Friday, February 20th.

Published

4 days ago

February 27, 2026

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Cummings becomes an honorary member, joining other role model sports stars

NBA Hall of Fame nominee and Basketball Legend Terry Cummings has officially become an honorary member of the 100 Black Men of DeKalb County, marking a powerful new chapter for the 100 Black Men and youth development across the region.

Cummings was administered the official member’s oath and ceremonially pinned during a special induction ceremony held on Friday, February 20th. The moment signified more than membership — it marked the launch of the organization’s transformative new platform, the Victory & Values Initiative.

The Victory & Values Initiative is a groundbreaking youth development program designed to empower elementary and middle school students through a dynamic blend of sports, mentorship, and STEM exposure. The initiative focuses on building health, discipline, character, leadership, and access to opportunity — creating pathways for long-term academic and personal success.

“This is about more than sports,” said Cummings during the ceremony. “It’s about using the platform of athletics to teach life lessons, create access, and build the next generation of leaders.”

The induction ceremony also featured notable guests including NASCAR’s newest Star Driver, Lavar Scott and NASCAR Director of Athletic Performance, Phil Horton, who joined Cummings for a powerful Victory & Values Town Hall discussion. The Town Hall was moderated by renowned Sports Emcee John Hollins and focused on leadership, resilience, discipline, and the importance of mentorship in shaping young lives.

A “Day at NASCAR” for 75+ Youth

Cummings wasted no time getting to work. On his first full day as an honorary member, he joined his new brothers of the 100 Black Men of DeKalb County to host a “Day at NASCAR,” escorting more than 75 youth to a once-in-a-lifetime experience at EchoPark Motor Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway).

The youth participants received behind-the-scenes access including: an exclusive tour of Pit Row, access to the Garage Area and exploration of the interactive Fan Zone.

The experience culminated with a surprise meet-and-greet and Q&A session with NASCAR Superstar Bubba Wallace, who shared insights on perseverance, preparation, and breaking barriers in professional sports.

The day served as a living example of the ‘Victory & Values’ Initiative in action — exposing youth to new industries, expanding their vision for the future, and connecting them directly with high- level mentors and role models.

Building Leaders Through Access and Mentorship

The 100 Black Men of DeKalb County – a chapter of the largest, national mentoring organization in the county – continues to expand its footprint with programs focused on academic excellence, economic empowerment, leadership development, and health & wellness.

The launch of ‘Victory & Values’ represents a strategic expansion of the organization’s impact

intentionally integrating athletics and STEM to engage youth at an early age while reinforcing core principles such as integrity, accountability, teamwork, and perseverance.

“Our mission has always been to mentor the next generation,” said Vaughn Irons, President-Elect of the 100 Black Men of DeKalb County. “With Terry Cummings joining the brotherhood, along with partners in NASCAR and professional sports, we are creating unprecedented access and exposure for our youth. Victory & Values is about turning inspiration into structured opportunity.”

By connecting elementary and middle school students to professional athletes, executives, STEM professionals, and community leaders, the initiative aims to:

Increase youth exposure to careers in sports business, engineering, and performance science
Strengthen mentorship pipelines
Promote physical wellness and mental resilience
Build character-driven leadership at an early age

Open Invitation to Youth and Families

All youth are invited to participate in the Victory & Values Initiative, along with the other countless, impactful programs offered by the 100 Black Men of DeKalb County.

Parents and guardians seeking mentorship, leadership development, academic enrichment, and transformative exposure opportunities for their children are encouraged to connect with the organization.

As NBA Legend Terry Cummings’ induction demonstrates, Victory & Values is more than a program — it is a movement designed to build champions in life, not just in sports.

For more information about the Victory & Values Initiative or to enroll a student, contact: 100 Black Men of DeKalb County at Phone at 404.241.1338, info@100bmod.org or Tee Foxx at 404.791.6525,

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Reflecting on Black History Milestones in Birmingham AL

THE BIRMINGHAM TIMES — As we bring Black History Month to a close here’s a look at some historic Birmingham milestones since the city’s founding.

Published

4 days ago

February 27, 2026

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Compiled by The Birmingham Times

As we bring Black History Month to a close here’s a look at some historic Birmingham milestones since the city’s founding.

1871—City of Birmingham founded; now the state’s most populous city, Birmingham was established at the crossing of two rail lines near one of the world’s richest mineral deposits.

1885—Birmingham Barons baseball team originally established as Birmingham Coal Barons.

