Author Archives: Freddie Allen

If America is ever to end the revolving door of prison recidivism, it needs to ease the re-entry of former offenders back into society by allowing them to vote, Attorney General Eric Holder believes. Holder announced his position during a recent conference on criminal justice reform at Georgetown University Law Center at Washington, D.C. He […]

If you thought that the U. S. Constitution guaranteed your right to vote, think again. “While the right to vote is inherent throughout our founding document, and there are amendments prohibiting discrimination, nothing in the Constitution explicitly guarantees our right to vote. We, as Americans, possess no affirmative right to vote,” said Rep. Mark Pocan […]

Despite the unprecedented levels of obstruction from Republicans in the Senate, President Obama has managed to get a higher rate of Black judges confirmed than any other president in history, according to a court watchdog group. Research from the Alliance for Justice shows that so far during the Obama administration, Blacks have accounted for 18.7 […]

The unemployment rate for Blacks dipped to 11.9 percent in December, according to the Labor Department—but that decrease may be because likely workers, discouraged after months of searching for jobs with few prospects, have simply stopped looking. According to the Labor Department, the unemployment rate for Black men over 20 dipped from 12.1 percent in […]

WASHINGTON–The downturn in the economy and a lack of local resources have forced more Americans to live under bridges, in their cars and on the couches of other family members, according to a recent report on hunger and homelessness. The 25-city survey, conducted by the United States Conference of Mayors, found that more than 20 […]

As job prospects for Whites and Black men have slowed or stalled completely, Black women continue to gain ground in a weak labor market, according to the latest jobs report. “Over the last few months, Black women have seen the greatest decline in their unemployment rate, so there is a continual improvement taking place,” said […]

Even if healthcare.gov, the web portal for federal health insurance exchange, worked perfectly, more than 5 million poor, uninsured adults, many of them Black, will continue to go without coverage because they live in states that didn’t expand Medicaid, according to a recent brief by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Through the Affordable Care Act, the […]

In a move that has implications for Blacks throughout the U.S., more than a dozen Caribbean nations have banded together to urge European countries, which profited from the transatlantic slave trade, to begin serious discussions about reparations. “African bodies were snatched and put on British and European ships and brought to the ‘New World,’” said […]

WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Following the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 that brought down the World Trade Center towers in New York and punched a hole in the Pentagon in northern Virginia, the United States government ramped up a massive data collection campaign that effectively claimed privacy rights have become another casualty of the War […]

WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Chevy Chase Bank agreed to pay $2.85 million to Black and Latino borrowers, following allegations of discriminatory home lending practices. The Maryland-based bank joins Wells Fargo and Bank of America as banking institutions that paid out million dollar settlements in class action lawsuits following the housing crisis. According to the complaint filed […]

WASHINGTON – Stepping up efforts to combat voting laws that discriminate against Blacks, Attorney General Eric Holder announced plans to sue North Carolina over restrictive, new voting laws that critics say will suppress the minority vote. In a press statement, Holder said: “The North Carolina law includes troubling new restrictions, such as provisions that will […]