Darren Parker

Brittney M. Walker  |   OW Staff Writer
Jan 20 2011

Special election on Feb. 15

LANCASTER, Calif.—Local activist and community leader Darren Parker has officially set out on an ambitious journey for a seat in the capitol by declaring his candidacy for state Senate to represent the 17th District. Parker filed on Jan. 3, the deadline date to file for the special election coming up in February.

Brittney M. Walker  |   OW Staff Writer
Oct 7 2010

Conflict with current group?

LANCASTER, Calif.—At the last city council meeting Mayor R. Rex Parris presented to his constituents an idea to establish a Lancaster-based task force to address the same issues that the already established Antelope Valley Human Relations Task Force (AVHRTF) takes on.

At the Lancaster City Council meeting, the mayor proposed that if a Lancaster-based task force was in place, some of the tension that came up at the last meeting could have been avoided.
Although a group has already been established, Parris believes it is necessary to introduce a new one.

Brittney M. Walker  |   OW Staff Writer
Sep 16 2010

Racial profiling proven by sheriff’s report

LANCASTER, Calif. - Community activists and Antelope Valley residents rallied together at the front of County of Los Angeles Library Lancaster on Tuesday afternoon in response to the recent report published by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department that exemplified excessive racial profiling within the Antelope Valley. According to the report, a disproportionate amount of African Americans and Latinos have been arrested - 64 percent of arrests in Lancaster have been of African Americans while Blacks only make up 15 percent of the population.

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.