1890—The Penny Savings Bank, founded by the Rev. William Reuben Pettiford in Birmingham, opens, becoming the first Black-owned and Black-operated financial institution in Alabama.

1902—Woodward Building, construction completed on the first of four steel-frame skyscrapers that would make up Birmingham’s “Heaviest Corner on Earth.”

The Tuggle Institute, a boarding school for African American children in Birmingham Alabama, pictured in 1906. (Public Domain)

1903 —Social worker Carrie A. Tuggle opens the Tuggle Institute and School, the first orphan home in Alabama for African American boys. The Institute operated until Tuggle’s death on Nov. 5, 1924, and was later renamed Tuggle Elementary School in 1936.

1904 —Vulcan Statue, the world’s largest cast-iron statue, created as Birmingham’s entry in the St. Louis World’s Fair, was sculpted by Giuseppe Moretti.

1914—Birmingham’s Lyric Theatre was established as one of the first in the South where Black and white audiences could see the same show for the same price, though Black sat in an isolated section with inferior accommodations

1918—Birmingham College and Southern University merged to establish Birmingham-Southern College.

1925—The Pittsburgh of the South, Birmingham, is the largest cast iron and steel producer in the Southern U.S.

The Slossfield Community Center campus included a health clinic, a maternity ward, a recreational center, and an education building. The complex was built between 1936 and 1939 by ACIPCO (American Cast Iron Pipe Company). (National Archives Record Group 69-N)

1939—Slossfield Health Clinic, located in a neighborhood surrounding ACIPCO’s plant, considered one of Birmingham’s most blighted, opens.

1941—The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth (SCN) assume responsibility for a small health clinic in the predominantly African American community of Ensley near Birmingham, Alabama. The clinic later becomes Holy Family Hospital.

1941—World War II. The demand for steel during the war brought Birmingham out of the Great Depression.

1948—Slossfield’s medical center closes in 1948 after World War II. The rest of the Slossfield Community Center campus closed in 1954.

1951—Birmingham Museum of Art, currently home to one of the finest collections in the Southeast, with extensive holdings from around the globe dating from ancient to modern times, opens.

1954—A.G. Gaston Motel founded by entrepreneur and activist A.G. Gaston to provide higher-class service to Black visitors.

The Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth and other local Black ministers established the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR) during a mass meeting at Birmingham’s Sardis Baptist Church. (File)

1956—The home of Birmingham minister and Civil Rights leader Fred Shuttlesworth is bombed. Although the structure is severely damaged, Shuttlesworth emerges uninjured.

During a mass meeting at Birmingham’s Sardis Baptist Church, Shuttlesworth and other local Black ministers establish the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR). Founded in response to the State of Alabama’s eight-year ban on the NAACP, ACMHR was central to the civil rights movement in Birmingham.
The Freedom Riders arrive at the Greyhound bus terminal in Montgomery, where they are attacked by an angry mob. The Freedom Ride, an integrated bus trip from Washington, D.C., through the Deep South, was formed to test the 1960 Supreme Court decision prohibiting segregation in bus and train terminal facilities.

1963—After previously establishing the ACMHR and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Shuttlesworth invites Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. to Birmingham to lead what becomes the Birmingham Campaign for Desegregation. King writes Letter From Birmingham Jail.

Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was bombed, killing four young girls in an attack against the Civil Rights Movement and humanity.

1966—Oscar Adams Jr. becomes the first African American to join the Birmingham Bar Association.

1968—Arthur Shores was appointed to the Birmingham City Council, making him the first African American to serve as a councilman.

1970—The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth (SCNs) transfer ownership of Holy Family Hospital to a local non-profit organization, which was renamed Community Hospital. By 1986, the facility was sold and operated as Medical Park West until its closing in 1988. The facility would briefly reopen in 1989 as Community Hospital with 22 beds, only to close it down for good soon thereafter.

1974—J. Richmond Pearson and U.W. Clemon were the first African Americans elected to the Alabama State Senate since Reconstruction.

Richard Arrington. (File)

1979—Richard Arrington Jr. was elected as the first African American mayor of Birmingham. Arrington served in that post for nearly 20 years, until his resignation in July 1999.

1980—Oscar Adams Jr. was appointed to the Alabama Supreme Court, making him the first African American justice to hold that office.

1984—J. Mason Davis becomes the first African American president of the Birmingham Bar Association. He is also the first minority adjunct professor at The University of Alabama School of Law, serving from 1972 to 1997.

