News that an Academy Award-nominated Black child actress is starring in an upcoming film version of the musical Annie sent opponents of her casting over the edge on Twitter recently. On March 9, Twitter was abuzz about Quvenzhané Wallis, 10, who will play the orphan Annie in an upcoming movie produced by Jay Z and Will […]
Author Archives: Blair Adams
AFRO Staff Writer
Posted inBaltimore News
Baltimore Officials Launch Town Hall Tour to Address Crime Concerns
Standing at the center of the Moorish Tower at Druid Hill Park Reservoir in Baltimore, dozens of community leaders, city officials and concerned citizens stood to hear city leaders’ plans to reduce violent crime. At a March 1 press conference, the city officials announced the kick-off to their Public Safety Town Hall Tour, which they […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Dr. Sylvester J. Gates, Black Physicist, Named 2014 Scientist of the Year
University of Maryland’s John S. Toll Professor of Physics, Dr. Sylvester James Gates Jr., the first African American to hold an endowed chair in physics at a major U.S. research university, was named 2014 Scientist of the Year by the Harvard Foundation, according to a Feb. 21 news release. Gates, best known for his work […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Baltimore Corner Stores Targeted to Expand Healthier Inner City Food Choices
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake’s battle against childhood obesity is being boosted by a program that will also storm part of the West Baltimore food desert and provide city residents—and their children—with healthier food choices. The mayor Feb. 26 launched Baltimarket Health Stores, a Baltimore City Health Department (BCHD) initiative funded by a three-year, $750,000 grant, […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Fuel Fund, Baltimore Mayor Rawlings-Blake, BGE Help Homeless Clear Utility Debt
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake Feb. 25 announced she has joined with the Fuel Fund of Maryland and Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE) to help local homeless persons overcome a major obstacle to permanent housing—overdue (BGE) bills. The mayor unveiled the Power of Home, a Fuel Fund program to address unpaid utility bills that block the […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Four car pile-up leaves one dead, two hospitalized
A car accident at the intersection of N. Fulton Avenue and Presstman Street on Feb. 23 left one man dead and several others injured. According to Police Spokesperson Det. Jarron Jackson, officers responded to the call at 11:30 a.m. finding four vehicles involved. The accident claimed the life of Tevin Ridgley Hall, 27, pronounced dead […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Eight-Year-Old Baltimore Boy Killed in Building Collapse
The last time Shanika Brown spoke to her 8-year-old son Troy Douglas was when she dropped him off at William Paca Elementary School in east Baltimore on the morning of Feb. 19. “‘I’ll see you later. Have a good day at school, okay?’” she recalled telling the third grader. “He looked at me and said […]
Posted inBaltimore News
President Obama, Md Black & Political Leaders Advance Minimum Wage Campaign
President Obama signed an executive order Feb. 12 to raise the minimum wage for federal contract workers to 10.10 an hour from the current $7.25 per hour, fulfilling a pledge he made during the State of the Union address. Under the order, effective Jan. 1, 2015, workers under new contracts and replacement agreements for expiring […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Black History Month Menu Backfires at Calif. Private School
The idea behind a special, Black History Month cafeteria menu may have been noble and well-intentioned but controversy resulted Feb. 3 when students at Carondelet High School for Girls arrived at the cafeteria and found the lunchroom fare that day included watermelon, fried chicken and cornbread. The move, a Black History Month special menu, was […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Eastside Welcomes First New Public School in 20 Years
Nearly 400 people gathered in the auditorium of Henderson Hopkins School, Feb. 10, to officially cut the ribbon on the first new public school to open in East Baltimore in more than 20 years. Among those in attendance were Johns Hopkins University President Ronald J. Daniels, Gov. Martin O’Malley, Rep. Elijah Cummings and several elected […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Baltimore Mayor, Elected Officials Mark National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
For more than 10 years, National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day has been a platform for officials and community leaders to discuss the deadly affliction. This year, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, City Councilman Nick Mosby, and Baltimore City Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot joined with Total Health Care and took to the streets of west Baltimore to share […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Fearing Gentrification, Black Portland Neighborhood tells Trader Joe’s ‘No’ to New Store
The Trader Joe’s grocery store chain recently announced that it no longer plans to open a store in a predominately African-American neighborhood in Portland after activists claimed the store’s prices weren’t affordable for Black families. Local community leaders and activists said on Feb. 3 that opening a Trader Joe’s in the historically Black neighborhood would […]