Gregg Reese
OW Staff Writer
May 17 2012

Report examines Dale Garrett shooting

Community activists held a “die-in” at the corner of Fifth and Spring streets to observe the one-year anniversary of the death of Dale Garrett.

The original police report concerning the incident had two plainclothes narcotics detectives stage an impromptu “sting” to purchase Klonopin (an anti-anxiety medication) after they saw Garrett, a transient, appear to be cutting up a narcotic substance at Fifth and Spring streets.

Apr 19 2012

A 1960s counterculture devotee traces the rise of Black militancy

“They weren’t anti-white; they were just pro-black.” —Author Pat Thomas’ paraphrase of a quote by Black Panther Bobby Seale
 

Mar 15 2012

It’s hard to tell who’s who in Men’s Central Jail

I (once) helped a colleague collect data for his master’s in criminology; he was studying the data that the penal system in South Carolina collected on the inmates at the State Prison in Columbia—namely the “Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Profile . . .” 

. . . South Carolina also administered the tests to guards and furthermore stored the data in the same (non-computer) files.

. . . Naturally we did the obvious, we compared the guards to the prisoners …

Jan 19 2012

Menu features eclectic California cuisine

The newly opened Post & Beam has all the ingredients of an intriguing entry into the volatile restaurant culture of Los Angeles. Nestled in the Crenshaw Plaza at the foot of Baldwin Hills, it takes its name from the architectural style gracing the homes in that upscale community. Building upon this motif, design firm Colorola Studios incorporated this name into the logo and signage that make up the brand.

Jan 12 2012

Some contend occupiers are all in the family

“Conflicts are unavoidable because a stage has been reached in which the reality of equality will require extensive adjustments in the way of life of some of the White majority.” 
—from “The Last Steep Ascent,” originally published by Martin Luther King Jr. in the March 1966 issue of The Nation. 
 

Dec 29 2011

Eugenics movement flourished in the ’40s and ’50s

Over the summer North Carolina has make strides toward offering restitution for its shameful history. It’s Eugenic Task Force began hearing the horrendous testimonies of some of the men and women who endured irreversible surgical sterilization as part of a state-sponsored policy that was enforced from 1929 until 1974.

For the duration of the program, about 7,600 people, including youth as young as 10 years old, were sterilized to allegedly rid society of undesirable characteristics.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.