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White guilt has exhausted itself, President-elect Barack Obama once wrote. Well, not so fast. His former opponent, Democratic U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush of Chicago, apparently thinks there's still some life left in it.
What else can we make of the congressman's backing of Roland Burris, appointed to Obama's old Senate seat by Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Dreamers hoped Blagojevich would go quietly from office after his Dec. 9 arrest on federal corruption charges that include allegedly trying to sell Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder.
Rush, a former leader of the Illinois Black Panther Party, used to sound as troubled by that as other Democratic lawmakers, until it became public knowledge that Blagojevich was going to named Burris to the Senate.
Then things changed.
In a Blagojevich news conference to announce Burris' appointment, Rush said he was supporting Burris essentially for one reason: The Senate needs a black member and even the scandalized Blago's man will do.
I found it curious that Rush's concern for black representation did not stop him from endorsing a white Obama opponent, Blair Hull, for the Senate seat in the 2004 primary. But, of course, four years earlier, Rush had become the only man so far to beat Obama, when the young state senator tried to unseat the popular incumbent in the U.S. House. Rush later endorsed Obama's presidential bid, being savvy enough to know which way the political winds were blowing.
Yet here was Rush, boosting Burris by playing to white guilt. Rush used the U.S. Senate's lack of any black members as a one-size-fits-all justification for the body to accept Burris and "not hang or lynch the appointee as you try to castigate the appointer."
But, why not? This fight isn't about Burris. It's about Blagojevich. The Democrats who control the Senate are not rejecting all black appointees. They only want to reject anyone appointed by Blagojevich, regardless of his or her race, gender or whatever. Considering the way the governor appears to have embarrassed his office, according to the federal prosecutor's court-ordered wiretaps, that's a worthy goal for the senators to have.
Yet on CBS' "The Early Show," Rush pressed further. He compared plans by Senate Democrats to block Burris to white governors in the Jim Crow South who blocked the desegregation of public schools and colleges. Never have images from the bad old days of white bigotry sounded so breathtakingly inappropriate, especially when they come so soon after the election of the nation's first black president.
Is this where the revolution has come? Has the black community become the last refuge for scalawags like Blagojevich, whose approval ratings had fallen to a miserable 13 percent in a Chicago Tribune poll even before his arrest?
As an African-American, I resent that notion, and I don't appear to be alone. Secretary of State Jesse White, who is black, a Democrat and a friend of Rush and Burris, nevertheless has refused to certify Burris' appointment in what White called "a moral decision," even if it fails to hold up in court.
Rep. Danny Davis, another African-American House member from Chicago, revealed that he had been approached by Blagojevich but turned him down, saying that any appointee from the governor would be too tainted to serve.
Sure, it might be purely coincidental that Blagojevich happened to pick two black candidates in a row. Or maybe he feels a sincere urge to make Obama's former office a "black seat." And maybe there really is a tooth fairy. More likely, the message to Burris is this: You're getting played.
Blagojevich undoubtedly hopes white senators will bow to the possibility of a black backlash in Burris' favor. That would have been more likely had Obama not held fast to his call for Blagojevich to step aside. Obama paid proper respect to Burris' public service. Nevertheless, Obama asked that no one accept an appointment that was not "free of taint and controversy."
Having covered Rush as a reporter and commentator since his Black Panther days, I like him. I have admired his transition from beret-wearing militant to suit-and-tie congressman. I like Burris too. His only sin until now, as far as I know, has been a political tone-deafness that has prevented him from getting past the primaries in one run for the Senate, one for Chicago mayor and three runs for governor.
But if this dust-up over Burris is to become a battle for the hearts and minds of black Americans, with Rush on one side and Obama on the other, I'm betting on Obama. If Burris wants to be a senator, let him run for it. Again.
01/05/09
Roland Burris press conference 01/05/09
Listen to a fiesty and confident Roland Burris during a press conference he held on 01/05/09 before boardong a plane to Washington D.C. He answers the question many have. "Why take the seat in the first place?" Click the play button below to hear the complete press conference.
Trinity United Church, One year later
At the peak of controversy swirling around Trinity United Church of Christ last year, Rev. Otis Moss III faced criticism and death threats, questioned God's plan and even weighed whether he should leave.
"I think there were many points where I felt, 'God, what are you doing?' " Moss said, reflecting on the year's events at President-elect Barack Obama's former church. "Here we are in the midst of a major shift, an interesting time in American history, and a church becomes the central focus for a campaign. . . . There were moments when I was just like: 'I can't handle this.' " READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE BY CLICKING THE LINK BELOW:
01/04/09
Cops: Dad ordered to pay child support kills son
By JANET McCONNAUGHEY, Associated Press Writer
NEW ORLEANS – A man who initially told police gunmen kidnapped his 2 1/2-year-old son was arrested Saturday, accused of committing an "extremely hideous" murder because he was ordered to pay child support, Police Superintendent Warren Riley said.
Danny Platt confessed, told police where to find the child's body and will be booked on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of Ja' Shawn Powell, Riley said at a news conference.
"He had said he would kill either his wife or his child before he paid child support," which he recently had been ordered to do, Riley said.
Riley said he did not know the amount of child support and would not describe how the boy was killed, saying the coroner would do that after the autopsy was complete. The coroner's spokesman did not immediately return a call.
"The mother is in a safe place," Riley said.
Although he had visiting rights, Platt, 22, of New Orleans, had never visited the boy until he picked him up Friday, Riley said.
Police put out a notice Saturday asking people to look for the boy and saying his father had told them three men with dreadlocks and AK-47 rifles had piled out of an SUV and kidnapped Ja' Shawn shortly before midnight Friday.
"His story never really added up," Riley said. "He was a suspect from the very beginning."
Riley said Platt eventually confessed and told officers where to find the body.
Police spokesman officer Janssen Valencia said he did not know if Platt has an attorney.
Platt had only a couple of "very minor" previous arrests, Riley said.
"How does an individual — because he's ordered to pay child support to take care of a kid ... believe that this is so much pressure that he would face — he would do this hideous act to his own child, or to any child, and think that is a remedy to paying child support?" Riley said. "I mean there are some sick individuals in this society, and this gentleman is clearly one."
01/03/09
Ann Coulter attacks Michelle Obama
Ann Coulter one of the most abrasive, nasty, divisive, and hateful conservative voices iut there is attacking Michelle Obama in her new book. Iwonder whether republicans will come out and denounce this garbage? I mean if you were trying to reach out to African Americans you would right?????.....George Cook.
