Dr. Boyce Watkins of Syracuse University and Dr. Wilmer Leon of Howard University speak about the NCAA class action lawsuit. The NCAA is being sued for illegal use of player images. What do you think? Should the NCAA start paying players?
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Your News: Al Sharpton Speaks with Boyce Watkins
Dr Boyce Watkins of Syracuse university will be appearing with Rev. Al Sharpton on “Keeping it Real with Al Sharpton” from 2 – 3 pm EST on Tuesday 8/18/09. They will discuss Obama’s educational plans, Michael Vick and Healthcare reform. Dr. watkins and Rev. Sharpton have appeared together on several other shows, including “Keep Hope Alive with Rev. Jesse Jackson”, “The Wendy Williams Experience”, “The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch” and more.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Commentary from TheGrio – 8/15/09
Deputy Editor
Is Clinton's Africa visit about power or partnership?
9:27 AM on 08/14/2009
OPINION - As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wraps up her tour of Africa, many in Africa are wondering about the real reason behind her visit... ...
Writer
Why do we need white faces to sell black books?
8:01 AM on 08/14/2009
OPINION -- Controversy has erupted this week due to the cover image of Liar, a novel written by Australian author Justine Larbalestier. A piece of young adult fiction...
Author of “Diary of a Mad Black PYC (Proud Young Conservative)"
Liberal hypocrites should remember their own rage
7:26 AM on 08/14/2009
OPINION - Protests by conservatives are just as ferocious as the ones liberals put up against the Bush White House for 'treasonous' activities. These 'acts against the country' included......
Author and Finance Professor at Syracuse University
The return of the prodigal quarterback
6:40 AM on 08/14/2009
OPINION -- I was as shocked as the rest of America to hear that Michael Vick has been signed by the Philadelphia Eagles. Although I've always supported Vick's human right to fairness......
Author of "Still I Rise: A Graphic History of African Americans"
Congressional Black Caucus needs a new media face-lift
8:05 AM on 08/13/2009
As the Congressional Black Caucus holds its annual policy meeting this week, the group will undoubtedly face the question......
Author & Activist
Townhall SmackDown!
10:10 AM on 08/12/2009
OPINION - What do well-intentioned town hall meetings on health care reform and the WWE's "Friday Night SmackDown" have in common? Sadly, more than you might think....
Reporter & Commentator
Black men can coach
9:08 AM on 08/12/2009
OPINION - Right about now, Mike Locksley and DeWayne Walker are handing out the helmets, dusting off the whistles......
Assistant Professor of English composition & African-American literature at Virginia State University
A better look at the rift between black Americans and Africans
7:55 AM on 08/12/2009
...her sister "hated" African American women because they try to take their men. I was stunned....
Director of the Texas Obesity Research Center
Where you live can affect what you weigh
3:00 PM on 08/10/2009
No two communities are alike and it is unreasonable to approach the obesity epidemic with a one-size-fits all model focused entirely on personal dietary habits......
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Black News: Man with Gun Gets into Obama Event
Earlier today MSNBC aired a segment showing a man with a loaded gun waiting for President Barack Obama to arrive at a town hall on health care reform at a high school in Portsmouth, N.H., and reportedly the local chief of police had no problem with it.
The man is carrying a sign that says, "It Is Time to Water the Tree of Liberty." That's a reference to a Thomas Jefferson quote: "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants." It was a favorite slogan of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, who was wearing a T-shirt when he was arrested with a picture of Lincoln on the front and a tree dripping with blood on the back.Click to read more.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Your Black News: Hunger Starts to Hit Detroit
On a side street in an old industrial neighborhood, a delivery man stacks a dolly of goods outside a store. Ten feet away stands another man clad in military fatigues, combat boots and what appears to be a flak jacket. He looks straight out of Baghdad. But this isn't Iraq. It's southeast Detroit, and he's there to guard the groceries.
"No pictures, put the camera down," he yells. My companion and I, on a tour of how people in this city are using urban farms to grow their own food, speed off.
In this recession-racked town, the lack of food is a serious problem. It's a theme that comes up again and again in conversations in Detroit. There isn't a single major chain supermarket in the city, forcing residents to buy food from corner stores. Often less healthy and more expensive food.
As the area's economy worsens --unemployment was over 16% in July -- food stamp applications and pantry visits have surged.
News: Michael Vick Gives Speeches for the Humane Society
Michael Vick returned to the area that once celebrated his brilliant play on the football field, this time for the first of what he vows will be dozens of appearances around the country to urge low-income youths to avoid the tragic trail left by dogfighting.
