Black middle class in crisis

by Zenitha Prince

WASHINGTON (NNPA) — The current economic crisis has waged a particularly severe attack on the Black middle class in the United States, experts say. For African Americans, "2008 was not a good year," said Algernon Austin, director of Program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy at the Economic Policy Institute, "and unfortunately, it looks like things will get worse." The adage that when America sneezes, Black America catches a cold has held true, making i... MORE >>

Iraq still perilous for journalists despite fewer deaths

by Ali Gharib

WASHINGTON -- The improved security in Iraq has had benefits for everyone there. That has included fewer Iraqi civilian deaths, U.S. casualties, and, a new report said, journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) release said that 41 journalists worldwide were killed this year. And while Iraq has improved, it is still the deadliest nation in the world for journalists, as it has been for nearly six years. "The 11 deaths recorded in Iraq in 2008, while a sharp dro... MORE >>

Bush announces $17 billion rescue for auto industry

by NNPA

(NNPA) President George Bush has offered $17.4 billion in emergency loans in exchange for concessions from the deeply troubled carmakers and their workers. At the same time, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Congress should authorize the use of the second $350 billion from the financial rescue fund that it approved in October to rescue huge financial institutions. Tapping the fund for the auto industry basically exhausts the first half of the $700 billion total, he said. Pre... MORE >>

Author attempts to inform U.S. about Iran

by Ali Gharib

WASHINGTON (IPS/GIN) — While in New York this fall for the U.N. General Assembly, conservative Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad admitted to National Public Radio that he watches Western television. Most Western media is banned or censored in Iran, but many Iranians watch U.S. television and movies and international news on illegal satellite dishes and are familiar with U.S. culture, at least through what they're watching. But most Americans have little understanding of Iran's cultu... MORE >>

Bond retracts resignation as NAACP chair

BALTIMORE (NNPA) — Julian Bond, longtime chair of the nation's oldest civil rights group, last week retracted his decision to bow out of the 2009 bid for chairmanship of the National Board of the NAACP. In a Dec. 8 letter to NAACP Board members and trustees, Bond said an outpouring of support persuaded him to change his mind. He also agreed that the continuity his presence provides would only enhance the organization's centennial celebrations. "I will be a candidate for Chai... MORE >>

Homeless and impoverished constantly face painful stigmas

by Steven Malik Shelton

Special to the NNPA from the MIchigan Chronicle and Front Page DETROIT (NNPA) — The homeless are usually portrayed as strange people whose addictions, idiosyncrasies, and mental health issues are the cornerstone of their adverse condition. But detailed research paints a different picture. National surveys conducted by Toro Warren in 1999 show that 6 to 8 percent of Americans have been homeless and that 9 to 15 percent of children ages 12 to 17 have experienced homelessn... MORE >>

Mideast experts urge Obama to quickly engage Iran, Syria

by Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON (IPS/GIN) — The incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama should move quickly to engage Iran without preconditions and to promote an Israeli-Syrian peace accord, said two veteran Middle East experts whose views are likely to have influence over Obama's foreign policy team. Obama should also "make a serious effort from the outset to promote progress between Israel and the Palestinians," propose its own solutions soon, and enlist the Arab League's active... MORE >>

On World AIDS Day

by U.S. Senator Russ Feingold

Today I join individuals and organizations from around the world in recognizing the continued scourge of HIV/AIDS and in committing to keep working for its eradication. I have seen firsthand in my travels across Africa the devastating effect that HIV/AIDS has on entire communities and people of all ages.  Since the first World AIDS Day 20 years ago, we have come a long way in bringing high-level attention to this pandemic, developing effective prevention and treatment strategies,... MORE >>

Realists to reign in Obama administration

by Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON (IPS/GIN) — Less than two months before taking office, President-elect Barack Obama is making clear that realists — some more identified with Republicans and the military than with Democrats — are likely to rule the incoming administration's foreign policy roost, at least at the outset. While Obama was expected to formally unveil his Cabinet-level national security picks Dec. 1, recent leaks to the media have made it virtually certain that Pentagon hief Robert Gat... MORE >>

WASHINGTON (NNPA) — With the election of former Democratic Sen. Barack Obama as president of the United States with overwhelming support from communities of color — 95 percent among Black voters and over 65 percent among Latinos — many Black Republicans, as they contemplate their future, are also reflecting on their place in a party that critics say has always marginalized them. Leading the way is former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, who has decided to run... MORE >>

U.S. intelligence analysts see multipolar, risky world by 2025

by Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON (IPS/GIN) — While the United States will still be the world's single most powerful country in 2025, it will be less dominant and more constrained in its freedom of action, even in the military sphere, than it is now, says a major new report released here Nov. 20 by the National Intelligence Council. Instead, "a global multipolar system" will likely have emerged, marked especially by the rise of the so-called BRIC countries — Brazil, Russia, India, and C... MORE >>

Obama 'revolutionized politics' PR mogul says

by Bankole Thompson; Special to the NNPA from the Michigan Chronicle

 DETROIT (NNPA) — Ofield Dukes, often called the dean of public relations in Washington, D.C., said Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign had excellent public relations with voters from the very start all the way to Election Day. The former Michigan Chronicle editorial writer and columnist, who left Detroit in 1964 to work with then Vice President Hubert Humphrey, was in Detroit recently to address the Public Relations Student Society of America. In an interview, Dukes s... MORE >>

