Category: Afro Briefs

Sketch artist Ted Rall has come under fire after the recent posting of a cartoon depicting President Obama with apelike features. Rall’s comic strip, posted on the liberal blog site Daily Kos on Nov. 27, portrays Obama with a close-shaven head covered in bristles, a protuberant nose that dominates his face and a simian-shaped jaw […]

Debt has transformed our society. It can be a useful financial tool, or an anchor around your neck. It seeps into every aspect of our life and can be complicated. Easy credit, the desire to keep up with the latest in consumer goods, or the habit of living beyond one’s means can certainly be to […]

NEW YORK (AP) — MSNBC host Martin Bashir resigned from the network Wednesday, nearly three weeks after making graphic remarks on the air about former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. In an email, Bashir expressed hope that the network could move beyond the distraction of what he called “my ill-judged comments.” Last month, Bashir had suggested […]

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Entombed at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean in an upended tugboat and dressed only in boxer shorts, Harrison Odjegba Okene begged God for a miracle. A video of the Nigerian cook’s rescue after 60 hours trapped in an air pocket was posted on the Internet this week more than six […]

BOSTON (AP) — President Barack Obama’s Kenyan-born uncle, who ignored a deportation order more than two decades ago, was granted permission to stay in the U.S. on Tuesday. Judge Leonard Shapiro made the decision after Onyango Obama, 69, testified that he had lived in the U.S. for 50 years, been a hard worker, paid income […]

FALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) — Prosecutors say the girlfriend of former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez lied to a grand jury nearly 30 times, including saying she could not recall where she left a large box Hernandez allegedly told her to dispose of. The Herald News reports (http://bit.ly/IqEOPf) that prosecutors made the accusation […]

LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. (AP) — Amid the jerseys and baseball bats held in a secure room at SCP Auctions, there’s a piece of sports memorabilia that speaks to much more than athletic prowess: an Olympic medal won by track star Jesse Owens at the 1936 Games in Berlin. The medal — being auctioned online — […]

Congressional representatives and municipal authorities across the nation are banding together to propose new laws that toughen punishment for assault convictions linked to the “knockout game.” In a call to action for prosecutors and law enforcement officials, Wisconsin Representative Dean Kaufert (R) asked for stiffer penalties with fewer delays in the prosecution phase. “This is […]

Attempts by publisher Third World Press to release the private diary of El Haij Malik El Shabazz, better known as Malcolm X, have once again been foiled, according to the Associated Press. In a Nov. 22 decision, U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain told the Chicago-based company that they did not have permission to publish […]

A former aide to New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly was allegedly forced to resign from her position as president of a leading security company because she defended an African American co-worker for wearing braids in her hair. Katherine Lemire filed a racial discrimination lawsuit Nov. 26 against Michael Stapleton Associates, a security company, […]

(Update 11/30/2013) Although Stephanie C. Hill describes herself as an “accidental” engineer, a glance at her background shows it’s no surprise that she has risen to become president of Lockheed Martin’s Information Systems & Global Solutions’ Civil Division. Engineering wasn’t in her family background, but achievement is no stranger in the Hill household. Her mother, […]

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida woman awaiting a new trial in a controversial “stand your ground” case is free on bond. First Coast News (http://fcnews.tv/18q19sa) reports that Marissa Alexander was released from jail Wednesday. According to the Duval County Clerk of Court, she must remain under house arrest and electronic monitoring while awaiting trial. […]