Frankie Lons, the mother of superstar Keyshia Cole, was arrested for "misdemeanor possession of drug-related materials" and "probation violation." Frankie is the star of Celebrity Rehab. Wow.
Friday, April 29, 2011
President Obama Meets with Participants in the 1968 Sanitation Strike
“The President invited the living participants in the Memphis Sanitation Strike to honor their courage, and their fight on behalf of all workers for safe conditions, respect in the workplace and a better life for themselves and their families. As workers across the country continue to face challenges to their rights, the issues for which these men fought continue to be relevant and the President remains committed to the causes for which they marched.” – from the White House
Thursday, April 28, 2011
GOP Rep Says Black People Don’t Work as Hard as Whites and Expect the State to Take Care of them
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, YourBlackWorld.com – Scholarship in Action
Republican State Rep from Oklahoma Sally Kern seems to think that black people don’t work as hard as whites and that we are more likely to go to prison because we think the government will take care of us.
“We have a high percentage of blacks in prison, and that's tragic, but are they in prison just because they are black or because they don't want to study as hard in school? I've taught school, and I saw a lot of people of color who didn't study hard because they said the government would take care of them."
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A Judge Lifts the NFL Lockout
*A federal judge has sided with NFL players and granted their request for a preliminary injunction to lift the lockout imposed by team owners.
The ruling gives the players an early victory in their fight with NFL owners over a new collective bargaining agreement in the $9-billion business.
Should You Need a License to Braid Hair? A Woman Files a Lawsuit Over the Issue
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Your Black World – Scholarship in Action
Jestina Clayton is a woman in Utah who is originally from Sierra Leone in West Africa. She does African braiding part-time in order to make extra money. She is now being confronted with the loss of significant income, since a law in the state of Utah claims that you must have a full cosmetology license in order to braid hair.
Clayton filed suit this week in the court of law. She is being backed by the Institute for Justice, a Virginia-based organization that helps people like Clayton challenge unjust laws.
Denver Broncos Player Jason Hunter Stabbed by His Girlfriend
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Your Black World Reports
Jason Hunter of the Denver Broncos was stabbed by his girlfriend Wednesday morning, according to police. Hunter is currently in stable condition.
"There case is still being investigated, so there are a lot of details we don't have yet," Detroit Police Sgt. Eren Stephens said.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Black Unemployment Reaches Depression Levels in Many Major Cities
by Janell Ross, Huffington Post
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- In the decade leading up to the Great Recession, Wanda Nolan grew accustomed to steady progress.
From an entry-level job as a fill-in bank teller, she forged a career as a commercial banking assistant, earning enough to become a homeowner. She finished college and then got an MBA. Even after the recession unfolded in late 2007, her degrees and her familiarity with the business world lent her a sense of immunity to the forces ravaging much of the American economy. Nolan was an exemplar of the African American middle class and the increasingly professional ranks of the so-called New South.
But in September 2008, everything changed.
A bank human resources officer called her into a private conference room. “All I heard was, ‘Your position has been eliminated,’” says Nolan, 37, who, despite being one of the more than 13 million officially unemployed Americans, still spends most days in her self-styled banker’s uniform of pearls and pants and practical flats. “My mind started racing.”
More than two years later, Nolan is still looking for a job and feeling increasingly anxious about a future that once felt assured. Her life has devolved from a model of middle class African American upward mobility into an example of a disturbing trend: She is among the 15.5 percent of African Americans out of work and still looking for a job.
For economists, that number may sound awful, but it’s not surprising. The nation’s overall unemployment rate sits at 8.8 percent and the rate among white Americans is at 7.9 percent. For a variety of reasons -- ranging from levels of education and continuing discrimination to the relatively young age of black workers -- black unemployment tends to run twice the rate for whites. Yet since the Great Recession, joblessness has remained so critically elevated among African Americans that it is challenging longstanding ideas about what it takes to find work in the modern-day economy.
Millions of people like Nolan, who have precisely followed the oft-dictated recipe for economic success -- work hard, get an education, seek advancement -- are slipping backward. Even as they apply for jobs and accept the prospect of a future with less job security and lower pay, they remain stalled in unemployment.
Trading down has become a painful truth for much of working America, but this truth becomes particularly stark when seen through the prism of race. Only 12 percent of all Americans are black, but working-age black Americans comprise nearly 21 percent of the nation’s unemployed, according to federal data. The growing contrast between prospects for white and black job-seekers challenges a cherished American notion: the availability of opportunity and upward mobility for all.
