Category: Afro Briefs

In light of the reported confessions of the alleged shooters that left three dead and two wounded in Tulsa, Okla.’s Black community last week, public outcry is now for the death penalty. Tulsa civil rights leaders, along with the city’s community and elected officials, spent Easter weekend trying to head off Black vigilantes as local […]

After a decision 44 years in the making, Memphis, Tennessee has finally named a roadway in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the slain civil rights leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner. The Memphis and Shelby County Land Use Control Board voted in January to rename Linden Avenue to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. […]

Texas Gov. Rick Perry officially declared the counties of Dallas, Kaufman and Tarrant disaster zones in hopes of bringing as much aid as possible to the areas devastated by more than a dozen tornadoes in recent days. The declaration came April 5, just two days after severe weather slammed the counties surrounding South Dallas and […]

Justice has been served in the case of the former New Orleans cops who killed unarmed citizens in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. But, according to the sentencing judge, that “justice” was hardly fair, with uneven prison terms handed out to various officers. “Today’s sentencings send a strong message that no one is above the […]

Power exudes from the raised fists in the sculptures “Homage to My Young Black Sisters.” Endurance and dignity from the stark simplicity of the portrait, “Sharecropper.” In all her work, African-American sculptor and graphic artist Elizabeth Catlett celebrated the heroic strength and endurance of African-American and Mexican working-class women, elevating them in societies that often […]

A federal appeals court upheld California’s ban on using race in admissions at state colleges and universities. “I’m pleased, but not surprised,” Ward Connerly, sponsor of Proposition 209, told The Los Angeles Times. “The country is clearly going to have to move in the direction of treating everybody fairly. Proposition 209 was a 1996 ballot […]

A Mississippi bill placing requirements on doctors who perform abortions may shutter the state’s only abortion clinic. The state senate passed a bill April 4 that would require any doctors performing abortions to be a board-certified OB-GYN with admitting privileges at a local hospital. The owner of the clinic, Diane Derzis, said that all of […]

The killing of Florida teen Trayvon Martin story has been a fixture on national newscasts and headlines for a month, but a majority of Republicans and Whites believe there has been too much coverage of the story, a new report found. According to the News Interest Index survey, conducted by the Pew Research Center, 56 […]

Los Angeles Angels outfielder Torii Hunter was shaken but unharmed after two police officers entered his Newport, Calif. home to investigate a security alarm and drew their weapons on him. According to the Associated Press, Hunter had just returned home from the Angels’ final exhibition game against the Dodgers when he mistakenly triggered a security […]

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing was admitted to an area hospital April 4 with acute pulmonary embolisms in each lung, even as his city tried to recover from its financial ills. “After arriving at Henry Ford Hospital, his condition was promptly diagnosed and treated,” said Dr. John Popovich, president and CEO of Henry Ford Hospital and […]

Princess Anne, Md. – A tribute rally Tuesday in memory of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin attracted 150 University of Maryland Eastern Shore students troubled by the Florida teen’s shooting death and its aftermath. Many at the midday event — held when no classes were scheduled — wore hooded sweatshirts and cradled Skittles and iced tea in […]

Charles F. Bolden Jr., the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s top official, will deliver the graduation address this spring at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. A retired two-star general, Bolden will speak May 18 to graduates in the Hytche Athletic Center. He’ll receive the UMES Presidential Medal in recognition of his service as a […]