Few got to hear Saturday's message, however.
Vick's visit to a suburban Atlanta community center was largely off limits to the very neighborhood it was supposed to be helping. In an agreement between Vick's handlers and the Humane Society of the United States, only 55 people and one media crew were allowed inside. AnAssociated Pressreporter, videographer and photographer were among the media banished from the property by police.
Most people who live in the largely black neighborhood southeast of Atlanta were unaware of Vick's appearance. Several showed up after the former Falcons quarterback had already left in a black limousine.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Politics: Sotomayor Confirmed
Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who rose from the housing projects of the Bronx to the top of the legal profession, made history Thursday when the Senate confirmed her to become the nation's first Hispanic Supreme Court justice.
Sonia Sotomayor, 55, will be the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court.
Sotomayor was easily confirmed in a 68-31 vote. Nine Republicans joined a unanimous Democratic caucus in supporting her nomination.
Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, supported Sotomayor but was not present for the vote because of illness.
Sotomayor, a 55-year-old federal appeals court judge, will be the 111th person to sit on the high court and the third female justice.
She will be sworn in at the Supreme Court by Chief Justice John Roberts on Saturday.
President Obama, who selected Sotomayor on May 26, said he was "deeply gratified" by the Senate vote.
"This is a wonderful day for Judge Sotomayor and her family, but I also think it's a wonderful day for America," Obama said at the White House. 
Watch Obama's remarks »
Woman Suspended from Work Without Pay for not Speaking to Mayor
JEFF BURNSIDE
If you see the mayor of Deerfield Beach, Florida out on the street, you better say hello.
City maintenance worker Cassandra Moye was suspended for two days without pay for failing to greet Mayor Peggy Noland while at work earlier this week.
Moye has the unenviable job of cleaning up trash and restrooms for $12.33 a hour, a job she was suspended from for failure to pay homage to the mayor while she spoke with Moye's boss.
"I didn't speak to the mayor and so my supervisor suspended me for two days," Moye said. "She is the Mayor, but I don't know her personally and I didn't think it was right for me to interrupt them, so I just kept about my work."
Moye's supervisor, George Edmunds issued Moye a memo stating Moye was being suspended because "the disrespectful attitude you displayed to the Mayor was unacceptable."
Moye said she was also threatened with termination.
News: President Barack Obama’s Approval Rating Drops
President Barack Obama’s approval rating is falling on concern unemployment is rising and the budget deficit will grow, a Quinnipiac University poll shows.
Exactly half of the registered voters surveyed from July 27 to Aug. 3 by Quinnipiac said they approve of the job Obama is doing, compared with 42 percent who disapprove. That’s down from 57 percent approval and 33 percent disapproval in a poll taken in late June, according to results released today.
Americans are upset about rising unemployment and worried that health-care plans making their way through Congress will add to the U.S. budget deficit, said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Hamden, Connecticut-based polling institute. The combination has helped drive down the president’s ratings.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Black News: “Jungle Monkey” Cop Sues Boston
A Boston police officer is suing the city after he was suspended for referring to a black Harvard professor as a "banana-eating jungle monkey" in an e-mail.
Boston police Officer Justin Barrett apologized for his e-mail about Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
"If I'm charged with a crime I want a chance to answer. I want the chance for a fair hearing," Officer Justin Barrett told CNN on Tuesday.
Barrett has apologized and denied he is a racist.
His lawsuit claims his civil rights have been violated; Barrett's lawyer said the words referring to Henry Louis Gates, Jr. were misinterpreted.
"The choice of words were poor; but they weren't meant to characterize professor Gates as a banana-eating jungle monkey," attorney Peter Marano said. "They were meant in a response to behavior and characterizing the behavior. Not the person as a whole."
Marano said the city had effectively fired Barrett, though he is officially suspended with pay.
He said it was fair to hold Barrett to a higher standard than the general public because he is a police officer, but that he was still entitled to express his opinions.
"Being held to a higher standard shouldn't eradicate his right under the First Amendment for free speech. That is part and parcel of the lawsuit," the lawyer said.
Gates was arrested at his house last month when a neighbor called police after she thought she saw a man trying to break into Gates' home. The man turned out to be Gates himself, who was attempting to free a jammed door.
Click to read.Monday, August 3, 2009
Football Star Plaxico Burress Indicted On Weapons Charges
Former New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on weapons charges stemming from an incident last November in which Burress accidentally shot himself in the thigh at a New York nightclub, prosecutors announced Monday.
