black community

Cynthia E. Griffin-  |   OW Managing Editor
Sep 8 2011

A common theme runs through proposals

As the nation continues to struggle economically, the latest jobs report (August) did not offer much good news. Unemployment remained stuck at 9.1 percent nationwide; at 16.7 percent for African Americans and zoomed up to 46.5 percent for Black youth, ages 16-19, up from 39.2 percent in July.

This sustained economic malaise for the nation has pumped up the urgency to create jobs, and that mantra has now (belatedly as far as some in the Black community are concerned) become the drum beat to which much of Washington is responding.

Anthony Asadullah Samad, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Sep 1 2011

Between the Lines

The film, “The Help,” is the No. 1 movie in America. It’s a good movie, but it’s not that good. What is curious to me is the timing of the movie.

The book just came out in 2009—the summer of 2009—after being turned down by 60 editors and taking five years to be written. The book was optioned after it hit the New York Times best-seller list, in December of 2009, given a release date in December 2010 for late summer 2011.

David L. Horne, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Sep 1 2011

Practical Politics

Wednesday of this week marked the end of a very memorable August 2011.

August is usually a tall Southern drink of sultry chilled water, the natural bridge to fall and back to school. But this year, the month was far more than that.

There were record deaths of United States troops in Afghanistan, earthquakes in New York and Washington, D.C., as well as a hurricane turned tropical storm that flooded out some states and postponed the festivities to honor America’s newest redeemed peacemaker hero—Dr. Martin Luther King.

Sikivu Hutchinson  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Sep 1 2011

Suspensions of African American youth soar as the school system—and parenting—fails them.

Sitting in the sparsely filled auditorium of Gardena High School in Los Angeles at the beginning of an annual senior awards ceremony, I looked around, and wondered; where the hell are the Black parents? I was attending the ceremony to see students from my Women’s Leadership Project program—the majority of whom are African American and en route to four-year colleges—receive much-deserved awards for service and academic achievement. 

Sep 1 2011

Leimert Park stop unclear

The Federal Transit Administration gave the approval for construction to begin on Metro’s $1.76 billion light rail line along Crenshaw Boulevard that will run from the Green Line near Los Angeles International Airport to the Expo Line.

The FTA approved the final environmental impact report for the 8.5-mile line. The report still needs approval by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is expected to vote on the report at its Sept. 22 board meeting.

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.