Here is an excerpt of what Ann writes in her book:
Coulter wrote, "Her obvious imitation of Jackie O's style - the flipped-under hair, the sleeveless A-line dresses, the short strands of fake pearls - would have been laughable if done by anyone other than a media-designated saint."
Coulter said Cindy McCain, the wife of vanquished GOP nominee John McCain, "dressed well without freakishly imitating famous First Ladies in history."
Coulter facetiously and snidely refers to Michelle Obama as a "saint" and "Mother Teresa" and suggests that her public service career "advanced in lockstep with the political advancement of her husband."
Obama victory opens new doors for black press
Barack Obama’s election as president is prompting major changes in the nation’s black press, ushering in a series of firsts that editors say will reshape print, Internet, radio and television coverage aimed at African-American audiences.
Essence, the top selling magazine among black women, will have a full-time White House reporter for the first time. Ebony magazine will add a White House reporter, either full-time or as needed. Its sister publication, Jet magazine, will have a weekly two-page Washington report in every issue. Read the entire article by clicking the link below:
The owners of the hate site "Stormfront" also own and run a site about Martin Luther King Jr that is third in the search rankings when looking up info on MLK. The hate groups site includes comments like this.
“Which holiday honors a philanderer, a drunk, a liar, a plagiarist, and a cheater, the answer: “Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.” Read more on this story by clicking the link below:
Let's stop our black boys from killing each other
by George Cook Jan. 1, 2009 www.letstalkhonestly.com
george@letstalkhonestly.com
Back in the mid to late 80's during an unprecedented wave of black on black crime brought on by crack epidemic there was a rap song released by New York rappers asking the youth to stop the violence titled "Self Destruction"
There is a line in that song from Kool Mo Dee that put everything into perspective for me.
" I never ever ran from the Ku Klux Klan and I shouldn't have to run from a black man"
Now here in 2009 that statement is more true than ever. Last year in 2008 many crime stats were down in major cities.
* Detroit had "only" 340 homicides in 2008 down 396 from the year before.
* Chicago actually had an increase from 445 homicides in 2007 to 508 in 2008
* In Philadelphia there were 332 in 2008 down from 392 the year before.
What's sad about these stats is not only are many of these victims young black men but that they are being killed by young black men.
A recent study by Northeastern University shows the startling increase of black on black murder since 2008.
( Black Teen Homicide on the rise )
Now many will blame the guns laws and the police for not doing a good job. But the question I have is when will we begin to point the finger at ourselves, The Black Community.
The fact is white supremacist groups and bad cops are not the ones murdering our children by the dozens but we rightfully raise all types of hell when they do. When will we challenge our own to stop killing each other.
Many will not like this next statement and I really don't give a damn because to me the lives of our children are more important than an adult's feelings.
Plain and simple you learn a respect for others and human life at home. It's not a teachers job, a police officers job, or a sports figures job. IT'S THE PARENTS JOB!
I know it's hard especially for single parents especially women but there is no excuse not to instill a value for life in your children. There is no reason that a child does not have some sense of values and morals. For the most part we learn those values from our mothers and a good number are dropping the ball in violence plagued communities.
Black men I will make this simple. To those of you taking care of business and doing what you are supposed to do by your children ignore this. To those that are not raising your children in any way you are part of the problem. If a child of yours kills another child then you are just as much responsible for that death as your child because you choose not to be there and teach them better.
We have to start instilling this now. There is no time to waste. Because 30 years after "Self Destruction" was released not only are we still on the path to self destruction but we are picking up speed.
George L. Cook III
www.letstalkhonestly.com
Self Destruction Video
Oprah donates 356K to the Ron Clark Academy
Oprah has donated $365,000 to the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta. Many of you may remember the students of the school performing "You can vote however you like" during the 2008 presidential campaign. Maybe this will quiet some who criticized her building schools in Africa while not doing more here. Read the entire story by clicking the link below:
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Tuesday named former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to the U.S. Senate. If this appointment holds up Burris will be the only African American in the Senate. Read more by clicking the link below:
A new study shows that while overall violent crime is down in the United States, murders of our young black boys are on the rise. And the really sad part is that we are killing each other over nonsense, over nothing. Read this story by clicking the link below:
Many of us black men have wondered why some black women always look mean walking done the street or just don't respond. A documentary "Black Woman Walking" answers those questions and may make many men want to check their behavior when approaching a woman. Believe it or not at many times women feel threatened althugh I'm sure that's not the man's intention. Learn more by watching the video below:
12/27/08
RNC candidate sends out "Magic Negro" CD
Chris Saltsman
Here's another sign that many of those at the RNC either just don't get it or really don't want African Americans to be a part of the RNC. RNC chair candidate Chris Saltsman gave out a CD that contains the song "Barack the Magic Negro" as a joke. Click here to hear the song
Needless to say many including fellow RNC members are not happy with him. Read the entire story by clicking the link below:
Eartha Kitt who many of us grew up knowing at Catwoman on the old Batman TV series has died at the age of 81. To learn more about her and her career please click the link below:
Presidential Message From President Bush: Kwanzaa 2008
I send greetings to those observing Kwanzaa.
Kwanzaa is the celebration of African culture, community, and family traditions. For more than 40 years, millions of people have come together to reaffirm Nguzo Saba, the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa. These principles emphasize unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith.
As people across our country gather to commemorate this seven-day celebration, may we all be reminded that Kwanzaa is an opportunity to celebrate the many contributions of our African American citizens.
Laura and I send our best wishes for a joyous Kwanzaa.
I began celebrating Kwanzaa in the 1970s. Being the wife of a U.S. Army soldier for 20 years has afforded me the opportunity to participate in many Kwanzaa observances throughout the U.S. and Europe.
My most memorable Kwanzaa celebrations have been the programs I sponsored which were aimed at teaching the overseas U.S. military community about Kwanzaa, as well as the Kwanzaa events I hosted in my home for American soldiers and their families while stationed in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.
My family relocated from Germany to the Cleveland area in 2003 and, being strangers in a new city, away from family and friends, I had no idea how to connect with local community groups that sponsor Kwanzaa events.
During a visit to the public library a few days before Christmas, I found a flier from the Cleveland Association of Black Storytellers. It was an open invitation to a Kwanzaa celebration.
An invitation to the White House could not have meant more to me.
This invitation represented the first principle of Kwanzaa's Nguzo Saba (Seven Principles), in action -- Umoja (Unity). Because of this principle, it was possible for my family to come together in unity with other members of our new community to observe this historical African-American holiday.
