Breaking News! History in the Making
Santa is White?
By: Russell Contreras, AP.org A New Mexico high school teacher has been disciplined after a parent says the man told his black son that Santa Claus is white. Officials at the school in Rio Rancho, about 15 miles north of Albuquerque, announced Friday that the teacher recently was disciplined for his comments to the student, but they…
Can Racism Lead to Health Complications for Your Child?
By Janell Ross, TheRoot.com The big revelations coming out of Emory didn’t stop there. Preterm birth is long understood to have a potential impact on a child’s cognition and language-learning skills. But Michael Kramer, an epidemiologist at Emory’s School of Public Health, examined the birth and school records of thousands of Georgians born between 1998…
Black Teens Arrested While Waiting For the Bus
By Morgan Whitaker, Msnbc.com Charges were dropped against three African-American teenagers who said they were waiting for a school bus last week when they were arrested by police. “After reviewing the facts associated with these arrests, I have decided to dismiss the charges in the interest of justice,” said District Attorney Sandra Doorley in a statement…
In Honor of Nelson Mandela
By Jon Gambrell, Ap.org via Huffingtonpost.com South Africa expects overwhelming crowds and a host of world leaders to attend services honoring late President Nelson Mandela, though with the ceremonies only days away officials acknowledged Saturday they couldn’t offer any specifics yet. Across the country, South Africans already have begun honoring Mandela, who died Thursday at age…
Free Mandela (from the Prison of Fantasy)!
Journalists and activists pull back the curtain on Nelson Mandela’s activism, which has been elevated nearly to mythology.
Nelson Mandela, South African Icon of Peaceful Resistance, Is Dead
With the death of South Africa’s former president and activist, Nelson Mandela, the world wonders about the country’s moral future.
Black Men Arrested for Escorting White Teen
By Christina Ng, ABCnews.com A teenage Oklahoma hip hop dancer is still shaken after her dream trip to a Texas dance studio ended up with her in handcuffs and taken to Child Protective Services and her guardians in police custody. “They had nothing on us,” dance instructor Emmanuel Hurd told ABCNews.com. “Instead of going the route…
Can We Trust Each Other?
By Connie Cass, AP.org We’re not talking about the loss of faith in big institutions such as the government, the church or Wall Street, which fluctuates with events. For four decades, a gut-level ingredient of democracy – trust in the other fellow – has been quietly draining away. These days, only one-third of Americans say most…
Alabama Pardons 3 ‘Scottsboro Boys’ After 80 Years
By Alan Blinder, the New York Times ATLANTA — More than 80 years after they were falsely accused and wrongly convicted in the rapes of a pair of white women in north Alabama, three black men received posthumous pardons on Thursday, essentially absolving the last of the “Scottsboro Boys” of criminal misconduct and closing one…
White Supremacist Serial Killer Executed
By: Jim Salter, Bigstory.ap.org No one knows exactly how many atrocities Joseph Paul Franklin committed as he crossed the country more than three decades ago, fueled by hatred of blacks and Jews. Along the way he bombed a synagogue, robbed banks, shot and wounded a porn icon — and killed, by his own account, nearly…
Ted Wafer, Accused Renisha McBride Killer, Told 911 He Shot Someone On His Porch
By Kate Abbey-Lambertz, the Huffington Post After Theodore “Ted” Wafer was charged on Friday with shooting a teen girl to death through his screen door in Dearborn Heights, Mich., a tape of his 911 call was released. Wafer, 54, was arraigned on charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter Friday for allegedly shooting 19-year-old Renisha McBride on his…
George Zimmerman: Violent Past and Future
By Associated Press, HuffingtonPost.com George Zimmerman was arrested in Seminole County, Fla., at about 1:30 p.m. Monday and charged with assault, after a dispute at his girlfriend’s home, the Associated Press reports. The arrest occurred shortly after a domestic disturbance involving Zimmerman’s girlfriend. (. . .) TMZ reports that the girlfriend says she is pregnant. George Zimmerman…
Renisha McBride’s Family Seeks Justice For Daughter’s Shooting
by Corey Williams, the Huffington Post DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. (AP) — The parents of a 19-year-old woman who was shot in the face on the porch of a suburban Detroit home say they find it hard to believe their daughter posed a threat to the man charged in her death. Walter Ray Simmons and Monica…
Racist Comments Made to France’s Justice Minister, Again?
By Agence-France Presse, RawStory.com France’s justice minister has been publicly subjected to racist taunts for the third time in barely a month, triggering a wave of outrage Tuesday over the hounding of the country’s top black politician. In the wake of two highly publicized incidents in which the minister, Christiane Taubira, was compared to a…
Genetic clue to high heart risk of black Americans
New information that explains why Black Americans face a higher risk of heart disease may help us close the health gap.
First MLK’s Kids, Now the Heirs Of Malcolm X Are Headed to Court
From yourblackworld.net Family members of Malcolm X have filed suit to prevent the publication of the slain leader’s diary. At issue is the diary Malcolm X kept during the year before his assassination, as he traveled through the Middle East and Africa. The diary has been reproduced for publication and lists the daughter of Malcolm X,…
Ridiculed For Having a ‘Black Name’
By Black Voices, HuffingtonPost.com Everyone feels an emotional tie to how a name can signify identity, but some names speak to the direct impact of the stereotypes promoted in society. For African-Americans, the conversation around the impact of having a “black” name is a highly charged one. For 19-year-old Keisha Austin, of Kansas City, MO., the…
Klansman Halloween Costume
By Cavan Sieczkowski, Huffingtonpost.com Jessica Black of Craigsville, Va., let her son, Jackson, dress as a Klansman with a floor-length white robe and full-faced white hood, according to local ABC affiliate WHSV. The outfit garnered media attention after a photo of the boy dressed in the KKK regalia was posted to the WHSV Facebook page.…
A Reminder of Black Heroism
By Rhonesha Byng, HuffingtonPost.com In a world where two men were insensitive enough to dress up as Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman for a Halloween party, and a black college student is arrested at a high-end luxury department store for buying a belt, this teen’s story will restore your faith in humanity. In a series on…
A Disrespectful Halloween Costume is Causing Social Media Controversy
By Lily Worneh, TheGrio.com An incendiary photo was posted to Facebook this Friday featuring two young Florida men dressed as George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin, complete with blackface, a blood-stained hoodie and a shirt that reads, “Neighborhood Watch.” The image was reportedly uploaded by Caitlin Cimeno from Martha’s Vineyard who captioned the photo: “Happy Halloween from…
For Rent: Former Slave Quarters
by Kristina Chew, Care2.com Would you rent an apartment that, a century and a half ago, was once a slave cabin? Chuck Corley, a developer from Columbia, South Carolina, seems to think that someone will, says NBC News. Corley, who has renovated other historic sites, including the Lemmon Hill Plantation and Corley Hall Plantation, is planning to turn the long-empty, boarded-up structures…