Author Archives: AFRO Staff

South Carolina Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer (R) has set off a round of controversy with his comparison of providing government assistances to individuals in Greenville, S.C., to “feeding stray animals.” According to Columbia, S.C. newspaper The State, Bauer’s remarks came during a Jan. 22 town hall meeting which included both lawmakers and residents. “My grandmother […]

Caressa Cameron, 22, a broadcast journalism student enrolled at Virginia Commonwealth University, beat out 53 contestants in the annual Miss America pageant held at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, Nev., on Jan. 30. She is the first Black Miss America since Ericka Dunlap won the title in 2005. “I hope to gain inspiration, I hope […]

Retired Air Force Lt. Colonel Lee Archer, a former Tuskegee Airman during World War II, died January 27 at Cornell University Medical Center in New York City. He was 90. Archer was born on September 6, 1919 in Yonkers, N.Y. and raised in Harlem. He attended New York University before dropping out and enlisting in […]

Dillon County, S.C. has some of the worst public education facilities in the nation, facilities so bad that they caught the eye of then-candidate Barack Obama in 2008. Now, President Obama has decided to do something about the horrid state of the buildings, some of which are nearly 115 years old. The county’s schools will […]

A missing man who won $30 million in the Florida lottery in 2006 was found dead on January 28 after a three-month search. Abraham Shakespeare had not been seen by friends or relatives since April and was officially declared a missing person in November. Authorities found his body buried under a concrete slab in the […]

Though their hopes of achieving health care reform took a hit with the election of Republican Scott Brown to the Senate in a special Massachusetts election in mid-January, Democrats have vowed to keep fighting until a reform bill is passed. “You go through the gate. If the gate’s closed, you go over the fence,” House […]

Several pending lawsuits allege northern California police have not taken seriously attacks on Black teens by Latino gang members. The racially-motivated violence resulted in the death of 14-year-old Vernon Eddins, who was shot in front of his Union City, Calif. middle school in December 2007. Eddins’ death is one incident lawyers cite in three pending […]

The Pittsburgh branch of the NAACP is calling for the firing of city police officers who allegedly beat Black teenager Jordan Miles during an arrest. The Pittsburgh branch is also calling for charges against Miles to be dropped. “He had robbed no one—no bank, no establishment, hijacked no car or caused anyone any harm. He […]