Since that Kwanzaa observance in Cleveland five years ago, I have witnessed Kwanzaa programs become more widespread throughout this city. There are community groups, churches and private families that have sponsored Kwanzaa programs in the Cleveland area for more than 15 years, and as interest and pride in this African-American celebration grows, more programs and observances emerge each year.
I remember a time in the early 1990s when my son was a junior high school student and he chose Kwanzaa as the subject of a writing project, but was discouraged when he could find no mention of this African-American holiday either in his school's library or the local library.
Change has come in 2008.
This week, I counted no less than 65 Internet Web sites dedicated to the seven-day celebration of Kwanzaa. Today there is information readily available to those interested in learning everything they've always wanted to know about Kwanzaa: The history of Kwanzaa, the symbols and meaning of Kwanzaa, how to decorate the home for Kwanzaa, how to cook Kwanzaa meals, etc.
Unlike during my son's junior high days, Kwanzaa is now widely celebrated, well-publicized and freely discussed in the media. Also, most Cleveland area schools now host Kwanzaa programs for students, their families and the community.
This year, Kwanzaa will be celebrated for the first time with an African-American president-elect. Barack Obama's election, his image and accomplishments have changed the stereotypes about black families and what they are capable of accomplishing. African-Americans are walking taller and speaking better about themselves.
Mr. Obama's election issued a challenge to African-American men and women. Barack Obama has called for a new spirit of service and responsibility and his messages embody the principles which the founder of Kwanzaa, Dr. Maulana Karenga, had in mind when the holiday was created in 1966.
President-elect Obama has given us the vision, now we must stand. The African-America community has a new faith, a new consciousness and a new commitment.
We must harness the energy that enabled us to achieve the extraordinary, historical feat of electing Obama.
And what better way to accomplish that than by embracing the spirit and the principles of Kwanzaa throughout the years to come.
Harambee!
Editor's note: Williams is a storyteller and a member of the Cleveland Association of Black Storytellers, a motivational speaker and one of the co-founders of the Cleveland-based non-profit organization Nyumba Moja/ONE HOUSE.
Black lawmakers irked by diversity in Obama's Cabinet
Some members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) are disappointed President-elect Obama did not appoint more African-Americans to his Cabinet.
Obama tapped four blacks for Cabinet posts, including Eric Holder. If confirmed, Holder will be the first African-American attorney general.
But Obama passed over black candidates in selecting Cabinet nominees for positions central to setting policy for urban America, such as the departments of Education, Labor, and Housing and Urban Development.
Read the entire artcle by clicking here: CBC Not Happy
Detroit prisoners don't want to leave jail
DETROIT — One measure of how tough times are in the Motor City: Some of the offenders in jail don't want to be released; some who do get out promptly re-offend to head back where there's heat, healthcare and three meals a day.
"For the first time, I'm seeing guys make a conscious decision they'll be better off in prison than in the community, homeless and hungry," said Joseph Williams of New Creations Community Outreach, which assists ex-offenders. "In prison they've got three hots and a cot, so they commit a crime to go back in and come out when times are better."
For now, better times seem distant. Even with no hurricane to blame, Detroit has, by many measures, replaced New Orleans as America's most beleaguered city.
The jobless rate has climbed past 21 percent, the embattled school district just fired its superintendent, tens of thousands of homes and stores are abandoned, the ex-mayor is in jail for a text-messaging sex scandal. Even the pro football team is a pathetic joke — the Lions are within two losses of an unprecedented 0-16 season.
And overarching these woes is the near-collapse of the U.S. auto industry, Detroit's vital source of jobs and status for more than a century.
"We're the Motor City," said Scott Alan Davis, who oversees community development projects in one of the worst-hit neighborhoods. "When the basis for that name collapses, that's started to scare people."
Among the worried is Warlena McDuell, 81, a retired surgical technician who shares a home with her cancer-stricken daughter. On a recent weekday, she was among hundreds of Detroiters, most of them elderly, filling orange-plastic grocery carts at a food bank run by Focus:HOPE, a local nonprofit.
"It's a depression — not a recession," McDuell said, with the authority of someone who has lived through both. "It will get worse before it gets better."
The roots of Detroit's current plight go back decades. Court-ordered school busing and the 12th Street riots of 1967 accelerated an exodus of whites to the suburbs, and many middle-class blacks followed, shrinking the city's population from a peak of 1.8 million in the 1950s to half that now.
About 83 percent of the current population is African-American. Detroit's crime, poverty, unemployment and school dropout rates are among the worst of any major U.S. city. Car and home insurance rates are high. Chain grocery stores are absent, forcing many Detroiters to rely on high-priced corner stores.
"There's always been a real can-do spirit among our people," said the Rev. Edgar Vann, pastor of Second Ebenezer Church. "That's being beaten down right now. ... These times, unlike others, have sapped a lot of that spirit from them."
Vann, in addition to overseeing a 5,000-member megachurch, founded the Vanguard Community Development Corp., which under Scott Alan Davis's leadership is building homes and offering education programs in the blighted North End.
One apartment complex, for the elderly, is rising near two grade schools recently closed by the city that now sit empty and ransacked.
"It's death to the neighborhood," said Vann, some anger in his voice, as he gestured to homes that had been abandoned and vandalized since the schools shut down. He worries that despair may take a toll.
"Somebody needs to hear us before we begin to see a rise of social upheaval," Vann said. "I hate to say that. It's a God-forbid reality."
For Mark Covington, as for many of his neighbors, there are two Detroits. One features swanky casinos, opulent hotels and two new sports stadiums, beckoning high rollers to a relatively vibrant downtown.
Then there's the vast Detroit of decaying neighborhoods, trash-strewn lots and burned-out houses.
With no job, Covington has spent the past year working on what he calls the Georgia Street Garden — three empty lots he and his friends have converted into an inner city farm east of downtown.
It's one of hundreds of vegetable gardens citywide that have taken root on land cleared after the razing of abandoned homes.
Covington and his friends did what the city hadn't done: moved trash from the lots to the curbs. They planted tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli and other vegetables, as well as a few fruit trees.
A makeshift, wooden movie screen was erected last summer for outdoor film nights.
"I'm seeing camaraderie around here I haven't seen since I was a little kid," Covington said. "It's actually starting to feel like a village again."
He just wishes they had more help from city leaders.
"I'm proud our downtown is coming back," Covington said. "They've put money into the downtown. ... Everybody understands that. But what about the people that pay for it? I mean, we pay our taxes. We need city services. It's the crime and cleaning up."
