Less than a week into the summer season, Baltimore has endured an unusual spike in crime which police said was primarily related to guns and gangs. The city has seen 114 homicides this year, compared to 103 during the same period last year, and 190 non-fatal shootings compared to 171 in 2012. City officials said […]
Author Archives: Blair Adams
AFRO Staff Writer
Obama African Trip Generates Congressional Cost-Benefit Debate
The Obama administration plans to cut a big swath across the African continent over nine days in the name of economic development and global trade although the costs and agenda of the second trip of his presidency to Africa are drawing criticism from both Republicans and Democrats. President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will […]
Black Men with Special Needs Children Find Support in D.C. Group
Men are often seen as the protector, provider and dominant force in a nuclear family. But, according to the mother of a disabled child and author of a web blog on special needs parenting, fathers secretly harbor pain and heartache when it comes to a disabled child. Suzanne Perryman, who writes the blog specialneedschild.com, recently […]
Class of 2013 Youth Opportunity Students Graduates
Baltimore’s Youth Opportunity (YO) program awarded diplomas and certificates to 91 of the city’s young people, its 13th graduating class on June 12. YO Baltimore is a home-based program geared to helping young adults ages 16 to 22 years old improve their lives. Some of them have dropped out of school, or are struggling with […]
Baltimore City 2014 Fiscal Budget Approved
On June 17, the Baltimore City Council passed the $2.4 billion 2014 budget for the fiscal year which, is set to go into effect July 1. The new budget is supposed to essentially change the way the city does business and marks the first major step in implementing the ten-year financial plan. The plan will […]
Oprah Winfrey Donates $12 Million to The Smithsonian
The Smithsonian’s upcoming National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C. recently received an astonishing gift from a prominent philanthropist. Oprah Winfrey bestowed a gift of $12 million on June 11 to support the development and construction of the new museum. Winfrey, who has been active on the museum’s advisory board since […]
Dr. Lucius Walker, Former Howard University Dean of Engineering, Dies at 77
Dr. Lucius Walker, a mechanical engineer, engineering professor and education administrator died June 6 at age 77 following a lengthy illness. At age 15, Walker attended Morehouse College on a Ford Foundation scholarship. He later transferred to Howard University in 1954 to study engineering, where he received his bachelor’s degree in 1957. Walker continued his […]
Baltimore Mayor Rawlings-Blake Kicks Off 7th Annual Summer Food Service Program
Baltimore children can receive a nutritional breakfast and lunch five days a week during the summer months, if they decide to participate in a food program starting June 17. The program, created by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and city officials and now in its seventh year, is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and administered […]
Mayor Appoints Jeffrey R. Segal as Interim City Fire Chief
As of July 29, Jeffrey R. Segal will settle in as the Baltimore City Fire Department’s acting Fire Chief. This was no walk in the park for Segal, who says the path to the top, even though it is a temporary perch, was covered with hard work, dedication and guidance from some notable colleagues. “I […]
Morgan’s Veteran Engineering School Dean Celebrated
On June 1, Morgan State University engineering school dean was the object of affection at the Baltimore Hyatt recently. While, to a casual observer, it looked the eating, drinking and speechmaking was for Eugene DeLoatch’s retirement party. But it wasn’t that at all. He was being cited by the Career Communications Group for staying at […]
111-Year-Old Black Brazilian Feted as Oldest Living Yankees Fan
The New York Yankees recognized their oldest living fan recently, a Black Brazil-born New Yorker who, at the age of 111, can say, more than anyone else, “been there, done that.” Bernando LaPallo can say, for instance, he saw, from a seat in the bleachers, Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson and scores of other baseball legends […]
Rev. Dr. Harold A. Carter Memorialized at Moving Going Home Ceremony
The crowd of mourners quickly overflowed New Shiloh Baptist Church June 7 at the home going for the Rev. Dr. Harold A. Carter Sr., the church’s revered pastor and one of Baltimore’s leading religious figures, who died May 31 of cancer at the age of 76. An estimated 1,500 people, including his congregation, friends, leading […]