U.S bank bailout not flowing to homeowners

by Adrianne Apel

BOSTON (IPS/GIN) — Nearly five weeks after Congress approved a $700 billion bailout fund — and as the recession deepens — no definite plan is in sight for struggling U.S. homeowners, who are defaulting on loans at record rates. "The foreclosure problem is getting worse, not better," said Martin Eakes, CEO of Self Help and Center for Responsible Lending, a community-development nonprofit, who spoke Nov. 13 at a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Commit... MORE >>

100-year-old celebrates

by Melanie Holmes

PHILADELPHIA (NNPA) — Raymond Bowman's memory has not failed him in the least. To this day, the 100-year-old vividly remembers the welts whipped into his great-grandfather's back, each painful protrusion an unsightly symbol of slavery's sting throughout the Black community. But on Nov. 4, Bowman witnessed the ultimate reparations in the form of 50 states and a White House when America elected Sen. Barack Obama as its first African American president. "I was jubilant," ... MORE >>

Religious right still vocal

by Bill Berkowitz

OAKLAND, Calif. (IPS/GIN) — The election of Sen. Barack Obama as the first African American president of the United States will not mark the end of the religious right. Although many in the mainstream media will write and talk about the movement's imminent demise, that demise is not likely. More relevant questions are how the religious right will behave during an Obama administration and what steps the movement will take to resurrect its troops. While Obama's victory was a major ... MORE >>

Experts on Latin America call out to Obama

by Haider Rizvi

NEW YORK (IPS/GIN) — An open letter to Sen. Barack Obama was fashioned around one question: Will Washington's policy toward Latin America be genuinely different from past U.S. administrations if Obama is elected as the next president in November? To some experts on Latin America, the answer is “no.” Others believe the U.S. role would be far more positive. “I don't think Obama is devoting a lot of energy to focus on Latin America. That may be due to the s... MORE >>

Jennifer Hudson and relatives identify body of her slain nephew

by Alan King

CHICAGO — Jennifer Hudson and other relatives positively identified the body of her 7-year-old nephew Oct. 27, just hours after his body was found in a sport-utility vehicle sought in connection with the murder of Hudson’s mother and brother. The white, 1994 Chevrolet Suburban with Illinois license plate X584859 was found on Chicago’s West side after police received a 7 a.m. call from a neighbor about a suspicious vehicle. The man noticed the vehicle while walking his... MORE >>

Average people watch as banks reap billions

by Adrianne Appel

BOSTON — The $125 billion handed to nine of Wall Street's richest banks will do little to help the economy that is crumbling around ordinary U.S. citizens, independent experts and activists say. President Bush's new Office of Financial Stability, led by former Goldman, Sachs & Co. Vice President Neel Kashkari, sealed a deal Oct. 14 to provide the billions, plus $125 billion more for small banks, to encourage them to start lending to each other and to the world's biggest businesses a... MORE >>

World leaders blame U.S. for financial mess

by Adrianne Appel

BOSTON (IPS/GIN) — British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's comment on how Britain may have gotten into the global economic turmoil reflects the sentiments of other world leaders. "Most of this has come out of America and then affected the British banking system," Brown said. And German Chancellor Angela Merkel said recently that she had tried in vain last year to convince the G-8, the world's wealthiest nations, to enact tighter regulations on risky hedge-fund trading, wh... MORE >>

Black America 'gets pneumonia' in cold economic climate

by Natalie A. Thompson and Hazel Trice Edney

WASHINGTON (NNPA) — As the Black unemployment rate leaped another eight percentage points last month — from 10.6 to 11.4 percent — the White unemployment rate actually remained the same, 5.4 percent, less than half the rate for Blacks. In addition, in every other economic category — from the poverty rate to housing loss — African Americans remain historically and consistently at rock bottom. This condition is exacerbated by the national housing and Wall S... MORE >>

Obama solidifies lead amid Washington turmoil

by Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON — As of Oct. 1, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama had built a strong lead that his rival, Republican Sen. John McCain, could find difficult to reverse. Obama's campaign has been aided by the financial crisis that has dominated the news for the past two weeks, a better-than-expected performance Sept. 26 in the first of three nationally televised presidential debates, and growing doubts that McCain's vice presidential pick, Gov. Sarah Palin, is up to the job. ... MORE >>

Black Press series aims to decrease cancer rates

WASHINGTON (NNPA) — The News Service of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), the Black Press of America, has launched a new op-ed series in partnership with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to address the issue of health disparities, including the disparate cancer rate, that has long plagued the Black community — and to educate Black newspaper readers on the best possible cancer-prevention and treatment measures. "Health disparities in the U.S. are ... MORE >>

Wall Street deserves no bailout, protestors say

by Haider Rizvi

NEW YORK, (IPS/GIN) — The George W. Bush administration's plan to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to rescue giant Wall Street firms from their financial meltdown has unleashed a spontaneous wave of protests across the United States. "Cash for trash," shouted activists who gathered near Wall Street to express their outrage at Bush's proposal to buy bad debts of financial institutions at the cost of $700 billion in taxpayer money. Protesters said they want Co... MORE >>

Taxes and Iraq top topics in first Presidential Debate

 (NNPA) — The University of Mississippi was the venue for the first of three scheduled debates with less than six weeks remaining until Election Day when people  will choose either Obama or McCain to be their next president. For the inaugural debate, the candidates’ main arguments surrounded the war in Iraq and taxes. McCain accused Obama of “voting to cut off funds for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan,” a reference to legislation that cleared the Senate... MORE >>