"I just don't understand how they, anybody in the city ... the mayor's administration, can ride through the neighborhoods and see the way it is and not want to do anything about it."
For all its woes, Detroit has no shortage of residents offering to tackle them. There are 15 candidates for the Feb. 24 special mayoral election necessitated by the conviction of Kwame Kilpatrick for trying to cover up an affair with a former top aide.
Steve Tobocman, who represents a Detroit district in the state legislature, praised the slate of candidates, but added, "I don't think there's a concrete vision on how to deal with the real challenges."
The latest FBI statistics show Detroit with the highest violent crime rate of any major city. Yet Jeriel Heard, chief of jails and court for Detroit's Wayne County, said jail conditions may deteriorate because of budgetary pressure to eliminate a quarter of the deputies who guard them.
Heard confirmed that some offenders are now reluctant to leave jail when their sentences are done.
Trying to combat blight, the city has applied for $47 million in federal neighborhood stabilization money, with half earmarked to tear down more than 2,300 vacant homes.
But this effort would make only a small dent. About 44,000 of the 67,000 homes that have gone into foreclosure since 2005 remain empty, and it costs about $10,000 to demolish each vacant house, according to city officials.
Mark Douglas, 41, is among the metro area's most successful African-American car dealers — he succeeded his father in 2005 as president of Avis Ford in suburban Southfield.
"Detroit has got to figure out a way to make people feel it's safe — if people don't want to live there, it's tough to develop any kind of tax base," Douglas said. "Whites have to move back in. You've got to have the integration factor. Everyone has to come together."
Family to buy black for a year
Their year of buying black
Family's commitment could hold key to community prosperity
BY CHERYL V. JACKSON Chicago Sun Times
Consumers worldwide might be tightening their belts, but Maggie Anderson's mind is black with plots to spend.
Her Oak Park family is publicly committing to a year of buying from black-owned business and supporting black professionals exclusively, starting Jan. 1.
These days, she's searching frantically for black-owned firms for staple items and services, until she and her husband, John, can broaden their awareness of businesses and professionals.
That means she's got to find a new dry cleaner. She's looking for a place to gas up the family's two cars. And locating black McDonald's franchises is a must. "My girls love the fries," she said of her two daughters.
Her family's efforts will be followed by a team of college researchers as part of a project called the Ebony Experiment to determine the impact of the Andersons' spending if extrapolated to a larger portion of black America.
Proponents of buy-black initiatives say they are key to community prosperity, as studies indicate black-owned enterprises are more likely to hire black employees. Those firms are likely to sponsor community programs and their owners participate in institutions such as churches that provide community services, said Steven Rogers, director of the Kellogg Entrepreneurial Practice Center at Northeastern University's Graduate School of Management.
Book to detail experience
"It's not just a simple effort for the sake of show and a superficial statement about racial pride," said Rogers, a project adviser. "It comes from the desperate need for us to have a role in our own economic destiny."
The Andersons, who plan to spend about $10,000 a month next year, will move their checking account to and refinance home and car loans with black organizations. They'll seek black-owned firms to do home improvement projects and handle vacations they've put off until next year.
And they want black America to watch as they discover companies with which to do business.
The couple -- she's a lawyer; he's a financial adviser -- will blog and post videos at EbonyExperiment.com to document their spending, and invite people to offer their own accounts of shopping black.
"If we can get 3 percent of us to commit to doing this, that will translate into millions and millions of dollars going into our community," Maggie Anderson said.
Coming out of the project will be a database of black-owned businesses and professionals and a university-based study. Social commentator Michael Eric Dyson is on the team and will pen the foreword for a book detailing the experience.
"They have decided to put their money where their mouth is and forge connections within their own community to strengthen economic and social networks and ties that bind us together," said Dyson, a Georgetown University professor. "Hopefully, this will inspire others to take up the call."
'It takes some effort'
The couple are prepared to potentially pay more for services and put more miles on their cars to patronize the businesses.
"I'm ready to buy $300 worth of groceries at a time," Maggie said.
Michael Bennett, director of DePaul University's Egan Urban Center and a researcher helping to measure the Anderson impact, said this effort stands out from the loads of buy-black initiatives he has seen over his 64 years.
"What's different about this one is you have a family with an income level that will allow them to search out goods and services to be extremely intentional about doing the research about following up," Bennett said.
There'll be challenges, he noted. Finding a black barber is easy enough, and there are plenty of black medical professionals to choose from in Chicago. But finding a black-owned utility provider? That's tougher, he said.
Even a black-owner auto repair shop might prove difficult, Bennett said, as today's computerized vehicles call for more capital-intensive operations.
"It takes some effort. And that's what I like about the Andersons. They want to make the effort to see," Bennett said. "They don't know yet how difficult it's going to be."
JUST HOW BLACK ARE YOU?: Average black American is 80% African and 20% European.
On Average, American Blacks are genetically 80 percent of African ancestry and 20 percent of European ancestry.
These findings were part of a recently released study on something known as “gene expression.”
The research was headed by Alkes L. Price of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts.
Gene expression addresses the amount of proteins produced in cells which is a fundamental determinant of various biological outcomes in humans. Gene expression can be influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. Specifically, the Price research team found that gene expression in individual African Americans varied in proportion to the amount of their ancestry which is European.
It is believed that the great bulk of European ancestry among African Americans occurred as a result racial mixing during the approximately 240 years of slavery in America. Slavery began roughly around 1619 and officially ended in 1865.
For additional information about the study, read: Price et al. Effects of cis and trans Genetic Ancestry on Gene Expression in African Americans. PLoS Genetics, 2008; 4 (12): e1000294 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1000294(source: Taylor Media Services)
Gay leaders furious with Barack Obama
Barack Obama’s choice of a prominent evangelical minister to deliver the invocation at his inauguration is a conciliatory gesture toward social conservatives who opposed him in November, but it is drawing fierce challenges from a gay rights movement that – in the wake of a gay marriage ban in California – is looking for a fight. Read the entire article by clicking the link below:
It seems at one time our next president was cool. Well at least he thought he was..lol. Check out these pictures of him that were taken while he was in college by photagrapher Lisa Jack and that are now featured in Time Magazine. The magazine has picked Barack Obama as person of the year.
Two-Parent Black Families Showing Gains
By SAM ROBERTS
The number of black children being raised by two parents appears to be edging higher than at any time in a generation, at nearly 40 percent, according to newly released census data.
Demographers said such a trend might be partly attributable to the growing proportion of immigrants in the nation’s black population. It may have been driven, too, by the values of an emerging black middle class, a trend that could be jeopardized by the current economic meltdown.
