Category: Afro Briefs

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida school board has decided to end a decades-long controversy and rename a high school now named for a Confederate general and honorary Ku Klux Klan leader that some historical records say ordered the execution of hundreds of black Union soldiers. The Duval County School Board said it was following […]

(Updated 12/17/13) Black journalists who covered South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement had both praise and censure for the mainstream media’s coverage of Nelson Mandela since his death on Dec. 5, according to a survey conducted by Richard Prince’s “Journal-isms,” a blog posted twice a week about Black journalists and issues that concern them. For American journalists […]

HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (AP) — Michael Jordan’s 56,000-square foot home in suburban Chicago is up for auction. Concierge Auctions says the sale will take place Monday. The company runs the sales of high-end real estate and features Jordan’s Highland Park home north of Chicago on its website. The former Chicago Bulls star’s home has nine […]

HOUSTON (AP) — “Affluenza,” the affliction cited by a psychologist to argue that a North Texas teenager from a wealthy family should not be sent to prison for killing four pedestrians while driving drunk, is not a recognized diagnosis and should not be used to justify bad behavior, experts said Thursday. A judge’s decision to […]

A jury recommended six years in prison Dec. 13 for a former Arlington County, Va. Sheriff’s Office deputy who shot a 22-year-old man to death following a May altercation in Alexandria, Va. Craig Patterson, 45, was convicted of voluntary manslaughter by a 12-person jury presiding over a four-day trial that began Dec. 9. Patterson was […]

Courts martial have been set for two former U.S. Naval Academy football players charged with sexually assaulting a woman midshipman at an off-campus party in 2012. Midshipman Joshua Tate, 21, of Nashville, is charged with aggravated sexual assault. Eric Graham, 21, of Eight Mile, Ala., is charged with abusive sexual contact. Tate and Graham both […]

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The South African government said Friday it is aware of reports that the bogus sign language interpreter at Nelson Mandela’s memorial once faced a murder charge, and said he is being investigated. Phumla Williams of the government communications office said the government is investigating Thamsanqa Jantjie and how he was selected to […]

Anti-gun violence advocacy gathered momentum in the wake of the Newtown massacre as state legislatures across the country enacted stronger gun control measures this year, including some with historically weak gun laws, according to a new analysis by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. The organization’s […]

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The man accused of faking sign interpretation while standing alongside world leaders like U.S. President Barack Obama at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service said Thursday he hallucinated that angels were entering the stadium, suffers from schizophrenia and has been violent in the past. Thamsanqa Jantjie said in a 45-minute interview with The Associated […]

A Maryland woman was sentenced to five years in prison for the violent robbery of a Gaithersburg hair store, during which her stroller-borne baby became caught up in an altercation with the store’s owner. Yvonne Patrice Williams, 20, pleaded guilty to one count of attempted robbery in connection with an incident at Gaithersburg’s Town Beauty […]

Just in time for the holidays, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported some positive news in its most recent jobs report. In November, 203,000 more Americans were employed and the unemployment rate declined from 7.3 percent to 7.0 percent, according to BLS estimates released Dec. 6. Job growth occurred across many industries, including […]

A California man resorted to stealing gas for his vehicle in order to save money, but his attempt to save an extra buck in a tough economy ended with him burning to death. The Los Angeles Police Department found the body of Richard Glover in his van on Dec. 10, and determined that he burned […]