1986—Reuben Davis and Chris McNair were elected to the County Commission, the first district by district election, and are the first African Americans to serve on the commission.

1991—Carole Smitherman appointed to become the first African American woman to serve as a circuit court judge in Alabama

1992—Birmingham Civil Rights Institute opens its doors at Kelly Ingram Park in the Civil Rights District.

The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. (File)

1993—Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame opens.

2002—Shelia Smoot elected first Black female Jefferson County Commissioner.

2003—Helen Shores Lee becomes the first African American woman to serve as a judge on the Jefferson County Circuit Court.

2005—Condoleezza Rice, a Birmingham native, is named U.S. Secretary of State.

2008-11—Jefferson County and creditors attempt to reach a settlement of the $3.14 billion sewer debt, but any deal would need to erase $1 billion or more of that debt.

2009—Carole Smitherman becomes Birmingham’s first African American female mayor.

2010—Railroad Park, a 19-acre park, opened, becoming a catalyst for revitalization in downtown Birmingham

2011—A massive storm in April, causing numerous powerful tornadoes, rips through the southeastern United States, killing 250 people in Alabama, including 20 people in Jefferson County communities of Pleasant Grove (10), Concord (6), Cahaba Heights (1), Pratt City (1), Forestdale (1), and McDonald Chapel (1).

In 2012 the Jefferson County Commission voted 3-2 to close the inpatient care unit and emergency room at Cooper Green Mercy Hospital. (File)

2012—Cooper Green Mercy Hospital downsized. The Jefferson County Commission votes 3-2 to close the inpatient care unit and emergency room at Cooper Green following weeks of debate and protests from community leaders who have begged the county to continue operating the facility for the sick and poor.

2016—Lynneice Washington elected District Attorney for the Bessemer Cutoff, the first African American DA in the state of Alabama.

2016—Theo Lawson was named the first African American Jefferson County attorney.

2016—Representative Terri Sewell introduces legislation leading to Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument designation by presidential proclamation one year later.

2017—John Henry joins the Jefferson County Commission Finance Department and becomes the county’s first Black chief financial officer.

2017—Danny Carr and Mark Pettway were elected the county’s first Black district attorney and first Black sheriff, respectively.

2019—Walter Gonsoulin was named the first permanent African American superintendent of the Jefferson County School System

2020—Felicia Rucker-Sumerlin was named the first female Deputy Chief in the 200-year history of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.

2020—Elisabeth French becomes the first woman selected to serve as Presiding Judge in Jefferson County’s 200-year history. She will oversee the 10th Judicial Circuit, the largest in Alabama’s Judicial System.

2021—Ashley M. Jones, founder of the Magic City Poetry Festival, is named Poet Laureate for Alabama, making her the first Black Poet Laureate for the state and the youngest person to hold the position.

2022—Dr. Adolphus Jackson of Birmingham is elected President of the Alabama Dental Association, the first African American to serve as president of the state Association.

2022—Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin issues a proclamation declaring March 18 Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth Day, the 100th anniversary of the leader’s birth.

2023—Writer and educator Salaam Green becomes the city’s first poet laureate.

2024—Democrats Yashiba “Red” Blanchard and Jameria Moore on Tuesday became the first Black female judges elected to Probate Court in Jefferson County, Alabama.

2024—Myrna Carter Jackson, a Birmingham civic leader and Foot Soldier who participated in marches, sit-ins, demonstrations, and other Civil Rights activities, dies. She was 82.

2024—Hezekiah Jackson IV, who served as president of the Metro Birmingham NAACP, Birmingham Citizens Advisory Board, and the Inglenook Neighborhood Association, dies. He was 65.

For decades, Bishop Calvin Woods Sr., was one of Birmingham’s leading voices for equality. (File)

2025—Judge Carole Smitherman retires after 50 years in law and politics in Birmingham, including being the first Black woman hired as a deputy district attorney in Jefferson County and becoming the city’s first Black woman municipal and circuit court judge.

2025—Bishop Calvin Woods Sr., distinguished Birmingham Civil Rights leader and longtime pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church in Norwood, dies. He was 91.

2025—Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. accepts the prestigious 202d L. Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award at the downtown Sheraton.

2026—Claudette Colvin, who refused to move to a bus seat at the start of the Civil Rights Movement, dies at 86. Homegoing celebration was held at Greater Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in SW Birmingham.

Source: The Birmingham Times, 1963: How The Birmingham Civil Rights Movement Changed America and the World; City of Birmingham Public Library; Associated Press; blackpast.org; Politics and Welfare in Birmingham, 1900–1975.

