Harriet Tubman

Gail Choice  |   OW Contributor
May 17 2012

Hollywood by Choice

For avid moviegoers, this is their favorite time of the year, because we’re in the beginning of the summer blockbuster films. But are there any African American actors and actresses featured in these films? Being a part of a blockbuster film often translates into more work, not necessarily lead roles, but certainly pivotal roles.   

Jul 21 2011

Fought opportunities

Lillian Mobley, a South Los Angeles activist who worked to keep Martin Luther King Drew Medical Center operating, died Monday at Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood. She was 81.

Originally from Georgia, “Mother Mobley,” as she was affectionately called, moved to Los Angeles in the 1950s, and soon became an invaluable member of the community by advocating for better lifestyles and opportunities for all, with a focus on education, healthcare and transportation.

Brittney M. Walker  |   OW Staff Writer
Apr 14 2011

Grandma Moses

On April 20, 1853, fearless leader, Harriet Tubman, began her work on the Underground Railroad.
She took her sister and her sister’s two children to Maryland on her first trip to freedom. A year later, she rescued her brother and then her aged parents. Over the period of ten years, Tubman made an estimated 19 trips into and out of the South, freeing at least 300 enslaved Africans.

Brittney M. Walker  |   OW Staff Writer
Mar 10 2011

Antelope Valley chapter leader

LANCASTER, Calif.—The Antelope Valley is swarming with talented women, from those in education to those in power positions like the president of Greek letter organization, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc., Antelope Valley chapter.

LaTonya T. Nelson, born and raised in Los Angeles, has been with the organization since 1988, when she joined while attending California State University, Long Beach. Attracted to the organization’s commitment to community, social awareness and sisterhood, Nelson had to be part of the movement.

Brittney M. Walker  |   OW Staff Writer
Nov 25 2010

Our connection to the afterlife

Ancestry is a highly regarded realm of life among many of us in our domestic sectors and even abroad. Many families have a deep reverence for those who have passed on to another life beyond the clouds in heaven or a life among the spirits in a realm unseen by the human eye.

Memorials in honor of the ancestors may remain on mantels in homes, or a small token from their former life may be kept away in a relatives, and loved ones’ secret space.

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.