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Remembering James Earl Jones: A Titan of Stage and Screen
Image Credit: Eva Rinaldi from Sydney, Australia
James Earl Jones
The world has bid farewell to one of its most profound voices, both literally and metaphorically. James Earl Jones, a venerated icon whose deep timbre and formidable presence captivated audiences for more than seven decades, passed away at his home in Pawling, New York, on September 9, 2024, at the age of 93.
Born on January 17, 1931, in Arkabutla, Mississippi, Jones overcame a stutter to speak resonant truths on the American stage, in the halls of Hollywood, and beyond. His journey from a quiet child who found solace in poetry and acting to a celebrated thespian and cultural pillar is nothing short of inspirational. A distinguished figure in American theater and cinema, Jones achieved the rare and prestigious EGOT status, having won Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards throughout his illustrious career.
A Legacy of Diversity and Dynamic Roles
Jones’s influence stretched across every medium: from the boards of Broadway where he became a Tony-awarded actor, to the vast universe of “Star Wars” as the voice of Darth Vader, creating perhaps one of the most instantly recognizable voices in film history. His powerful performances were never confined to just one genre. He adeptly traversed from dramatic territories in films like “The Great White Hope” and “Cry, the Beloved Country,” to comedic roles in “Coming to America” and family classics like “The Lion King,” where his voice brought Mufasa to life.
Broadway and Beyond
Jones made his Broadway debut in 1957 and quickly found his footing on stage with notable performances in Shakespeare’s “Othello” and as Jack Jefferson in “The Great White Hope,” a role that earned him his first Tony Award. His portrayal of Troy Maxson in August Wilson’s “Fences” further cemented his legacy as a leading actor and a voice for powerful, introspective narratives concerning the African American experience.
The Voice That Commanded Attention
Apart from his roles in film and theater, Jones’s voice became emblematic of authority and depth. He lent this iconic voice to CNN, bringing a distinctive sound that defined the network’s branding for years. His vocal legacy also includes various books and narrations, forever preserving his rich, resonant tone.
Tributes Pour In
Following his passing, tributes from every corner of the entertainment industry have highlighted his influence. From Kevin Costner and Mark Hamill to newer voices like Viola Davis and Kerry Washington, all have expressed their grief and gratitude towards Jones’s contributions. Organizations from MLB to SAG-AFTRA and institutions like the University of Michigan, where Jones studied, have all honored his memory.
An Emblem of Dignity and Grace
Critics and actors alike, including Alec Baldwin and Viola Davis, have cited Jones as not only a seminal actor but also a cornerstone for Black excellence and dignity in Hollywood. His roles often exuded a moral force, embodying characters that transcended societal limitations and spoke to the core human experience of struggle, resilience, and hope.
James Earl Jones’s death marks the end of an era, but his legacy is indelible. He used his voice as an instrument of change, his performances as windows into the souls of often complex characters, and his career as a platform to elevate discussions on art, culture, and humanity. As we remember James Earl Jones, we not only celebrate his myriad contributions but also the indomitable spirit of a man who believed in the power of words and the potential of art to transform lives. His enduring influence will continue to inspire generations to come, ensuring that his rich, reverberating voice will never truly be silenced.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Earl_Jones
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9/11 Day Awards $3 Million in Grants to Expand Volunteer Opportunities Nationwide Ahead of 25th Anniversary
9/11 Day announced $3 million in grants to nearly 200 groups across 40 states, expanding service projects for the 25th anniversary observance.
As the United States approaches the 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001, the nonprofit 9/11 Day is putting major resources behind a familiar idea with renewed urgency: remembrance through service. The organization—founded by 9/11 families and leaders and co-led by co-founders David Paine and Jay Winuk—announced $3 million in grants to roughly 200 nonprofits, schools, and community groups across 40 states to expand local volunteer projects tied to this year’s September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance.
The funding is designed to dramatically increase the number of ways Americans can participate close to home, from food insecurity initiatives to neighborhood cleanups and support programs for veterans and first responders. Together, grant recipients are expected to engage more than 70,000 volunteers nationwide.
A major push toward youth-led service
More than 70% of the grant funding is going to youth organizations and educational institutions, including K–12 schools, universities, and other learning programs. The emphasis reflects a generational reality: millions of students today know 9/11 primarily through textbooks, family stories, and classroom lessons.
“For many students participating in the observance this year, 9/11 is something they’ve only encountered in textbooks or through stories from parents and grandparents,” said Jay Winuk, co-founder and executive vice president of 9/11 Day and a 9/11 family member. “By connecting history with hands-on service, we’re helping young people understand that the legacy of 9/11 isn’t defined only by tragedy. It’s also defined by compassion, resilience and the responsibility we all share to care for one another.”
Youth-focused projects supported by the grants include school-wide days of service, hunger-relief efforts, donation drives, community improvement work, and service-learning initiatives that connect the history of September 11 with practical ways to help others.