The Census Bureau attributed an indeterminate amount of the increase to revised definitions adopted in 2007, which identify as parents any man and woman living together, whether or not they are married or the child’s biological parents.
According to the bureau’s estimates, the number of black children living with two parents was 59 percent in 1970, falling to 42 percent in 1980, 38 percent in 1990 and 35 percent in 2004. In 2007, the latest year for which data is available, it was 40 percent.
For non-Hispanic whites, the figure in 2007 was 77 percent, down from 90 percent in 1970.
While expressing skepticism about an increase so large in such a short time in the number of black children living with two parents, a number of experts said the shift was potentially significant.
“It’s a positive change,” said Prof. Robert J. Sampson, the chairman of Harvard’s sociology department. “It’s been hidden.”
The 2007 figure, itself, was more or less hidden among the nearly 1,400 tables in the 2009 Statistical Abstract of the United States, a portrait-by-numbers of the nation released Tuesday by the Census Bureau.
Andrew J. Cherlin, a sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University, said that before 2007, a child living with two unmarried parents was usually classified as living with either a mother or a father, depending on who was the head of the household.
“The unmarried parent was invisible,” Professor Cherlin said. Given a new category, “living with both parents, not married to each other,” he added, “I think the news is that the Census Bureau estimates that about 3 percent of American children are living with two unmarried parents. Because of the increases in living-together relationships, this is probably a higher figure than a generation ago.”
Other experts generally embraced the direction of the statistics, if not the dimension of the changes they suggest.
“What we might be seeing is more cohabitation,” said Kay S. Hymowitz, a scholar at the Manhattan Institute, a research group.
Douglas S. Massey, a sociology professor at Princeton, cautioned that “a bad economy does not make for stable marriages, so it is possible that we may see a reversal in 2008.”
Professors Massey and Sampson recently edited a retrospective for the annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science on Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s seminal study of the black family.
One contributor, Frank F. Furstenberg, a sociology professor at the University of Pennsylvania, cites converging trends of single motherhood by race, with the number of non-Hispanic white children living with two parents declining over a generation.
“These racial differences have waned as a growing number of black women have begun to exercise greater control over their fertility,” Professor Furstenberg writes, “and as white women have started to experience the same sorts of constraints that blacks were feeling about their prospects of forming a lasting marriage when Moynihan focused on their plight.”
12/17/08
Turner Gill staying at Buffalo
Gill staying put in Buffalo with new contract
Buffalo coach Turner Gill is staying put for at least one more season and won't consider interviewing for any other jobs after receiving a contract extension and pay raise.
The new deal was announced by the school on Tuesday, and is reward for a first-time coach who in three years turned around a program that was once of the worst in major college football.
The Bulls won their first Mid-American Conference title this season and will face Connecticut in the International Bowl at Toronto on Jan. 3.
Gill was a candidate for openings at Auburn and Syracuse.
Auburn hired Iowa State coach Gene Chizik and Syracuse went with New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator Doug Marrone last week.
There was further speculation that Gill would be considered a candidate to take over at Iowa State.
Gill put an immediate end to any further speculation by saying he's not going anywhere.
``I'm going to be here at the University at Buffalo,'' the former Nebraska star said after practice. ``I've given you my word, I've given my football team our word that I will be the football coach in 2009 at the University at Buffalo.''
Terms of the extension were not released, but this is the second year Gill has earned a new contract. He signed an extension in January that locked him up through the 2012 season after Buffalo went 5-7 last season, the Bulls best record since joining the MAC in 1999.
Buffalo (8-5) has bettered that record this year and is coming off the program's biggest victory. The Bulls upset previously undefeated Ball State 42-24 in the MAC championship game on Dec. 5.
The Bulls have a 15-22 record in three years under Gill after going 10-69 in their previous seven seasons.
Who is Lisa Jackson, the first African American head of the EPA
Here is a brief bio of Barack Obama's pick for the head of the EPA, Lisa Jackson:
EXPERIENCE: Member of President-elect Barack Obama's energy and natural resources transition team; chief of staff, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, 2008-present; commissioner, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, 2006-2008; assistant commissioner for land use management, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, 2005; assistant commissioner for compliance and enforcement, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, 2002-2005; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 16 years.
EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree with honors, Tulane University's School of Chemical Engineering; master's degree in chemical engineering, Princeton University.
FAMILY: Husband, Kenny; two sons
Black Women struggle in Criminal Justice System
"Black women are caught in the net," Taifa said. "Black women disproportionately are caught up in the criminal justice system because of these bad crack cocaine laws. They are caught up with what I call the 'girlfriend problem'." Many of these women date or have relationships with these men and they get charged along with them to harsh sentences. Basically, they are the wrong person at the wrong time." Read the entire article by clicking the link below:
The roughly 330 pilots and members of the ground crew who are left from about 16,000 who served are being invited to watch the inauguration of Barack Obama as the country’s first black president. Read the entire story by clicking the link below:
Three weeks after announcing he would not seek another term as chairman of the NAACP's national board, veteran civil rights activist Julian Bond said Tuesday that he has changed his mind. Read more by clicking the link below:
Five years ago, Mississippi State Athletic Director Larry Templeton made history.
Sylvester Croom's arrival to the Bulldogs' football program made him a notable figure in college football before he called his first play — the first black coach hired to lead a Southeastern Conference team.
Five years later, history was made again.
Croom's resignation from Mississippi State last week was the third strike in four weeks for college football's corps of black coaches in the Football Bowl Subdivision, following the midseason firings of Washington's Tyrone Willingham and Kansas State's Ron Prince.
The fact that Croom's exit was voluntary paves a different path as to why the number of black coaches in major college football pales in comparison to any other sport.
The Black Coaches and Administrators' latest football hiring report card on Nov. 12 diagnosed the level of opportunities for blacks as heading in the wrong direction.
"It is easier to become a head football coach in the NFL, a head basketball coach in the NCAA, a general or commissioned officer in the United States Army than it is to become a football coach within the FBS or FCS," executive eirector Floyd Keith said in a statement. "That, America, is just not right."
Keith's report stresses college football's issues with quantity. Only three black head coaches are currently manning FBS sidelines — the lowest number since 1993. They are Miami's Randy Shannon, Houston's Kevin Sumlin and Buffalo's Turner Gill.
But when it comes to quality, 2008 may be a banner season for black coaches.
Croom's resignation is evidence that the biggest problem for future candidates goes beyond a lack of opportunities. For any coach of any color in college football, there is little time to cultivate a winning tradition.
