news
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Hampton University’s Emancipation Oak Threatened by Highway Expansion
Hampton University leaders are concerned that their campus is being threatened by a Virginia Department of Transportation plan to widen Interstate 64 leading into the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel. ABC 13News Now reports that VDOT officials recently met with university leaders to let them know that they may need to acquire some of their land…
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#JoshuaBeal Shot and Killed by Chicago Police
A 25-year-old Indianapolis man, who was in Chicago for his cousin’s funeral, was killed Saturday afternoon by an off-duty police officer in the city’s predominantly Irish-Catholic Mount Greenwood neighborhood, according to reports. Joshua Beal’s name was trending on social media Sunday morning with a ubiquitous hashtag in front of it. Police say that the officer…
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Why I'm Comfortable Being an Angry Black Man
I was first called an angry black man while a student in college. We were in African-American History, and our professor, a white member of Omega Psi Phi (I say this only because in all my years of Greekdom, I have never come across another old-head Omega who was white; I can only imagine what…
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DC to Vote on Becoming 51st State on Election Day
Filled with the longtime rallying cry of “No taxation without representation,” supporters of D.C. statehood will finally get a chance to vote on just that. On Election Day, the District of Columbia will vote on its first referendum on becoming the country’s 51st state, something that would eventually require an amendment to the U.S. Constitution…
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Texas Cop Fired After Being Accused of Giving Homeless Man Dog-Excrement Sandwich
An officer from the San Antonio Police Department in Texas has been fired for allegedly attempting to feed a dog-excrement sandwich to a homeless man. My San Antonio reports that the incident occurred in May when the officer reportedly placed fecal matter between two pieces of bread and gave it to a homeless person in…
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More Than 800,000 Haitians Face Starvation After Hurricane Matthew
A month after Hurricane Matthew tore through the island nation of Haiti, the United Nations confirms that nearly 800,000 Haitians are facing severe food shortages, with rioting and children begging for food a daily occurrence. On Oct. 4, Hurricane Matthew decimated fishing villages and shredded mountain hamlets, destroying for already poor Haitians their sources of…
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Judge Issues Restraining Order to Stop Voter Intimidation by Trump Campaign
A U.S. district judge in Ohio issued a restraining order Friday that prevents anyone working on Donald Trump’s campaign from harassing and intimidating voters at the polls Tuesday. The judge’s ruling came after a two-hour hearing during which Trump’s lawyer was asked to justify the Republican presidential candidate’s inflammatory rhetoric about voter fraud, Mother Jones…
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#WalterScott: Judge Denies Defense Motion to Suppress Video of Shooting
The judge in the murder trial of a white former North Charleston, S.C., police officer charged with shooting and killing an unarmed black motorist denied two defense motions Friday concerning cellphone video of the shooting. Michael Slager, 34, is charged with the April 2015 shooting death of Walter Scott, 50, who was running from a…
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#NoDAPL: ACLU Asks DOJ to Investigate Law-Enforcement Response to Protesters
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice on Friday asking for an investigation into possible violations of constitutional rights and federal laws by law enforcement responding to peaceful #NoDAPL protesters in North Dakota. The letter, addressed to Principal Deputy…
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University of Oregon Law Professor Who Wore Blackface Issues Apology
A University of Oregon law professor who came under fire after reportedly wearing a blackface costume to an off-campus Halloween party issued an apology Friday. While the University of Oregon has declined to reveal the faculty member’s name, citing employee confidentiality, news and media organizations based in Oregon have identified her as Nancy Shurtz, a…