Category: Afro Briefs

The American Cancer Society restated its call Oct. 30 for Black men to become more proactive about preventive health care. At the group’s fourth annual African American Male Health Forum gathering in Richmond, Va., the group had fresh support from actor-producer Tim Reid, a prostate cancer survivor According to the Associated Press, Reid was the […]

A backlash against Trinidad and Tobago that has triggered talk of a boycott of its goods has generated a diplomatic storm after its prime minister told reporters the twin-islands would have to get something in return for helping Caribbean neighbors affected by Hurricane Tomas which during the first week of November passed through various Caribbean […]

At a time when young Americans need to consume less high-calorie food at fast food restaurants, a comprehensive study said that fast food restaurants are doing little to offer a better slate of nutritional meals. Fast food sellers need to do more to “establish meaningful standards for child-targeted marketing,” the Yale University Rudd Center for […]

Shirley Verrett, a noted mezzo-soprano and soprano praised for her soaring voice and elegant onstage persona, died Nov. 6 in Ann Arbor, Mich. She was 79. Verrett’s professional debut took place in 1957 with her performance as Irina in Weill’s Lost in the Stars at the New York City Opera. The New Orleans-born singer studied […]

According to the New York Post, Angela Burt-Murray, ESSENCE magazine’s editor-in-chief, is leaving her post after five years at the helm. Neither Burt-Murray nor the celebrated women’s magazine issued a statement giving details for her sudden departure. The Post reported that Burt-Murray announced her split from ESSENCE during a staff meeting and said she was […]

Authorities in Laurel, Md. are investigating a potential hate crime after finding a doll hanging from a noose outside a Black church on Oct. 31. According to The Washington Post, a maintenance man of City of Zion Church, a church with a predominantly African American congregation, found the doll hanging from a tree in front […]

The late Vice Adm. Samuel L. Gravely Jr., the first African American to command a warship in the U.S. Navy, is to be honored by having a vessel named for him when the guided-missile destroyer USS Gravely is commissioned in Wilmington, N.C. on Nov. 20. “I think in the next 30 years that this ship […]

Six men in two separate cases stand accused of aiding Somali terrorist organizations. Three men in California and three men based in the Midwest were charged in separate incidents. A federal grand jury in St. Louis charged three men with conspiring to fund a terrorist group in Somalia with ties to Al-Qaeda. FBI agents arrested […]

Adjusting to life after a spinal cord injury can be hard for anyone, but Howard Cox has overcome the additional obstacles and is finally living his life one day at a time. At 51, Cox exemplifies the true meaning of a military service veteran’s strength, determination and willpower. During Howard’s 10-year career in the Marine […]

Dilma Rousseff, a one-time Marxist turned capitalist, was recently elected Brazil’s first female president, according to the country’s Supreme Electoral Court. Rousseff, who was chief of staff for Brazil’s former president, the well-liked Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, won the national election with more than 56 percent of the electorate votes. She defeated Jose Serra, […]

The east African nation of Somalia tops Transparency International’s list of most corrupt countries in the world, and Sudan, Chad, Burundi and Equatorial Guinea are among the top ten. Forbes’ senior editor Daniel Fisher said “beleaguered” Somalia topped the list because it “has become a capital for piracy and terrorism with little capacity for any […]

Three Arkansas men were indicted on federal civil rights charges Nov. 2 in connection with a cross burning in the yard of an African-American resident in Salado, Ark. Aug. 28. James Bradley Branscum, 22, Tony Branscum, 24, and Curtis Coffee, 18, were all charged with conspiring to interfere with the housing rights of another individual […]