Prejudices rise in EU

by Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON (IPS/GIN) — Both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia have become more prevalent in Europe in the last four years, according to a survey just released by the Pew Research Center. Attitudes toward Muslims are substantially more negative than those against Jews, but anti-Jewish sentiment has grown steadily in five of the six countries surveyed last spring. The increase in anti-Jewish sentiment was greatest in Spain. In 2005, 21 percent of respondents said they had unfavorable ... MORE >>

U.S. meddling in Bolivia?

by Haider Rizvi

NEW YORK (IPS/GIN) — Who in Bolivia is receiving millions in U.S. taxpayer dollars? Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the independent think tank Center for Economic and Policy Research, and other critics of U.S. foreign policy toward Latin America and the Andean region have voiced deep concern over the George W. Bush administration's reluctance to disclose details of U.S. funding to Bolivia and who gets it. "The U.S. Agency for International Development [USAID] is &hellip... MORE >>

RNC: The most White delegates since pre-1968

by Ali Gharib

WASHINGTON (IPS/GIN) — Despite the increase in the United States' minority population, the presence of people of color at the Republican National Convention (RNC) early this month dwindled. Of the 2,380 delegates, only 36 were Black, according to a report from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies: a sharp decline from the 2004 convention, which boasted a record 167 Black delegates. This year's RNC was the “Whitest” in the 40 years since the Joint Center began ... MORE >>

Mumia Abu Jamal prepares new appeal to Supreme Court

by Adrianne Appel

BOSTON (IPS/GIN) — Via a recorded message, Mumia Abu-Jamal rallied thousands of protesters who had gathered outside the Democratic National Convention in Denver last month to demand the release of U.S. political prisoners. The crowds listened as journalist Abu-Jamal attacked U.S. foreign policy, the protection of "foreign despots," and war for "foreign pipelines." Abu-Jamal made the recording from his death row prison cell. Abu-Jamal's 26-year battle for free... MORE >>

NAACP chooses Benjamin T. Jealous as president-elect

by from the NAACP

On Aug. 30, the NAACP National Board of Directors announced the selection of Benjamin T. Jealous as national president-elect. He is the 17th person chosen to lead the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization in its 99-year history. Jealous, 35, comes to the NAACP from the San Francisco-based Rosenberg Foundation, where he's served as president since 2005. "Ben Jealous has spent his professional life working for and raising money for the very social justice conc... MORE >>

Upcoming U.S. election sparks debate among Iraqi immigrants

by Zainab Mineeia

WASHINGTON (IPS/GIN) — Iraqis in the United States appear divided over their preferences for the next U.S. president, according to a series of interviews carried out by IPS (Inter Press Service). Some see the election of Sen. John McCain as a guarantee against the return of chaos and instability in Iraq. The presumptive Republican candidate has opposed a specific timeline for the withdrawal of the 144,000 U.S. combat troops deployed in Iraq. Others support Sen. Barack Oba... MORE >>

Martchers protest killings of young Black men

by Special to the NNPA from the Seattle Medium

SEATTLE (NNPA) — A group of everyday people from the community have taken to the streets to protest the shootings that have taken the lives of so many of their young men. No politicians were making speeches, no community leaders were trying to make a name for themselves, and there were no empty promises from the people in the community, who needed to get involved to preserve the lives of young Black men and women — as well as future generations of African Americans. The gro... MORE >>

McCain seeks to privatize veterans' health care

MADISON —Twenty-five years after it was established in 1983, the School of Veterinary Medicine is still the youngest school on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. And it is the second-youngest veterinary medical school in the nation. From groundbreaking research discoveries to innovative methods of teaching to state-of-the-art treatments and caring services for hospital clientele, its faculty has excelled. And they continue to break new ground, despite the challenges of l... MORE >>

Over 56,000 U.S. residents contract HIV in 2006

by Sam Cassanos

NEW YORK (IPS/GIN) — The annual number of HIV infections in the United States is greater than was previously believed, a new study says. This revelation has raised concerns about the country's lack of a national HIV/AIDS program, as well as about the adequacy of the presidential candidates' plans to fight the epidemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the new data, reporting that 56,300 U.S. residents were infected with HIV in 2006. Previous annual in... MORE >>

Legendary soul singer Isaac Hayes found dead

by Special to the NNPA from The St. Louis American

 (NNPA) — Legendary soul singer and arranger Isaac Hayes has died. Relatives found Hayes, 65, unconscious in his home next to a still-running treadmill, said Steve Shular, a spokesman for the Shelby County Sheriff's Department in Memphis, Tenn. Paramedics attempted to revive him and took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the Sheriff's Department said. ''There doesn't seem to be any foul play,'' Shular said. ''We don't see anything suspicious about his d... MORE >>

U.S. forsakes talk of "democratization"

by Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON (IPS/GIN) — Over five years after invading Iraq as a first step to "transforming" the Middle East, the George W. Bush administration seems to have lost its footing in the region. Talk of "democratizing" the Middle East has almost entirely disappeared from the rhetoric. Washington has had to sacrifice whatever pressure it had been willing to exert on "friendly authoritarians" before to bolster its rule against popular sentiment, which has become c... MORE >>

U.S. media controversy highlights rifts in Jewish community

by Daniel Luban and Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON (IPS/GIN) —The current media controversy pitting neoconservatives against a prominent Jewish-American political commentator has marked a new phase of the battle over who speaks for the U.S. Jewish community on foreign policy issues. TIME columnist Joe Klein recently accused Jewish neoconservatives, who played a particularly visible role in the drive to war in Iraq and have sin... MORE >>

