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Reparations have finally arrived for some Black Americans.

The city of Evanston, Illinois, began its historic reparations program by providing compensation to its many of its Black residents.

Checks and vouchers in the amount of $25,000 have been sent this week to eligible residents, a move that backs up the city’s 2019 promise to pay as much as $10 million over the next decade in reparations.

Approved in March 2021, the program targets Black residents who resided in Evanston between 1919 and 1969 or experienced housing discrimination due to the city’s policies.

It’s a similar program which officials in San Francisco currently are grappling with, as that California city also considers reparations by the harms suffered by Black residents denied fair housing, job and educational opportunities, and other hardships that were unfairly inflicted upon African American communities.

One Evanston recipient, Louis Weathers, an 88-year-old retired postal worker and Korean War veteran, shared his personal experience with racial prejudice during his interview with the Wall Street Journal.

He recounted his time at an integrated junior high school, where a white teacher consistently marginalized Black students.

He explained that the teacher would purposely ignore their raised hands to undermine their capabilities.

“We got onto that, though. When we didn’t know the answer, we raised our hands,” Weathers recounted.

Weathers counted among the first to receive a $25,000 check from the city. He told the newspaper that he gave his reparations check to his son to reduce debt and make upgrades on his home.

The payments, which can be received as vouchers or cash, are funded through taxes on marijuana and real-estate transfers.

While Evanston has begun making reparation payments, similar proposals at the national level have faced challenges.

Although a federal bill calling for a national reparations task force has been introduced annually since 1989, it has yet to be voted on in Congress.

Evanston’s mayor, Daniel Biss, said his city remains committed to change.

“Our job here is just to move forward and to continue being that example, to continue illustrating that a small municipality can make real tangible progress,” he stated.

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Gabby Douglas, the first Black woman to win the Olympic all-around gymnastics title, is taking aim at the 2024 Games in Paris.

Douglas announced on her Instagram page Thursday that she is making a comeback attempt, a dozen years after her triumph in London in 2012 and eight years after her last competition, the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

“I wanted to find the joy again for the sport that I absolutely love doing,” Douglas posted. “I know I have a huge task ahead of me and I am beyond grateful and excited to get back out on the floor.”

The now 27-year-old Douglas also posted video of herself practicing uneven bars, her signature event.

Douglas is the second Olympic champion in recent weeks to say they are pointing toward Paris.

Simone Biles, who won the all-around gold in Rio and was teammates with Douglas on the five-woman U.S. squad that cruised to the team gold in Brazil, is returning to competition at the U.S. Classic in Chicago in early August.

Douglas has yet to outline a timeline for when she might be ready to join what will be a very crowded field to make what could be a loaded American team under the rings next summer. Douglas could petition USA Gymnastics for a spot at the U.S. Classic. She had not done that as of Thursday afternoon but still has ample time to do so. There is no petition deadline for the event, set for Saturday, Aug. 5 at NOW Arena in the Chicago suburbs.

Douglas became one of the faces of the 2012 Olympics after her brilliant performance in the all-around final helped her become the third straight American woman to claim the biggest title in her sport. She became a crossover star in the aftermath, winning AP Female Athlete of the Year in 2012, writing her autobiography and having her life story turned into a TV movie.

She took a couple of years off after London but returned to competition in 2015, eventually finishing second to Biles in the all-around at the 2015 world championships and making a second Olympic team, helping the U.S. claim gold for a second straight Games.

Douglas never formally announced her retirement after Rio de Janeiro, instead dabbling in reality TV and becoming a motivational speaker, among other things.

Her return comes at a time when America’s top female gymnasts are competing into their 20s and sometimes beyond. Biles is 26. Chellsie Memmel, the 2005 world all-around champion and 2008 Olympic silver medalist, was in her early 30s when she made an unexpected comeback in 2021. Memmel is now the technical lead for the U.S. Gymnastics women’s elite program.

Douglas, who is currently training out of World Olympic Gymnastics Academy in the Dallas, Texas area, will have considerable work ahead of her. The relaxation of name, image and likeness rules have allowed several members of the 2020 Olympic team — including all-around champion Suni Lee, floor exercise champion Jade Carey and world and Olympic medalist Jordan Chiles — to extend their elite careers.

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2024 Paris Olympics at https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson hosts a screening of “The League,” a documentary celebrating the journey of the Negro National baseball league, on Wednesday at the Concourse Plaza Multiplex Cinemas.

The documentary, which premiered last month at the Tribeca Film Festival, was directed by Sam Pollack and executive produced by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson .

Nearly 100 Bronxites attended the screening along with CEO & Founder of First and Pen, Yussuf Khan and Head of Publicity for Magnolia Pictures, George Nicholis. 

“Being able to showcase culturally impactful stories through films like ‘The League’ continues our mission at First and Pen of informing, inspiring and connecting communities through voices of color in sports,” said Khan

The film features archival footage and never-seen before interviews with legendary players and pays tribute to Hall of Famer Andrew “Rube” Foster, who founded the Negro National League in 1920 with his fellow team owners. 

“The Negro National League serves as an example of perseverance as they experienced unprecedented racism during their prime but yet were still able to overcome these systemic barriers to achieve greatness in American baseball history,” said Gibson.