Beyond struggling to get hired, black coaches have lacked any sense of longevity in building their programs. Of 21 black head coaches in Division I football from 1979-2007, only three coaches lasted longer than six seasons: Wake Forest's Jim Caldwell (1993-2000), Stanford's Willingham (1995-2001), and New Mexico State's Tony Samuel (1997-2004).
Of those three, only Willingham had a record of better than .500. That mark has been a goal that only Willingham and UCLA's Karl Dorrell (35-27 in five seasons in Los Angeles), were able to achieve.
Willingham coached his final game as the Huskies' coach Saturday as arguably the highest-profile black coach in college football. And thanks to his inability to win games in Seattle, there is no guarantee that he'll ever return to the sidelines of an FBS program.
"We didn't win football games," Willingham said on the day of his firing. "That's it."
Building a football program doesn't happen overnight. But all it takes is one turnaround season to receive big-money contracts and hoards of expectations.
After one eight-win season and a Liberty Bowl victory, Croom was rewarded with a $1.7 million contract extension, and higher expectations. The 2007 season set precedent for repeated success, in a conference where there is little room for error.
Croom's Bulldogs learned that the hard way this season, suffering a pair of one-point losses at home to Auburn, 3-2, and Kentucky, 14-13. Wins in those games would have made the Bulldogs bowl-eligible, catapulting them from last place to third place in the SEC West.
Would the criticism of Croom have been as high with those wins to his team's credit? With the current bowl system, a 6-6 team can reap the same successes as a 9-3 team, as long as the winner's trophy comes home.
When asked about any worries regarding the perception of the school in light of the Prince and Willingham firings, current Mississippi State athletic director Greg Byrne responded judiciously.
"Our decision-making was what we thought would be best for Mississippi State University, our football program and our athletic department," Byrne said. "That's what we had to make our decision based off of. We are certainly concerned about the way Mississippi State is viewed, and at the same time we have to do what's best for the university."
The decision-making Byrne alluded to came largely from Croom himself. He made the choice to leave, on a day he was set to meet with Byrne to discuss a possible restructuring of his coaching staff.
Croom was only the sixth black coach in college football history to win a bowl game. It took 11 years of NCAA assistant coaching, 13 years of NFL assistant coaching, and five years of developing a recruiting path at Mississippi State just to reach that goal.
Despite the exits of three black coaches, the trio that remains has a chance to make history unrelated to hirings or firings. Shannon, Sumlin and Gill all have a chance to join the bowl-victor club well ahead of most of their black predecessors.
A year ago, Shannon was under fire for a 5-7 season that left Miami out of a bowl for the first time in a decade. Now, he is set to make his first postseason appearance after leading the Hurricanes to seven wins.
In his first season as a head coach, Sumlin, 44, vowed that his Cougars were on their way to BCS heights. Twelve games into his coaching career, Sumlin produced seven wins, and earning his team a trip to a late-December hotspot.
After leading Buffalo to a program-high five wins a year ago, Gill, 46, went for a new record, leading the Bulls to eight wins and a Mid-American Conference title this season. Ten years after their long trek to Division 1-A football ended, Buffalo will make its first postseason appearance.
While quantity may be at its lowest point since 1993, when was the last time college football saw three black coaches lead programs to bowl victories in a single season? Never.
How these three schools fare in their postseason games could affect the level of future coaching opportunities for black candidates. Gill and Shannon both have five black assistants on their staffs, while Sumlin has three.
Byrne gave Croom his due in reviving the Bulldogs program, stating the school was looking to build upon his work. Croom would not have gotten Mississippi State to its first bowl win in seven years without the help of his five black assistants.
Byrne received the Bulldogs' athletic sirector job in 2006, two seasons after Croom was hired. The work of those assistants played a great role in helping him diagnose what qualifications to lay out for his first hiring of a football coach.
"We're looking for somebody with high energy, a passion for recruiting, a strong work ethic," Byrne said. "We want somebody who has the intensity level to continue what coach Croom has built on and take it to a higher level for us."
Whether that coach adds to both the quantity and quality of the NCAA's corps of black coaches remains to be seen.
Ala. county sets 'Barack Obama Day' as new holiday
MARION, Ala. (AP) - A small central Alabama county whose mainly black residents gave Barack Obama more than 70 percent of the vote on Election Day has created an annual holiday in honor of the president-elect.
The Perry County Commission voted 4 to 1 to observe the second Monday in November as "The Barack Obama Day." County offices will close and its roughly 40 workers will get a paid holiday.
The sponsoring commissioner, Albert Turner Jr., said the holiday is meant to highlight the Democratic president-elect's victory as a way to give people faith that difficult goals can be achieved.
The majority of the county's 12,000 residents are black.
The county commission's three black members and one of its two white members voted for the resolution.
Commissioner Brett Harrison said Wednesday he voted against the resolution because of the holiday costs to the county, which has a $2.2 million annual payroll and is one of the poorest in the state. He said closing the courthouse would also idle some state employees.
"I'm a Democrat, but just in these financial times, it's not using the county's money wisely," Harrison told The Associated Press by phone Wednesday. "The recognition is certainly well-founded."
Turner said copies of the resolution, adopted at a Nov. 25 meeting, have been mailed to Obama and his transition team.
An Associated Press exit poll found black voters in Alabama almost universally supported Obama while more than eight in 10 whites backed Republican John McCain. McCain carried the state with 60 percent of the vote.
Poll: Black Voters Not Responsible for Passage of Same-Sex Marriage Ban in California
....Black voters, meanwhile, may have had very little impact on the measure's passage, the poll finds. Even though African-Americans turned out in historic numbers in California, as they did in many other states, exit polls showed they still comprised, at most, only 10 percent of the state's voters. There were simply not enough black votes to sway the initiative's outcome, pollsters say. Read the entire article by clicking the link below:
In 2008 we elected a black president. What's sad is that when Barack Obama is on TV that might be one of the few times you see a black face on TV. If his family is on with him that might be the ONLY time you see a black family on TV. Click the link below to read about how there is only one broadcast TV show featuring a black lead ( The Unit ) and only two others ( on cable ) that feature black families:
Susan Rice will be the first African-American woman to serve as US ambassador to the United Nations, bringing to the job a lifetime's work on international issues, an insider's knowledge of the White House and State Department, and close ties to President-elect Barack Obama. Read the entire story by clicking the link below:
The United States Postal Service does not issue stamps honoring a person until they have been dead for at least 5 years. The African Nation of Liberia has no such restrictions and has released a stamp in honor of Barack Obama's historic victory. You can view the stamp below as well as follow the link below it to buy the stamp.