Gender focus urged for U.S. aid

WASHINGTON (IPS/GIN) — Women's groups weighed in July 22 on the growing debate over new goals and strategies for U.S. foreign aid, arguing that to work effectively, foreign aid should target women. Three leading organizations pointed out at a Capitol Hill media briefing that in most developing countries where aid is distributed, women are the poorest and least empowered members of society. Women should be "placed at the center of development," said Yolanda Richardson, p... MORE >>

U.S. quality of life not on par with its wealth

WASHINGTON (IPS/GIN) —The United States is "woefully behind" other developed countries when it comes to providing opportunities and choices to its residents, according to an analysis ranking U.S. quality of life. The "Measure of America: American Human Development Report 2008-2009,"  released July 16 by the nonprofit organization Oxfam America, offers a statistical analysis of numerous aspects of U.S. well-being, broken down by gender, race, ethnicity, state, an... MORE >>

Iraq government demands withdrawal of U.S. forces

WASHINGTON (IPS/GIN) —  Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has officially demanded a timetable for complete U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq, defying the George W. Bush administration's plan to establish a long-term military presence there.  The prime minister's demand was confirmed July 7 by his national security adviser, Mowaffak al-Rubaie. The demand for U.S. withdrawal confirms something that has become increasingly clear in recent months: that the Iraqi regime has dec... MORE >>

Dismal economic picture for U.S. workers

WASHINGTON (IPS/GIN) —U.S. companies are shedding workers in numbers not seen for nearly six years, and there seems little hope of a turnaround any time soon. Firms jettisoned 79,000 workers last month, the biggest job loss since November 2002, leading payroll processor Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) said July 2, in a widely anticipated monthly report on non-farm employment. The government was expected to report July 3 that total public and private sector jobs posted their ... MORE >>

Senate Foreign Relations Committee passes bill to cancel 25 nations' debts

WASHINGTON (IPS/GIN)— Anti-debt campaigners are praising the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for approving a law aimed at expanding debt cancellations to an additional 25 poor nations. The supporters of the proposed legislation say it could prove effective in fighting poverty, stopping environmental degradation, and easing the traditional strict economic conditions that accompanied loans and often led to economic chaos. The committee, which supervises U.S. funding for international f... MORE >>

CBC asks Bush to restore Urban Youth Program, summer jobs also scarce

CBC asks Bush to restore Urban Youth Program, summer jobs also scarce  WASHINGTON (NNPA) - The Congressional Black Caucus has appealed to President George W. Bush on behalf of the National Urban League's Urban Youth Empowerment Program, which is set to be slashed from the budget of the Department of Labor next week. "It is our understanding that the funding, which enables the program to provide much-needed services to young people to reduce recidivism, to complete thei... MORE >>

Obama buoys U.S. image abroad

by Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON — After a virtually relentless fall during the administration of President George W. Bush, Washington's image abroad rebounded modestly in 2007, according to the latest edition of the annual Pew Global Attitudes Project. "We have some encouraging signs for the image of the United States," said longtime survey director Andrew Kohut, who noted that the improvement may be due at least mostly to anticipation of a new U.S. president later this year. And if the ne... MORE >>

Obama calls for diplomacy

WASHINGTON (IPS/GIN) — When he spoke last year before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Sen. Barack Obama received scattered boos. But as the presidential candidate strode toward the podium at the group's annual policy conference June 4, he received a standing ovation. The applause kept coming throughout his half-hour address and after it was over. Obama used his new position of strength to stress peace, dialogue, and diplomacy, themes not traditionally favored by the AIPAC,... MORE >>

Chris Rock to have tea with Mandela

(GIN) — UNICEF ambassador and popular U.S. comic Chris Rock, who is on a "No Apologies" World Tour, is in South Africa for his first live performance there. A meeting with former president Nelson Mandela, who will turn 90 in July, is being set up. Rock said he will "wish Mandela 90 more years — because there is still a lot of work to be done." Commenting on the recent anti-immigrant outbreak in South Africa, Rock said he doesn't see it as Black-on-Black violence but as a problem of poverty. Mea... MORE >>

James Byrd family says, "We will never forget"

by Gordon Jackson - Special to the NNPA from the Dallas Examiner JASPER, Texas (NNPA) — Last week, a small east Texas town came to a moment of truth and close evaluation, whether or not it wanted or deserved such nationwide scrutiny. Activities that took place last week in Jasper, Texas, and the southeast Texas region will call to the spotlight what happened 10 years ago and bring back to the forefront horrid memories of the gruesome murder of James Byrd Jr., one of the most shocking racial h... MORE >>

Foreign takeover of U.S. assets creates new concerns

WASHINGTON (IPS/GIN) — The United States has long used public funds and lobbying to open up developing countries' economies. But as foreign government-controlled sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) increasingly acquire or invest in U.S. assets, Washington is considering changing the rules. SWFs are pools of money that governments invest for profit. Petroleum-producing countries now account for about two-thirds of the total wealth of global SWFs. If Washington succeeds in curbing these investments, s... MORE >>

Boost in efforts to ease racial tensions between Blacks, Latinos

 SOUTH LOS ANGELES (NNPA) - In the aftermath of a reported racial flare-up on a local high school campus, African-American and Latino activist groups have ramped up efforts to ease tensions between the two communities. And in a related development, activists have called for a meeting with the owners of the MySpace social-networking website after disturbing gang imagery of murdered high school student Jamiel Shaw emerged on the Internet. On May 10, Locke High School in Watts was put on lockdown... MORE >>

