Drive into 2025, slowly, oh-so-carefully
Olivia Hussey, star of the 1968 film 'Romeo and Juliet,' dies at 73
ATLANTA — Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who won the presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, endured humbling defeat after one tumultuous term and then redefined life after the White House as a global humanitarian, has died. He was 100 years old. The longest-lived American president died on Sunday, more than a year after entering hospice care, at his home in the small town of Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died at 96 in November 2023, spent most of their lives, The Carter Center said. “Our founder, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia,” the center said in posting about his death on the social media platform X. It added in a statement that he died peacefully, surrounded by his family. As reaction poured in from around the world, President Joe Biden mourned Carter’s death, saying the world lost an “extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian” and he lost a dear friend. Biden cited Carter’s compassion and moral clarity, his work to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless and advocacy for the disadvantaged as an example for others. “To all of the young people in this nation and for anyone in search of what it means to live a life of purpose and meaning – the good life – study Jimmy Carter, a man of principle, faith, and humility,” Biden said in a statement. “He showed that we are a great nation because we are a good people – decent and honorable, courageous and compassionate, humble and strong.” Biden said he is ordering a state funeral for Carter in Washington. Businessman, Navy officer, evangelist, politician, negotiator, author, woodworker, citizen of the world — Carter forged a path that still challenges political assumptions and stands out among the 45 men who reached the nation’s highest office. The 39th president leveraged his ambition with a keen intellect, deep religious faith and prodigious work ethic, conducting diplomatic missions into his 80s and building houses for the poor well into his 90s. “My faith demands — this is not optional — my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can, with whatever I have to try to make a difference,” Carter once said. A president from Plains A moderate Democrat, Carter entered the 1976 presidential race as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad smile, outspoken Baptist mores and technocratic plans reflecting his education as an engineer. His no-frills campaign depended on public financing, and his promise not to deceive the American people resonated after Richard Nixon’s disgrace and U.S. defeat in southeast Asia. “If I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don’t vote for me. I would not deserve to be your president,” Carter repeated before narrowly beating Republican incumbent Gerald Ford, who had lost popularity pardoning Nixon. Carter governed amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over racism, women’s rights and America’s global role. His most acclaimed achievement in office was a Mideast peace deal that he brokered by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at the bargaining table for 13 days in 1978. That Camp David experience inspired the post-presidential center where Carter would establish so much of his legacy. Yet Carter’s electoral coalition splintered under double-digit inflation, gasoline lines and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His bleakest hour came when eight Americans died in a failed hostage rescue in April 1980, helping to ensure his landslide defeat to Republican Ronald Reagan. Carter acknowledged in his 2020 “White House Diary” that he could be “micromanaging” and “excessively autocratic,” complicating dealings with Congress and the federal bureaucracy. He also turned a cold shoulder to Washington’s news media and lobbyists, not fully appreciating their influence on his political fortunes. “It didn’t take us long to realize that the underestimation existed, but by that time we were not able to repair the mistake,” Carter told historians in 1982, suggesting that he had “an inherent incompatibility” with Washington insiders. Carter insisted his overall approach was sound and that he achieved his primary objectives — to “protect our nation’s security and interests peacefully” and “enhance human rights here and abroad” — even if he fell spectacularly short of a second term. Ignominious defeat, though, allowed for renewal. The Carters founded The Carter Center in 1982 as a first-of-its-kind base of operations, asserting themselves as international peacemakers and champions of democracy, public health and human rights. “I was not interested in just building a museum or storing my White House records and memorabilia,” Carter wrote in a memoir published after his 90th birthday. “I wanted a place where we could work.” That work included easing nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, helping to avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti and negotiating cease-fires in Bosnia and Sudan. By 2022, The Carter Center had declared at least 113 elections in Latin America, Asia and Africa to be free or fraudulent. Recently, the center began monitoring U.S. elections as well. Carter’s stubborn self-assuredness and even self-righteousness proved effective once he was unencumbered by the Washington order, sometimes to the point of frustrating his successors. He went “where others are not treading,” he said, to places like Ethiopia, Liberia and North Korea, where he secured the release of an American who had wandered across the border in 2010. “I can say what