news
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Tech Talk on Diversity Features Black Girls Code, Phat Startup Founders
On Monday, Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-N.J.) hosted a one-hour Google Hangout on tech diversity that featured Kimberly Bryant, founder of Black Girls Code, and Anthony Frasier, co-founder of the Phat Startup. The mission of Black Girls Code is teaching young girls how to code; how to become entrepreneurs and business owners; and how to…
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Rikers Correction Officer Broke Elderly Inmate’s Arm, Lied: Lawsuit
Another Rikers Island correction officer is facing serious accusations, with a federal lawsuit claiming that the officer broke a mentally challenged elderly inmate’s arm before lying about how the woman became injured, according to the New York Post. According to the lawsuit, the inmate, M.J. Norwick, 77, had recently returned to the Queens, N.Y., jail after…
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Rachel Dolezal Sued Howard University for Racial Discrimination
Before Rachel Dolezal started passing as a black woman, she reportedly once sued her alma mater, HBCU Howard University, accusing it of discriminating against her because she was white, the Smoking Gun has uncovered. According to the report, Dolezal filed the lawsuit for discrimination in 2002, the same year she graduated with a Master of…
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Dominican Republic Threatens to Deport Haitian Families
An unfunny thing happened while the media was obsessing over now-former Spokane, Wash., NAACP President Rachel Dolezal: The government of the Dominican Republic moved forward with yet another major human rights violation against Dominicans born to Haitian parents. In 2013 the Dominican Republic Constitutional Court ruled that those born in the D.R. to Haitian parents…
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Chicago Student Accepted at 26 Colleges and Awarded Over $3,000,000 in Scholarships
Arianna Alexander, a Chicago high school senior, got accepted at 26 colleges—including nearly all of the Ivy Leagues—and has decided to attend the University of Pennsylvania come the fall, WLS-TV reports. Alexander is the valedictorian at Kenwood Academy, where she earned a 5.1 GPA on the traditional 4.0 scale. Alexander racked up more than…
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NY Man, Jailed at Rikers at 17, Still Waiting for Trial 7 Years Later
Some 2,423 days have gone by since one New York City man has tasted freedom. The last of Carlos Montero’s teenage years, and then some, have been spent behind bars. However, the 24-year-old Manhattan man, who was jailed when he was 17, has yet to be convicted. In fact, he has not even had a…
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Local NAACP Chapter Postpones Rachel Dolezal’s Statement After Racial-Identity Controversy
A much-anticipated statement from Spokane, Wash., NAACP President Rachel Dolezal has been postponed pending further discussion with regional and national leaders, according to NBC News. The 37-year-old had said that she would address her racial identity Monday night at the monthly meeting in response to her parents’ comments last week “outing” her as a white…
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San Antonio Elects Its 1st African-American Mayor
Voters in San Antonio have elected their first African-American mayor. Ivy Taylor, who was serving as interim mayor, won Saturday’s runoff with 52 percent of the vote, Reuters reports. It was a surprising victory against a popular Hispanic candidate in a Hispanic-majority city. “The work starts on Monday at City Hall,” Taylor said, according to…
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Watch: Ky. Police Officer Fatally Shoots an African Immigrant
Louisville, Ky., Metro Police Chief Steve Conrad is defending an officer who fatally shot a man on Saturday. He plans to launch an internal investigation into the shooting, which black activists say did not require lethal force, the Associated Press reports. A surveillance video shows Officer Nathan Blanford confronting Deng Manyoun, a 35-year-old African immigrant,…
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NY Mom Furious When Son Fails Regents Exams After Acing Classes
A Brooklyn, N.Y., mother is furious and demanding that her son’s high school properly educate the child after he failed his Regents exams despite acing his classwork in the same subjects, the New York Post reports. “He wasn’t educated,” Annette Renaud told the Post. “He can’t compete with students at Millennium, Brooklyn Tech or Stuyvesant.…