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Black Astronaut Pulled From Space Flight Crew
Philadelphia Sues Wells Fargo For Bad Loans Given To Blacks And Hispanics
PHILADELPHIA —- The city of Philadelphia received an early win in its case against banking giant Wells Fargo last week when a federal judge ruled that the city’s lawsuit against the bank can go for- ward, Reuters reports.
Philly alleges that Wells Fargo practiced predatory lending when giving loans to Black and Latino customers, and that the bank gave safer, cheaper loans to white borrow- ers.
The city also says that Wells Fargo offered Black and Latino people high-cost, high-risk loans even when their credit qualified them for safer op- tions.
According to Philadelphia, this practice began in 2004 and has caused many of its citizens to unnecessarily go into fore- closure; the city argues that this has had a negative impact on the city’s economy and housing sector.
Philly found that Black Wells Fargo loan holders were 4.1 times more likely to have their loans go into foreclosure than white borrowers. Latino bor- rowers were 2.6 times more likely to go into foreclosure.
Wells Fargo claims that none of these allegations are true. Tom Gyoda, a spokesperson for the bank, said, “Wells Fargo has been a part of the Philadel- phia community for more than
Wells Fargo has been at the center of many controversies. Now it is being sued by the City of Philadelphia.
140 years, and we are prepared to defend our record as a fair and responsible lender.”
The judge on the case, Anita Brody, said that she felt Philadelphia's claims that the bank had practiced “reverse redlining” deserved a day in court; she cautioned the city, however, that she had “serious concerns about the viability of the economic injury aspect of the city’s claim.”
Reverse redlining occurs when a business enters a non- white community where it lacks competitors, and charges residents there more for its goods or services than it charges in white areas. Resi- dents are then faced with a problem: if they want the good or service, they have to pay the inflated price.
Dr. Jeannette Epps and her crew.
Dr. Jeannette Epps has a Ph.D in aerospace engineer- ing and was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2009 after seven years of working for the CIA. In an interview with New York Magazine last year, after her historic assignment to the ISS crew was announced, Epps said she felt “a huge amount of responsibility.”
Do the conditions we viewed in the hit movie ‘Hidden Fig- ures’ of 1960s NASA still exist? Or, did Russia have something to do with a Black female astronaut being pulled from her mission at the last minute? Well her brother feels, either way, his sister is being discriminated against.
NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps, who was slated to be- come the first Black crew member to live on board the
International Space Station, was unexpectedly pulled from her June flight.
In a brief news release last Thursday, NASA announced that Dr. Serena Auñón- Chancellor, a fellow mem- ber of Epps's astronaut class who was scheduled to launch later in the year, would be bumped up to take Epps's place.
Epps, who had already started training for her role on Expedition 56-57, will return to Johnson Space Center in Houston, where she will be a candidate for future crews.
NASA did not give an ex- planation for the crew change. But Epps's brother blamed racism at the space agency.
“My sister Dr. Jeannette Epps has been fighting
against oppressive racism and misogynist in NASA and now they are holding her back and allowing a Caucasian Astro- naut to take her place!” Henry Epps wrote in a Face- book post Saturday. (The post has since been removed.) He linked to a MoveOn.org peti- tion asking NASA to reinstate Epps.
The International Space Station is currently home to a crew of six; three Russian cos- monauts with Roscosmos, two Americans representing NASA and one French astro- naut from the European Space Agency.
Auñón-Chancellor's se- lection was also history-mak- ing: She will be the first Hispanic woman to live on the space station. She is a medical doctor.
Top Summer Internships
Many companies and organ- izations are already announc- ing that they are accepting applications for their upcom- ing internship programs. Here’s a list of the top 2018 summer internship programs for African Americans:
#1 – The NBA Internship Program offers college stu- dents an exciting opportunity to use their skills and class- room learning within a na- tional sports environment. Learn more at www.findin- ternships.com/2013/10/nba- internship-program.html
#2 – The NASCAR Diversity Internship Program is a 10- week, full-time, paid summer work opportunity for deserving students with an interest in the NASCAR industry. Learn more at www.findinternships.com/201 3/03/nascar-diversity-intern- ship-program.html
#3 – Black Enterprise In- ternships are designed to pro- vide real-life work experiences for college students interested in a career in the media indus- try. Learn more at www.findin- ternships.com/2013/10/black- enterprise-internships.html
#4 – The NCAA Ethnic Mi- nority and Women’s Intern-
ship offers an opportunity for a minority, female college stu- dent to be chosen for a unique two-year internship program. Learn more at www.findin- ternships.com/2013/10/ncaa- ethnic-minority-and-womens. html
#5 – The Minority Access In- ternship Program offers spring, summer and fall in- ternships for college sopho- mores, juniors, seniors, graduates and professionals. Learn more at www.findin- ternships.com/2013/05/mi- nority-access-internship-progr am.html
#6 – Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Intern- ships are available for college students pursuing undergrad- uate associates or bachelors degrees. Learn more at www.findinternships.com/201 3/09/congressional-black- caucus-foundation.html
#7 – Explore Microsoft In- ternship Program is for current college undergraduate minor- ity students pursuing a degree in computer science or soft- ware engineering. Learn more at www.findinternships.com/201 3/04/Explore-Microsoft-In- ternship-Program.html
#8 – BET Networks Intern-
ships providez paid internships for both undergraduate and graduate college students at five different locations.
Learn more at www.findin- ternships.com/2013/09/bet- networks-internships.html
#9 – The UNCF/NAACP Gateway to Leadership Intern- ship Program is a 10-week paid summer internship for under- graduate students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Learn more at www.findintern- ships.com/2013/04/uncf- naacp-gateway-to-leadership-i nternship-program.html
#10 – Google Internships is rated No. 1 by Forbes as the best internship opportunity for college students interested in a career in software engineering. Google offers an open culture and rich learning experience as well as good pay.
Learn more at www.findin- ternships.com/2013/02/googl e-internships_15.html
To view more minority sum- mer internships, visit: www.findinternships.com/sea rch/label/Minorities
To search hundreds of other summer internships, visit: www.FindInternships.com
See Tuesday’s edition for Part II of the list.
Want To Know All The Black Women Running For Office In 2018? Now You Can
Writer and author Luvvie Ajayi decided it was time to put together a database of Black women running for office in 2018 when she learned no such database existed.
With the help of three other women – Sili Recio, Lucre- cer Braxton and Candace Jones – Luvvie created the database after combing through Twitter, Facebook and other social media to find all the names of candidates that other people had put forward. The team created spreadsheets and Google Docs and eventu- ally came up with a list of more than 100 Black women running for office.
The database is not an en- dorsement of any particular candidate, Luvvie writes. Users should treat it as a “phone book” of candidates and information on their posi- tions.
The database has its own website at BlackWomeninPoli- tics.com that everyone can visit
Luvvie Ajayi is a writer and author and has compiled a list of Black female candidates in 2018.
and browse. The database cur- rently has 392 black women running for office in it and can be searched by both state and candidate name.
The site allows users to fill out a form if they want to be added to the list or know some- one who does.
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