Arnold Jolivet receiving the Special Award at the 2014 Maryland Minority Contractors Association, Inc. 4th Summer Soiree and Awards Banquet. (AFRO Photo/A.R. Ward) (Updated 7/29/2014) Arnold Jolivet Sr., a well-known advocate for minority contractors at both the local and national level, died July 27 at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore after struggling with several ailments over the […]
Author Archives: Roberto Alejandro
Special to the AFRO
Posted inNational News
President Obama Announces New Commitments to My Brother’s Keeper Initiative
Young African-American men listen intently as President Barack Obama speaks at a “town hall meeting” about the My Brother’s Keeper Initiative. President Obama on July 21 announced a number of new commitments to his My Brother’s Keeper initiative, a program designed to address opportunity gaps for boys and young men of color that now includes 60 […]
Posted inHealth
Report: Stereotyped Mascots Harmfully Effecting Native American Youth
University of Illinois mascot Chief Illiniwek performs during a basketball game. A recent report prepared by The Center for American Progress found stereotypical team mascots have a harmful effect on American Indian and Alaska Native youth. Noting that the American Psychological Association issued a call to retire all team and school mascots based on depictions […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Farrakhan Writes Open Letter Defending Rapper Jay Electronica
Minister Louis Farrakhan Minister Louis Farrakhan has come to the defense of rapper Jay Electronica, after Electronica drew criticism for wearing the uniform of the Fruit of Islam, the paramilitary wing of the Nation of Islam, during a performance at the 2014 Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival. Electronica is signed to Jay-Z’s ROC Nation record label, and […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Debate Camp Emphasizes Role of Race in Shaping Policy and Society
Participants in the 2014 Eddie Conway Liberation Institute. In a classroom on the campus of Morgan State University, a group of high school students gathered for a lecture on the contours ofAfro-pessimism. Afro-pessimism is a school of thought that argues multicultural theoretical frameworks err in equating the experience of other ethnic groups with the Black […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Community Concerned Curfew Will Spur Violence Between Cops and Kids
A community forum on Baltimore’s amended youth curfew law on July 1 at Morgan State University drew a response from participants vacillating between supportive and suspicious. While none of the community members who spoke at the forum criticized the idea that children should be inside by a certain time of night, their questions to the […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Michael Austin Still Reeling
Michael Austin spent 26 years in the now defunct Maryland State Penitentiary for a crime he did not commit. By the time he walked out of prison on Dec. 28, 2001, Michael Austin had lost over 26 years of his life. Now a musician and entrepreneur, Austin has found a measure of peace and success, […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Program Helps Boys Come to Age Despite HIV Challenge
Andre Turner, founder Boys Coming of Age, wants to help a unique group of young males find their way to a healthy masculine identity. At 16, Andre Turner’s young world was turned upside down by a thyroid cancer diagnosis. Now a 26-year cancer survivor, Turner developed a program for teenage boys facing a different chronic […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Baltimore Men Stand Against Violence
Taking yet another opportunity to send the message that Baltimore men are committed to stopping the violence in this city, they gathered, 300 strong at the west end of North Avenue, July 11, supported by neighbors and friends. The annual event, a 10 mile march, was organized by the 300 Men March Movement, an outreach […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Jay-Z to Headline Anti-Poverty Festival in NYC
Hip-hop legend and music mogul Jay-Z. Hip-hop legend and music mogul Jay-Z will headline the 2014 Global Citizen Festival, organized by the Global Poverty Project and set for Sept. 27 in New York City on Central Park’s Great Lawn. Hip-hop legend and music mogul Jay-Z. The rapper, currently on tour with wife and R&B singer […]
Posted inBaltimore News
American Legion Builds Young Male Leaders, Struggles to Recruit from Inner City
These boys were selected as the 2014 Legislative Floor Leaders for 2014 Maryland Boys State. Each June, a free, week-long residential camp run by the American Legion gathers young men from around the state of Maryland for an exercise in civics in which they simulate the processes of democratic governance. While the program, known as […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Local Filmmaker, Activist Combats Dropping Out with ‘Motivation to Success’ Program
Team members helping a student with research at the library. When Anita Foster was only 16, she dropped out of high school in order to provide for her first child. Now, a playwright, filmmaker, and community activist, Foster has developed a program to help at-risk juniors and seniors stay in school and prepare for what […]
