Isabel Wilkerson discusses her critically acclaimed book, The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration Dec. 18, at a holiday party of for the Journalists Roundtable at the Washington, D.C. home of Paul and Anita Delaney. Delaney, a former New York Times senior editor, is the winner of the 2010 Lifetime […]
Author Archives: AFRO Staff
Posted inD.C. Community, Washington D.C. News
Students from Bowie State to Study Abroad in Ethiopia
The Bowie State University College of Business is instituting the first study abroad program to Ethiopia by a University System of Maryland Institution in January 2011, according to a press release issued by the Prince George’s County school. The trip will incorporate visits to private business firms, government agencies, the headquarters of the African Union […]
Posted inD.C. Community, Washington D.C. News
Montgomery County Domestic Partner Benefits Law Effective Jan. 1
Beginning Jan. 1, the Equal Benefits Law, also known as the Domestic Partner Benefits Law, becomes effective in Montgomery County. Under the Equal Benefits Law, county contractors or subcontractors who are employers must provide the same benefits to an employee with a domestic partner as those provided to an employee with a spouse. Benefits may […]
Posted inSports
AFRO Sports Year in Review
Pro Sports— For professional sports teams in the District, the offseason is usually more exciting than in-season. Like they’ve done in years past, the Wizards and Redskins both made offseason splashes over the summer but crashed miserably once the games started to matter. Redskins End on Sour Note Redskin Nation went gaga over the team’s […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
Benjamin Banneker Park Advocates Push for Landmark to Remain At Current Location
Benjamin Banneker Park, a memorial landmark in Washington, D.C. that honors the work of the notable mathematician, astronomer and surveyor Benjamin Banneker was just about to receive the revitalization that many advocates and members of the community were hoping for. But the city-run National Capital Planning Commission’s development of a new Southwest waterfront has slowed […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Tobacco Company Found Guilty of Giving Free Cigarettes to Black Children
A North Carolina-based tobacco company tried to entice African-American children to become smokers by handing out free cigarettes in Boston during the 1950s and 1960s, a jury ruled on Dec. 14, awarding $71 million in compensatory damages to the estate and child of a woman who died of lung cancer in 2002. According to the […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
U.N. Security Council Calls on Youth to Share Views
The U.N. Security Council called on youth from around the world to participate in a special Dec. 21 discussion on the challenges they believe their generation will face. Earlier in December, the council asked individuals between the ages of 13 and 21 from around the world the question, “What is the most vital challenge to […]
Posted inCollege
Ala. Family Settles Lawsuit Against School System Over Hairstyle Discrimination
Auburn, Ala. school officials and the family of a Black high school student who was barred from playing basketball because he insisted on wearing his hair in braids settled a racial discrimination lawsuit against the school system Dec. 19. The two sides reached an agreement after the school system decided to standardize its grooming policy […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Family of Slain Seven-Year-Old Sues A&E Network
The family of a seven-year-old Detroit girl who was accidentally shot and killed during a videotaped police raid to find a murder suspect is suing A&E television Networks. According to The Detroit Free Press, a lawsuit filed on Dec. 14 claims A&E was responsible for the May 16 death of Aiyana Stanley-Jones in a police […]
Posted inNational News
Christmas at the Nation’s House
The unusually blistery Dec. 14 evening did not deter the people with invitations to the White House Christmas Party from enduring the time-consuming security checks to get inside. And it did not deter AFRO’s Washington Bureau Chief Zenitha Prince and Executive Editor Talibah Chikwendu, either. Inside, the annual bash quickly warmed up; there were things […]
Posted inBaltimore Community, Baltimore News
Fundraiser Draws Hundreds at Bourbon Street
On Dec.15, members of Baltimore’s entertainment community gathered at Bourbon Street for a toy drive/fundraiser benefitting over 500 local families. The event, hosted by the Baltimore Entertainment Association, the Carpenter House and AFRO Charities, drew hundreds, including “Real Housewives of Atlanta” personality Greg Leakes and Sen. Catherine Pugh.
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
“Kwanzaa Song” Gets Major Airplay in Chicago
A.C. Green, the commercial jingle writer who composed the “Yes We Can” tune for President Obama, has composed the “Kwanzaa Song,” A sample of “The Kwanzaa Song” the first song to receive major radio airplay celebrating the holiday. “It was ironic to me that something we have been celebrating for years had not music to […]