News
Is it time for ‘COPS’ to go?
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25 Mar 2013
- Written by Real Times News Service
ColorOfChange.org and its members are urging FOX, and corporate advertisers of the television show "COPS," to make the 25th season of show its last in primetime.
Since its debut in 1989, FOX, "COPS" producers, and corporate advertisers have built a profit model around distorted and dehumanizing portrayals of black Americans and the criminal justice system.
American culture unfairly views young men like Trayvon Martin and Jordan Russell Davis with suspicion. Moreover, in the last decade, New York has had close to 5 million incidents of "stop and frisk" by police officers, most of which have targeted black and Hispanic males, so right now the stakes couldn't be higher for minority communities or their families.
Black Panther Party co-founder Bobby Seale to produce life-story film
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25 Mar 2013
- Written by Tri-State Defender Newsroom
Bobby Seale, chairman, co-founder and national organizer of the Black Panther Party, is producing a biographical motion picture that will dramatize his life and the tumultuous 1960's and 70's, the era in which the Black Panthers emerged as "the prominent revolutionary civil rights movement of it's time."
Seale and his partner, Stephen Edwards, a filmmaker and former member of the Panthers, have written a screenplay with the title, "Seize the Time, The Eighth Defendant."
"Seize the Time" is also the title of Seale's autobiography, which has sold over one million copies since first published in 1970. A studio executive at Fox Search Light Pictures suggested that Seale and Edwards produce this dramatized feature instead of the more traditional documentary they had originally been working on.
KKK in the classroom
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21 Mar 2013
- Written by Jenee Desmond-Harris/The Root
The Washington Times reports that members of hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and Westboro Baptist Church are being integrated into the lesson plans – and invited to the actual classrooms – of teachers around the country.
No, these aren't white-pride types, and it's not backlash by those who think ethnic-studies programs could rip apart the fiber of the country.
Rather, educators' aim is that "students can witness the extreme views such groups espouse and know how to avoid them."
Michael Baisden bids farewell to radio
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21 Mar 2013
- Written by Tri-State Defender Newsroom
Nationally syndicated radio personality Michael Baisden announced a hiatus from his radio show on his Facebook page Wednesday morning. That separation is to begin on April 1.
Baisden, who commands a daily audience of over seven million listeners, said he was unable to discuss the particulars but concluded that a deal could not be made on mutually agreeable terms.
Recognized as one of the most influential men in radio, his "Michael Baisden Show" is one of the top rated afternoon drive radio programs heard in the top urban markets. He is also a TV talk show host, film-maker and New York Times best-selling author with nearly two million books in print.
Sugary drinks linked to 180,000 deaths worldwide
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19 Mar 2013
- Written by Leslie Wade/CNN
Sugar-sweetened beverages are linked to more than 180,000 obesity-related deaths worldwide each year, according to new research presented this week at an American Heart Association conference.
"This means about one in every 100 deaths from obesity-related diseases is caused by drinking sugary beverages," says study author Gitanjali Singh, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Among the world's 35 largest countries, Mexico had the highest death rates from sugary drinks, and Bangladesh had the lowest, according to the study. The United States ranked third.
GOP faces tough racial issues in minority outreach
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19 Mar 2013
- Written by Halimah Abdullah/CNN
WASHINGTON – Republican K. Carl Smith is African-American and he knows that the GOP's racial reckoning won't come from 100-page reports from party headquarters with carefully worded prescriptions about "outreach" to "demographic partners."
Instead, the type of sea change needed to shake the GOP's image as a party of old, white and culturally-insulated men will require the type of profound grassroots shakeup that might make some in the GOP uneasy."
"You got your establishment Republicans who want to keep things the same," said Smith, an Army veteran who grew up in Alabama during the Civil Rights era. "The status quo needs to go through some, I won't say diversity classes, but I'll say liberty classes and learn about helping people on the bottom of the ladder."
African-American teen abortion rates twice the national average
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19 Mar 2013
- Written by CNN
A new study conducted by the Guttmacher Institute shows that African-American teen abortion rates are more than twice as high as the national average.
According to the study, the national average is 18 abortions per 1,000 women among 15-19-year olds. The African-American abortion rate is 41 per 1,000 women among that age group, which is four times higher than non-Hispanic whites abortion rate at 10 per 1,000 and twice as high for Hispanics at 20 per 1,000.