I like. I can meet whom I want. I can take on projects that please me and reject the ones that don’t,” Carter said. He announced an arms-reduction-for-aid deal with North Korea without clearing the details with Bill Clinton’s White House. He openly criticized President George W. Bush for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He also criticized America’s approach to Israel with his 2006 book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.” And he repeatedly countered U.S. administrations by insisting North Korea should be included in international affairs, a position that most aligned Carter with Republican President Donald Trump. Among the center’s many public health initiatives, Carter vowed to eradicate the guinea worm parasite during his lifetime, and nearly achieved it: Cases dropped from millions in the 1980s to nearly a handful. With hardhats and hammers, the Carters also built homes with Habitat for Humanity. The Nobel committee’s 2002 Peace Prize cites his “untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” Carter should have won it alongside Sadat and Begin in 1978, the chairman added. Carter accepted the recognition saying there was more work to be done. “The world is now, in many ways, a more dangerous place,” he said. “The greater ease of travel and communication has not been matched by equal understanding and mutual respect.” Carter’s globetrotting took him to remote villages where he met little “Jimmy Carters,” so named by admiring parents. But he spent most of his days in the same one-story Plains house — expanded and guarded by Secret Service agents — where they lived before he became governor. He regularly taught Sunday School lessons at Maranatha Baptist Church until his mobility declined and the coronavirus pandemic raged. Those sessions drew visitors from around the world to the small sanctuary where Carter will receive his final send-off after a state funeral at Washington’s National Cathedral. The common assessment that he was a better ex-president than president rankled Carter and his allies. His prolific post-presidency gave him a brand above politics, particularly for Americans too young to witness him in office. But Carter also lived long enough to see biographers and historians reassess his White House years more generously. His record includes the deregulation of key industries, reduction of U.S. dependence on foreign oil, cautious management of the national debt and notable legislation on the environment, education and mental health. He focused on human rights in foreign policy, pressuring dictators to release thousands of political prisoners. He acknowledged America’s historical imperialism, pardoned Vietnam War draft evaders and relinquished control of the Panama Canal. He normalized relations with China. “I am not nominating Jimmy Carter for a place on Mount Rushmore,” Stuart Eizenstat, Carter’s domestic policy director, wrote in a 2018 book. “He was not a great president” but also not the “hapless and weak” caricature voters rejected in 1980, Eizenstat said. Rather, Carter was “good and productive” and “delivered results, many of which were realized only after he left office.” Madeleine Albright, a national security staffer for Carter and Clinton’s secretary of state, wrote in Eizenstat’s forward that Carter was “consequential and successful” and expressed hope that “perceptions will continue to evolve” about his presidency. “Our country was lucky to have him as our leader,” said Albright, who died in 2022. Jonathan Alter, who penned a comprehensive Carter biography published in 2020, said in an interview that Carter should be remembered for “an epic American life” spanning from a humble start in a home with no electricity or indoor plumbing through decades on the world stage across two centuries. “He will likely go down as one of the most misunderstood and underestimated figures in American history,” Alter told The Associated Press. James Earl Carter Jr. was born Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains and spent his early years in nearby Archery. His family was a minority in the mostly Black community, decades before the civil rights movement played out at the dawn of Carter’s political career. Carter, who campaigned as a moderate on race relations but governed more progressively, talked often of the influence of his Black caregivers and playmates but also noted his advantages: His land-owning father sat atop Archery’s tenant-farming system and owned a main street grocery. His mother, Lillian, would become a staple of his political campaigns. Seeking to broaden his world beyond Plains and its population of fewer than 1,000 — then and now — Carter won an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating in 1946. That same year he married Rosalynn Smith, another Plains native, a decision he considered more important than any he made as head of state. She shared his desire to see the world, sacrificing college to support his Navy career. Carter climbed in rank to lieutenant, but then his father was diagnosed with cancer, so the submarine officer set aside his ambitions of admiralty and moved the family back to Plains. His decision angered Rosalynn, even as she dived into the peanut business alongside her husband. Carter again failed to talk with his wife before his first run for office — he later called it “inconceivable” not to have consulted her on such major life decisions — but this time, she was on board. “My wife is much more political,” Carter told the AP in 2021. He won a state Senate seat in 1962 but wasn’t long for the General Assembly and its back-slapping, deal-cutting ways. He ran for governor in 1966 — losing to arch-segregationist Lester