A Black family taking pictures of their son – who has Down’s syndrome – on his first day of school was interrupted by a White school security guard, who proceeded to ridicule the 12-year-old, the boy’s mother said. Brandiss Pearson told the Post-Standard of Syracuse, N.Y., they were taking photographs in front of a mural […]
Author Archives: Roberto Alejandro
Special to the AFRO
Posted inAfro Briefs
Baton Rouge Police Officer Resigns after Sending Racist Text Messages
A Baton Rouge, La., police officer has resigned after racist text messages he sent surfaced. Officer Michael Elsbury The officer, Michael Elsbury, submitted his letter of resignation just one day after the story broke on WBRZ-TV, Baton Rouge’s ABC affiliate, and after the head of the state’s NAACP chapter called for his resignation or firing. […]
Posted inNational News
Study: RACISM DRIVES Support for U.S.’ Prejudicial Criminal Justice Policies
A new report by the Sentencing Project makes the case that racial bias drives national attitudes toward crime and punitive crime prevention strategies. Collecting and summarizing various studies touching on the issue of race and crime, the report titled, “Race and Punishment: Racial Perceptions of Crime and Support for Punitive Policies,” finds that Whites overestimate […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Baltimore Community Has ‘Ferguson’ Discussion at Town Hall Meeting
In the light of the recent events in Ferguson, Mo., the killing of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown by a police officer, Baltimore residents gathered, Sept. 9, in a town hall meeting titled ‘Now what Baltimore?’ to discuss ways relations between police officers and community members might be improved. Held at the Empowerment Temple in northwest […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Chicago Police Kill Allegedly Unarmed Black Teenager
The police-involved killing of a Chicago teenager has unleashed a wave of protests in that city, with locals questioning the official version of events. Cynthia Lane (center) sobbed over the death of her son Roshad. Chicago police officers shot and killed teenager Roshad McIntosh on Aug. 24 after he attempted to flee police who were […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Pastor Keeps Trauma Response Team Alive For Communities Affected by Violence
The Rev. Dr. Andre Humphrey has worked for the last five years to keep alive a trauma response team that assists youth and communities affected by crime. For 13 years, the Rev. Dr. Andre Humphrey worked with a violence reduction program in Baltimore City designed to assist youth and communities as they worked to process the […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Artist Documents the Life Lessons of Black Men
Photo courtesy Facebook The names seem to pile up in the American imagination: Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell, Trayvon Martin, Jonathan Ferrell, and Michael Brown. We know the circumstances of their deaths, but we have never heard their stories directly from them, silenced as they were on the perception that they were dangerous criminals. In Baltimore […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Louisiana High School Suspends Student over Length of Dreadlocks
The ACLU of Louisiana has challenged a high school’s suspension of a student for the length of his dreadlocks. Dreadlocks. (Courtesy Photo) The Aug. 25 open letter was sent to South Plaquemines High School in Port Sulphur, La., which suspended a Rastafarian student for the length of his dreadlocks, though his religion forbids him to […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Violent Weekend Sees Four Homicides and Five Non-Fatal Shootings
The weekend beginning Friday, Aug. 22 included four homicides and five non-fatal shootings. During the early hours of Friday morning, Nathaniel Quarterman was beaten to death on the 4200 block of Shamrock Avenue, taken outside and set on fire. Baltimore City Police have arrested and charged 43-year-old Lawrence Coverdale with first-degree murder, weapon, and assault […]
Posted inSports
NFL Ref Mike Carey Silently Protested “Redskins” Name for Eight Years
NFL Ref Mike Carey From 2006 until his retirement last year, Mike Carey, one of the league’s most respected referees, silently protested the use of the derogatory term “redskins” in the Washington football team’s name by requesting that NFL schedulers not assign him to any of the team’s games—a request the NFL honored. Carey did […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Prominent Music Artists Respond to Michael Brown Killing
Screenshot of J. Cole video at the memorial site for Michael Brown. (Courtesy @RichVisionMedia) In the wake of the Aug. 9 killing of Michael Brown by a White police officer in Ferguson, Mo., a number of prominent musicians have released songs expressing their thoughts and feelings on the incident. J. Cole released a track titled […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Adrenis Carter Reid, Surrogate Mother to Baltimore’s Bethel AME Church, Dead at 90
Adrenis Carter Reid Adrenis Carter Reid, a prominent figure of Baltimore’s Bethel AME Church and mother of head pastor the Rev. Dr. Frank Madison Reid III, died Aug. 21 at age 90 after a three-year battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. Reid was a surrogate mother to the Bethel congregation for the past 26 years, and though […]