Check out this great article by Allison Samuels that appears in this weeks NewsWeek Magazine
Here is an excerpt...The new First Lady will have the chance to knock down ugly stereotypes about black women and educate the world about American black culture more generally. But perhaps more important—even apart from what her husband can do—Michelle has the power to change the way African-Americans see ourselves, our lives and our possibilities. Read the entire article by clicking the link below:
On November 18 2008 Eric Holder accepted the job of Attorney General making him the first African American to ever hold that post. But just who is Eric Holder. Learn more below.
He was born in 1951 in The Bronx, New York, to parents who had emigrated from Barbados. He grew up in Queens and was educated at Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan and attended Columbia University, where he earned a B.A. in 1973 and a J.D. in 1976.
After graduating from Columbia Law School Holder worked in the U.S. Justice Department as a trial attorney in the Public Integrity section from 1976 to 1988. He was then appointed by President Ronald Reagan to serve as an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
In 1993 Holder was appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia by President Bill Clinton. In 1997, upon the spring retirement of Jamie Gorelick, Clinton nominated Holder to be the next Deputy Attorney General. Holder was quickly confirmed several months later in the Senate by a unanimous vote. During his confirmation hearing, Holder's opposition to the death penalty was questioned, but he pledged his intention to cooperate with the current laws and Attorney General Janet Reno, saying, "I am not a proponent of the death penalty, but I will enforce the law as this Congress gives it to us." Holder was the first African American to serve in each of those positions.
As Deputy Attorney General, Holder was, along with Jack Quinn, drawn into controversy surrounding President Clinton's pardon of fugitive Marc Rich. Holder gave a "neutral, leaning towards favorable" opinion of the pardon to Clinton, which led to the pardoning of Rich on Clinton's last day in office.
Holder served as Acting Attorney General under President George W. Bush for several weeks until the Senate confirmed Bush's nominee, John Ashcroft.
Since 2001, Holder has worked as an attorney at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C. In 2004, Holder helped negotiate an agreement with the Justice Department for Chiquita Brands International in a case that involved Chiquita's payment of "protection money" to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, a paramilitary group that has been designated a terrorist group by the United States government. In the agreement, Chiquita's officials pleaded guilty and paid a fine of $25 million. Holder represents Chiquita in the civil action which grew out of this criminal case.
In late 2007, Holder joined Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign as a senior legal advisor. He served on Obama's vice presidential selection committee.
In June 2008, Holder was considered to be a leading candidate for Attorney General under an Obama Administration.
On November 18, 2008, President-elect Barack Obama selected Eric Holder as his attorney general. If his nomination is approved by the U.S. Senate, he will be the first African-American to head the Justice Department. Holder's ascension to the Cabinet will follow the paths of General Colin Powell, who served as Secretary of State in the administration of George W. Bush, and Condoleezza Rice, Powell's successor at State under President Bush, as prominent African-American members of a presidential cabinet.
Holder is married to Sharon Malone, an obstetrician; the couple has three children.
11/13/08
Former NBA star elected Sacramento's first black mayor
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Kevin Johnson has become the first African-American mayor in Sacramento's history.
Johnson, a former NBA star, has 58 percent of the vote to Fargo's 42 percent with all precincts reporting.
"Sacramento also made history today in electing the first African-American for mayor," Johnson said during his victory speech at Zocalo restaurant in midtown Sacramento. "You have put me in office, we will put the mudslinging aside ... let's talk about real issues to move this city forward."
Some of Johnson's supporters joined him onstage, including Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy and Councilmen Steve Cohn and Robbie Waters.
Incumbent Heather Fargo conceded shortly after Johnson's speech, and said she tried to reach him before he began his speech. She congratulated him on TV.
Fargo, who seemed wistful about the outcome, said Sacramento has become more cosmopolitan and sophisticated.
"It's certainly been an incredibly wonderful experience for me. And frankly, I think I've been very good for Sacramento," Fargo said. "I hope you will join me in trying to help make the transition for Mayor Kevin Johnson when he takes over at the end of the month."
Johnson thanked Fargo for her 20 years of dedication and service to the city.
"Tomorrow ushers in a new government in the city of Sacramento," Johnson said.
The mayor-elect then invited Louis Joya on stage, a City Hall guard who allowed Johnson to take a tour of the facility two weeks ago, and thanked him for his good customer service.
Precincts that were favoring Johnson on Tuesday night include Sagamore Way in the Pocket, Natomas High School, The Club at Natomas, Hagginwood Elementary and Charles E. Mack Elementary. The Bible Chapel and Greenfair Community precincts were favoring Fargo.
On election night in the June primary, Johnson was leading Fargo by 47 percent to 40 percent.
The mayor's race began with seven candidates and was whittled down to two after the primary.
Johnson played for the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Phoenix Suns during his NBA career.
He also founded the St. HOPE Academy in Sacramento, a nonprofit that runs Sacramento Charter High School.
Johnson relinquished his role as CEO of St. HOPE during the mayoral campaign.
Click the link below to listen to Jay Z's new Kanye West produced song "We Made History" which was " leaked " to coincide with Barack Obama's historic victory:
Many African Americans both young and old have been inspired by Barack Obama's victry and now truly believe no obstacle can't be overcome. Read more about this by clicking the link below:
****Article republished with permission from it's author.****
October 5, 2008
PARIS, Texas -- When the mutilated and partially dismembered body of Brandon McClelland, a 24-year-old black man, turned up lying in the middle of a rural east Texas road one morning last month, the police immediately pronounced the case a hit-and-run by an unknown driver.
Within a few days, however, suspicions turned toward two white friends who had picked up McClelland in their truck a few hours before he was found dead early on Sept. 16. Despite signs that the truck had been washed, authorities discovered blood and other physical evidence on the undercarriage and arrested the two men, both with long criminal histories, for murder.
Now this small, racially divided town--already seared with a racist label by civil rights groups last year over differences in how blacks and whites were treated by the local justice system--is on edge yet again, wondering if it's got a horrific new hate crime on its hands.
The district attorney insists race had nothing to do with McClelland's death and police investigators are portraying the case as an apparent falling-out among friends.
But McClelland's relatives and Paris civil rights leaders are less certain. Citing the violence done to McClelland's body and reports that one of the alleged assailants, Shannon Finley, had white supremacist ties, they are demanding that Paris authorities investigate the case as a possible hate crime akin to the infamous 1998 lynching of James Byrd Jr., in Jasper, Texas, 250 miles south of here.