Missionaries target Chinese immigrants in Brooklyn

NEW YORK, (IPS/GIN) — As people rush in and out of butcher shops and bakeries on Brooklyn's Eighth Avenue, He Zhanglao tries to get their attention. The tall, blond missionary speaks in clear Mandarin and listens carefully to their replies. The Mormon missionary, whose real name is Trevor Hess, sticks out in this part of Sunset Park, which is home to many Chinese immigrants. Though he's studying Chinese, he has no plans to visit China, which bars Mormons from doing missionary work. So his churc... MORE >>

More Philadelphia police take off streets

PHILADELPHIA (NNPA) — Thirteen Philadelphia police officers have been placed on administrative duties in the wake of a video showing officers punching, kicking, and using batons on three suspects allegedly involved in an earlier shooting incident. The video was taken on May 5 by a Fox News helicopter in the city's Hunting Park section. The Internal Affairs Unit and the District Attorney's Office are determining whether excessive force was used on the suspects. According to Police Commissioner C... MORE >>

Reports: Drug war unjustly targets Black communities

WASHINGTON (IPS/GIN) — African Americans have suffered much higher rates of arrests and imprisonment than Whites in the nearly 30-year-old U.S. "war on drugs," say two reports just released in Washington. While White citizens constitute the large majority of convicted drug offenders, African American communities have been the principal "fronts" in the war, according to the report Targeting Blacks: Drug Law Enforcement and Race in the United States by New York-based Human Rights Watch. The 67-pa... MORE >>

Supreme Court upholds Indiana's strict voter ID law

WASHINGTON (IPS/GIN) — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled April 28 to uphold a controversial state law that Democrats and a number of national civil rights groups believe could undermine the right of tens of thousands of poor and minority voters to cast ballots. The decision may have major implications for the general election in November: Six of the court's nine justices ruled that Indiana's voter-identification law, which requires all voters to produce a government-issued photo identification at the... MORE >>

U.S.: Veterans sue VA over poor care, soaring suicide rate

SAN FRANCISCO, (IPS/GIN) -- Roughly 18 U.S. veterans commit suicide every week, advocates told a federal judge April 21 in San Francisco, blaming the United States government for doing a poor job of caring for wounded war veterans. ... MORE >>

Los Angeles mayor calls for more funding for anti-gang programs

LOS ANGELES (NNPA) - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who was recently given authority to oversee the city's anti-gang programs, unveiled the outline of his $24 million gang-fighting strategy April 14 during his third "State of the City" address. The speech at LAPD headquarters capped two months of debate over how the city should best tackle gang prevention and intervention programs. Reinforcing his commitment to public safety at a time when the city is facing a projected $406 million deficit and h... MORE >>

Many U.S. lawmakers hold stock in Pentagon contractors

Mumia Abu Jamal off death row for now  BOSTON (IPS/GIN) — A federal court has ruled that Mumia Abu Jamal, a Black writer famous worldwide for his fight against the death penalty, should be taken off death row. Abu Jamal was placed on death row for the 1981 murder of Philadelphia policeman Daniel Faulkner but continues to maintain his innocence. The three-judge panel of the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia said Abu Jamal should either be given life without parole or a new trial to d... MORE >>

Tavis Smiley leaves "Tom Joyner Morning Show"

(NNPA) — Popular author and media personality Tavis Smiley said he will resign in June as a twice-weekly commentator on the syndicated “Tom Joyner Morning Show,” after more than 11 years with the program. Smiley cited fatigue and a busy schedule to Joyner, who indicated otherwise on his program and in his blog the next day. “The real reason is that he can't take the hate he's been getting regarding the Barack issue — hate from the Black people that he loves so much,” Joyner wrote. Smiley has t... MORE >>

Black journalists say issues being left out of Pennsylvania primary

PHILADELPHIA (NNPA) — Only a week before the Pennsylvania primary, Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton were scheduled to participate in an event April 16 at the National Constitution Center, to be moderated by ABC's World News anchor Charlie Gibson and the network's Washington bureau chief, George Stephanopoulos. ABC said these two were selected because of their experience in the political arena. Denise Clay, a vice chair for the Media Watch Committee for the Philadelphia Association of ... MORE >>

U.S. theologians decry media franzy over Wright

NEW YORK (IPS/GIN) —Some prominent theologians from prestigious U.S. universities are criticizing the media's coverage of the controversy surrounding Rev. Jeremiah Wright, former pastor of a church Sen. Barack Obama attended. Wright, the former pastor of the Trinity United Church of Christ on Chicago's south side, officiated at Obama's wedding and baptized his daughters. Remarks by Wright in past sermons have sparked a controversy, and many media agencies have replayed clips of Wright's most in... MORE >>

40th anniversary of Dr. King's death commemorated: a time to reflect and reconnect

by Florence M. Howard - Special to the NNPA from the Tri-State Defender MEMPHIS (NNPA) — “Martin Luther King III and Rev. Bernice King for the first time in history made a pilgrimage to the Lorraine Motel on the date of their father’s assassination,” said Beverly Robertson, executive director of the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. She was reflecting on the historicity of the moment last week, during the 40th anniversary of their father, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination. The l... MORE >>

Mumia Abu Jamal off death row for now

 Mumia Abu Jamal BOSTON (IPS/GIN) — A federal court has ruled that Mumia Abu Jamal, a Black writer famous worldwide for his fight against the death penalty, should be taken off death row. Abu Jamal was placed on death row for the 1981... MORE >>

