Category: Afro Briefs

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has again stirred the ire of civil rights proponents with her recent signing into law of a bill that prohibits ethnic studies classes that advocate ethnic solidarity, and which are designed mainly for students of a particular race or promote resentment toward a certain ethnic group. The bill targets a program […]

The famed Apollo Theater in Harlem unveiled its brand new Walk of Fame on May 10, honoring artists Smokey Robinson, Ella Fitzgerald and James Brown, among others. The world-renowned auditorium recognized great recording artists with a series of rectangular bronze plaques set into the sidewalk outside the theater along 125th Street. Also honored with plaques […]

A 21-year veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department has admitted to fabricating a story about being shot by a Black man, but his reasons for doing so remain unclear, according to media reports. On April 5, Sgt. Robert Ralston radioed that he’d been shot by a Black in a predominantly Black neighborhood in West Philadelphia. […]

Across the U.S., another group of Black students will earn their college degrees in May, and progress to the next stage in their lives. But they do so carrying the burden of greater debt than their White peers, according to a new study conducted by The College Board’s Advocacy and Policy Center. The study revealed […]

The social messaging service Twitter appears to attract a higher proportion of African-Americans, who make up 24 percent of the 17 million Americans “tweeting”. This number is approximately double the percentage of Blacks in the overall U.S. population according to a report by The Edison Research and Arbitron released April 29. The study surveyed approximately […]

A Houston charter school science teacher has been fired for beating a teenage student in April. Sheri Lynn Davis, a 40-year-old instructor at Jamie’s House Charter School, backed 13-year-old student Isaiah Johnson into a corner for making fun of one of his female classmates and violently beat him, according to CBS News. The incident was […]

Nine students from Alabama State University were denied their academic degrees 50 years ago after they participated in a Montgomery County civil rights protest. On May 8, three of the original nine expelled students finally got the chance to walk across the stage at the university’s 2010 commencement, according to BlackAmericaWeb.com. Joseph Peterson, James McFadden […]

French model Noemie Lenoir, recognized for her advertisement campaigns with The Gap and Victoria’s Secret, was found unconscious May 9 after an apparent suicide attempt, according to FOX News. Lenoir, 30, was first found unconscious at the home of her former boyfriend, soccer sensation Claude Makele. The statuesque model had apparently indulged in a deadly […]

Youth organizations from 29 states and the District of Columbia will receive grants for vulnerable children, youth and their communities affected by racism through a $75 million racial healing initiative led by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation will present the “Racial Healing Initiative” on May 11 in Washington D.C. The initiative arrives […]

April produced the biggest spike in private sector jobs since 2008, according to a report released May 5. The private sector added 32,000 jobs last month, part of 290,000 new jobs created across all sectors of the U.S. economy and the fourth straight month that new jobs have been added, according to a monthly report […]

After a long history of kidney ailments and recently suffering from an inflamed heart, Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua died at the presidential villa on May 5, according to multiple news sources. He was 58. He was buried on May 6 before sundown in accordance with his Muslim beliefs, leaving behind a wife and nine children. […]

First lady Michelle Obama celebrated Mother’s Day early with a White House tea on May 7, according to USA Today. Guests were scheduled to include former first lady Rosalynn Carter and her granddaughter, Sarah Carter; Anne and Susan Eisenhower, granddaughters of former president Dwight D. Eisenhower; and Tricia Nixon Cox, daughter of former president Richard […]