National Football League

Earl "Skip" Cooper  |   OW Guest Contributor
Feb 24 2011

AEG efforts applauded

The potential Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) football stadium for downtown Los Angeles would spur major economic development and finance for the local economy, and in particular, for minority and small businesses. I strongly applaud the efforts of AEG, as well as Farmers Insurance Exchange, in their commitment to this historical project. The proposed football stadium will be dubbed Farmers Field under a naming-rights agreement announced by AEG.

Nov 25 2010

First African American to win Heisman Trophy

Ernest Davis, born Dec. 14, 1939, became the first African American athlete to win the Heisman Trophy. The running back played at Syracuse University before being drafted by the Washington Redskins. He also was declared an All-American athlete in 1960 and in 1961, the same year he won the most prestigious title for an American collegiate athlete.

Anthony Asadullah Samad, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Nov 18 2010

Between the Lines

The Monday night football game this week was a lesson in life and redemption. I only saw the first half, but that was enough. I got so excited about the performance of Philadelphia Eagles Quarterback, Michael Vick, that I shelved my intended column topic for this week and started over.

Brittney M. Walker  |   OW Staff Writer
Nov 18 2010

America’s most wanted slaves

Dare we not forget the solemnly shameful, yet strangely glorious past of American history, when Africans were stolen from their homes, stripped of their languages, religions, cultures, and families; when countless ancestors perished over the Atlantic in the bowels of grand ships, locked in chains and human waste; when Black people were bought, sold and traded.

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.”