A Supreme Court decision, April 22, upholding states’ right to ban the use of race-sensitive policies in university admissions wielded a serious blow to affirmative action, experts said, and shifts the battleground to the states. “Many voices in the civil rights community will call this decision a major disappointment because it weakens the options for […]
Author Archives: Zenitha Prince
Special to the AFRO
Posted inAfro Briefs
Affirmative Action in University Admissions Faces Legal Challenge
Edward Blum, a key player in the Abigail Fisher v. University of Texas-Austin affirmative action case and in the litigation that gutted Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, is at it again. Blum’s legal foundation, the Project for Fair Representation, has issued a call to students who believe they experienced reverse discrimination […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Ohio’s Incredible Tactics
It was a sunny March morning when Ohio State Sen. Nina Turner (D) and her small band boarded the No. 4 bus, beginning their trek from the Walnut Hills neighborhood of Cincinnati to a proposed new county Board of Elections in Mount Airy. The trip, she said, was meant to show how a decision to […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
Vet Wages War on VA
For more than two decades, Chauncey Robinson has been waging war on behalf of himself and other veterans. The New York-based prisons’ ministry coordinator said that for too many veterans returning home means facing another battle – just on a more familiar front – as they struggle to obtain the rights due them in exchange […]
Posted inNational News
World Community Marks Rwanda Genocide 20 Years Later
Hutu vs. Tutsi. Neighbor vs. neighbor. Politician vs. politician. Military vs. rebels. Almost 1 million people slain in 100 days; bodies lining the streets. Hundreds of thousands of women brutally raped or sexually mutilated, innocents maimed, property destroyed…and the world stood by. Such was the reality of the Rwandan Genocide 20 years ago, when members of […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Gay Bishop’s Nomination to Morehouse Board of Preachers Triggers Online Rage
“Where are leading Black pastors, honorary inductees, and leading Black churches protesting the induction of an openly homosexual man into the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Board of Preachers at Morehouse University?–BCN1” This question is being posed on the website of Black Christian News Network One. The challenge is for “godly” people to protest […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Chris Banks, Former NFL Player, Found Dead at 41
(Updated 4/13/2014) Former National Football League (NFL) player Warren Christopher Banks died April 9 at his home in Abingdon, Md., according to the Harford County Sheriff’s Office. Police officers responded to a call at Banks’ home on the 1200 block of Chelmsford Court at around 8:23 a.m. and met paramedics already working to resuscitate the […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Christopher’s Law Finally Passed This Year
Christopher’s Law was passed by the Maryland General Assembly and is awaiting the governor’s signature. The legislation requires police officers to be trained in CPR, cultural sensitivity, the proper use of force, and interacting with the physically and mentally disabled. “This is an umbrella of protection,” said Chris Brown, 40, for whose son the bill […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Chuck Stone, Former AFRO Editor, Civil Rights Journalist
The journalism fraternity is mourning the loss of a veteran newsman, multi-Pulitzer Prize nominee, journalism professor and founder of the National Association of Black Journalists Charles Sumner “Chuck” Stone Jr., who died April 6 at an assisted-living facility in North Carolina at the age of 89. Around AFRO newsrooms in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Stone […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
Black Women Have a Hard Time in Every Arena
Stephanie Poplar launched her nonprofit formation and public relations business four years ago, seeking the autonomy entrepreneurship offers. “I knew I wanted to go into business for myself because I wanted the freedom and flexibility,” she said. Like other Black female business owners, however, she faced a multitude of challenges—navigating the natural learning curve, having […]
Posted inNational News
Conservative Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly Blasts Black Caucus Members as ‘Race Hustlers’
Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly had some harsh words for Congressional Black Caucus members this week in response to CBC members’ recent attack on Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). In his March 24 “The O’Reilly Factor” broadcast, O’Reilly supported Ryan’s latest apparent put-down of Blacks and came out firing against Ryan detractors, calling Rep. Barbara Lee […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
MIT Historian Sues U.S. Intelligence Agencies over Mandela Files
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) doctoral candidate Ryan Shapiro filed a lawsuit in a Washington, D.C. federal court March 25 against several U.S. intelligence agencies for their failure to cough up documents related to world-renowned anti-apartheid activist and former South African President Nelson Mandela. The National Security Agency (NSA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the […]
