United States Department of Labor

Cynthia E. Griffin-  |   OW Managing Editor
Jul 12 2012

How to play a pivotal role in reducing unemployment

According to figures recently released by the United States Department of Labor, African Americans continue to suffer an unemployment rate significantly higher than the rest of the country.

While the national rate for June is 8.2 percent, unchanged from May, the rate for Blacks has climbed almost a full percentage point from 13.6 to 14.4 percent.

This compares to an 11 percent rate for Hispanics for both months.

Cynthia E. Griffin-  |   OW Managing Editor
Sep 15 2011

Impact felt deep in the African American psyche

As she watched President Barack Obama lay out his jobs plan for the nation last Thursday and repeatedly challenge Congress to address the issue immediately, Madelyn Broadus was thinking “finally, somebody is for the people.”

“It seems like for the past 12 years, (the government) is always for corporations and big fat cats. I really feel like he said it right for how we can begin again, the hard-working American people,” explained Broadus, one of the 14 million unemployed people that the president was speaking of during his speech.

Datwa M. Morales  |   OW Guest Contributor
Nov 11 2010

Pictures remains grim for Blacks

The national unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.6 percent for the month of October, according to a report released last week by the United States Department of Labor. California ranks third highest in the country, behind Nevada and Michigan, with a 12.4 percent unemployment rate. Nationally, 14.8 million Americans are out of work, with 6.2 million job seekers reporting they have been jobless for 27 weeks or more.

Cynthia E. Griffin-  |   OW Managing Editor
Oct 14 2010

James Clyburn says CBC takes different tactics

For the second straight month the unemployment rate among African Americans is more than double the percentage for the nation as a whole.

According to the jobs report released by the United States Department of Labor (DOL) last Friday, the U.S. unemployment rate was 9.6 percent. That figure was 16.1 for African Americans, down slightly from the 16.3 reported in August but well above the 8.7 percent number for Whites and the 12.4 figure for Hispanics.

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.