The House Judiciary Committee this week approved a new, bipartisan task force aimed at streamlining the federal criminal code. The Over-Criminalization Task Force of 2013, made up of five Democrats and five Republicans, will comb through the labyrinth of federal regulations and identify unnecessary and ineffective criminal statutes. At present, there are an estimated 4,500 […]
Author Archives: Zenitha Prince
Special to the AFRO
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
ABC-TV’s Robin Roberts Ranked Most Trusted TV Host in Poll
“Good Morning America” host Robin Roberts has been named the most trusted woman in television, according to a new Reader’s Digest survey released this week. Reader’s Digest teamed up with The Wagner Group, a research firm, and polled more than 1,000 Americans to discover which 200 public figures inspire the most confidence. Roberts came in at No. […]
Posted inHealth
Breast Cancer Survivor Group Targets Young Black Women
Sisters Network, the only national African-American breast cancer survivors’ organization in the United States, has launched a new online program geared toward younger women. The Young Sisters Initiative(YSI): A Guide to a Better You! provides Black women under the age 45 with accessible, culturally-appropriate information and resources about types of breast cancer, treatment, genetic testing, […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Black Banks face Challenges
The once-towering stature of the Black bank has diminished. After almost 125 years of serving the underserved, the Black banking community has been brought low by a shrinking clientele, questions of relevance, competition from big banks and the fluctuating fortunes of its traditional client base—churches, small businesses and lower- and middle-income Blacks, who have borne […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
African-American Theater Recognized with Tony Award Nominations
African-American theater received several nods in this year’s Tony nominations, which were announced April 30 in New York. Veteran actress Cicely Tyson received a nod for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play for her role in “The Trip to Bountiful,” a revival of Horton Foote’s beloved 1953 American classic. […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Former CBC Chair Watt Nominated to Head Federal Housing Finance Agency
President Obama has nominated former Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Chair Mel Watt to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which regulates government-backed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. CBC Chair Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) had earlier suggested Watt as a choice for Secretary of Commerce and was one of several critics who had questioned […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Death Penalty Favored for Boston BomberBut Not Among Blacks
An overwhelming majority of Americans—but African Americans to a lesser degree—support the death penalty for the suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings should he be convicted, according to a recent national poll. Seventy percent of those surveyed in the Washington Post-ABC News poll support capital punishment for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Federal prosecutors indicted the 19-year-old on […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Amid Chart-Topping Sales, Fantasia Loses Home to Foreclosure
Fantasia Barrino is proving again why she is an “American Idol,” as her fourth and newest album, “Side Effects of You” took the No. 2 slot on the Billboard 200 chart in the first week of May. But even amid her professional triumph, the soulful singer suffered a personal defeat when she was forced to […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Bob Edgar, Common Cause CEO, Post-Watergate Reform Congressman, Dies at 69
Bob Edgar, president and CEO of one of the nation’s leading government reform groups and a former Pennsylvania congressman, died this week at the age of 69. The head of Common Cause died suddenly at his home on the morning of April 23, the group said in a press release. “We are deeply saddened and […]
Posted inNational News
Limbaugh Links Boston Marathon Bomb Suspect to Trayvon Martin
Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh stirred the pot again this week when he compared the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings to Trayvon Martin. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is the 19-year-old who is suspected of conspiring with his brother to set off explosions in Boston that killed three and injured almost 200. Martin was a […]
Posted inNational News
If Obama Girls Get Tattoos, So Will Mom and Dad, President Warns
(Updated 4/26/2013) President Obama said he and wife Michelle have what they believe is a foolproof way of deterring daughters Malia, 14, and Sasha, 11, from getting tattoos or engaging in other teenage rebellion. “What we’ve said to the girls is, ‘If you guys ever decided you’re going to get a tattoo, then mommy and […]
Posted inNational News
P&G’s ‘Black is Beautiful’ Initiative Escalates to Big Screen
Procter & Gamble brought its nationwide campaign to celebrate Black beauty to the big screen April 21, with the premiere of its Imagine a Future documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. The film is an extension of P&G’s “My Black is Beautiful” initiative, which seeks to empower African-American women by inviting them […]