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OP-ED: One Hundred Years of Black Workers Telling the Truth

NNPA NEWSWIRE — … history provides a framework for understanding what happened in Minnesota this January, when Black journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort were arrested after covering a protest inside a church opposing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in the area. The message was unmistakable: documenting dissent can itself be treated as a crime.

Published

5 days ago

February 26, 2026

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By Fred Redmond, Secretary Treasurer AFL-CIO

In 1917, A. Philip Randolph and Chandler Owen launched The Messenger, a pro-labor, anti-war magazine that connected racism to exploitation and demanded justice for Black workers. Two years later, the federal government responded with tactics of targeted censorship—surveillance, harassment and threats of prosecution—and branded a small Black labor magazine “the most dangerous” publication in the country simply for encouraging Black workers to organize.

More than a century later, two highly respected Black journalists—Don Lemon and Georgia Fort—are handcuffed and indicted for filming a protest inside a church. The tools have changed, but the oppressive government playbook has not.

That continuity matters as we mark 100 years since the launch of Negro History Week, founded in February 1926 by Carter G. Woodson. Negro History Week rejected the lie that Black people had no history worth teaching and no role worth remembering. It challenged an education system that erased Black achievement and a public narrative that treated Black people as a problem, not a people. What later became Black History Month grew from that project of memory and resistance. From its earliest days, Black history celebrations were about more than remembrance. They also were acts of resistance, challenging the ongoing use of law, fear and surveillance to silence Black workers and suppress the truth about power in this country.

That pairing matters: The birth of Negro History Week alongside the rise of an apparatus built to monitor and suppress Black labor dissent. The same government that denied Black people their history also treated them as a threat when they spoke collectively as workers. When Black workers asserted their right to organize and be heard, they faced not just employer retaliation, but state repression.

Randolph went on to organize the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first major Black-led union, and was under constant federal surveillance. As Black workers organized in factories, on farms and in service jobs across the country, local police and FBI “Red Squads” and federal counterintelligence programs infiltrated meetings, built massive files, and worked to neutralize leaders who linked racial justice to workplace democracy.

That history provides a framework for understanding what happened in Minnesota this January, when Black journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort were arrested after covering a protest inside a church opposing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in the area. The message was unmistakable: documenting dissent can itself be treated as a crime.

At the same time, major media outlets are shrinking their newsrooms and walking away from race coverage. The Washington Post recently laid off some 300 journalists, including race and ethnicity reporters. In late 2025, NBC News shuttered entire teams dedicated to covering Black, Latino and Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander stories. In Pittsburgh, the 240‑year‑old Post‑Gazette is being shut down by its owners, who responded to a court order requiring them to honor The NewsGuild‑CWA (TNG-CWA) journalists’ contract after years of striking. When powerful newsrooms dismantle the very beats created after 2020 to cover racism and inequality, they send a different version of the same message: some truths about power are no longer welcome.

The National Writers Union said the arrests “set a disastrous precedent for press freedom in the United States,” and the National Association of Black Journalists called on the government to “halt all retaliatory posture toward journalists.” SAG‑AFTRA has condemned the arrests of Fort and Lemon, a member, and unions like TNG‑CWA are warning that union‑busting, mass layoffs, and criminal charges against journalists are part of the same effort to make it dangerous for workers to tell the truth.

This Black History Month, the labor movement must be clear: the right to organize and the right to dissent stand or fall together. There is no freedom of association if workers cannot gather, speak and be heard. When Black journalists are criminalized for documenting protest, the real target is the possibility of multiracial worker power. If true worker power and economic dignity are to have a future, it will be because the labor movement continues to refuse that silence.

The AFL-CIO recognizes that the same tactics used to quash Black voices are used to suppress all our voices—on shop floors, in independent media, in the streets, on picket lines and in places of worship. We stand with our union brothers, sisters and siblings in insisting that the First Amendment is a right and a core worker protection, not a luxury.

A century ago, Woodson insisted that Black people had a history worth telling and Randolph told Black workers they deserved more than exploitation. The government tried to silence them. This Black History Month, the question remains the same: Will Black truth tellers be honored or handcuffed?

The labor movement’s answer must be clear. We stand with Black workers and Black journalists in their right to dissent, to document, and to demand a better future.

Fred Redmond, the highest-ranking African American labor official in history, is the secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor federation, representing 64 unions and nearly 15 million workers.