History profile: ‘The Real McCoy’

Although the name Elijah McCoy may be unknown to most people, the enormity of his ingenuity and the quality of his inventions have created a level of distinction which bears his name.

McCoy was born in Colchester, Ontario, Canada on May 2, 1844. His parents were George and Emillia McCoy, former slaves from Kentucky who escaped through the Underground Railroad. George joined the Canadian Army, fighting in the Rebel War and then raised his family as free Canadian citizens on a 160-acre homestead.

Chicago students see a guide in President Obama

CHICAGO – To these young men, President Barack Obama is a model of what they could become -- if they can avoid violence, unemployment and other pitfalls that have derailed some residents in their communities.

High school students enrolled in the Chicago schools' "Becoming a Man" program sat down with the president Friday in their school before he delivered a speech about the blight of gun violence on communities and the economy.

Student Vontate Stewart said Obama described his own struggles of the past and how he overcame them.

Man slaps 19-month-old toddler on plane, tells mother to ''shut that n****r baby up''

Police: Couple orders chicken before sex in parking lot

Sonora, Calif., police say two people were having sex in a car, in plain sight of others, Tuesday afternoon after ordering chicken from a BBQ restaurant.

Officers cited 72-year-old Linda Titus and 62-year-old Garry Wells for indecent exposure before releasing them.

Lee Saunders, AFSCME's first African American leader

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees is America's largest union, and Lee Saunders is the first African-American president in its 80-year history.

According to Saunders, while AFSCME's members are only 16 to 18 percent black, its ties to the African-American struggle for economic equality run deep.

On the 45th anniversary of the Memphis Sanitation Strike of 1968, The Root spoke to him about the significance of the landmark civil rights event in the labor movement's history, the import of his organization's efforts for the African-American community and what he hopes to see from President Obama's second term.

Police Declare Christopher Dorner Investigation 'Over'

(CNN) -- Authorities said Wednesday they are reasonably sure that the body found inside the burned cabin near Big Bear Lake, California, is that of Christopher Dorner, the rogue ex-cop who had been pursuing a vendetta against his fellow officers.

Black Americans: The new face of HIV/AIDS

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Last Minute Gift Ideas For Your Valentine

Highlights from the State of the Union address

Whether you missed President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address Tuesday evening or just need a refresher, here are some of his main points:

- Noting that more than 1,000 people have died from gun violence since the Connecticut school massacre, President Obama said proposals ranging from expanded background checks to limiting the size of ammunition magazines should receive a vote in Congress. "They deserve a simple vote," Obama repeated to sustained applause in what was the evening's most emotional moment with the families of gun violence victims in attendance.

Overtime for checking work email off the job?

A federal lawsuit in Chicago claims that answering calls and emails from bosses on one's smartphone after hours constitutes overtime.

According to the Huffington Post, Chicago police Sgt. Jeffrey Allen claims in his suit that the city owes him and other officers millions in overtime pay for work performed on their BlackBerry phones.

"A culture has developed where police officers feel compelled to work for free in order to possibly gain a promotion and/or maintain their coveted assignment," according to a plaintiff filing.

Could the next pope be from Africa?

Hours after Pope Benedict XVI's resignation announcement Monday, speculation was surging over who might be his successor – and what part of the world the new pontiff could be from.

The 118 cardinals who will pick the next pope are also in the running for the job. Those cardinals are from around the globe, but more than half of them hail from European nations, according to Vatican statistics.

Worldwide, the demographic trends among the Roman Catholic Church's nearly 1.2 billion members show a different breakdown, with the church seeing only a trickle of new members in Europe while membership numbers have grown significantly in Africa, according to Vatican statistics.

Chris Dorner and the roots of his LAPD war

What authorities are calling Chris Dorner's campaign of guerrilla warfare against his former comrades in the Los Angeles Police Department has its roots in a hotel lobby in San Pedro, the city's port district.

In July 2007, the former Navy officer was an LAPD probationary officer, riding patrol with a veteran of the force, when they were dispatched to check out a report of a disturbance at the DoubleTree Hotel. A man had refused to leave the premises and was sitting on the bench outside the lobby when they arrived.