Burress, 31, was indicted on two felony counts of criminal possession of a weapon and one count of reckless endangerment, according to the announcement by the Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau.
New York Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce, Burress' former teammate who was with him at the club and drove him to the hospital, was not indicted for his role in the incident, according to the prosecutor's announcement.
Klansman Seale Might Walk Away From Kidnap and Murder Charges
JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) -- The U.S. Supreme Court should decide whether a reputed Ku Klux Klansman should have been tried on a kidnapping charge 43 years after two black men were abducted and slain in rural Mississippi, a federal appeals court said Thursday.
A majority of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said other Civil Rights Era cold cases could be affected by a Supreme Court ruling on whether time had run out for prosecutors to charge James Ford Seale.
Seale, now 73, was convicted in 2007 of abducting two 19-year-old friends who authorities said were beaten, weighted down and thrown, possibly still alive, into a Mississippi River backwater in 1964.
Since the conviction, Seale's case has worked its way through the 5th Circuit, including an acquittal that was overturned.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Harvard Professor Gates Plans To Meet With Officer Again Over Beers
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The officer who arrested a top African-American professor said talks over beers Thursday evening at the White House were productive and the two men plan to meet again.
Sgt. James Crowley and Henry Louis Gates Jr. sat around a patio table with President Obama and Vice President Biden, drank beer, munched on snacks and talked about the arrest that has sparked debate about racial profiling and police procedures.
"It was a private discussion. It was a frank discussion," Crowley said of the meeting, but would not divulge specifics except to say that no one apologized.
Black News, Black America – 8/1/09
Madea goes to Disney World with Philly pool kids
By theGrio
3:05 PM on 07/31/2009
A group of kids from Philadelphia who said they experienced prejudice firsthand arrived in Orlando, Florida on Friday for an all-expense paid trip courtesy of actor Tyler Perry...
Donated animals bring wealth to Africans
By theGrio
1:57 PM on 07/31/2009
Beatrice Biira fosters educational partnerships between the US and Africa. The Ugandan is currently studying at the Clinton School of Public Services in Arkansas, and it all began with the gift from Heifer International.
NFL player battling leukemia halts comeback
1:07 PM on 07/31/2009
MANKATO, Minn. (AP) -- Kenechi Udeze's comeback from leukemia served as an inspiration to his Minnesota Vikings teammates. The announcement of his retirement will not diminish that.
Boston cop says he's "not a racist" for Gates slur
12:47 PM on 07/31/2009
BOSTON (AP) -- A Boston police officer who was suspended for using a racial slur to describe black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. apologized for his comments and declared he is not a racist.
Reverend Ike dies at 74
12:46 PM on 07/31/2009
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Rev. Frederick J. Eikerenkoetter II, who preached the gospel of material prosperity to millions nationwide as Reverend Ike, died Tuesday. He was 74.
87-year-old woman lives in leaky shack, prays for help
By theGrio
9:21 AM on 07/31/2009
An 87-year-old woman, living alone, in a 160-year-old shack about three miles south of Lena, Mississippi says she has no one to help her get out of the deplorable conditions. Every room in her shack leaks, except for the living...
Black cop at Gates arrest: I'm not an Uncle Tom
8:11 AM on 07/31/2009
A black sergeant who was at the home of Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. when he was arrested says he's been maligned as an "Uncle Tom" for supporting the actions of the white arresting officer.
Black Scholar News: AKA President’s Dirty Allegations
Members of the country's oldest black sorority are suing to remove their president, alleging that she spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of the group's money on herself — some of it to pay for a wax statue in her own likeness.
In the suit filed in Washington, D.C., the Alpha Kappa Alpha members also alleged that international President Barbara McKinzie bought designer clothing, jewelry and lingerie with the sorority credit card. She then redeemed points the purchases earned on the card to buy a big-screen television and gym equipment, the lawsuit said.
"This is extraordinarily shocking if not illegal conduct," Edward W. Gray Jr., an attorney representing the plaintiffs suing the Chicago-based sorority, said Wednesday.
McKinzie denied what she called the lawsuit's "malicious allegations," saying they were "based on mischaracterizations and fabrications ... not befitting our ideals of sisterhood, ethics and service," according to a statement issued this week by the sorority.
The lawsuit also accused the sorority's board of directors of signing off on spending funds on McKinzie without the required approval by the group's membership. For example, the lawsuit says the board approved a monthly "pension stipend" of $4,000 for four years after she leaves office and purchased a $1 million life insurance policy for her. The suit demands McKinzie be fired and return money to the sorority.
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