By The Associated Press Kasinal Cashe White was at her brother’s bedside when the Army infantryman died in 2005 from severe burns he suffered while rescuing fellow soldiers from the flaming wreckage of their vehicle in Iraq. Sixteen years later, her late sibling will soon be awarded the U.S. government’s highest military decoration for acts […]
Category: Afro Briefs
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Rodeo champion Mayfield hopes to rope in other Black cowboys
By Mark Anderson Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP Shad Mayfield spent part of his time during the National Finals Rodeo showing youngsters how to rope a calf and climb horses at the Grant a Gift Autism Foundation in Las Vegas, the charity appearance a sign of his increased visibility. That’s what winning a championship does, […]
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New app dedicated to saving the lives of Black women with breast cancer
By Black PR Wire (Black PR Wire) – Breast cancer doesn’t have a color but the journey, narrative, and experience of a Black woman surviving cancer are radically different from a White woman. Studies suggest Black women do not have the highest diagnosis of breast cancer incidence, yet they have a higher death rate than […]
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The Caregivers: COVID-19 changed the roles for many of today’s Black grandparents
By D. Kevin McNeir Washington Informer Senior Writer The Caregivers is a unique series focused on the challenges and triumphs of caregiving. These stories have been created through a strategic partnership between AARP and Word In Black. Franklin and Vivian Wilds, both in their late 70s and residents of the District since 1971, consider themselves fortunate despite […]
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Counties with the highest COVID-19 death rate in Maryland
Written by Stacker As has been true throughout America’s COVID-19 history, every state—and every county therein—has its own COVID-19 story, driven by local policies and behaviors. The United States as of Dec. 8 had reached791,705 COVID-19-related deaths and 49.4 million COVID-19 cases, according to Johns Hopkins University. As of Feb. 2, more Americans had been […]
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Baltimore police reform pilot program diverts 911 calls
By A.R. CABRAL Capital News Service ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Nearing six months on, city administration officials and police have lauded Baltimore’s 911 diversion pilot program as a success. The program diverts calls from “residents experiencing behavioral health and substance use crises” — like suicidal, psychiatric or abnormal behavior — to properly trained personnel rather than […]
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How does an officer use a gun instead of a Taser?
By SEAN MURPHY, Associated Press At former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter’s manslaughter trial for fatally shooting Daunte Wright, a Black motorist, the core of her defense is clear: She says she meant to use her Taser but grabbed her handgun instead. Potter’s body-camera video recorded the shooting, with Potter heard saying, “Taser, Taser, Taser” before she fired, followed by, “I […]
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Major outage at Amazon disrupts businesses across the US
By FRANK BAJAK and BARBARA ORTUTAY, Associated Press A major outage in Amazon’s cloud computing network Tuesday severely disrupted services at a wide range of U.S. companies for more than five hours, the latest sign of just how concentrated the business of keeping the internet running has become. The incident at Amazon Web Services mostly […]
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Domestic Abuse survivor makes it her mission to empower other survivors
By Mylika Scatliffe, Special to the AFRO The holiday season is a feel-good time of year. We think of the holidays, and we think of traditions like tinsel, lights, family gatherings, parties, decorations and greeting cards. However, for some families, the traditions also include domestic violence. Increased financial and family pressures, alcohol consumption, and other […]
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Loggers, conservation groups have turned Pygmy tribe into alcoholics, says study
By Peter Barker (Zenger News) – A Congolese Pygmy hunter–gatherer tribe has seen its members succumb to alcoholism as logging companies and conservation groups abuse and coerce them into relinquishing their traditional way of life, researchers say. A team from Cambridge University has found that the once-isolated Congolese Mbendjele BaYaka hunter-gatherer tribe, one of several Pygmy […]
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Donations pour in for Black Missouri man freed after 43 years
By The Associated Press More than $1.4 million had been raised as of Nov. 27 for a man who spent 43 years behind bars before a judge overturned his conviction in a triple killing. The Midwest Innocence Project set up the GoFundMe fundraiser as they fought for Kevin Strickland’s release, noting that he wouldn’t receive […]
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US reports 1st case of omicron variant in returning traveler
By ZEKE MIILLER and RAF CASERT Associated Press The U.S. recorded its first confirmed case of the omicron variant Wednesday — a person in California who had been to South Africa — as scientists around the world raced to establish whether the new, mutant version of the coronavirus is more dangerous than previous ones. Dr. […]