White

Cynthia E. Griffin-  |   OW Managing Editor
Sep 16 2010

Third in series of community meetings

Nearly one-third of African American students (32.9 percent) and one-quarter of Hispanic pupils (23.8 percent) dropped out during the 2007-08 school year compared to 18.9 percent of youngsters overall in California.

That figure from the California Department of Education represents a four-year adjusted rate and also the first time officials say they have been able to determine a true drop-out rate.

Sep 9 2010

Enough is enough

While reading an issue of Essence recently, I was touched by an interview the magazine did with its former editor Susan L. Taylor. The topic of the interview was mentoring and why the former editor had become so passionate about the activity. One of the things that stuck out to me was when Taylor stated, “Enough is enough” after revealing that 58 percent of Black fourth graders are functionally illiterate.

Juliana D. Norwood  |   OW Staff Writer
Sep 2 2010

Researchers don’t know why

According to a recent study by The Nielsen Company, which analyzes the cell phone bills of more than 60,000 people in the United States each month, African Americans talk and text significantly more than other races.

On average African Americans used more than 1,300 minutes of talk time per month. Hispanics were a not-so-close second with 826 minutes; Asians/Pacific Islanders were third with 692 minutes, and last were Whites with 647 minutes of talk time per month.

Sep 2 2010

Sherylla Wilson and Tami McAdory

Dear Editor:

It’s interesting how the police, who were once ordinary people like you and I, propel themselves to superiority by putting on uniforms.

 I am a 26-year-old, African American female and personally, I am so tired of the racism we, as African Americans experience, I could just scream. My mother is an Los Angeles Police Department officer, and I have been trying my entire life to believe that not all agencies or officers are racist. But outside of my family, I’ve been proven wrong.

Marisol Aguilar  |   OW Contributor
Aug 26 2010

Minority students narrow achievement gap

The California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE) results for this year’s graduating class of 2010 show that 94.5 percent of students who were tested passed the test within a three-year period.

The CAHSEE is a statewide public high school graduation requirement that was implemented for the 2006 graduating class, which tests students on English and Mathematics.

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.”