Category: Afro Briefs

Superstar runway model Naomi Campbell recently rallied the fashion world with a charity fashion show for Haitian relief efforts, her latest effort to support disaster relief. The event was held on February 12 during New York Fashion Week and drew top models, designers and fashion critics including model Christy Turlington, the Duchess of York. Celebrity […]

President Obama hopes to see his controversial health care reform bill approved by March 18, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said March 4. According to thehill.com, Gibbs said sweeping health care reform should move through Congress before the president leaves for a trip to Australia and Indonesia. “We’re leaving on March 18 and we […]

The allegedly poverty-stricken North Carolina woman who was accused of giving her five-year-old daughter to a man for sex late last year was released from jail on February 21 after posting a $51,000 bond. The child, Shaniya Davis, was found dead on Nov. 16 on a rural road in Lee County, near Fayetteville, N.C. Antoinette […]

While the Jobs Bill passed by the Senate on Feb. 24 could potentially open over 1 million new jobs, Marc H. Morial, CEO and President of the National Urban League. views the bill as “timid.” “This bill simply does not go far enough,” Morial said in a press release. “It’s a tiny step when what […]

On Feb. 25, representatives of the National Guard Youth Challenge Program, an initiative that provides structure and discipline to young adults who’ve dropped out of high school, held a roundtable discussion on Capitol Hill to discuss the issues plaguing high school students. “The overriding objective of the program is to leverage the strength of the […]

An 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck Chile on the morning of February 27, destroying buildings, highways and killing 708 people according to Chilean President Michelle Bachelet. The earthquake is one of the largest ever recorded and was felt as far away as Brazil. The earthquake sent a tsunami that barely missed Hawaii and is expected to affect […]

President Obama’s bipartisan health care reform summit on February 25 failed to provoke any Republican converts, forcing Democrats to turn to a political process called reconciliation, which would sidestep the need for Republican support for the measure. The move would allow the majority-Democratic Congress to approve Obama’s proposed healthcare reform with a simple majority vote, […]

Among the hardest-hit victims of the Haitian earthquake in January were elderly residents of Port-au-Prince, but conditions are improving for individuals at one nursing home. HelpAge International took over management of the Municipal Nursing Home for the Haitian government and will run the facility for the next six months. Jonathan Barden, an emergency response team […]

The once-popular Black college spring break event “Freaknik” is nearing a possible return to Atlanta. “The Official Atlanta Freaknic Site” is claiming the return of the event from April 16 through April 18, but the city has not received a permit application and city officials are not convinced the event will happen. “I don’t believe […]

Rapper Jay-Z’s business dealings with a New York-based promotion company are under federal investigation over possible ethics violations. Aqueduct Entertainment Group was awarded a multi-million dollar contract in January to upgrade the Aqueduct Race Track and turn it into a racetrack and casino, or “racino”. It would be the only one of its kind in […]

According to a study released by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which ranks the nation’s health county-by-county across the country, many of the counties with the worst health conditions also have high poverty rates, and many have high Black populations. “We didn’t want this to be just a black and white analysis,” Patrick Remington, associate […]

Middle and upper-class African-Americans and Hispanics are narrowing the digital divide, according to a new study conducted by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. According to the report, 94 percent of Blacks and 98 percent of Hispanics who possess a college degree are online, and college-educated minority Americans who earn over $50,000, are […]