Comic books send positive message about Islam

NEW YORK (IPS/GIN) — A U.S.-educated Kuwaiti academic has begun using fanciful comic books to counter the negative stereotypes of Islam circulating in the U.S. "Our part of the world was lacking modern-day heroes," said publisher Naďf Al-Mutawa, a Columbia Business School graduate who also holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. The Kuwaiti academic is hoping to send both U.S. and Middle Eastern readers a positive message about Islam. Al-Mutawa's superheroes are a multicultural gang, united by b... MORE >>

Trailblazing Black press journalist William Worthy honored at Harvard

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (NNPA) — In honoring William Worthy as the 2008 recipient of its Louis M. Lyons Award, the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University cited Worthy “for conscience and integrity in journalism” as a daring foreign correspondent. The Richmond Free Press also honored Worthy with its first American Hero Award, hailing him for his “courageous, trailblazing foreign affairs reporting that gave strength and reality to the First Amendment … to promote balance in the me... MORE >>

Gov. Deval Patrick honored at Howard

WASHINGTON —Until he was 14, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick shared a bunk bed with his mother and his sister, which meant that every third night one of them slept on the floor. By the time Patrick’s daughter was 14, on the other hand, she had visited three continents and had experienced life in a way he could have never conceived of at her age, Patrick said at a ceremony celebrating the 141st anniversary of the founding of Howard University, the nation's premier historically Black university. ... MORE >>

Los Angeles teen senselessly murdered

LOS ANGELES (NNPA) — On March 2, a promising high school star athlete was gunned down by a pair of suspected gangbangers. He died beside a tree that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa had personally planted near his home. Police say Jamiel Andre Shaw Jr., 17, was killed just a few yards from his Fifth Avenue house as he heeded his father's instructions to "hurry home from the mall." During a difficult interview, a distraught Jamiel Andre Shaw Sr. described his son as "my life: the only thing I was liv... MORE >>

Unionized janitors want decent wages

NDIANAPOLIS (NNPA) — For the past three years, Indianapolis custodians have been fighting for fair wages, affordable health care, and more working hours. Negotiations finally seem to be working. "These negotiations represent a real opportunity to begin the process of ending the economic segregation in Indianapolis, which has been a barrier for thousands of workers to enter the middle class," says Darren Cushman-Wood, senior pastor of Speedway United Methodist Church. Instead of accepting what ... MORE >>

Bush has twisted spying debate, intelligence officials say

NEW YORK (IPS/GIN) —Numerous former senior intelligence officials have signed a letter registering their disagreement with the Bush administration's claim that Congress' failure to pass a new foreign surveillance law is jeopardizing the country's national security. In a letter to Adm. Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, the officials said "the intelligence community currently has the tools it needs to acquire surveillance of new targets and methods of communication … The suns... MORE >>

Satellite shootdown draws criticism

WASHINGTON (IPS/GIN) — The U.S. decision to shoot down a dying spy satellite from a warship in the Pacific will undoubtedly confirm Russian and Chinese fears that Washington is determined to assert military dominance in space, according to independent arms-control critics in Washington. A number are deeply skeptical of the Pentagon's explanation that it decided to shoot down the satellite to protect populated areas from space debris, specifically the half-ton of hydrazine that might have been re... MORE >>

U.S. troop surge heightens sectarian conflict, reports say

WASHINGTON (IPS/GIN) — Despite assertions by the Bush administration that the escalation strategy in Iraq known as the "surge" has been a rousing success, the country's political situation has become increasingly tenuous. As the five-year anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion approaches, two Washington think tanks released reports Feb. 14 on multilateral sectarian tensions in Iraq. The Center for American Progress report, titled "Awakening to the New Danger in Iraq," said the situation is worse ... MORE >>

Black industry insiders hail end of writers' strike

LOS ANGELES (NNPA) — Striking movie and television writers have unanimously voted to go back to work, ending a three-month stoppage that has devastated the local entertainment industry. On Feb. 12, an overwhelming majority of the Writer's Guild of America's 10,500 members ratified a new three-year agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The action followed a unanimous decision by the board and negotiating committee of the Guild to recommend a tentative contract re... MORE >>

State of the Black Union 2008 to focus on democracy, Katrina

Special to the NNPA from The Louisiana Weekly NEW ORLEANS (NNPA) - The 2008 State of the Black Union (SOBU) weekend, the brainchild of author and journalist Tavis Smiley, will take place in New Orleans Feb. 22 and 23 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. With the theme ''Reclaiming Our Democracy, Deciding Our Future,'' this year's symposium will provide a national forum for leading African American educators, social scientists, business leaders, and clergy to discuss economic empowermen... MORE >>

McCain courts right wing

WASHINGTON (IPS/GIN) — Sen. John McCain has become the presumed Republican nominee to be the United States' next "war president." He has campaigned to in many ways continue the foreign policy of President George W. Bush. Though McCain claims a wide array of advisers, much of his rhetoric and record on the Iraq war and the "global war on terror" has a neoconservative bent. Despite his public criticisms of how the Iraq war was handled and tepid questioning of the faulty intelligence that led the ... MORE >>

Defying statistics: Black women win their valentines

WASHINGTON (NNPA) - Sixty-one percent of Black women have never been married, compared to 37 percent of White women, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. In December 2006, The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education reported that 1.3 million Black women were enrolled in colleges and universities, compared to 686,615 Black men -- half the number of women. Of the 26 million Black Americans and 158 million White Americans ages 15 and older, only 35 percent of the African Amer... MORE >>