UNIITE for Good: turning an anniversary into a nationwide “doing good” moment
The grant program is a cornerstone of 9/11 Day’s nationwide UNIITE for Good campaign, scheduled to officially launch August 24. The campaign aims to transform the 25th anniversary into what organizers describe as America’s largest day of doing good—channeling remembrance into tangible community impact.
The program is administered in collaboration with AmeriCorps, with principal funding provided by AmeriCorps and the Popeyes Foundation. A special emphasis this year is addressing hunger—an issue described in the release as an “ever-growing hunger crisis across the nation.”
Meeting community needs where people live
Grant-funded projects span urban, suburban, and rural communities. Activities include assembling meals for individuals and families facing food insecurity, packing care kits for veterans and first responders, restoring community spaces, and strengthening schools and neighborhoods.
Beyond the service itself, the grants are also intended to help local groups recruit volunteers, purchase supplies, coordinate logistics, and expand the number of service opportunities available in their areas.
“As we mark the 25th anniversary of 9/11, we have a responsibility to preserve not only the memory of that day and those lost and injured, but also the extraordinary way Americans came together in the aftermath of the attacks,” said David Paine, president and co-founder of 9/11 Day. “These community-led projects are helping rekindle that spirit of unity, compassion and service by bringing neighbors together to help solve local challenges.”
AmeriCorps echoed that message, framing service as a way to honor those who responded in the immediate aftermath of the attacks.
“This year, we invite Americans to carry forward that enduring spirit of unity and service by becoming a hero for someone in need,” said Emily Stock, project manager for Volunteer Initiatives at AmeriCorps, noting that AmeriCorps-funded projects will include food drives, home repairs, neighborhood cleanups, and disaster preparedness activities.
The Popeyes Foundation also highlighted its community-focused mission and its role in supporting local projects.
Why this anniversary matters now
Organizers say the 25th anniversary arrives at a pivotal moment: more than 100 million Americans are now too young to have personal memories of September 11. That makes this milestone one of the last major opportunities to connect those who lived through the day with younger generations learning about it as history.
Examples of grant-supported efforts include:
- Marshall University, which plans to build on its existing 9/11 Days of Service tradition, including a Memorial Stair Challenge and volunteer projects supporting veterans, first responders, and families in need.
- Middlebury Elementary School, which will expand hands-on service activities that teach younger students about 9/11 through compassion and community action.
- University of South Dakota, where students will work alongside community partners to address local needs while learning how service can bridge backgrounds and perspectives.
How to get involved
A full list of 2026 9/11 Day Grant Program recipients is available through 9/11 Day. To learn more about the September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance—and to find ways to participate—visit 911day.org.
STM Daily News will continue tracking community service initiatives and local observances tied to the 25th anniversary as September approaches
STM Daily News
The United States’ human rights practices are taking a nosedive
New human rights data shows the United States’ civil and political rights record deteriorated sharply in 2025, with major declines involving detention, free expression, religious freedom and political participation.
K. Chad Clay, University of Georgia
In the lead-up to the 2026 midterm elections, how is the U.S. government performing in terms of human rights? Listening to politicians, it can be difficult to know.
On one hand, some have pointed to a number of potential human rights abuses committed by the U.S. government inside and outside its borders in the past two years.
On the other hand, while marking the United States’ 250th anniversary this year, President Donald Trump called the country “the home of freedom,” “the land of liberty” and “the most extraordinary, most exceptional, most incredible nation ever to exist on the face of the earth.”
“We’re doing better now than we’ve ever done before,” he said.
So which is it?
According to many of the human rights data sources available, the U.S. lags behind most other high-income democracies – countries that are both members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and classified as high income by the World Bank. The U.S.’s poor performance spans civil and political rights, such as the right to be free from torture and the right to political participation, as well as economic and social rights, including the rights to health and food.
In fact, the U.S. has been a relatively poor performer across many of these rights for quite some time, regardless of the political party in power.
Even accounting for the U.S.’s prior poor practices, however, new data from the Human Rights Measurement Initiative shows that in 2025 the country’s civil and political rights performance deteriorated even further.
As a human rights scholar who has been measuring human rights practices for 20 years – and as one of HRMI’s co-founders – I believe this data raises serious questions about the United States’ commitment to human rights.
How are rights practices measured?
Governments rarely publish accurate information on their own human rights abuses, so the task of measuring them typically falls to advocates and scholars.
Historically, most international measures of civil and political rights have depended on public reports from the U.S. State Department, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch or news organizations.
However, these reports cannot cover every human rights violation that experts know about, especially in countries with low government transparency or high levels of repression.
Thus, data produced using those sources will show fewer abuses than those that have actually occurred and will be more accurate about some places than others. Further, the Trump administration has changed one of the most important sources of human rights information, the U.S. State Department’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, to contain more bias in favor of the administration’s foreign allies and less information on human rights abuse overall.