Students Fight to Save HBCU in Louisiana
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Eye-level watermarks, gutted buildings and rows of mobile classrooms linger as reminders of the flooding from Hurricane Katrina that nearly wiped out Southern University at New Orleans in 2005.
Now the predominantly African-American university faces what students and administrators view as a new threat: Gov. Bobby Jindal's proposal to consolidate the school with the nearby, mostly white University of New Orleans.
Rapper Jim Jones Arraigned for Suspended License
From the Associated Press
Rapper Jim Jones has made a return to a venue he'd rather avoid: a New York City courthouse.
"I'm trying to stay out of this place!" the hip-hop artist said with a smile as he left court after his arraignment Tuesday on charges of driving with a suspended license. In 2009, he pleaded guilty in the same courthouse to a misdemeanor assault charge for a punching a friend of R&B star Ne-Yo in a Louis Vuitton store.
President Obama Releases His Official Birth Certificate
Your Black World reports
President Barack Obama has officially released the long form of his birth certificate in response to the questions about whether or not he was born in the United States. Originally, the president had only released the short form copy, which led to speculation that he was born abroad.
President Obama Picks a New Defense Secretary
Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama will name CIA Director Leon Panetta as his nominee to succeed Robert Gates as defense secretary, a senior defense official and another U.S. official said Wednesday.
Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, will be named to replace Panetta as CIA director, a senior defense official said.
Tonya McDowell Heads to Court Today – 4/27/11
NORWALK, Conn. -- A homeless single mother arrested for allegedly enrolling her son in the wrong school district is set to make her first court appearance Wednesday morning in Norwalk Superior Court.
Prosecutors say Tonya McDowell, 33, stole more than $15,000 worth of education by using her babysitter's Norwalk address to enroll her 6-year-old at Brookside Elementary School.
McDowell told police she was living in her van and sleeping at a Norwalk shelter, or staying at a friend's Bridgeport apartment when she enrolled her son in Norwalk last September.
To support Tonya McDowell’s case, please visit the YBW Virtual Command Center at EqualEducationNow.com
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
NAACP Signs On to Help in Tonya McDowell
PRESS RELEASE:
(For Immediate Release)
CONTACT PERSON: Scot X. Esdaile: tel. 203-668-4562
WHAT: Press Conference
Where: Crosland Attorney-Law Firm
1150 Summer Street, Stamford CT – (for directions call
(203) 921-1782
When: Tuesday, April 26, 2011 at 6:30 p.m.
Why: See below
NBC: School Says They Weren’t Responsible for Charging Tonya McDowell
From NBC Connecticut
A homeless, unemployed mom from Bridgeport has gained a lot of attention after she was arrested for sending her 6-year-old son to school, and now the school is saying they did not go after her.
Tanya McDowell, 33, has been accused of stealing $15,686 worth of education for her son from Norwalk when they were staying in Bridgeport.
McDowell told police she was living in a van and occasionally sleeping at a Norwalk shelter or a friend's Bridgeport apartment when she enrolled her 6-year-old son at Norwalk's Brookside Elementary.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Yahoo News Writes about The Tonya McDowell and Kelley Williams-Bolar Cases
From Yahoo News
Education activists are rallying around a homeless woman who may face jail time for enrolling her son in kindergarten under a friend's address. Supporters say the woman's story is yet another dismaying example of inequality in the U.S. education system.
Tanya McDowell, a homeless single mother from Bridgeport, is charged with first-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit first-degree larceny for signing up her 5-year-old son to attend nearby Norwalk schools under the address of a friend. (Her son went to the school for four months. Her friend has been evicted from public housing for letting McDowell use her address.) McDowell may face up to 20 years in prison and a $15,000 fine if convicted.
Gwen Samuel, a Connecticut education activist, is organizing a press conference to try to get the charges dropped and raise awareness about parents who are criminally prosecuted, rather than dealt with individually by the school district, for using false addresses.
Quick YBW Note: The Obama Family Enjoys Easter Sunday
The Obamas celebrate Easter Sunday at the historic Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington, DC.
Jalen Rose Didn’t Seem to Know that He was Under Arrest
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Your Black World
It appears that Jalen Rose of ESPN (and the Fab Five at Michigan) wasn’t aware that he was being arrested when he was stopped for DUI. Here is a transcript of Jalen’s interaction with the police officer in the back of a squad car on the night he was arrested for drunk driving:
Jalen: "So what are we doing right now?"