Maddox — and then immediately focused on the next campaign. Carter had spoken out against church segregation as a Baptist deacon and opposed racist “Dixiecrats” as a state senator. Yet as a local school board leader in the 1950s he had not pushed to end school segregation even after the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision, despite his private support for integration. And in 1970, Carter ran for governor again as the more conservative Democrat against Carl Sanders, a wealthy businessman Carter mocked as “Cufflinks Carl.” Sanders never forgave him for anonymous, race-baiting flyers, which Carter disavowed. Ultimately, Carter won his races by attracting both Black voters and culturally conservative whites. Once in office, he was more direct. “I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over,” he declared in his 1971 inaugural address, setting a new standard for Southern governors that landed him on the cover of Time magazine. His statehouse initiatives included environmental protection, boosting rural education and overhauling antiquated executive branch structures. He proclaimed Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the slain civil rights leader’s home state. And he decided, as he received presidential candidates in 1972, that they were no more talented than he was. In 1974, he ran Democrats’ national campaign arm. Then he declared his own candidacy for 1976. An Atlanta newspaper responded with the headline: “Jimmy Who?” The Carters and a “Peanut Brigade” of family members and Georgia supporters camped out in Iowa and New Hampshire, establishing both states as presidential proving grounds. His first Senate endorsement: a young first-termer from Delaware named Joe Biden. Yet it was Carter’s ability to navigate America’s complex racial and rural politics that cemented the nomination. He swept the Deep South that November, the last Democrat to do so, as many white Southerners shifted to Republicans in response to civil rights initiatives. A self-declared “born-again Christian,” Carter drew snickers by referring to Scripture in a Playboy magazine interview, saying he “had looked on many women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times.” The remarks gave Ford a new foothold and television comedians pounced — including NBC’s new “Saturday Night Live” show. But voters weary of cynicism in politics found it endearing. Carter chose Minnesota Sen. Walter “Fritz” Mondale as his running mate on a “Grits and Fritz” ticket. In office, he elevated the vice presidency and the first lady’s office. Mondale’s governing partnership was a model for influential successors Al Gore, Dick Cheney and Biden. Rosalynn Carter was one of the most involved presidential spouses in history, welcomed into Cabinet meetings and huddles with lawmakers and top aides. The Carters presided with uncommon informality: He used his nickname “Jimmy” even when taking the oath of office, carried his own luggage and tried to silence the Marine Band’s “Hail to the Chief.” They bought their clothes off the rack. Carter wore a cardigan for a White House address, urging Americans to conserve energy by turning down their thermostats. Amy, the youngest of four children, attended District of Columbia public school. Washington’s social and media elite scorned their style. But the larger concern was that “he hated politics,” according to Eizenstat, leaving him nowhere to turn politically once economic turmoil and foreign policy challenges took their toll. Carter partially deregulated the airline, railroad and trucking industries and established the departments of Education and Energy, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He designated millions of acres of Alaska as national parks or wildlife refuges. He appointed a then-record number of women and nonwhite people to federal posts. He never had a Supreme Court nomination, but he elevated civil rights attorney Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the nation’s second highest court, positioning her for a promotion in 1993. He appointed Paul Volker, the Federal Reserve chairman whose policies would help the economy boom in the 1980s — after Carter left office. He built on Nixon’s opening with China, and though he tolerated autocrats in Asia, pushed Latin America from dictatorships to democracy. But he couldn’t immediately tame inflation or the related energy crisis. And then came Iran. After he admitted the exiled Shah of Iran to the U.S. for medical treatment, the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun in 1979 by followers of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Negotiations to free the hostages broke down repeatedly ahead of the failed rescue attempt. The same year, Carter signed SALT II, the new strategic arms treaty with Leonid Brezhnev of the Soviet Union, only to pull it back, impose trade sanctions and order a U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympics after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. Hoping to instill optimism, he delivered what the media dubbed his “malaise” speech, although he didn’t use that word. He declared the nation was suffering “a crisis of confidence.” By then, many Americans had lost confidence in the president, not themselves. Carter campaigned sparingly for reelection because of the hostage crisis, instead sending Rosalynn as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy challenged him for the Democratic nomination. Carter famously said he’d “kick his ass,” but was hobbled by Kennedy as Reagan rallied a broad coalition with “make America great again” appeals and asking voters whether they were “better off than you were four years ago.” Reagan further