Clinton, Obama still in dead heat after Super Tuesday

by Hazel Trice Edney - NNPA Editor in Chief WASHINGTON (NNPA) — The winner is still not clear, but the historic moment is. "Many of us never dreamed that we would see such a day," says Dr. Dorothy Height, the 95-year-old president emeritus of the Council of Negro Women. "This gives us a sense that if we want to, we can join hands and work together." Height was among a crowd at the national headquarters of the Council of Negro Women in D.C. that gathered for a "Watch Party" to view the Super... MORE >>

31 years for stealing $62

MICHIGAN (NNPA) —When he was 23, Ronald James Coleman-Bey stole $62 from a bookstore. He was released on parole last month, after 31 years in prison for that crime. Coleman-Bey was a parolable lifer — a class of prisoners serving life sentences for offenses less than first degree murder —and was theoretically eligible for parole after serving a set number of years. Coleman-Bey now hopes to find a job and restart his life, with help from his wife, Judi Coleman-Bey. He said the most pressing matt... MORE >>

Protestors march on Jena KKK rally

JENA, La. (NNPA) — Activists from around the nation gathered in Jena Jan. 21 to protest a Klan rally taking place there. Organizers from Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, New Orleans, and Harlem drove countless hours cross-country to get to the Jena Municipal Park. From there, over 100 workers, college students, and families marched to the Jena Courthouse, where White supremacists were holding a rally to protest Martin Luther King Jr. Day and to issue a call for re-jailing the Jena 6, the six Afric... MORE >>

Congress approves economic stimulus package

WASHINGTON (IPS/GIN) — U.S. legislators struck a deal Jan. 24 aimed at saving the economy from being sucked under in a maelstrom of bad mortgages and financial speculation. Congressional leaders said they had agreed to $150 billion in tax breaks aimed at spurring spending by businesses and consumers. Under the plan approved by both Republican and Democratic lawmakers, individuals stand to receive rebates of $300 to $1,200, more if they have children. The rebates will be less for high-income tax... MORE >>

Los Angeles' 39th postmaster retiring

LOS ANGELES (NNPA) — Los Angeles Postmaster James A. Smith, who began his career as a temporary letter carrier and rose through 17 different management positions, was set to be honored by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the City Council last week following the announcement that he will retire next month after 44 years of service. Smith, 61, was appointed L.A.'s 39th postmaster on Aug. 11, 2001, and will officially retire Feb. 1. As postmaster, Smith is responsible for 125 post offices in Los An... MORE >>

Seattle School Board makes MLK elementary school building surplus

 SEATTLE (NNPA)— The Seattle School Board voted last week to designate Martin Luther King Elementary School as part of the school district’s surplus property. The move drew concern from many local African Americans, as it appeared to be yet another district maneuver to sell the building named in honor of King, which was closed last year despite community protests. However, school district officials claim that the vote on whether to designate the school as surplus property in the district is a st... MORE >>

Groups sue Shell Oil

WASHINGTON (IPS/GIN) — U.S. environmentalists took Shell Oil Co. and several affiliates to court Jan. 7 in an attempt to stop a Texas refinery and a chemical plant from polluting the area around it. The Sierra Club and Environment Texas are accusing Shell of violating the Clean Air Act at its 1,500-acre Deer Park complex 20 miles east of downtown Houston, which is home to much of the U.S. oil industry. The U.S. unit of Royal Dutch Shell Group faces possible civil penalties of up to $32,500 per d... MORE >>

2007 foreign news coverage down

WASHINGTON (IPS/GIN) —Foreign news coverage by the three major U.S. TV networks declined significantly in 2007, according to the latest annual review by the authoritative Tyndall Report. The foreign news bureaus of ABC, CBS, and NBC covered the Iraq war frequently in 2007 but otherwise had their lightest year since 2001. Iraq-related stories claimed about 13 percent of the three network evening news programs, only two other foreign-based stories — the recent political turmoil in Pakistan, and I... MORE >>

What's behind "American Gangster"?

LOS ANGELES (NNPA) -- Black Entertainment Television (BET) has won higher ratings and critical acclaim for its "American Gangster" series on the rise and fall of Black criminals. But in the wake of the docudramas and a hit movie of the same name, many are concerned about the portrayal of Blacks and images they believe help inspire youth to destructive behavior. BET initially indicated the show's purpose was to "explore without glorifying and investigate without celebrating" the criminal minds o... MORE >>

Gates boosts realists' power in Bush administration

WASHINGTON (IPS/GIN) -- This year will likely go down in U.S. history as the period when realists started winning their struggle for power against the hawks in President George W. Bush's administration. That shift, which could still be reversed by events or actors not subject to Washington's direct control, can be credited in part to the manifest failures of policies — in Iraq, elsewhere in the Middle East, and in North Korea — promoted by a coalition of aggressive nationalists, neoconservatives... MORE >>

Cynthia McKinney runs for president

 - Akwasi Evans (Special to the NNPA from Nokoa)AUSTIN, Texas — Many political observers believe that it is highly unlikely that America will elect a woman for president and even less likely that America will elect an African-American, so what... MORE >>

Congressional Black Caucus split between Clinton and Obama

by Jasmine Melvin - NNPA Special Correspo... MORE >>

“Don’t give up on love”: Bishop T. D. Jakes, wife, and clergy across nation react to Bynum beating