Cop: "We're gonna go to the police station right now."
Jalen: "To do what?"
Cop: "You're under arrest."
Jalen: "For what, sir?"
Cop: "For drunk driving."
Jalen: "But I wasn't really drinking."
Cop: "Um, okay."
Meet Rocky Clark: His Insurance Company Has Left Him to Die
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Your Black World – Scholarship in Action
The story of Rasul "Rocky" Clark is a cautionary tale to all the mothers who send their sons to the football field on Saturday afternoon. Ten years ago, Clark was living the dream of many African American males: he was one of the stars of his high school football team, playing the game as running back.
Rocky's dream came to an end with one hit too many. The player was paralyzed from the neck down, rendering him unable to move, walk, stand up, or use his arms for the rest of his life. He will never run down the field, experience sex, wash himself or even breath properly again. He has one lung, and his life expectancy dropped dramatically on the day of his horrible injury. In fact, part of the reason his family is now broke is because medical experts and insurance companies didn't expect him to last for even a decade.
Rocky just found out that his $5 million dollar insurance policy has reached the lifetime maximum, meaning that his insurer is not going to pay anymore of his expenses.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
TheRoot.com: Education Should Be A Right, Not a Crime
by Helena Andrews, TheRoot.com
Start typing "mother arrested" into Google, and the Internet wastes no time filling in the rest: "for lying about her address." Not "for selling her daughters on Craigslist," "for feeding her sons drywall" or "for locking her kids in the basement like Boo Radley," but for trying to educate them beyond the borders of their block. In the United States of America, educating your children by any means necessary is a punishable offense.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Antoine Dodson Arrested for Weed Possession
Alabama — The problem with being a viral star is that everyone knows when you get in trouble, too.
Antoine Dodson, the viral sensation who shot to fame when he jumped in on a local news report and screamed “Hide ya kids, hide ya wife!” was arrested early Saturday morning in Huntsville, Alabama on a charge of misdemeanor marijuana possession. He was also hit with a number of other charges, including speeding and failing to show up to court for a previous traffic violation.
Dodson was soon released.
Miami Dolphin Brandon Marshall Stabbed by His Wife
From CNN
(CNN) -- The wife of Miami Dolphins star receiver Brandon Marshall has been charged with stabbing him in the abdomen with a kitchen knife during a domestic violence incident, according to a report from the Broward County, Florida, sheriff's office.
Michi Nogami-Marshall, 26, was charged Friday evening with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, which allegedly occurred in their Southwest Ranches, Florida, home, according to the sheriff's report.
Brandon Marshall's injuries are nonlife-threatening, said spokeswoman Veda Coleman-Wright of the sheriff's office.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Left Wing Hecklers Sing to President Obama
Your Black World Reports
During a campaign speech in San Francisco, a group of left-wing hecklers interrupted President Obama with a speech. The group actually sang a song to the president in protest of the detainment of Pvt. Bradley Manning, who is being held because of his role in the Wikileaks scandal. Here are the words to the song they sang to the president.
Former School Official Says Tonya McDowell Arrest is “Absurd” and Unprecedented During His Administration
From the Connecticut Post
The response by Norwalk officials, from top to bottom, in the matter of Tanya McDowell and the son they yanked out of kindergarten on a non-residency charge is nothing short of atrocious.
McDowell was arrested and charged with stealing from the city of Norwalk some four months' worth of kindergarten education for her now-5-year-old son, Andres Justin "A.J." Paches, a larceny of the first degree, a charge that carries the potential of 20 years in prison.
Prosecuted MomTonya McDowell Explains Why She Enrolled Her Son into School
Tanya McDowell says she enrolled her son at Brookside because she wants the best for him.
Photo credit: Moina Noor
Tonya McDowell thought by enrolling her son at a Norwalk elementary school, he would have a better life than she did. "The school was better than the one in Bridgeport," says McDowell. "I want the best for my child. There's nothing I wouldn't do for him. I think a lot of parents in my situation would have done the same."
McDowell, 33, is charged with first-degree larceny for allegedly stealing more than $15,000 — the average amount it takes to educate a child per year in Norwalk. McDowell allegedly used her babysitter's address at Roodner Court, a Norwalk Housing Authority complex, to enroll her son at Brookside Elementary School. McDowell, who is originally from Bridgeport but has no fixed residence, is an unemployed single mother. She currently stays with a friend in Bridgeport but has also stayed at the Open Door Shelter in South Norwalk.