capitalized on Carter’s lecturing tone, eviscerating him in their lone fall debate with the quip: “There you go again.” Carter lost all but six states and Republicans rolled to a new Senate majority. Carter successfully negotiated the hostages’ freedom after the election, but in one final, bitter turn of events, Tehran waited until hours after Carter left office to let them walk free. At 56, Carter returned to Georgia with “no idea what I would do with the rest of my life.” Four decades after launching The Carter Center, he still talked of unfinished business. “I thought when we got into politics we would have resolved everything,” Carter told the AP in 2021. “But it’s turned out to be much more long-lasting and insidious than I had thought it was. I think in general, the world itself is much more divided than in previous years.” Still, he affirmed what he said when he underwent treatment for a cancer diagnosis in his 10th decade of life. “I’m perfectly at ease with whatever comes,” he said in 2015. “I’ve had a wonderful life. I’ve had thousands of friends, I’ve had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence.”The world’s largest EV battery maker wants an even bigger market share. On Thursday, announced plans to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to drive the company’s “global strategic layout” and improve its competitiveness. In a filing with the Shenzen Stock Exchange, CATL said it intends to issue overseas listed H shares and apply for listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. CATL said the new stock listing would help “further promote the company’s global strategic layout, build an international capital operation platform, and improve comprehensive competitiveness.” Shareholders must still approve the company’s issuance and listing on the exchange. CATL also needs approval from government and regulatory agencies, including the China Securities Regulatory Commission. Although its board of directors has already approved the plans, CATL said that whether the listing will pass review is “of great uncertainty.” This is not the first time CATL has announced a new stock listing. Last year, the EV battery giant revealed it planned to raise at least $5 billion in Swiss global depository receipts. However, its concerns over the massive offering. CATL is already leading the global EV battery market by a wide margin. According to , CATL accounted for 36.8% of the market through the first ten months of 2024. China’s BYD was second with a 16.8% share, followed by Korea’s LG Energy Solution in third with an 11.8% share. Earlier this week, CATL for EVs. The company claims it’s “the world’s first ultra-safe skateboard chassis” and could unlock “a trillion yuan market.” The global EV battery leader is also rapidly expanding as it looks to phase out gas stations over the next few years. and subscribe to the . Peter Johnson is covering the auto industry’s step-by-step transformation to electric vehicles. He is an experienced investor, financial writer, and EV enthusiast. His enthusiasm for electric vehicles, primarily Tesla, is a significant reason he pursued a career in investments. If he isn’t telling you about his latest 10K findings, you can find him enjoying the outdoors or exercising
Touch Deez, Vonnias Vikings claim Boxing Day Touch titlesFrench lawmakers have passed a no-confidence vote against the government, throwing the European Union's second-biggest economic power deeper into a crisis that threatens its capacity to legislate and tame a massive budget deficit. Login or signup to continue reading Far-right and left-wing lawmakers joined forces on Wednesday to back a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Michel Barnier, with a majority 331 votes in support of the motion. Barnier has to tender his resignation and that of his government to President Emmanuel Macron, making his minority government's three-month tenure the shortest lived in France's Fifth Republic beginning in 1958. He is expected to do so on Thursday morning, French media reported. The hard left and far right punished Barnier for using special constitutional powers to adopt part of an unpopular budget without a final vote in parliament, where it lacked majority support. The draft budget had sought 60 billion euros ($A97.98 billion) in savings in a drive to shrink a gaping deficit. "This (deficit) reality will not disappear by the magic of a motion of censure," Barnier told lawmakers ahead of the vote, adding the budget deficit would come back to haunt whichever government comes next. No French government had lost a confidence vote since Georges Pompidou's in 1962. Macron ushered in the crisis by calling a snap election in June that delivered a polarised parliament. With its president diminished, France risks ending the year without a stable government or a 2025 budget, although the constitution allows special measures that would avert a US-style government shutdown. France's political turmoil will further weaken a European Union already reeling from the implosion of Germany's coalition government, and weeks before US President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House. The country's outgoing defence minister Sebastien Lecornu warned the turmoil could impact French support for Ukraine. The hard left France Unbowed (LFI) party demanded Macron's resignation. Barnier's political demise was cheered by far-right chief Marine Le Pen, who has sought for years to portray her National Rally party as a government in waiting. "I'm not pushing for Macron's resignation," she said. "The pressure on the president will get greater and greater. Only he will make that decision." France faces a period of deep political