African American Family

Julianne Malveaux  |   OW Contributing Columnist
May 16 2013

Counting the Cost

When Beyoncé Knowles sang the Etta James song “At Last” at President Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration, the song could have had several meanings. At last, we have an African American president? At last, the muscle of the Black vote has been flexed? At last, there is some hope for our country to come together with the mantra “Yes We Can.”

May 10 2013

Edited by Gil L. Robertson IV

The song always pops up when you least expect it.

There you are, minding your own business, you hear a few notes, and you’re pulled back to a wonderful-horrible time, starry dreams, laughter, bitterness, love lost. That old love song might be just a “precious melody,” but it almost brings you to your knees.

Juliana D. Norwood  |   OW Staff Writer
Jan 31 2013

African American family forced to relocate to avoid gang violence

Civil rights activists and other community leaders called for hate crime charges on Monday against gang members suspected in attacks on an African American Compton family and threats against other Black residents.

The attacks sparked a rally at Compton City Hall after two men—reportedly from a Latino gang—were arrested for harassing and threatening a family to move out of the neighborhood because of their skin color.

Nov 21 2012

Brea police say no evidence of a hate crimes

YORBA LINDA, Calif.—A Black family of four, led by a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy and Inglewood police officer, said they were chased out of Yorba Linda because of repeated acts of racism, prompting the Orange County Human Relations Commission today to pledge new outreach efforts to Blacks in the county.

Dec 29 2011

Slavery is a curse whose vestiges still remain

The Black family has been the object of numerous studies, research projects, but most importantly, is the cornerstone of Black human survival.

Speaking about African family values, Faye Z Belgrave, Ph.D., professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, says “marriage and family and children are really the hallmarks of this culture, because the union of a family represents so much symbolically …”

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.