Since 2017, HRMI has used a different approach. Recognizing the problems with public reports, we collect information directly from researchers for human rights organizations, human rights lawyers and others, asking them about governments’ practices across several rights and using a statistical model to assess their information and ensure that the resulting metrics are comparable across countries. The result is a robust dataset that includes information previously missing from public reports.
Today, HRMI’s civil and political rights dataset covers 62 countries, with more added every year.
How does the US compare?
According to the Human Rights Scores dataset, which uses publicly available information to score more than 190 countries on physical integrity rights – such as the rights to be free from torture, killing, forced disappearance and political imprisonment – the U.S. never ranked higher than 81st from 2001 to 2021 or higher than 109th from 2010 to 2021.
Indeed, from 2003 to 2021, the United States’ score was either the worst or the second-worst every year among high-income OECD member states, which include the United Kingdom, Japan and New Zealand.
The Human Rights Scores dataset has not been updated past 2021, but HRMI’s data collected since that time suggests that the pattern has continued.
Among the six high-income OECD countries on which HRMI currently collects data, the U.S. has been the worst performer for physical integrity rights since 2017.
It has also frequently been rated as the worst performer on “empowerment rights,” or the rights to assembly, association, opinion, expression, political participation, religion and belief.
What changed in 2025?
Even starting from this poor position, the U.S.’s civil and political rights practices dramatically worsened in 2025. HRMI measures nine civil and political rights, and the U.S. significantly worsened on eight of them.
These were not small changes. Measured against every significant change HRMI has recorded since 2017, the U.S. showed the largest decline ever observed for the right to be free from forced disappearance and for the right to freedom of religion and belief.
The U.S. showed the second-largest decline ever observed for the right to be free from arbitrary or political arrest and for the right to opinion and expression.
The U.S. also showed major declines in the rights to be free from torture and extrajudicial killing, and the right to political participation – that is, the right to participate in one’s government via free and fair elections, to take part in public affairs and to have access to public service. U.S. scores likewise fell in the right to assembly and association, which are, respectively, the rights to peacefully gather in public or private and to form or join groups and organizations.
What caused the scores to fall?
Human rights experts raised several issues that led to these declines. For instance, the U.S.’s worsened scores for the rights to be free from arbitrary detention, disappearance and torture were tied to the expanded use of practices such as incommunicado detention and warrantless arrest by ICE and other immigration-related agencies.
While several killings occurred during ICE operations in 2025, the worsened extrajudicial killing score was also tied to the country’s use of airstrikes against boats in the Pacific and Caribbean, which caused the deaths of at least 123 people in 2025 alone.
Other changes enacted in 2025 contributed to large declines in the U.S.’s rights scores, including crackdowns on anti-ICE demonstrations and government pressure on universities, including limits on free speech and class subjects.
Last year also saw threats to television networks over political expression, restrictions on mail-in voting, state measures targeting American Islamic organizations by labeling them “foreign terrorist organizations” and an executive order focused on eradicating “anti-Christian bias.”
While current HRMI data does not yet cover 2026, early indicators are not promising, with continued abuses by ICE, further killings in international waters and allegations of attempts to use government powers to punish critics.
K. Chad Clay, Director, Center for the Study of Global Issues (GLOBIS); Associate Professor of International Affairs, University of Georgia
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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U.S. News Releases 2026-2027 Best High Schools Rankings, Highlighting Charter and STEM Standouts
U.S. News & World Report has released its 2026-2027 Best High Schools rankings, giving families a fresh, data-driven snapshot of top-performing public, charter, and STEM high schools across the country. The new edition evaluated about 27,000 eligible public high schools, with nearly 18,000 schools ultimately ranked at national, state, and local levels.
At the state level, Massachusetts again led the nation, with 47% of its high schools landing in the top quarter nationally. New Jersey followed at 44%, with Maryland close behind at 43%. Metro-area results also highlighted standout regions with high concentrations of top-ranked schools, including San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California (60%), McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas (59%), and Milwaukee-Waukesha, Wisconsin (56%)—each with the highest shares of ranked schools placing in the top 25% nationwide.
Charter and STEM schools were a major storyline in the 2026-2027 release. While California (96) and New Jersey (50) led the nation in the number of ranked STEM schools, charter schools claimed 23% of the national top 100. U.S. News pointed to Arizona’s BASIS charter network as a key example of that performance, noting it secured three of the country’s top five STEM schools and placed 12 campuses in the overall national top 100.
U.S. News said the rankings are based on six performance indicators, including state assessment achievement, graduation rates, and college readiness measures such as AP and IB participation and performance. The methodology was implemented with RTI International using data from the 2023-2024 school year.
Source: U.S. News & World Report
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