By Kamau High, AFRO Managing Editor, khigh@afro.com The president of the Montgomery Council is trying to change the name of a school in North Bethesda to that of a former slave, who was the basis for the main character in Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Montgomery County Council President Hans Riemer and Catherine Leggett, the first lady of Montgomery […]
Author Archives: Kamau High
Posted inBaltimore News, National News, NEWS
AFRO Cartoonist Accepts Top Award
Kofi Tyus, the AFRO’s long-time cartoonist, receives his first place award in the NNPA’s Annual Merit Awards for Best Editorial Cartoon, at the AFRO’s Baltimore office with his friends and family July 12. Pictured from left to right: Charles Dugger, retired school teacher, Paul Williams, retired teacher, Fodowo Tyus, retired engineer, Kofi Tyus and Baba […]
Posted inAfro Briefs, Baltimore News, Maryland Government
Valerie Ervin Quits Gov. Race; Endorses Baker
By Kamau High, AFRO Managing Editor, khigh@afro.com Valerie Ervin dropped out of the Maryland governor’s race and endorsed her rival, Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker. Ervin’s campaign sent out a news advisory Tuesday evening saying Ervin and Marisol Johnson, her running mate, would endorse Baker at Langley Park in Prince George’s County. “The location is symbolic […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Lee’s `BlacKkKlansman’ Wins at Cannes
By Sean Yoes, Baltimore AFRO Editor, syoes@afro.com For the first time in his storied career, filmmaker Spike Lee captured an award at the venerable Cannes Film Festival in France, for what may be his most controversial film since 1989’s “Do the Right Thing.” Lee’s film, “BlacKkKlansman,” won the Grand Jury Prize, the festival’s second most important award […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
White Woman Cries ‘Racism’ After Controversial Graduation Picture
By Kamau High, AFRO Managing Editor, khigh@afro.com A recent Kent State University graduate is claiming that she is a victim of racism after a photo of her posing with an AR-10 gun on campus went viral. Kaitlin Marie posted the photo on May 13. The picture, taken from the back, shows her in white dress with […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Houston Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell: ‘I am Innocent’
By Kamau High, AFRO Managing Editor, khigh@afro.com Kirbyjon Caldwell, the well-known Houston megachurch pastor who delivered both invocations at George W. Bush’s inaugurations and was a spiritual adviser to Barack Obama, says he is innocent of the fraud charges he and a Louisiana financial planner are facing. Well-known Houston pastor, Kirbyjon Caldwell, is facing multiple counts of […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
No, White Ladies of Virginia Tech, You Can Not Use the N-Word
The women of Virginia Tech’s lacrosse team were apparently feeling themselves after beating Elon on March 24. Someone on the team posted a video of group of apparently all White women singing along to Lil’ Dicky’s recent hit “Freaky Friday,” which prominently features the n-word. The Virginia Tech women’s lacrosse team is in hot water […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Is This Heineken Ad Racist?
Chance the Rapper certainly thinks so. The Chicago rapper took to Twitter to let Heineken know that their new ad, which depicts a bartender sliding a beer down a bar past several African Americans to a White woman followed by the slogan “Sometimes lighter is better” appearing on screen, was “terribly racist.” I think some […]
Posted inNational News
Beverly Ledbetter, Brown University’s Long Serving Chief Legal Officer, Set to Retire After 40-Years with the Institution
Beverly Ledbetter was named Brown University’s first legal counsel in 1978. After 40 years in the position, she is set to retire at the end of this academic year. “Preserving the ability for students and faculty to experience the intellectual depth and breadth of the institution,” she said in a statement. “I hope that’s the […]
Posted inAfro Briefs, National News
Investigators Suspect FedEx Bomb is Tied to Austin Bombings
A package bomb that authorities believe is linked to the recent string of Austin bombings exploded early Tuesday inside of a FedEx distribution center near San Antonio, leaving one worker with minor injuries. Investigators work at the scene of a bomb explosion on Dawn Song Drive in Austin, Texas, that seriously injured two men Sunday. […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Omega Omega Service for Frankie Muse Freeman, Former Delta Sigma Theta President, Set
Frankie Muse Freeman, a civil rights attorney and the 14th national president of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, died earlier this year at the age of 101. Her Omega Omega sevice, the last ritual performed for a deceased member of the sorority, will held in Washington, D.C. March 11. Frankie Muse Freeman, center, after delivering the […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Remembering Lerone Bennett, Black Press Giant
Lerone Bennett Jr., a long time editor at Ebony magazine, died earlier this year. Bennett, who wrote numerous books on African American history, such as Before the Mayflower: A History of Black America and Great Moments in Black History: Wade in the Water, was remembered for his passion and advocacy of the importance of Black […]