“The League” opens nationally on July 14.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal regulators on Thursday approved the nation’s first over-the-counter birth control pill in a landmark decision that will soon allow American women and girls to obtain contraceptive medication as easily as they buy aspirin and eyedrops.

The Food and Drug Administration cleared once-a-day Opill to be sold without a prescription, making it the first such medication to be moved out from behind the pharmacy counter. The manufacturer, Ireland-based Perrigo, won’t start shipping the pill until early next year, and there will be no age restrictions on sales.

Hormone-based pills have long been the most common form of birth control in the U.S., used by tens of millions of women since the 1960s. Until now, all of them required a prescription.

Medical societies and women’s health groups have pushed for wider access for decades, noting that an estimated 45% of the 6 million annual pregnancies in the U.S. are unintended. Teens and girls, women of color and those with low incomes report greater hurdles in getting prescriptions and picking them up.

The challenges can include paying for a doctor’s visit, getting time off from work and finding child care.

“This is really a transformation in access to contraceptive care,” said Kelly Blanchard, president of Ibis Reproductive Health, a nonprofit group that supported the approval. “Hopefully this will help people overcome those barriers that exist now.”

Perrigo says Opill could be an important new option for the estimated 15 million U.S. women who currently use no birth control or less effective methods, such as condoms. They are a fifth of those who are child-bearing age.

But how many women will actually gain access depends on the medication’s price, which Perrigo plans to announce later this year. Most older birth control pills cost $15 to $30 for a month’s supply without insurance coverage.

Over-the-counter medicines are generally much cheaper than prescriptions, but they typically aren’t covered by insurance.

Forcing insurers to cover over-the-counter birth control would require a regulatory change by the federal government, which women’s advocates are urging the Biden administration to implement.

The FDA approval gives U.S. women another birth control option amid the legal and political battles over reproductive health, including last year’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, which has upended abortion access across the U.S.

That said, Opill’s approval is unrelated to the ongoing court battles over the abortion pill mifepristone. And anti-abortion groups have generally emphasized that they do not oppose contraceptives, which are used to prevent pregnancies, not end them.

The studies in Perrigo’s FDA application began almost a decade ago, before recent state laws curtailing women’s reproductive rights.

But in the last year, the FDA has faced pressure from Democratic politicians, health advocates and medical professionals to ease access to birth control. The American Medical Association and the leading professional society for obstetricians and gynecologists backed Opill’s application for over-the-counter status.

Birth control pills are available without a prescription across much of South America, Asia and Africa.

Perrigo submitted years of research to FDA to show that women could understand and follow instructions for using the pill. Thursday’s approval came despite some concerns by FDA scientists about the company’s results, including whether women with certain underlying medical conditions would understand that they shouldn’t take the drug.

The FDA’s action only applies to Opill. It’s in an older class of contraceptives, sometimes called minipills, that contain a single synthetic hormone and generally carry fewer side effects than more popular combination hormone pills.

But women’s health advocates hope the decision paves the way for more over-the-counter birth control options and, eventually, for abortion pills to do the same.

An outside panel of FDA advisers unanimously voted in favor of the switch at a hearing in May where dozens of public speakers called for Opill’s approval.

Dyvia Huitron was among those who presented, explaining how she has been unable to get prescription birth control more than three years after becoming sexually active. The 19-year-old University of Alabama student said she still isn’t comfortable getting a prescription because the school’s health system reports medical exams and medications to parents.

“My parents did not let me go on the pill,” Huitron said in a recent interview. “There was just a lot of cultural stigma around being sexually active before you’re married.”

While she uses other forms of contraception, “I would have much preferred to have birth control and use these additional methods to ensure that I was being as safe as possible.”

Huitron spoke on behalf of Advocates for Youth, one of the dozens of groups that have pushed to make prescription contraceptives more accessible.

The groups helped fund some of the studies submitted for Opill, and they encouraged HRA Pharma, later acquired by Perrigo, to file its application with the FDA.

Advocates were particularly interested in Opill because it raised fewer safety concerns. The pill was first approved in the U.S. five decades ago but hasn’t been marketed here since 2005.

“It’s been around a long time, and we have a large amount of data supporting that this pill is safe and effective for over-the-counter use,” Blanchard said.

Newer birth control pills typically combine two hormones, estrogen and progestin, which can help make periods lighter and more regular. But their use carries a heightened risk of blood clots, and they shouldn’t be used by women at risk for heart problems, such as those who smoke and are over 35.

Opill has only progestin, which prevents pregnancy by blocking sperm from reaching the cervix. It must be taken around the same time daily to be most effective.

In its internal review published in May, the FDA noted that some women in Perrigo’s study had trouble understanding the drug’s labeling information. In particular, the instructions warn that women with a history of breast cancer should not take the pill because it could spur tumor growth.

And women who have unusual vaginal bleeding are instructed to talk to a doctor first, because it could indicate a medical problem.

Common side effects include bleeding, headaches, dizziness, nausea and cramps, according to the FDA. The label also cautions that certain drugs can interfere with Opill’s effectiveness, including medications for seizures, HIV and hypertension.

Perrigo executives said the company will spend the rest of the year manufacturing the pill and its packaging so it can be available in stores early next year.

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Follow Matthew Perrone on Twitter: @AP_FDAwriter

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.egnancies, not end them.

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