Category: Afro Briefs

Since June 3, warring factions of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference have been in Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta, disputing claims of control over the organization. The dispute began last fall when organization chair Rawley Trammell and treasurer Spiver Gordon were removed after allegedly stealing over $569,000 from the once-influential civil rights group. The […]

The Michigan Department of Corrections has recommended that former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick enrolls in boot camp as a sentence for violating terms of his probation, a punishment which would see him released on parole in 90 days according to the Detroit Free Press. Two weeks after he was sentenced to up to five years […]

Walt Disney will close five locations of its ESPN Zone on June 16 as the company found it increasingly difficult to operate the restaurants, according to The Associated Press. The company announced that the restaurant’s locations in Baltimore, New York, Chicago, Las Vegas and Washington, D.C. will close, while the Anaheim and Los Angeles restaurants […]

Marvin Isley, bass guitarist and the youngest member of the legendary group The Isley Brothers, died June 6 in Chicago from complications of diabetes. He was 56, according to CNN.com. According to the group’s Def Jam Web site, the original Isley Brothers were formed in the ‘50s with older brothers Rudolph, O’Kelly Jr. and Ronald. […]

On May 24, legendary soul singer Aretha Franklin received an honorary doctorate of music degree from Yale University, according to a press release. During a speech, Yale President Richard C. Levin celebrated the award-winning singer’s accomplishments. “We know royalty when we see it, and you are, without question, the Queen of Soul. A natural woman, […]

Robert (Bob) Munroe Ellison, 67, the only African-American journalist ever to serve as president of the prestigious White House Correspondents Association, died May 24 at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C., while being treated for a respiratory illness. Bob Ellison was born on Sept. 22, 1942, in New York City, N.Y. He grew up in […]

According to BlackAmericaWeb.com, the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education has received a $1.2 million, three-year grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation to launch the Maynard Media Center on Structural Racism (MMCSR).? The initiative was created to provide comprehensive coverage of racism through the media and its affect on Americans. ?In May, the […]

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will require grant applicants seeking HUD funding to comply with their state’s anti-discriminations laws that protect the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, according to a press release issued by the organization. The requirements will apply to all of the department’s competitive grants awarded in […]

In anticipation of the Obama administration’s plans to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS nationwide, the White House hosted a summit during the week of May 31 aimed at providing insight on how to reduce the number of people suffering form the disease and provide better care for them. The summit, entitled “The Meeting on Black […]

A gay Malawi couple previously sentenced to 14 years in prison for their sexual orientation was pardoned by that African country’s president on May 29. President Bingu wa Mutharika reluctantly pardoned the men after receiving immense international pressure including a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, AFP reported. “The story ends there… I don’t […]

Only two of South Carolina’s seven gubernatorial candidates would consider moving the Confederate flag that flies in front of the South Carolina Statehouse. The flag has already been moved once; in 2000, the flag was moved from atop the dome of the statehouse and out of the House and Senate chambers, and now flies beside […]

Author and media executive Amy DuBois Barnett has been named the new editor-in-chief of the women’s lifestyle magazine EBONY, according to the publication’s parent company. Barnett comes to EBONY from Harper’s Bazaar, where she was deputy editor-in-chief. Previously, she was editor of the now defunct multi-cultural women’s magazine Honey, where she was credited with doubling […]