news
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Central Park Five’s Korey Wise Donates $190,000 to University of Colo.’s Innocence Project
Korey Wise, one of the Central Park Five, is now giving back, hoping to help wrongly convicted inmates, by donating $190,000 to the University of Colorado’s Innocence Project, securing for the program a new lease on life, the Denver Post reports. The program, which is operated out of the university’s law school, has been renamed…
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Warrant Issued for ‘Affluenza’ Teen Ethan Couch
A warrant has been issued for Ethan Couch, the “affluenza”-afflicted teen who is serving probation after killing four people in a drunk-driving crash two years ago, WFAA reports. According to the station, Couch, 18, missed a check-in with his probation officer earlier this month, and court officers were unable to locate him or his mother.…
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Miss. Elementary School Apologizes After Making Child Change out of ‘Black Girls Rock!’ Shirt
A Mississippi mother is speaking out to ensure that other kids know they can speak up, after her 8-year-old was made to change out of her “Black Girls Rock!” shirt while at Popps Ferry Elementary School in Biloxi. According to WLOX, Sharika Jolly has long been hoping to instill some self-esteem in her daughter, Makiyah-Jae,…
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Mexico Finally Recognizes its Afro-Mexican Population in Recent National Census
Afro-Mexicans, for the first time, have finally been given the option of identifying as black in the national census and claiming their African heritage. As Quartz reports, as of Dec. 8, with the release of Mexico’s 2015 population survey, 1.38 million people identified themselves as having African heritage, representing a total of 1.2 percent of…
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Freddie Gray Case: Hung Jury, Judge Declares Mistrial
Updated Wednesday, Dec. 16, 3:45 p.m. EST: A Baltimore jury failed to reach a verdict in the case of Baltimore Police Officer William Porter, the first of six officers set to be tried in the death of Freddie Gray, forcing Judge Barry Williams to declare a mistrial. According to CNN, jurors told the judge Tuesday…
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2 Tenn. Teens Jailed for Sagging Pants
Two Tennessee high school students were arrested and spent two days in jail for wearing sagging pants to school. According to the Huffington Post, four students at Bolivar Central High School were charged with indecent exposure for reportedly wearing sagging pants to school in November, and two of the students were jailed for the offense…
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Detroit Man Arraigned in Shooting of Federal Judge
A Detroit man was arraigned Monday in a case involving the shooting of a federal judge back in March, the Detroit Free Press reports. Kevin Andrew Smith, 23, was indicted by a one-man grand jury nine months after U.S. District Judge Terrence Berg was shot outside his home. Smith is facing multiple charges, including armed…
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High School Graduation Rates Reach Record Highs; Gap Narrows for Black and Latino Students
The U.S. Department of Education announced Tuesday that U.S. high school graduation rates reached record highs in the 2013-14 school year, with 82 percent of teens graduating. African-American and Latino students are also continuing to close the graduation gap with their white counterparts. According to the Education Department, there was a 17-point percentage gap in…
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All Los Angeles Public Schools Closed After Bomb Threat
Public schools in Los Angeles were suddenly closed and students sent home Tuesday after authorities electronically received what officials are describing as a credible bomb threat, the New York Times reports. Ramon C. Cortines, the superintendent of schools, said that schools would be kept closed until police were able to search all buildings to ensure…
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‘How Long Does It Take to Click a Seat Belt?’: Closing Arguments in Freddie Gray Case
“How long does it take to click a seat belt and click a radio to ask for a medic? Two, three or four seconds?” Baltimore prosecutor Janice Bledsoe asked as she faced jurors during closing arguments in the first trial regarding the death of Freddie Gray. She then placed on the table, so jurors could…