Byrd was dragged to his death behind a pickup truck by three white supremacists who were later convicted of murder. McClelland was walking in front of the pickup when Finley, 27, and a friend, Charles Ryan Crostley, 27, who was also arrested, allegedly ran him down and then dragged him 40 feet along the road until his mutilated body popped out from beneath the chassis, according to a police affidavit accompanying the warrant for Finley's arrest.
"If you take somebody out to the country like that in the middle of the night and do that to him in that way, that's how they do black people around here," said Brenda Cherry, a local activist working with McClelland's family. "To me, it smells like Jasper."
Paris' race relations came under withering national scrutiny last year after the Tribune reported the case of Shaquanda Cotton, a 14-year-old African-American youth who was sentenced by a local judge to up to seven years in a youth prison for shoving a hall monitor at her high school. Just three months earlier, the same judge had sentenced a 14-year-old white girl to probation after convicting her of the more serious crime of arson for burning down her family's house.
The discrepancy in the treatment of the two teenagers provoked protests from national civil rights groups and led to Cotton's early release from prison. Now McClelland's family fears that Paris officials, eager to protect their city of 26,000 from another round of negative publicity over race relations, are purposefully downplaying potential racial overtones in McClelland's murder.
"At the crime scene, it looked like these boys went back and poured beer on my son's body," said Jacqueline McClelland, Brandon's mother. "Two beer cans were lying out there, but the police didn't even pick them up, they just left evidence out there. They won't even consider the racial issues. That's the way it is in Paris."
Even the editor of the local newspaper, normally an impassioned defender of Paris' reputation, has cautioned law enforcement officials to be thorough and "leave no stone unturned" in their investigation.
"Hopefully, this community has learned from its past," Mary Madewell wrote in the Paris News. "... Even if our worst fears prove to be true, let us realize that the actions of single individuals should in no way bring condemnation to an entire community."
Family members and other critics are also concerned about the impartiality of Lamar County District Atty. Gary Young, who five years ago, before he was elected prosecutor, served as Finley's court-appointed defense attorney when Finley pleaded guilty to manslaughter for shooting a friend to death.
Young has declined to state whether he will recuse himself and other prosecutors in his office from handling the McClelland case.
Although the victim in Finley's 2003 manslaughter case was white, race played a role in the incident. Finley told police he was sitting in a pickup with his friend in a park when two gun-wielding black men supposedly walked up alongside and tried to rob them. Finley said he grabbed his friend's handgun and fired at the robbers, but instead shot his friend.
An autopsy determined that the victim suffered three gunshot wounds to the head, but the district attorney at the time accepted Finley's contention that the shooting was an accident and offered him a plea bargain on a reduced manslaughter charge. Finley served three years of a 4-year prison sentence. The alleged robbers were never found.
That manslaughter case also tied Finley and McClelland closely together. McClelland furnished a false alibi for Finley, testifying before a grand jury that Finley was with him at the time the shooting occurred. That lie under oath earned McClelland a conviction for aggravated perjury, for which he served two years in prison.
Largely because of that connection between McClelland and Finley, police discount the possibility that race played a part in McClelland's death. "I don't see how it was racial, being as how they were good friends," said Stacy McNeal, the Texas Ranger who is the lead investigator on the case.
But McClelland's relatives say they have heard that Finley fell in with white supremacists while in prison and that he had grown upset over Brandon's overtures to a white girl--factors they say the police ought to investigate.
"I always told Brandon that Finley was bad news and he should stay away from him," said Ervin Barry, a friend of McClelland's. "But Brandon thought they were good friends."
Race relations in Paris, Texas: An update
SHAQUANDA COTTON: The black high school freshman whose sentence of up to seven years in prison for shoving a school hall monitor drew national scrutiny to the town's justice system was released from prison in March 2007. Now 17, she is studying for her GED certificate and hopes to attend junior college.
TASK FORCE: Citizens concerned about racial fissures in town exposed by the Cotton case convened a local Diversity Task Force, which has held several meetings and last month hosted a community-wide block party attended by several hundred residents.
INVESTIGATION: The U.S. Department of Education last month concluded a two-year investigation of allegedly discriminatory disciplinary policies in the Paris public schools. The agency said it found "insufficient evidence to support a conclusion" that black students were being disciplined more harshly than whites.
hwitt@tribune.com
Can you identify this lost child?
Circumstances: Child was located by the Baltimore City Police Department, wondering in the street in the 3000 block of Ruckert Ave, Baltimore City, Maryland. Child has braided hair. Anyone with information that may lead to the identity of this child should contact Baltimore City Department of Social Services. 443-423-6300
DOB: ?????
Sex: Male
Missing Date: Apr 9, 2008 Race: Black
Age Now: 3 years old Height: 2'6" (76 cm)
Missing City: UNKNOWN
Weight: 25 lbs (11 kg)
Missing State : MD Hair Color: Black
Missing Country: United States Eye Color: Black
Circumstances: Child was locate by the Baltimore City Police Department, wondering in the street in the 3000 block of Ruckert Ave, Baltimore City, Maryland. Child has braided hair. Anyone with information that may lead to the identity of this child should contact Baltimore City Department of Social Services.
09/26/08
Parents of African American High School Students Angry Over Principal's Letter
Discuss this story on the LTH Chat Box
From the " Didn't this just happen last year and shouldn't people know better file." comes this story.
The parents of African-American students at Lee's Summit North High School are upset after they received a letter from the school's principal requesting a meeting to improve test scores. But the letter didn't go to all students with low test scores - it went to all African-American students regardless of their test scores. Learn more by clicking the link below:
History has all bit forgotten the brave African American and Native American soldiers that fought on the side of the North in the Civil War. In Connecticut a new monuments unveiling hopes to help begin to right that wrong. a monument to the Connecticut 29th Colored Regiment was unveiled New Haven, Connecticut's Criscoula Park September 20. Check out video of the monuments unveiling by clicking the link below;
2009 Top 10 Historically Black Colleges & Universities
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Here is the top 10 HBCU's as judged by the US News College Report. The usual suspects are there, Spelman, Howard, Morehouse. Is your college in the top 10. Read the list below and click the link below that to see the entire top 25.
1. Spelman College
2. Haward College
3. Morehouse College
4. Hampton University
5. Fisk University
6. Tuskegee University
7. Clafin University
7.Dillard University
9. Xavier University of Louisiana
10. Johnson C. Somith University
On July 29th the U.S. House of Representatives formally apologized for slavery. You can read the actual resolution in a PDF format by clicking the link below:
