Brandon Spencer

Nov 8 2012

Halloween party leaves four wounded

The 19-year-old man arrested on suspicion of wounding four people at a Halloween party on the USC campus was identified as a security guard.

Brandon Spencer of Inglewood was arrested early Thursday on the campus. A family friend at the apartment complex where he lives told the Los Angeles Times that Spencer was a “good kid.”

California Bureau of Security and Investigative Services records reviewed by The Times showed Spencer has a current security guard license.

Nov 6 2012

Four wounded

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—A week after four people were wounded in an on-campus shooting at a Halloween party, USC President C.L. Max Nikias today announced steps to tighten security at the university.

“The safety of USC students, faculty and staff on campus is a top priority for me and for my leadership team,” Nikias said in an open letter addressed to the “USC community.”

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

California
San Diego college students and volunteers will carry out their sixth home restoration project on Wednesday, July 10 through Sunday, July 14. as part of the “Healing our Heroes’ Homes” (H3) program created by the nonprofit Embrace. The five-day effort will take place at the home of medically retired Marine Corps Capt. Sarah Bettencourt. Bettencourt served with many different units across the country during the Global War on Terrorism and developed a rare neurological disorder in 2008. With a focus to restore the homes of disabled veteran homeowners, H3 falls in line with Embrace’s mission to mobilize college-student volunteers and community members to serve less fortunate members of civilian and veteran communities. The project for the Bettencourts’ home includes kitchen and bathroom remodeling, building ADA-compliant disability ramps, widening their driveway to ADA standards, widening doorways and landscaping.
 
District of Columbia
The 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival will showcase its five-year community research project on African American identity with the program “The Will to Adorn: African American Diversity, Style, and Identity.” This multicity collaboration examines the history and culture of the aesthetics of African Americans. The festival will be held June 26-30 and July 3-7, outdoors on the National Mall between Seventh and 14th streets. “Whether we realize it or not, we are all dress artists. The way we compose our look is a creative expression of our ideas about who we are and who we aspire to be,” said Diana N’Diaye, program curator. “This program explores the diversity of African American traditions of style, but also teaches young people the importance of documenting their own culture and saving that information for themselves and future generations.”