culture
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Chicago Activists ‘Charge Genocide’
In the aftermath of the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner at the hands of police, a group of Chicago-based activists have come together to raise awareness against police brutality. Their findings were released Wednesday in a report titled “Police Violence Against Chicago’s Youth of Color,” according to DNAinfo Chicago. For years Chicago has…
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Autopsy: Michael Brown Sustained Close-Range Wound to Hand
Official autopsy results show that unarmed Ferguson, Mo., teen Michael Brown was shot in the hand from close range, two unrelated experts have confirmed through analysis, according to documents seen by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Toxicology reports also confirmed that Brown, who was shot by Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson, had marijuana in his system at…
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Maryland Teen Found Guilty of Raping Classmate in High School Hallway
Teen Jocori Scarborough was found guilty on Tuesday of raping a classmate in a hallway of Salisbury, Md.’s Parkside High School, Salisbury’s Daily Times reports. The 18-year-old was found guilty on all five counts: second-degree rape, false imprisonment, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, and disturbing or threatening a student, the newspaper reports. “She said no,” Wicomico County…
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New York Man Charged With Fatally Beating Toddler
A New York City man has been charged in the brutal beating of his two stepchildren. One of the toddlers died as a result of the attack, the New York Post reports. Kelsey “Shawn” Smith, 20, was charged with assault on Monday after the incident, which occurred in a Brooklyn homeless shelter. He insisted that…
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We Create More Jobs When Black-Women-Owned Businesses Succeed
Each month I discuss the monthly U.S. Department of Labor jobs report on CNBC’s Power Lunch, and the findings are often bittersweet. Economists generally feel that our country is making progress. In fact, this summer, unemployment reached its lowest rate in six years—hovering close to 6 percent. Yet somehow, this improving trend continues to leave…
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Former Harlem Globetrotter Goes Missing During Road Trip
A former Harlem Globetrotter who was making the 1,100-mile trek from California to Seattle to be with his longtime girlfriend has been missing for more than a week, and police are turning to the public for help, news station KTLA reports. Rico Omarr Harris, 37, called his mother Oct. 10 to tell her that he…
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United Nations: Detroit Water Shutoffs Violate Human Rights
There’s a new player in Detroit who wants to bring attention to how the city has shut off the running water in thousands of homes because residents have been unable to pay their water bill. The water shutoff caused an outcry earlier this year from folks who believe the city’s response was severe and inhumane. Now the United…
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Now the NAACP and Family Lawyers Are Looking Into Lennon Lacy’s Hanging Death
On Monday night, lawyers Al McSurely and Allen Rogers met with Claudia Lacy and Larry Walton to discuss the next step in the investigation into what McSurely called “the probable murder” of Lacy and Walton’s 17-year-old son, Lennon Lacy. While the parents of boys like Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis waged uphill battles hoping to…
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Pennsylvania’s Attempt to Silence Prison Activist Mumia Abu-Jamal
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett just signed a new law that allows convicted prisoners to be sued by their victims for “seeking publicity or money.” Corbett made a point of signing it at an infamous Philadelphia street corner: 13th and Locust. It’s where Mumia Abu-Jamal, a part-time radio journalist driving a cab on Dec. 9, 1981,…
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Black Woman Behind Wasabi-Ginger Potato Chips Takes Home Grand Prize
Meneko Spigner McBeth’s bank account is about to have quite a few additional zeros. On Monday night, Frito-Lay announced that McBeth, a registered nurse, was the winner of its “Do Us a Flavor” contest to create a new potato chip flavor, reports NBC4 New York. McBeth’s winning idea for wasabi-ginger chips beat out entries for cappuccino,…