Merdies Hayes
Oct 18 2012

Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat … shall stop the game

In the Hub City there is more to baseball than the American League and National League playoffs. But America’s favorite pastime almost vanished from most inner cities in the early 1970s when youth baseball left the urban areas for the suburbs.

With the departure of neighborhood park leagues like “Pee Wee,” “Babe Ruth” and “Connie Mack” went a unique opportunity for children of color to learn about teamwork, discipline and character. They were part of a bond where success or failure depended on confidence in one another.

Oct 11 2012

Much revered elder statesman died Sunday.

Memorial services for former California Lt. Gov. Mervyn M. Dymally will be held Wednesday, Oct. 17 at 12:30 p.m. at Holy Cross Mortuary, 5835 West Slauson Ave., in Culver City. The service will be preceded by a viewing from 9 a.m. to 12 noon at that location.

The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be sent to the Mervyn M. Dymally Memorial Fund, which has been established to honor his life, career, and legacy at https://www.wepay.com/donations/dymallymemorialfund.

Oct 8 2012

The revered elder statesman was 86

Mervyn Malcolm Dymally, who in 1962 became the first foreign-born Black to be elected to the California State Assembly, has died. Dymally, who’s health had declined in recent months, succumbed Sunday, Oct. 7. He was 86.

Oct 4 2012

James Harris and Maura DeLuca are the flag-bearers

Presidential contender James Harris, 70, and his vice presidential running mate Maura DeLuca, 33, are continuing the Socialist Workers Party’s (SWP) long-standing advocacy of workers’ rights to organize trade unions, and recently led a call for a massive federally funded public works project.

They are campaigning in this election for a working-class, labor and socialist movement, and the party’s platform seeks to join with workers in “ . . . resisting attacks from the bosses and their government.”

May 31 2012

Part of First AME’s great history

Civil rights leader and political kingmaker Hamel Hartford Brookins, who died May 22 at age 86, was even more influential away from the pulpit than he was behind it. He was an early driving force behind the rise of former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley and three other of the city’s most important African American political leaders—former City Councilman and Superior Court Judge Billy G. Mills, former Congresswoman and County Supervisor Yvonne Burke and the late City Councilman Gilbert W. Lindsay.

May 24 2012

Remembering Bradley’s contribution to the airport

Rising about 132 feet above the tarmac, the new Tom Bradley terminal at Los Angeles International Airport—or el-a-ex (LAX), as it is more popularly known—evokes thoughts of a cresting wave breaking to the west. The new terminal is part of a $4.11 billion upgrade of one of the world’s busiest airports.

It could easily be symbolic of the great wave of prosperity and growth that swept over the city during Bradley’s 20-year term as mayor, from 1973 to 1993.

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.