Category: National News

Michel Martelly’s ascendancy to Haiti’s presidential seat marks an unexpected evolution in the Caribbean country’s history. On April 4, Martelly, 51, beat out opponent, professor and Haiti’s former first lady Mirlande Manigat, 70, with a landslide 67 percent of the votes, The Associated Press reported. The island nation’s past is peppered with corrupt leaders and […]

The Supreme Court on March 29 overturned, in a 5-4 vote, a $14 million jury award to a man who was freed from death row after it was found prosecutors withheld key evidence in his case. The money had been awarded to John Thompson, who spent 18 years in prison, including 14 years on death […]

The NAACP Legal and Educational Defense Fund is challenging a change in Florida’s rules which would require non-violent felons to wait five years after completing their sentences before they can apply to vote again. A letter protesting the state’s recent proposal to prolong the removal of convicted non-violent felons’ right to vote was sent March […]

Further denouncing U.S. military action against Libya, Minister Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam spoke out against the country’s involvement in Libya and to defend his longtime friend, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. “It’s a terrible thing for me to hear my brother being called all these terrible and filthy names, when I cannot […]

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer on March 30 signed an abortion bill into law banning abortions in that state based on the race and gender of the baby. According to The Tucson Sentinel, Republican lawmakers in the state are convinced that race or gender-based abortions are happening in the state and point to the abortion rates […]

San Francisco (AP) — Gay rights advocates on Monday filed a challenge to a request by the Obama administration to keep the repealed “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in place while the Pentagon prepares for an end to the ban on allowing gays to serve openly in the military. In a brief filed in the […]

Family and supporters of Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis say they remain optimistic in their fight to save him from execution despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to reject his appeal, Monday. “People always ask us every time there is a decision – especially a negative decision – how do we feel, and we […]

Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan issued a warning to President Obama on how to handle the growing conflict in Libya. “I want to warn you in the name of Allah that this is more complex than what you think,” Farrakhan said on WVON-AM in Chicago March 18. “Go into Libya if you want […]

Job creation and unemployment are at the heart of the 2011 installment of the National Urban League’s State of Black America report. In a conference call March 25, Marc Morial, CEO and president of the league, and Valerie Wilson of the National Urban League’s Policy Institute said the report will zero in on how “Black […]

A new law requiring women who seek abortions in South Dakota to wait 72 hours, and undergo anti-abortion counseling while waiting, is prodding pro-choice advocates to act to make sure the tight abortion rules don’t spread to other states. Gov. Dennis Daugaard of South Dakota signed the bill into law March 25, making the toughest […]

It’s been one year since President Obama enacted the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), but you could hardly tell—public opinion remains just as divided as it did 12 months ago, and Americans seem just as confused. According to the Kaiser Health Tracking Poll released by the Kaiser Family Foundation this month, 52 percent […]

On March 21, 2006, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey typed the two seemingly forgettable words that launched a media empire – “inviting coworkers.” Five years later, the microblogging site has become a leading force in international news reporting and the public voice for celebrities, world leaders and everyday users. According to Twitter’s official blog, nearly 500,000 […]