misusing campaign funds

Feb 20 2013

Purchase of Michael Jackson memorabilia

WASHINGTON, D.C.—With moist eyes and soft voices, former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife pleaded guilty to federal charges on Wednesday related to years of using campaign funds for personal expenses that included purchases of Michael Jackson memorabilia and a Rolex watch.

“Guilty, your honor,” Jackson responded to U.S. District Judge Robert Wilkins while dabbing his eyes with a handkerchief after he looked back at family members in the courtroom, including his father, civil rights activist Jesse Jackson.

Feb 15 2013

His wife is charged with filing false tax returns

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Federal prosecutors on Friday filed a plea agreement reached with former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. in which he admits to a felony count of misusing campaign funds.

The document contends the Illinois Democrat and his wife, Sandra Stevens Jackson, spent about $750,000 dollars from campaign coffers for personal expenses on a variety of luxury items, including furs and Michael Jackson memorabilia.

The agreement calls for Jackson to pay back hundreds of thousands of dollars.

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.”