Category: Afro Briefs

Police brutality in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina is under new scrutiny after a joint investigation by PBS, The New Orleans Times-Picayune, and ProPublica raised questions about what happened to two New Orleans residents and a photojournalist three days after Hurricane Katrina made landfall. The incident reportedly took place on Religious Street […]

Owners of a boardwalk game in Seaside Heights, N.J. recently removed a caricature of President Obama from a game that requires patrons to throw baseballs at a plate near the character’s head. According to the Associated Press, the game, called “Walkin’ Charlie,” was located at Lucky Leo’s Arcade. Since the removal of the Obama figure, […]

Maryland households own the most flat-panel televisions and smartphones of any state in the U.S. per capita, according to a new survey. The data was gathered in the 2010 Retrevo Gadget Census, the self-proclaimed largest study of people and the electronics they own and use. The census was conducted via an online survey from March […]

For the first time, Baltimoreans will get a taste of Sonic Drive-In’s famed comfort foods – tater tots, cherry limeades, quarter-pound coneys, and more. The restaurant will open Aug. 13 on Liberty Road, making it the first drive-in to open in the metropolitan area. Anticipation surround the eatery’s opening has reached fever pitch, with a […]

Throughout his near 20-year career in music, Wyclef Jean has advocated for and espoused the resiliency of his embattled homeland, Haiti, with unwavering intensity. When he catapulted to the upper echelons of hip-hop royalty in the 1990s as a member of The Fugees, Jean waved Haitian flags at awards shows and tied them around his […]

Lee Saunders has been sworn in as the International Secretary-Treasurer of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), AFL-CIO. The position makes him one of the highest-ranking African Americans in the American labor movement. Representing 1.6 million public service workers, AFSCME is one of the nation’s largest labor unions. The Cleveland native […]

Calvin Harris Jr., was recently elected the 24th national president and CEO of the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA). NABA, a 501 c(3) nonprofit, is the leading association for African Americans and minorities in the accounting, audit, finance, information technology, tax, and other business related fields. Harris’s two-year term began July 1.   Harris […]

A grand jury has indicted Gregory Collins, 19, for the dragging and shooting death of former friend, Anthony Hill, 30. A press release issued by the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office reveals what Sheriff James Lee Foster called “horrific details” of the murder. Police believe Hill died from a single gunshot wound to the head. However, […]

Former White House Social Secretary Desirée Rogers has been named chief executive officer of struggling Chicago-based Johnson Publishing, the world’s largest African-American owned and operated publishing company. Linda Johnson Rice, chairman and CEO of Johnson Publishing Co., made the announcement on Johnson Publishing’s Web site Aug. 10. Rice touted Rogers, who stepped down from her […]

Seven-term Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-Mich.), mother of disgraced former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, was defeated in that state’s Democratic primary on August 3. State Sen. Hansen Clarke will represent the party in November’s general election. Kilpatrick’s defeat is seen as collateral damage from her son’s missteps. Kwame Kilpatrick is currently serving a prison sentence […]

A major hurdle preventing an Islamic worship center to be built near Ground Zero in New York has been removed by the city’s Landmark Preservation Commission vote. The decision to deny landmark status to the 152-year-old building paves the way for construction to start with the structure’s demolition. Many in New York have questioned the […]

The National Bar Association sponsored its 10th annual Crump Law Camp in Washington, D.C. from July 11 to July 24, with the goal of breaking down the barriers to a career in the legal profession. “It’s extremely critical that the pipeline for lawyers of color be increased by the National Bar Association,” said Bob Carr, […]