news
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Google Looks to Train More Black Engineers, but Will It Hire Them?
Google created Howard West last year as a three-month residency program for rising junior and senior computer science majors at Howard University. Students attended the program on Google’s Bay Area campus and were taught by senior Google engineers as well as Howard faculty. TechCrunc reports that after the success of the first program, the company…
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#NetNeutrality: California State Senate Approves Bill Protecting Open Internet Rules, Despite FCC Order
On Monday, the California State Senate approved a bill that would impose net neutrality restrictions on internet service providers doing business in the state. As Ars Technica reports, the Federal Communications Commission’s new order includes a provision to prevent any state and municipal governments from enacting net neutrality legislation at the local level, but that…
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An Unofficial Glossary, Concordance and Appendix to the State of the Union
As you watch Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address, there will be parts that will likely confuse you. To help you have an optimal SOTU experience, The Root has compiled a list of words and phrases that may give you a better understanding of Tuesday night’s speech. Feel free to use this handy…
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New Slave Narrative Tells Story of Woman Who Escaped to Freedom on Underground Railroad
A newly available slave narrative tells the story of a Maryland woman who escaped slavery and traveled the Underground Railroad on a yearslong journey to Auburn, N.Y. The 12-page manuscript was penned by Julia C. Ferris, a white teacher who sat down with a former slave named Jane Clark, and it was never available to…
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Congresswoman Convicted of Scamming Low-Income Students Pulled Up to Prison in a Limo Bus
You might think a politician who’s been indicted on federal corruption charges and convicted of fraud would want to keep a low profile, but you would not be thinking like former Rep. Corrine Brown. Brown, who used to represent Florida’s 5th Congressional District, was sentenced last month to five years in federal prison after being…
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South Carolina Police Decline to Pursue Charges Against Man Who Fatally Shot Unarmed 15-Year-Old Over a Stolen Car
The North Charleston, S.C., Police Department has declined to pursue criminal charges against a man who went after and then fatally shot an unarmed 15-year-old boy in a car theft. Derrick Grant was killed Jan. 17 by 24-year-old Quadarrel Lamont Morton, who claimed that the teen repeatedly reached into the stolen car, the Post and…
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Report Finds Some HBCUs Graduating Less Than 1 Out of 5 Freshmen Within 6 Years
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, after analyzing federal data tracking graduation and retention rates for HBCUs, came across an alarming finding. At 20 HBCUs, six-year graduation rates were at 20 percent or lower in 2015. To frame it another way, only 1 in 5 enrolled freshmen ended up graduating within six years. For perspective, the 2015 national…
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Baltimore Cops Kept Toy Guns to Plant Just in Case They Shot an Unarmed Person
In April 2016, a 13-year-old boy was shot by officers of the Baltimore Police Department. The boy ran when faced with the police, so they gave chase. During the chase, the police spotted the boy holding a gun, and when he turned, they shot the teenager. The youngster wasn’t critically injured, and it seemed like…