The Guttmacher Institute revealed in a recent study that African-American women account for 30 percent of all abortions and African Americans make up only 13 percent of the total U.S. population.
The Black Women’s Expo in Chicago is a must-see
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19 Mar 2013
- Written by Real Times News Service
The Millennial Generation were just pre-teens when The Black Women's Expo (TBWE) kicked off in 1994. Janet Jackson was hot on the pop charts and Disney had just released "the Lion King" movie. The term "smart phone" had yet to be coined and texting was not the ubiquitous occurrence it is today.
Fast forward to 2013 and the Expo is still offering relevant content, not just to those who first turned out 19 years ago, but also to Millennials who will likely be attending with their daughters. Merry Green, owner of MGPG Events, Inc., and the creator of the Expo, talks to The Chicago Defender about the highlights of the 2013 event slated for April 5-7 at Chicago's McCormick Place and what we can expect this year.
The Chicago Defender: To what do you attribute the longevity of The Black Women's Expo (TBWE)?
CBC pitches its FY 2014 budget as the way to go
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18 Mar 2013
- Written by Tri-State Defender Newsroom
The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), which historically submits alternatives to budgets proposed by both Republican and Democratic presidents and House majorities, has released its alternative for fiscal year 2014.
According to the CBC, its alternative reduces the deficit and alleviates harm inflicted by austerity measures in a responsible and fiscally sound manner. The CBC FY 2014 alternative also is pitched as increasing economic opportunities by investing in education, infrastructure, housing, job training and through modernization of our military.
In addition, the CBC says its budget protects and enhances the social safety net that "continues to save millions from poverty." It calls for significant investments in these functions to "accelerate our economic recovery and to ensure our recovery is felt in every community in America."
Dr. Ben Carson to leave medicine, hints at politics
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18 Mar 2013
- Written by Kevin Liptak/CNN
OXON HILL, Maryland – Dr. Benjamin Carson, the neurosurgeon who made headlines in February for making political statements during his address at the National Prayer Breakfast, said Saturday he was leaving medicine and pursuing other opportunities, which could include politics.
Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington, Carson said he was ending his medical career "while I'm on top," making the comparison to airplane pilots who retire before crashing.
"There are so many more things that can be done," Carson said, pointing to his educational foundation Carson's Scholars.
Exoskeleton allows paraplegics to walk
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15 Mar 2013
- Written by Matthew Gannon/CNN
The idea of "wearable robots" may seem like something out of a movie, but this technology is already being used in real life.
Started as a project for the military, the exoskeleton has transformed from a device designed to allow soldiers to lift heavy loads and walk further to one that enables people with disabilities to step out of wheelchairs and stand upright.
The "Ekso" is a bionic exoskeleton developed by Ekso Bionics that gives paraplegics upright mobility. While the commercial version of the Ekso has recently been made available to hospitals and rehabilitation centers, the company hopes to make the technology more accessible so that people can use it at home and in their everyday lives, with a personal version releasing in 2014.
Sixth grader takes $20,000 to school
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14 Mar 2013
- Written by CNN
Plenty of questions arose after a 12-year-old girl reportedly handed cash out to her classmates in a Taylor, Mich. school.
ABC affiliate WXYZ reports the girl took $20,000 in cash to school in a backpack on Monday (March 11.)
The girl reportedly gave $200 to one student and $500 to another. That's when school officials found out about the money and the school principal called police.
Congressional Black Caucus ‘disappointed’ in President Obama’s Cabinet picks
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12 Mar 2013
- Written by CNN
Rep. Marcia Fudge, chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, expressed concern in a letter to President Barack Obama over the lack of African Americans among his new Cabinet picks.
"Congressional Black Caucus offices have had numerous phone calls from constituents questioning why none of the new appointees will be able to speak to the unique needs of African Americans," Fudge, D-Ohio, wrote. "Their ire is compounded by the overwhelming support you've received from the African American community."
The president faced criticism at the beginning of the year when he picked white males for some of the highest spots in the administration, including secretary of state, treasury secretary, defense secretary and chief of staff (the latter of which has the status of Cabinet-rank).
