NAACP

Mar 17 2011

Gender equity is everybody’s business

March is Women’s History Month, and the White House Council on Women and Girls, led by Valerie Jarrett, commemorated it by releasing a report on the status of women. According to the report, we’ve come a long way, sisters, but we’ve still got a long way to go. Despite the fact that we out-enroll men in college, we under-earn them in the workplace. There are so many phenomenal women accomplishing amazing things, and at the same time there are so many women whose economic attainment is constrained by gender.

Feb 24 2011

Activist

Before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat and move to the back of the bus in Montgomery, Ala., 15-year-old Claudette Colvin had refused to yield her seat to a White passenger on March 2, 1955, and was arrested.

Parks’ similar act followed on December 1 of the same year.

Born Sept. 5, 1939, Colvin understood early what injustice was.

According to one report, she had been inspired by her ancestors who endured and fought the institution of slavery.

Cynthia E. Griffin-  |   OW Managing Editor
Feb 3 2011

Helping the underprivileged was the goal

During their first century in America, there was no such thing as welfare, Temporary Aid to Needy Families, General Relief, Social Security or other such government programs designed to help people of African descent survive.

It was either do-it-yourself effort or get a little help from family and/or friends. As Black communities continued to mature, they followed the example of Whites and began to create mutual aid or benevolent societies. In their early years, these groups provided members with opportunities and protections in a racially hostile environment.

Stanley O. Williford  |   OW Editor
Jan 27 2011

Bernice turns down presidency

 Bernice Albertine King finally ended the long standoff with the organization her father helped found by refusing to become its next president.

Her decision continues to leave rudderless the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which has been beset with quarrels and infighting.

Gail Choice  |   OW Contributor
Jan 20 2011

Hollywood by Choice

This is shaping up to be a very good year for Blacks in Hollywood. I know I sound optimistic, that’s because I am.

TV One and BET are beginning to truly step up to the plate and present original programming (‘Love That Girl’ TV One) that not only hires Blacks in front of the camera, but behind it as well. These shows represent not only a new generation of producers, writers and directors, but capitalize on the experience, skills and passion that the brother and sisters from ‘back in the day’ learned under the gun.

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.