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Joseph Wright  |   OW Senior Staff Writer
Aug 26 2010

Groups want banks held accountable

Federal financial regulators recently held the final meeting about the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) in downtown Los Angeles. It culminated the first public opportunity to assess reforms left out of the recent financial reform legislation passed by Congress.

Marisol Aguilar  |   OW Contributor
Aug 26 2010

Minority students narrow achievement gap

The California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE) results for this year’s graduating class of 2010 show that 94.5 percent of students who were tested passed the test within a three-year period.

The CAHSEE is a statewide public high school graduation requirement that was implemented for the 2006 graduating class, which tests students on English and Mathematics.

Juliana D. Norwood  |   OW Staff Writer
Aug 26 2010

New study cites problems

Donating vital organs such as kidneys is probably one of the most generous gifts a person can give, but African Americans might become a little less giving due to the findings in a study that was recently released by the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

The Journal reported that Blacks who donate a kidney find themselves facing a higher risk of kidney disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes, than Whites who donate.

Aug 26 2010

Katherine Johnson

On Aug. 26,1918, a legend was born in White Sulphur Springs, W.A. to Joshua, a farmer who worked extra jobs as a janitor, and Joylette, who was a teacher. Early in her life math genius, physicist, and space pioneer Katherine Johnson showed her love of numbers. She said in an interview that she counted everything including the stairs in the house, the plates she washed, and the steps from home to church.

Aug 26 2010

Accepts award from President Barack Obama

Myrtle Faye Rumph, co-founder of the Al Wooten Jr. Heritage Center in South Los Angeles, accepts her Citizens Medal award, the nation’s second-highest civilian honor, from President Barack Obama.

Rumph and her husband Harris created the youth center in 1989 following the drive-by shooting death of her son in 1989. The Inglewood couple sold their home to finance the after-school program and study center, which provides a safe haven and intervention programs for South Central Los Angeles youth.

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.