uncertainty that is already unnerving investors in French sovereign bonds and stocks. Earlier this week, France's borrowing costs briefly exceeded those of Greece, generally considered far more risky. Macron must now make a choice. The Elysee Palace said the president would address the nation on Thursday evening. Three sources told Reuters that Macron aimed to install a new prime minister swiftly, with one saying he wanted to name a premier before a ceremony to reopen the Notre-Dame Cathedral on Saturday, which Trump is due to attend. Any new prime minister would face the same challenges as Barnier in getting bills, including the 2025 budget, adopted by a divided parliament. There can be no new parliamentary election before July. Macron could alternatively ask Barnier and his ministers to stay on in a caretaker capacity while he takes time to identify a prime minister able to attract sufficient cross-party support to pass legislation. A caretaker government could either propose emergency legislation to roll the tax-and-spend provisions in the 2024 budget into next year, or invoke special powers to pass the draft 2025 budget by decree - though jurists say this is a legal grey area and the political cost would be huge. Macron's opponents also could vote down one prime minister after the next. 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Tweet Facebook Mail If there was any doubt a federal election is fast approaching, Anthony Albanese provided a stark reminder in one of his last major speeches of the year . Labor-red billboards, a crowd of supporters, and a childcare policy announcement worth roughly $1.5 billion – this was a campaign event without an election date. That could be as far as five months away, but federal politicians are clearly readying themselves. EXPLAINED: When will Australia's next federal election be held? The next federal is fast approaching. (Nine) Albanese announced candidates for two Tasmanian seats in early November, before a flurry of Senate activity on the final sitting day of the year that saw a number of key government policies, including the social media ban for under-16s, Reserve Bank reforms, and two housing and three migration bills, become law. The prime minister lauded that as his government doing more to help out Australian families, but those families haven't been returning the love. Opinion polls have unanimously shown a drop in support for Albanese and Labor this year, raising the prospect that it could become the first government in almost 100 years to be voted out after a single term. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has said it's possible he wins the next election. READ MORE: Liberal frontbencher Paul Fletcher to retire from politics Anthony Albanese was in campaign mode during one of his last major speeches of the year. (William Davis) Like Albanese, he's also been gearing up for the election with a flurry of media appearances in December, attacking the government over antisemitism and cost-of-living pressures. The latter topic has seen him take a leaf out of the Trump playbook. "Part of the problem in the United States was that people didn't believe that the government was listening to them when they couldn't pay their bills... they just felt a real disconnect, seems to be some of the analysis," Dutton said after the US election . "To be honest, there's an eerie parallel with what's happening here in Australia, in that sense." Sure enough, he's been asking the same questions of voters that Trump did of Americans before storming back to the White House. "Ask yourself this question; are you better off today than you were two and a half years ago?" Dutton said in late December. "Heaven knows how bad it will be in three years' time." Dutton, however, has maintained his Coalition is the underdog for next year's vote. READ MORE: Shorten reflects on failures, sausage regret in valedictory speech Opinion polls have been grim reading as of late for the government. (Alex Ellinghausen) Part of that comes down to simple electoral maths. The opposition would need to gain 21 seats to govern in its own right – history says parties just don't make up that much ground one term after being voted out. Dutton has also been extremely effective in campaigning against the government's policies, but has offered few of his own. There's a commitment to reduce migration beyond the government's targets, but an exact number won't come until after the election. There had been a suggestion that stage 3 tax cuts would be reworked, but that was walked back in November. READ MORE: What apps will and won't be covered by social media ban Peter Dutton says he can win the next election, but maintains he's the underdog. (Alex Ellinghausen/SMH) Costings for the much-publicised nuclear power push weren't released until a fortnight before Christmas (after several false starts), and have been highly disputed by experts. When other policies are announced, that will give the government a chance to attack the opposition, just as it has over the Coalition's commitment to wind back some of the workplace laws introduced this term. Albanese's unofficial campaign speech was significant not just for the childcare announcement, but for some attack lines he rolled out – just as Dutton has relentlessly criticised the government over the cost of living, the prime minister returned the favour. "Every Australian would have been worse off if Peter Dutton had blocked our tax cuts, cut people's wages, stopped energy bill relief and made it harder and more expensive for people to see a doctor," he said. Expect to hear a lot more of that in the new year, even if the election date remains a mystery. DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP : Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play .On December 20, 2024, Douglas Elliman Inc. entered into a significant agreement regarding the assumption of an office lease. The company, based in Miami, Florida, signed the fourth amendment to the office lease agreement with Vector Group Ltd. and Frost Real Estate Holdings, LLC. This agreement entails the transfer of all obligations and rights under an existing office lease agreement dating back to September 10, 2012. The newly assumed lease agreement includes a five-year term extension lasting through April 30, 2028. This extension pertains to a 12,390 square foot office space located at 4400 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, Florida. As part of the deal, Douglas Elliman Inc. deposited $176,142.00 with the landlord as a security deposit. Approval for this amendment was secured from the Audit Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors, as the company’s significant shareholder, Dr. Phillip Frost, beneficially owns more than 5% of its capital stock. For a detailed understanding of the agreement, reference should be made to the full text of the fourth amendment and the lease agreement, a copy of which is available as Exhibit 10.1 in the Current Report on Form 8-K filed by Douglas Elliman Inc. In compliance with reporting requirements, the company has duly submitted this report, signed by J. Bryant Kirkland III, the Executive Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Chief Financial Officer, on December 27, 2024. The filing also includes Exhibit 104, which houses the Cover Page Interactive Data File embedded within the Inline XBRL document. This article was generated by an automated content engine and was reviewed by a human editor prior to publication. For additional information, read Douglas Elliman’s 8K filing here . Douglas Elliman Company Profile ( Get Free Report ) Douglas Elliman Inc owns Douglas Elliman Realty, LLC, operating as a residential brokerage company in the United States with operations in New York, Florida, California, Texas, Colorado, Nevada, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC In addition, Douglas Elliman sources, uses and invests in early-stage, disruptive property technology (“PropTech”) solutions and companies and provides other real estate services, including development marketing, property management and settlement and escrow services in select markets. Featured Stories
New Jersey fines firms $40K for sports betting violationsTALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Buried among Florida's manicured golf courses and sprawling suburbs are the artifacts of its slave-holding past: the long-lost cemeteries of enslaved people, the statues of Confederate soldiers that still stand watch over town squares, the old plantations turned into modern subdivisions that bear the same name. But many students aren't learning that kind of Black history in Florida classrooms. In an old wooden bungalow in Delray Beach, Charlene Farrington and her staff gather groups of teenagers on Saturday mornings to teach them lessons she worries that public schools won't provide. They talk about South Florida's Caribbean roots, the state's dark history of lynchings , how segregation still shapes the landscape and how grassroots activists mobilized the Civil Rights Movement to upend generations of oppression. “You need to know how it happened before so you can decide how you want it to happen again," she told her students as they sat as their desks, the morning light illuminating historic photographs on the walls. Florida students are giving up their Saturday mornings to learn about African American history at the Spady Cultural Heritage Museum in Delray Beach and in similar programs at community centers across the state. Many are supported by Black churches, which for generations have helped forge the cultural and political identity of their parishioners. Since Faith in Florida developed its own Black history toolkit last year, more than 400 congregations have pledged to teach the lessons, the advocacy group says. Florida has required public schools to teach African American history for the past 30 years, but many families no longer trust the state's education system to adequately address the subject. By the state’s own metrics, just a dozen Florida school districts have demonstrated excellence at teaching Black history, by providing evidence that they are incorporating the content into lessons throughout the school year and getting buy-in from the school board and community partners. School district officials across Florida told The Associated Press that they are still following the state mandate to teach about the experience of enslavement, abolition and the "vital contributions of African Americans to build and strengthen American society.” But a common complaint from students and parents is that the instruction seems limited to heroic figures such as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks and rarely extends beyond each February's Black History Month . When Sulaya Williams' eldest child started school, she couldn't find the comprehensive instruction she wanted for him in their area. So in 2016, she launched her own organization to teach Black history in community settings. “We wanted to make sure that our children knew our stories, to be able to pass down to their children," Williams said. Williams now has a contract to teach Saturday school at a public library in Fort Lauderdale, and her 12-year-old daughter Addah Gordon invites her classmates to join her. “It feels like I’m really learning my culture. Like I’m learning what my ancestors did,” Addah said. “And most