Category: National News

The U.S. economy is showing renewed strength thanks to an increase in retail sales and orders to goods manufacturers, but it remains unclear whether that growth will lead to more hiring soon, the Associated Press reported. Sales rose in February by the largest amount since November 2007, retailers reported during the week of March 1. […]

COLUMBIA, S.C. – It had been more than 45 years since the nation’s three Black Methodist churches came together for one shared purpose, organizers said, making this month’s Great Gathering a historic reunion. The three-day conclave from March 1 to March 3 in Columbia was intended to both find solutions to the plight of African-American […]

After a series of ethics inquiries threatened to mar his more than 40-year career, New York Rep. Charles B. Rangel, head of the New York Congressional delegation, announced March 3 that he would temporarily leave his post as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. “I have, this morning, sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi […]

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Black church leaders said today that the “great gathering” of the three Black Methodist churches will not be a futile exercise based merely on talk, but will result in a firm plan of action to address Black concerns. “ will release a concrete, cogent, crisp plan of action for the eradication of […]

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The NAACP said today that its economic boycott of South Carolina remains in force, despite comments to the contrary. The organization imposed the ban in 2000 when lawmakers declined to remove the Confederate flag from the grounds of the state capitol. But, according to local news reports, state Sen. Robert Ford—who is […]

Representatives of the National Guard Youth Challenge Program held a roundtable discussion on Capitol Hill on February 25 to promote the merits of the program. For young people who’ve dropped out of high school, this program is offering a second chance by introducing structure and discipline in their lives. “The overriding objective of the program […]

Several Mississippi groups have appealed a judge’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that the Department of Housing and Urban Development redirected funds intended for Hurricane Katrina recovery to a long-standing port project. Lawyers from Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky & Pepeo, the Mississippi Center for Justice and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights filed […]

While the ongoing economic downturn has impacted everything—and almost everybody—from Wall Street to Main Street, it has also led to a surge in hunger in African-American communities. The unemployment rate for Blacks now exceeds 16 percent, when just two years ago it was 8.3 percent. But since that time, some 900,000 jobs have been lost […]

A bipartisan delegation of more than 30 U.S. mayors came together on Capitol Hill on February 24 to urge lawmakers to pass a comprehensive jobs bill that will put unemployed Americans back to work and invest in Main Street metropolitan economies. According to Black PR Newswire, members of the U.S. Conference of Mayors discussed the […]

Affiliates of Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Johnson Publishing Company “were unable to reach a definitive agreement” in a business deal that would have allowed the former basketball star to own a controlling stake in the family-owned company, Journal-isms.com reported. Talks of the HIV-activist’s interest in buying the publishing company, which owns Ebony and Jet magazines, […]

At 1 year old, President Obama’s signature cure for the ailing economy has not yet gained even footing—especially within communities of color, advocates say. However, contrary to mostly Republican criticisms, the $800 billion stimulus has had some positive impact. “It’s working pretty much exactly as advertized,” said Josh Bivens, an economist with the Washington, D.C.-based […]

It was a crime so heinous, so hideous, that it defied many, if not most people’s imagination. A disturbed Washington, D.C., mother had apparently killed her four African-American daughters, ages 5 to 17, and left their bodies rotting in their home for seven months while she went about her daily routine. The bodies were discovered […]