news
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St. Louis Officer Who Fatally Shot VonDerrit Myers Acted in Self-Defense and Won’t Be Charged
The St. Louis prosecutor’s office has closed the chapter on the fatal shooting of 18-year-old VonDerrit Myers and announced Monday that Police Officer Jason Flanery will not be charged for killing Myers, USA Today reports. Myers, an African American, was shot to death by Flanery, a white police officer, in October. The incident sparked outrage…
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Why Is Israel Kicking Out the Africans?
A few days into an educational trip to Israel in 1991 shortly after the mass airlift of Ethiopian Jews into the country, my jaw dropped when a Jewish official casually described the arrival of the Ethiopians as an opportunity to beef up Israel’s Olympic running team. More than two decades later, and it appears that…
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The Tamir Rice Case: What We Know
It’s been some 179 days since the Nov. 22, 2014, shooting of Tamir Rice by a Cleveland police officer. In less than two seconds, an officer gunned down Tamir after a toy gun he was playing with was mistaken for a real weapon. Samaria Rice has lived without her 12-year-old son for six months, and…
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Ga. Middle School Teacher Accused of Letting Students Have Sex in Classroom
A Georgia middle school teacher has been removed from the classroom for allegedly allowing students to have sex in his classroom closet, WSB-TV reports, and a judge has issued a warrant for his arrest. One outraged mother discovered what was going on after she looked at her 14-year-old son’s phone and saw the text messages…
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Watch: Md. Substitute Teacher Reportedly Beats Students With Belt
A Prince George’s County, Md., substitute teacher has been suspended after video footage appeared on WorldStarHipHop that shows the teacher beating students with a belt. On May 15 a student at Gwynn Park Middle School in Brandywine, Md., recorded footage that appears to show a substitute teacher striking several students with a belt while other…
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Noninvasive Colon-Cancer Screening Shows Promising Results for African Americans
Clinical trial results for a noninvasive colon-cancer test approved last year by the Food and Drug Administration indicate that it is promising as an effective alternative to colonoscopy for African Americans, according to researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. The DNA-screening method, called stool DNA (sDNA), detected precancer in African Americans at…
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African-American Lawmakers Launch Initiative to Increase Diversity in the Tech Industry
The Congressional Black Caucus is taking action to address the lack of diversity at tech-industry giants like Facebook and Google. It’s hosting an event Tuesday in Washington, D.C., to launch the CBC Tech 2020 initiative, The Hill reports. The event, which will take place at the Library of Congress, will outline diversity; discuss best practices; present…
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College-Bound Student Turns Down All 8 Ivy Leagues for University of Ala.
Ronald Nelson is book-smart but also money-smart, with an eye for long-term thinking, it seems. The high school senior was accepted to all eight Ivy League schools but opted to turn them all down, as well as other prestigious schools like Stanford and Johns Hopkins, to accept a full scholarship at the University of Alabama,…
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Study: Suicide Rate Among Young Black Boys Increases
The suicide rate among elementary school children has been stable over the past 20 years, but according to a new study, a closer look reveals that there has been a significant increase in the number of young black boys committing suicide, Raw Story reports. That uptick has been masked by the proportionate decrease in the…
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NYC Twin Sentenced to 1-4 Years for Robbing 85-Year-Old ‘Sugar Daddy’
A judge has issued one sentence in the case of a pair of New York City twins who were charged after they reportedly tied up and stole cash from a 85-year-old “sugar daddy” they met through a dating website that matches older, wealthier men with younger women. According to the New York Daily News, 17-year-old…