Latino

Cynthia E. Griffin-  |   OW Managing Editor
Dec 23 2010

New strategies needed

Children typically have no control over where the adults in their lives take them, and that is the premise behind a piece of legislation that has been bouncing around Congress for at least 10 years.

Currently called the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2010 or “the Dream Act,” the bill was essentially killed in the final days of the 111th Congress, when Democrats could not muster up the 60 votes needed in the Senate to break a Republican filibuster and vote on the bill, S.769.

Gregg Reese  |   OW Staff Writer
Dec 16 2010

Racial friction between Black and Hispanic gangs suspected as root cause

...The problems produced by placing such a tremendous amount of firepower in the hands of our youth are exacerbated by a terrifying fact: Most juveniles don’t have very good aim. In 1989, Los Angeles District Attorney Ira Reiner reported that half of all drive-by shooting fatalities (a practice common to gangs) in his city were “innocent bystanders” (Harper, 1989, pp. 12-15). Recently, one gang member explained the problem: “Keep in mind we don’t have no target ranges were we get prolific with these guns” (Bing, 1989).

Rupa Dev | New American Media  |   OW Contributor
Oct 28 2010

Torlackson vs. Aceves

Editor’s Note: Next week, California voters will decide who will take over the daunting job of leading the state’s public school system. Larry Aceves, a Latino, is a former superintendent of districts in San Jose and the Central Coast. Tom Torlakson is an assemblyman from Contra Costa County who taught for 10 years in the 1970s and ‘80s. Both are Democrats. This interview is a round-up of questions posed by ethnic media editors and reporters.

Oct 7 2010

Attorney General asked to act

BERKELEY, Calif.—The Greenlining Institute Wednesday called for a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures in California and asked Attorney General Jerry Brown to join the push to halt foreclosures until it can be confirmed that California consumer protection laws are being followed.

Manny Otiko   |   OW Contributor
Sep 23 2010

Hispanic heritage month celebrated Sept. 15-Oct. 15

When 2nd Lt. Emily Perez was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq, she became the first female African American officer to die in combat. Perez, an outstanding West Point graduate, was mourned by two communities because, while she looked like a Black woman, she came from a Black-Latino family.

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.