When the Norwalk police arrested Tanya McDowell last Thursday, she had no idea why. "I kept asking, 'What did I do?' " she says in an interview outside the offices of Norwalk Economic Opportunity Now, or NEON, overlooking the big chessboard in Ryan Park. It wasn't until she arrived at the police station that she learned of the charges. McDowell posted $25,000 bond with the help of her godfather and has her next court date April 27.
McDowell's 5-year-old son, Andrew Justin, or A.J., started kindergarten at Brookside in September and left in mid-January. "I received a call on my voicemail telling me that I had to remove A.J. from the school. No paperwork or anything, just a voicemail." McDowell says that she didn't contest the message and withdrew A.J. from Brookside. "He loved that school, his teacher and his friends," she says of A.J.'s four months at Brookside. "He never got into any trouble."
Technorati Tags: tonya mcdowell
Youth Offenders with Life IN Prison Asking for a Second Chance
From the NY Times
CHARLESTON, Mo. — More than a decade ago, a 14-year-old boy killed his stepbrother in a scuffle that escalated from goofing around with a blowgun to an angry threat with a bow and arrow to the fatal thrust of a hunting knife.
The boy, Quantel Lotts, had spent part of the morning playing with Pokémon cards. He was in seventh grade and not yet five feet tall.
Mr. Lotts is 25 now, and he is in the maximum-security prison here, serving a sentence of life without the possibility of parole for murder.
The victim’s mother, Tammy Lotts, said she lost two children on that November day in 1999. One was a son, Michael Barton, who was 17 when he died. The other was a stepson, Mr. Lotts.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Rev. Al Sharpton Stands By President Obama’s Efforts on Immigration Reform
From The New York Daily News
WASHINGTON - President Obama remains committed to comprehensive immigration reform despite the incendiary nature of the issue.
Participants at a White House meeting with Obama on Tuesday reported he's determined to keep the issue alive - and asked for help forging a bipartisan consensus behind reforming an immigration policy he often calls "broken."
Gay College Students Launch Assault on Chick-fil-A for Being a Christian Company
From Yahoo News
What does a chicken sandwich have to do with Jesus? Gay students on a few college campuses apparently believe Chick-fil-A, the second largest quick-service chicken restaurant chain in the United States, is serving up a lot more than waffle fries with their sandwiches.
Gay students at some universities, along with a Georgia-based lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) advocacy group, are petitioning their schools to drop Chick-fil-A as weekly food vendors -- because the restaurant chain openly promotes traditional marriage and other Christian values.
Michigan Police Using Device that Downloads all Data from Your Cell Phone
Your Black World reports
The Michigan State Police are planning to use a gadget that works with a “Universal Forensic Extraction Device,” that can copy all of the contents off someone’s cell phone. This includes all texts, emails, phone calls, pictures and videos. The device works on 3,000 cell phone models. The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan is asking a lot of questions about the device. They speculate that it can be abused to violate the civil rights of countless American citizens.
Police are arguing that the device can be used to keep important evidence before trial, but the ACLU wonders if the devices are being used to get private information from citizens who are not under suspicion. They also wonder if the information is being gathered without the consent of the motorist or a search warrant. Civil Rights advocates argue that the device violates the Fourth Amendment, which forbids illegal search and seizure. When the ACLU wrote a letter to the police department, the department asked for over $500,000 for the release of the information.
7-Year Old Boy Handcuffed after a Temper Tantrum
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Your Black World – Scholarship in Action
A 7-year old special ed student became upset while decorating an easter egg, and ended up being handcuffed by the NYPD as a result. Joseph Anderson, a first-grader, was taken to the hospital in metal handcuffs by the police, in spite of the fact that his mother said she was on her way to pick him up.
"He was crying and saying, 'I want Mommy,'" said his mother, Jessica Anderson. "Why handcuff him? Why get the cops involved? He's only 7."
According to his mother, Joseph has been wetting himself and vomiting since the incident, which took place on April 13.
"If he hears an ambulance, he runs under the bed and screams, 'They're going to get me,'" said his mother. "He's really traumatized. I don't let him watch the news anymore, because if he sees cops, he cries."
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Kindergartners Shot When Child Brings Gun to School
Your Black World reports
Three kindergartners were wounded today in a Houston elementary school after a loaded gun fell out of the pocket of one of the children. The school district is reporting that none of the injuries were fatal or life-threatening, according to CNN.
The weapon went off one time and according to Jason Spencer, the spokesperson for the school district, the children might have been hit by bullet fragments. Jarneshia Broussard, a five year old who witnessed the incident, said that the gun “fell and then it shot.”
