Rev Jesse Jackson

Juliana D. Norwood  |   OW Staff Writer
Aug 18 2011

Employees oppose a more expensive plan

Workers from Vons, Ralphs, and Albertsons grocery chains will gather to prepare and train picket captains this week as the workers’ union gears up for a strike authorization vote on Friday.

The sticking point between the grocery workers and the chains is healthcare.

“The healthcare proposal they have given us essentially increases the premium deductible and out-of-pocket costs, and it strips down a lot of the healthcare plan,” said Mike Shimpock, a spokesman for UFCW, Local 770, in Los Angeles.

Jun 27 2011

The two-night conversation airs this Thursday and Friday

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Tavis Smiley sits down with four wrongfully-convicted men who, despite their innocence, spent more than a combined 50 years in prison. The conversation airs nationwide on the award-winning PBS program Tavis Smiley this Thursday and Friday.

Recorded during Rainbow/PUSH Coalition’s 40th anniversary conference, Smiley is also joined by the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson.

Apr 18 2011

Obama to visit country next month

Rev. Jesse Jackson last month met with Ireland Prime Minister Enda Kenny at the Office of the Taoiseach (Prime Minister's Office) in Leinster House. Rev. Jackson met with the Prime Minister for a wide ranging discussion on both domestic and international affairs. They discussed the reconciliation efforts in Northern Ireland, following on Rev. Jackson's visit to Belfast and Derry; and the plight of Ireland's Traveller's community—indigenous people who face discrimination in all aspects of Ireland's life.

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.”