By Hazel Trice Edney WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Bishop T. D. Jakes, preparing for yet another women’s conference, “For Ladies Only,” next month, says he is hoping recent separation and divorce announcements of Christian power couples, including the hotel parking lot beating of Prophetess Juanita Bynum-Weeks by her minister husband, won’t deter marriages. “I don’t want to comment on their specific cases, because I am counseling them and that would not be professional. But to ma... MORE >>

Census Bureau: Blacks remained at economic rock bottom last year

By Hazel Trice Edney   NNPA Editor-in-Chief   WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Black people in America had less health care coverage last year than they did in 2005, and they remained at the econo... MORE >>

Katrina Anniversary: Nagin expresses hope, challenges nation to stand up to Washington

Special to the NNPA from the Louisiana Weekly      NEW ORLEANS (NNPA) Despite the wreckage that still remains from Hurricane Katrina’s assault on New Orleans two years ago, the city’s Mayor Ray Nagin says... MORE >>

Violent crime increasing in urban America

By Marc H. Morial   The horrifying murder of three college-bound teenagers in Newark provides a startling illustration of the grim realities faced by urban youth nationwide, according to a recent U.S. Justice Department report. In an analysis of violent crime rates from 2001 to 2005... MORE >>

After Katrina: Two years in the life of a child

By Marian Wright Edelman   Two years ago on Aug. 29, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf coasts of Louisiana and Mississippi, displacing hundreds of thousands. Black communities that had been economically depressed before the hurricane w... MORE >>

The Madison Times wins two national awards: NNPA Merit and Messenger awards showcase top performances

SEATTLE (NNPA) – In a show of excellence in professional journalism and Black press principles, editors and publishers of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) lined up for honors in the annual Merit Awards Competition during the NNPA summer conference in Seattle last weekend. For the first time in its 16-year history, The Madison Times Weekly Newspaper won two NNPA Merit Awards in one year: first place for “Best Use of Photographs” and third place for “Best Layout an... MORE >>

Sensational story raises questions about criminal justice system

by Maria Bibbs A Georgia courtroom was no safe place for someone like Jade Sanders, a woman accused of murdering her only son, who was born in her bathtub and proudly named Crown Shakur. Sanders insisted that she loved her son and pleaded for the judge to look past his “perception” of her and her husband, Lamont Thomas, but her appeal for mercy was futile. The jury could not see past the couple’s marginal status as poor, Black, and living on the fringes of the mainstream as vegans, ... MORE >>

The view from Virginia Tech

by Steven Salaita It was a strange first year for me at Virginia Tech.  I started here last August as an assistant professor of English, a move that was something of a homecoming.  I was born and raised about an hour away from Blacksburg, in Bluefield, a small town that straddles the Virginia-West Virginia border.  Growing up in Virginia Tech’s shadow meant never quite escaping its reach. Therefore, when I accepted the job I wasn’t unfamiliar with Virginia Tech and its ... MORE >>

Equal protection for all … even those we don’t like

It goes without saying: I disagree with Don Imus' sad generalization of a group of women that have contributed to the fabric of American culture. His comments labeling the members of the Rutgers women’s basketball team as "nappy-headed ‘hos" insult the very essence of Black women, myself included, who strive to set themselves apart academically, professionally, athletically, and socially. The comments are, as the Rutgers players charged, "insensitive and hurtful." Yet I'm going to step beyond m... MORE >>

Burial of the N-word leaves attendees less than solemn

By A. David Dahmer Nobody used the N-word more than Richard Pryor in the '70s. One of the greatest comedians every to live, Pryor peppered his hilarious musings on life with the N-word, even including it in titles of two of his most famous albums. But after a trip to Africa in the ‘80s, Pryor vowed never to use the word again, commenting that he "didn't see any niggers in Africa" and that they were just figments of White people's imagination. Just as Pryor forever buried the N-word 25 years ag... MORE >>

Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra Principal Tubist James Jenkins : Making a difference with music

By A. David Dahmer The University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music presents guest artists throughout the year, usually in short residencies featuring a recital and one or two master classes. The latest guest artist, James Jenkins, who has held the principal tuba position with the Jacksonville (Fla.) Symphony since 1995, was plucked from the Deep South and brought to Wisconsin during the coldest of its record-cold temperatures. "You all don't kid around with this weather up here," Jenkins ... MORE >>

Community quotes on Martin Luther King Jr.

“We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people.” -- Taken from "Letter from Birmingham Jail," April 16, 1963. The above is one of my favorite quotes from Dr. King. Most of what he wrote and spoke about is relevant today and will be so for many tomorrows. Many of us want to be considered as "the good people.” If we are truly "the good people," we will celebrate his life and legacy wit... MORE >>

Keith Ellison primed to become first Muslim congressperson in U.S. history

By A. David DahmerMuslims in America have had it pretty tough since 9/11. Harassed, distrusted, scapegoated, stereotyped, and marginalized, Muslims have struggled to melt into America's melting pot.That's what makes Minneapolis' Keith Ellison's historic effort to become the first Muslim ever elected to the United States Congress even more remarkable.  On top of this, Ellison — who after fending off a competitive field in the Sept. 12 ... MORE >>

Mark Curry uses comedy to recover

OAKLAND, Calif. — Comedian Mark Curry is recuperating after an April accident at his Oakland home left him with burns on 18 percent of his body. The “Hanging With Mr. Cooper” star is even at a place where he can find humor in the situation, although he openly admits that it took him a while to get there. “I was depressed,'' he said. ''I thought about committing suicide, but where in a hospital room is a man who’s 6’ 6” going to hang himself?'' In an exclusive interview with The ... MORE >>