Category: Afro Briefs

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. […]

Led by first lady Michelle Obama, the White House Childhood Obesity Task Force on May 11 unveiled an action plan to target and solve childhood obesity in America within a generation. “For the first time, the nation will have goals, benchmarks, and measurable outcomes that will help us tackle the childhood obesity epidemic one child, […]

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 […]

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 […]

A total of 70 percent of African-American students ages 15 to 18 nationwide believe their standard of living will exceed that of their parents, compared to 36 percent of White students, according to a poll conducted by Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y and released May 6. Across all ethnic groups, 39 percent of students believed […]

A 52-year-old Ohio man was freed May 3 after spending close to 30 years in prison after DNA results revealed he did not rape an 11-year-old girl in 1981. “It finally happened, I’ve been waiting,” Raymond Towler said as he hugged family members in the courtroom, according to the Associated Press. Towler had been serving […]