people don’t know what they did.” State lawmakers unanimously approved the African American history requirement in 1994 at a time of atonement over Florida's history. Historians commissioned by the state had just published an official report on the deadly attack on the town of Rosewood in 1923, when a white mob razed the majority-Black community and drove out its residents. When the Florida Legislature approved financial compensation for Rosewood's survivors and descendants in 1994, it was seen as a national model for reparations . “There was a moment of enlightenment in Florida, those decades ago. There really was," said Marvin Dunn, who has authored multiple books on Black Floridians. “But that was short-lived.” Three decades later, the teaching of African American history remains inconsistent across Florida classrooms, inadequate in the eyes of some advocates, and is under fire by the administration of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has championed efforts to restrict how race , history and discrimination can be talked about in the state’s public schools . DeSantis has led attacks on “wokeness” in education that rallied conservatives nationwide, including President-elect Donald Trump . In 2022, the governor signed a law restricting certain race-based conversations in schools and businesses and prohibits teaching that members of one ethnic group should feel guilt or bear responsibility for actions taken by previous generations. Last year, DeSantis’ administration blocked a new Advanced Placement course on African American Studies from being taught in Florida, saying it violates state law and is historically inaccurate. A spokesperson for the College Board, which oversees Advanced Placement courses, told the AP they are not aware of any public schools in Florida currently offering the African American Studies class. It's also not listed in the state's current course directory. Representatives for the Florida Department of Education and the state's African American History Task Force did not respond to The AP's requests for comment. “People who are interested in advancing African diaspora history can’t rely on schools to do that,” said Tameka Bradley Hobbs, manager of Broward County's African-American Research Library and Cultural Center. "I think it’s even more clear now that there needs to be a level of self-reliance and self-determination when it comes to passing on the history and heritage of our ancestors.” Last year, only 30 of Florida's 67 traditional school districts offered at least one standalone course on African American history or humanities, according to state data. While not required by state law, having a dedicated Black history class is a measure of how districts are following the state mandate. Florida's large urban districts are far more likely to offer the classes, compared to small rural districts, some of which have fewer than 2,000 students. Even in districts that have staff dedicated to teaching Black history, some teachers are afraid of violating state law, according to Brian Knowles, who oversees African American, Holocaust and Latino studies for the Palm Beach County school district. “There’s so many other districts and so many kids that we’re missing because we’re tiptoeing around what is essentially American history,” Knowles said. Frustration over the restrictions that teachers face pushed Renee O'Connor to take a sabbatical last year from her job teaching Black history at Miami Norland Senior High School in the majority-Black city of Miami Gardens. Now, she is back in the classroom, but she also has been helping community groups develop their own Black history programs outside of the public school system. “I wish, obviously, all kids were able to take an African American history class,” O'Connor said, “but you have to pivot if it’s not happening in schools.” Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.On December 24, 2024, Orgenesis Inc. received notification from the Nasdaq Stock Market (“Nasdaq”) of its intent to file a notification of removal from listing (Form 25) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to delist the company’s common stock on completion of all relevant procedures. The delisting, upon filing of the Form 25 by Nasdaq, is set to take effect 10 days later. The company’s common stock deregistration under Section 12(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 will occur 90 days post the Form 25 filing, or earlier if stipulated by the SEC. Post-deregistration, the common stock remains registered under Section 12(g) of the Exchange Act. Orgenesis Inc.’s common stock began trading on the OTCQX functioning under the oversight of the OTC Markets Group, Inc. on October 21, 2024. In a separate announcement, on the same day, Jagannathan Bhalaji notified Orgenesis Inc. of his immediate resignation as a director due to personal reasons. Mr. Bhalaji’s departure, as reported, was not due to any disagreement with the company or its management concerning the operations, policies, or practices of Orgenesis Inc. This article was generated by an automated content engine and was reviewed by a human editor prior to publication. For additional information, read Orgenesis’s 8K filing here . About Orgenesis ( Get Free Report ) Orgenesis Inc, a biotech company, focuses on cell and gene therapies worldwide. It operates through two segments, Octomera and Therapies. The company develops a Point of Care (POCare) platform that includes a pipeline of licensed cell based POCare therapies that are processed and produced under closed and automated POCare technology systems across a collaborative POCare network consisting of research institutes and hospitals. Further Reading