Category: Afro Briefs

Vonetta McGee, a leading actress in popular 1970s films Blacula and Shaft died at a hospital in Berkeley, Calif., on July 9 after suffering a heart attack and spending two days on life support, the Los Angeles Times reported. She was 65. A family spokeswoman to the Times McGee’s death was due to an undisclosed […]

The Marcus Graham Project’s iCR8 boot camp, a 10-week initiative providing exposure and training to aspiring advertising and marketing leaders, has teamed with AT&T for this year’s program. The Marcus Graham Project is a Dallas-based national nonprofit comprised of diverse professionals who mentor the next generation of advertising, marketing and media executives. According to a […]

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is developing a new Web site that is to be available by October to help the public understand the recent changes to the U.S. health care system. The Web site, http://www.healthcare.gov, is to provide the public with access to […]

The Justice Department July 13 announced indictments for six New Orleans police officers in connection with a fatal shooting and subsequent cover-up in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. As the result of an investigation launched in May by the U. S. Department of Justice, six officers with the New Orleans Police Department face […]

A North Carolina man faces assault and kidnap charges after allegedly having imprisoned and abused his ex-girlfriend by burning her and shaving her head. Earl Travis Deans Sr., 34, of Pikeville, N.C is in jail, charged with second-degree kidnapping and assault with deadly weapon inflicting serious injury. According to the Wayne County, N.C. sheriff’s office, […]

The furor over a proposed Islamic center of worship near Ground Zero in Manhattan came to a head during the week of July 12 following a contentious hearing before a New York City landmark commission. People from both sides of the discussion are not ready to back down as the controversy heats up. On one […]

Vernon Baker, a Black soldier who received the Medal of Honor award more than 50 years after his service, died of brain cancer on July 13. He was 90. Baker enlisted in the Army in 1941 after working as a railroad porter in Iowa. He was assigned to the segregated 270th Regiment of the 92nd […]

The fate of a $112 billion jobs bill that would provide relief for struggling states and fresh unemployment benefits for the nation’s jobless faces new life as the Senate reconvenes July 20. Republicans, who believe its passage would lead to an unmanageable level of additional national debt, have been stalling the bill. But Democrats are […]

Residents in a Bay City, Mich. neighborhood are upset over what they believe is a political statement gone wrong: a dummy hanging from a noose. The dummy hanging from Richard O’Hara’s porch is not welcomed by his neighbors, who say the sight of a figure hanging from a noose is racist and in poor taste. […]

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Olympic and world 100-meter champion Shelly-Ann Fraser has been provisionally suspended by the IAAF after a positive test for a painkiller she claims she took to alleviate a toothache. The president of Fraser’s track club, Bruce James, said the Jamaican sprinter tested positive for oxycodone at the Diamond League meet May […]

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court on Monday charged Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir with three counts of genocide in Darfur, a move that will pile further diplomatic pressure on his isolated regime. The decision marked the first time the world’s first permanent war crimes tribunal has issued genocide charges. An arrest warrant […]

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — An al-Qaida-linked Somali militant group suspected in twin bombings in Uganda’s capital, that hit crowds watching the World Cup final, endorsed the attacks July 12 but stopped short of claiming responsibility, while the death toll rose to 74. The blasts came two days after a commander with the Somali group, al-Shabab, […]