By Dr. Earle J. Fisher, The New Tri-State Defender On Tuesday morning, January 8, 2019, hundreds of lawmakers made pledges and took oaths evoking themes of freedom, justice, equality, fairness, propriety, peace and love. And with one hand on a sacred book and the other held high towards the Almighty, many of these lawmakers were […]
Author Archives: NNPA Newswire Correspondent
Posted inBooks, National News, NEWS
Ernest Withers: Undercover Agent for FBI or Forced to Be a Spy?
By Sybil C. Mitchell, The New Tri-State Defender On the eve of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s actual birthday (Jan. 15), allegations of counterintelligence versus arguments of unwilling victim of the FBI were passionately voiced during a discussion of Preston Lauterbach’s new book, “Bluff City: The Secret Life of Ernest Withers.” A capacity crowd filled […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT, ENTERTAINMENT, Music, TV and Film
Still Unsolved: The Cold Cases of Biggie, Tupac and Jam Master Jay
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia Little did Tupac Shakur know, as he left a heavyweight boxing match in Las Vegas on Sept. 7, 1996, that his life was about to end. With Death Row Records CEO Marion “Suge” Knight at the wheel and Shakur in the passenger seat, gunmen pulled up and […]
Posted inNational News, NEWS
MLK-Themed Study Reveals States with the Most Racial Progress
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia With Martin Luther King Jr. Day around the corner and 58 percent of Americans saying increased diversity makes the United States a better place (while only 9 percent say it makes the U.S. worse), the personal-finance website WalletHub has released its report on 2019’s States with the Most […]
Posted inNational News, NEWS, POLITICS, U.S. Government
‘Nobody’s at the Switch’ as CBS Announces Election Coverage Team Sans African Americans
Written by Stacy M. Brown, NNPA CBS News said it’s diversifying – adding a mix of women and minorities to its top staff and its upcoming 2020 election coverage. But, many are calling the “Eye” Network’s attempts at diversity an epic fail. The network is taking some serious heat for excluding African-Americans from its core […]
Posted inArts & Culture, ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT, ENTERTAINMENT, TV and Film
Coming to America Again: Eddie Murphy to Star Again in Blockbuster Hit
By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Contributor Eddie Murphy will once again play crown prince Akeem Joffer in a sequel to the 1988 hit movie, Coming to America. The film’s plot centered around a Prince who travels to New York to find an independent woman who loves him in spite of his royal title. The sequel […]
Posted inCommentary, OPINION
COMMENTARY: Soft-core lynching
By Bill Fletcher, Jr., NNPA Newswire Contributor I have been thinking about Jermaine Massey quite a bit since I heard about his story at the DoubleTree Hotel in Portland, Oregon. This was the case of a Black man—a registered guest in the hotel—holding a phone conversation with his mother in the hotel lobby. Two hotel […]
Posted inLIFE & STYLE, Living, National News, NEWS
Soar Like an Eagle: 12 African American Teens Reach the Pinnacle of Success in The Boy Scouts
Boy Scout Troop 242, led by Scoutmaster Dameion Crook, Sr., presented the 12 African American Eagle Scouts during the Eagle Court of Honor ceremony that was held at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church. His son was one of the newest Eagle Scouts, which is the cherry on the top of Scoutmaster Crook’s two years leading Boy […]
Posted inFood, LIFE & STYLE, National News, NEWS
The Government Shutdown: Another Storm for Black Farmers, Cooperatives, and Southern Rural Communities
Written by NNPA Storm-weary Southern Farmers now face fresh economic fears amid a political storm which seems to have no end in sight. While there is no worry about wind or water this time, farmers still recovering from the impacts of Hurricanes Michael and Florence are now feeling the impact of the government shutdown. Atlanta, GA- It was […]
Posted inCommentary, OPINION
COMMENTARY: The Hypocrisy Surrounding the R. Kelly Debate
By Raynard Jackson, NNPA Newswire Contributor I usually don’t write about salacious issues involving sex, scandal, and other issues I consider a waste of time; but because of the volume of calls and emails asking me to give my take on Robert Kelly, a.k.a. R. Kelly, I will make an exception and share my thoughts. […]
Posted inArts & Culture, ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT, ENTERTAINMENT, Music
Opera and the African American – ‘Figaro Meets Frederick Douglass’
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia Among many other trailblazing accomplishments, W.E.B. Du Bois stood among the many African Americans who composed, sang, and otherwise reveled in opera. In 1955, Marian Anderson broke the color barrier at the Met. Yes, Blacks in opera – it’s a thing. Opera is as much a part […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT, ENTERTAINMENT, Music
New Documentary Threatens to Expose Michael Jackson as Child Predator
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia First R. Kelly. Now it’s the late King of Pop. After the scathing and gut-wrenching Lifetime Television documentary, “Surviving R. Kelly,” shed more light on the alleged crimes of the R&B crooner, a new film about Michael Jackson threatens to do the same to the late “Thriller” […]