Safura Syed, Verite Journalist Profile

Articles

Trump admin pulls Black history grants to Whitney Plantation

1 week ago | veritenews.org | Safura Syed

The federal government has terminated two grants for African American history and culture awarded to the Whitney Plantation, a museum aimed at memorializing slavery, as the Trump administration works to strip federal funding from arts and cultural institutions. The Institute of Museum and Library Services ended grants awarded through a program aimed at supporting African American museums last week.
Trump admin pulls Black history grants to Whitney Plantation

1 week ago | shorturl.at | Safura Syed

The federal government has terminated two grants for African American history and culture awarded to the Whitney Plantation, a museum aimed at memorializing slavery, as the Trump administration works to strip federal funding from arts and cultural institutions. The Institute of Museum and Library Services ended grants awarded through a program aimed at supporting African American museums last week.
New Orleans joins nationwide ‘Hands Off’ anti-Trump protests

2 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Safura Syed

Samara Smith, an organizer with Step Up Louisiana, speaks at a Hands Off rally April 5, 2025 at Lafayette Square in New Orleans. (Safura Syed/Verite News)NEW ORLEANS – Hundreds of people gathered in Lafayette Square for a rally against the Trump administration Saturday afternoon. The protest was a part of a national mass mobilization effort, Hands Off, which advocates against cuts to government services like Social Security and loss of protections for marginalized groups.
Residents express frustration with federal government at U.S. Rep. Troy Carter's Medicaid town hall • Louisiana Illuminator

1 month ago | lailluminator.com | Safura Syed

Residents vented frustration with the Trump administration at a town hall U.S. Rep. Troy Carter held to discuss potential cuts to Medicaid.
Residents express frustration with federal government at U.S. Rep. Troy Carter’s Medicaid town hall

1 month ago | yahoo.com | Safura Syed

Safura Syed, VeriteWed, March 19, 2025 at 9:00 PM UTC5 min readU.S. Rep. Troy Carter, D-La., flanked by U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, speaks to a crowd of employees at the Koura plant in St. Gabriel, La., on Nov. 17, 2023. (Wes Muller/Louisiana Illuminator). NEW ORLEANS – Residents vented their frustration with the Trump administration’s recent actions to overhaul the federal government Tuesday at a town hall U.S. Rep.
A look at the effect of redistricting on black voters in La.

1 month ago | veritenews.org | Safura Syed

A higher percentage of Black residents voted in Louisiana’s new majority-Black 6th Congressional District in the November 2024 election than those who were redistricted into majority-white districts, a new report shows. The report from the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan political and legal think tank that’s part of New York University Law School, was released last week.
Federal judges hear arguments in Bayou Bridge pipeline protest case

1 month ago | yahoo.com | Safura Syed

Sheriff's deputies arrest Cherri Foytlin, left, and other protestors opposing the Bayou Bridge pipeline near Bayou Chene in St. Mary Parish on Sept. 4, 2018. Although invited onto the property by a landowner, the two were charged with felony trespassing under Louisiana's “critical infrastructure” law.
Federal judges hear arguments in Bayou Bridge pipeline case

1 month ago | veritenews.org | Safura Syed

A federal appeals court in New Orleans heard arguments Monday morning (Feb. 24) in a First Amendment case challenging a 2018 Louisiana law that criminalizes being on or near a pipeline without permission. The case was originally filed in 2019, after the arrests of 16 environmental activists protesting the construction of the Bayou Bridge pipeline and one journalist covering their actions.
Training to be a wind technician amid Trump souring on wind

2 months ago | veritenews.org | Safura Syed

On a cloudy February morning, students at Nunez Community College donned their hard hats and climbed up a 40-foot-tall scaffold for the first time. The students are a part of the college’s first, 10-person wind energy cohort. Their degrees will be fully funded by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s Gulf Research Program, which provides funding opportunities throughout the Gulf region.
City sustainability office could lose $140M to Trump cuts

2 months ago | veritenews.org | Safura Syed

The Trump administration’s moves to freeze and slash billions in federal spending has put nearly $140 million in funding for city of New Orleans programs that promote energy efficiency and climate readiness at risk. The city department in charge of sustainability initiatives could face the loss of nearly its entire budget.