African American Football Player

May 13 2013

Serving 33-year term for robbery, kidnapping and assault

LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Disgraced football legend O.J. Simpson was in a Las Vegas courtroom Monday in a bid to get his robbery, assault and kidnapping convictions thrown out.

Dressed in a blue prison uniform, the Heisman Trophy winner and former Buffalo Bills star halfback appeared to have grayed some during his four years of incarceration.

Julianne Malveaux  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Dec 13 2012

Counting the Cost

By now, it’s old news that Kasandra Perkins was murdered by Kansas City Chiefs football player Jovan Belcher, her boyfriend and the father of her daughter. By now we’ve read about how great a teammate Belcher was, how dedicated to his girlfriend and daughter. We’ve read his hardscrabble story of moving from the University of Maine, hardly a football powerhouse, to a coveted slot in the NFL.

Belcher has been humanized, even enshrined as his friends have talked about him not having a violent bone in his body.

Sep 19 2012

Exonerated for rape

LONG BEACH, Calif.—A former Long Beach high school football star who spent more than five years behind bars for rape but had his conviction overturned when his accuser recanted her story will get his chance to play professional football, an attorney said Tuesday.

Aug 10 2012

Receives first-degree murder

LANCASTER, Calif.—A 34-year-old man—charged along with two other people, including former Raiders defensive end Anthony Wayne Smith, in an October 2008 killing—was convicted today of first-degree murder.

The Lancaster Superior Court jury deliberated about two days before returning its verdict against Dewann Wesley White, who is facing 25 years to life in state prison, according to Deputy District Attorney Taly Peretz.

Jul 19 2012

Standout athlete succumbs at 30

Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. today at the Bible Enrichment Fellowship International Church for Charles Edward Drake III, a former NFL running back, who died on July 5. He was 30.

Born to Elizabeth and Charles Drake on Sept. 25, 1981, he was known to many as Charles, but his family and friends affectionately called him “Chuck,” a nickname given to him by his best friend Marcell, who preceded him in death. Drake, at an early age accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior, and was an active member at Park Windsor Baptist Church.

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.