More than 26 million people had already applied for the relief, with 16 million approved. In August, President Joe Biden said the government would forgive $10,000 in student loan debt for Americans with annual incomes below $125,000, and would cancel up to $20,000 for recipients of the Pell Grant. The relief fund comes less than two weeks after the Supreme Court agreed to decide whether the Biden administration can proceed with a plan to broadly cancel student loans. “Black students have disproportionate access to aid and resources that take into account historical discrimination and the experiences of Black people navigating a society that does not see or treat us as equal,” said Murray, who is a 2021 graduate of Howard University and owner of the HBCU lifestyle brand LegacyHistoryPride. Tahir Murray, an HBCU ambassador for the BLM foundation’s Student Solidarity Fund, said he hears from Black students all the time that stress over the lack of scholarships and grants is a persistent distraction from their studies. “Black people shouldn’t have to jump through hoops and jump over hurdles to get the access that they need,” he said. But fund administrators will be working to weed out scammers. In a second phase of the fund, the BLM foundation said it will give microgrants of $750 to relief fund applicants who are currently attending historically Black colleges and universities, to help with housing, food, technology, books and transportation costs.įoundation board secretary Shalomyah Bowers, who runs the consulting firm that the movement organization hired to build out its philanthropic capacity, said Student Solidarity Fund applicants do not have to prove they are Black. The money is not restricted for use only on student loan payments, but the foundation said its relief funds are meant to lower recipients’ overall debt burden. And applicants with $150,001 or more in debt will receive $4,500. Applicants with debt between $75,001 and $150,000 will receive $3,000. If selected, applicants with $75,000 or less in debt will receive $1,500. The foundation is asking applicants to submit loan documents to prove their eligibility. Applicants must have attended a college or university in the U.S. The relief is meant for bachelor’s degree recipients, as well as those who did not complete their degree but still carry student loan debt. “We recognize that we can’t build a world of true liberation without the brilliance of Black people who are committed to furthering their education.” “The fact of the matter is that Black people who work to get an education are struggling right now,” BLM foundation board chair Cicley Gay said. This time the foundation said it intends to use philanthropic dollars to draw attention to issues of economic injustice, especially while a proposed federal student debt forgiveness plan is held up by litigation from opponents. The BLM foundation’s Student Solidarity Fund is an expansion of a previous initiative it started last year as millions of Americans struggled to make ends meet amid economic uncertainty in the coronavirus pandemic.

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Details about the fund were shared with The Associated Press ahead of the launch. A public application process for the fund opened on Monday, and recipients will receive their money in January if selected.

The foundation said it set aside $500,000 for the fund and plans to award more than 500 recipients with relief payments ranging from $750 to $4,500. The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation launched a new relief fund Monday aimed at Black college students, alumni and dropouts overburdened by mounting education costs and the student loan debt crisis.

Blm agenda