"We were by each other and then it shot and the little girl started crying," Jarneshia also said.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Another Mom Jailed for Sending Child to Wrong School District
Please click here to join our coalition to help Ms. McDowell
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Your Black World – Scholarship in Action
When Rev. Al Sharpton and I went to Ohio earlier this year to rally on behalf of Kelley Williams-Bolar, I thought I’d be done with cases like this for at least a little while. However, the Your Black World Coalition has been informed today that another mother in Connecticut has also been put in jail for enrolling her child in the wrong school district.
Tonya McDowell, a homeless woman from Bridgeport, CT, has been charged with grand larceny and conspiracy to commit first degree larceny after enrolling her son in Brookside Elementary, in Norwalk, CT. McDowell used the address of a friend, Ana Rebecca Marques, to get her 6-year old into the school. The district is accusing her of stealing $15,000 in services for her “deviant” behavior.
NAACP: US Spends Far More On Prisons Than Education
(FinalCall.com) - A new report from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is critical of America's “misplaced priorities” in overemphasizing and overfunding the prison industrial complex while underfunding education.
According to NAACP President and CEO Benjamin T. Jealous, excessive spending on incarceration undermines educational opportunities and destabilizes Black communities nationwide.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
The Case of Rodney Stanberry: Incarcerated for a Crime He Did Not Commit
Dr. Boyce Watkins, Your Black World
Rodney Stanberry was sent to prison for a murder that he didn’t commit. There is currently an international campaign to secure Rodney’s freedom, as the Your Black World Coalition is joining forces with Rodney’s other supporters to convince the District Attorney to re-open Rodney’s case. We’ll keep you updated on the situation as it evolves, but we encourage you to join the fight and find out the details for yourself.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
LeBron James’ Mother Gets Sued by the Valet After Allegedly Hitting Him
A valet is suing the mother of NBA superstar LeBron James after she allegedly assaulted him both physically and verbally. The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday and alleges “emotional distress, humiliation, mental anguish and lose of capacity of enjoyment of one’s life.”
The valet, Rock Feller Sorel, says that he was hit by Gloria James early in the morning on April 7 at the Fountainbleau hotel. He is seeking $15,000 in damages.
Monday, April 11, 2011
DC Mayor Arrested for Protesting Budget Cuts
WASHINGTON (WUSA/AP) -- U.S.Capitol Police say they arrested 41 people on Constitution Avenue in front of the Hart Senate Office Building on Monday at approximately 5:30 p.m.
Those people arrested include D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray and D.C councilmembers who were protesting restrictions placed on the district as part of the federal budget deal. All of the people who were arrested are charged with Unlawful Assembly (Blocking Passage), which is a misdemeanor that can be resolved by paying a $50 fine.
They are currently being processed by U.S. Capitol Police.
Mayor Vincent Gray and others sat down and blocked the street in front of a Senate office building Monday. They chanted and shouted, "Hey, hey, no, no, those D.C. riders have got to go."
Congress oversees D.C.'s budget and laws and can pull funding for programs it doesn't like during the budgeting process.
Jeff Johnson, Ben Jealous and Al Sharpton on MSNBC: Mass Incarceration Is Destroying Our Community
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action
In the video below, Jeff Johnson, Al Sharpton and Ben Jealous discuss an issue that is very dear to me: the problem of mass incarceration in America. As part of our Never Going Back initiative (which we hope you’ll sign up for), our goal is to align 10,000 committed African Americans who are willing to do whatever it takes to make this terrible problem go away.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
NAACP Report Ties Lower Educational Spending to Mass Incarceration
Media Release from the NAACP
Conservative voices Keene and Norquist join NAACP President & CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous, Former Secretary of Education Rod Paige, Lotus founder Mitchell Kapor, largest prison guard unions, others in bipartisan call to reduce incarceration
Multi-city billboard campaign will kick off regional efforts to reform criminal justice policy and influence state budgets
April 7th National Press Club; 1:30 p.m.
(Washington, DC) – David Keene, former Chairman of the American Conservative Union, and Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform and a board member at the National Rifle Association, will join a group of bipartisan leaders April 7th to speak about the NAACP’s upcoming report, “Misplaced Priorities: Under Educate, Over Incarcerate”. The report examines escalating levels of prison spending and its impact on state budgets and our nation’s children. It uncovers a disturbing connection between high incarceration rates and poorly performing schools.
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