The Associated Press is reporting that Arthur Morgan III has been arrested for allegedly murdering his 2-year-old daughter, Tierra. Morgan is suspected of tossing his daughter into a creek while she was still strapped into her car seat during a court-approved visit. Morgan fled the state after the incident and was captured without incident late…

In a united show of force, police raided the Occupy camps in Los Angeles and Philadelphia this morning. More than 200 protesters were arrested in Los Angeles. The Associated Press reports: Dozens of officers in riot gear flooded down the steps of Los Angeles City Hall just after midnight and started dismantling the two-month-old camp…

Movie mogul Tyler Perry is speaking out about the scandal at Penn State, penning an open letter to an 11-year-old alleged victim involved in the Penn State sex-abuse scandal. Perry, himself a child sexual-abuse survivor, champions the boy’s efforts to notify those in charge, calling him a “hero” and “survivor,” not a victim. Perry writes:…

The Washington Post is reporting that musician and activist Wyclef Jean is responding to a recent report by the New York Post questioning the spending of Jean’s charitable organization, the Yele Haiti Foundation, again. The New York Post reported that the foundation collected $16 million in 2010, but less than a third of that went…

Darryl A. Cobbin of the Huffington Post has written an article entitled, “Open Marriage: A Celebrity Solution or a Contradiction in Terms,” in which he explores the pros and cons of open marriages. In examining the controversy surrounding the high-profile marriages of Jada and Will Smith and Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, both of which…

Religion plays a major role in the lives of many racial and ethnic groups, including blacks. It is often believed that all people of African descent are God-fearing and staunch believers in organized religions like Christianity, Judaism and Islam. However, there is a growing population of black atheists, those who don’t believe in a higher…

The 2011 Soul Train Awards were broadcast last night on BET. The awards, which were previously taped at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, featured a preshow that was hosted by songstress Melanie Fiona and A.J. Calloway. Gladys Knight and Earth, Wind and Fire were honored with legend and lifetime achievement awards while the late rapper…

Carolyn Kellogg of the Los Angeles Times is reporting that Jesmyn Ward’s Salvage the Bones, about a family hit by Hurricane Katrina, received the 2011 National Book Award for fiction. The novel, her second, was a surprise winner. The National Book Foundation, which sponsors the awards, presented two of its five major prizes to African-American…

Ruthie Ackerman of the Women’s Media Center is reporting that Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s victory in the presidential election was tainted by violence and low voter turnout. Ackerman wonders aloud if Sirleaf will be able to unite the badly divided country in her second-term. Ackerman writes: On Monday (11/14/11) violent clashes erupted between Liberian…