Cynthia E. Griffin-
OW Managing Editor
Dec 29 2011

Some supervisors want majority Latino and African American districts

As the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors wrestled with three proposals to redraw district lines, Supervisors Gloria Molina and Mark Ridley-Thomas contended that the current lines were disproportionate, disenfranchising minority groups like Latinos and African Americans.

Molina and Ridley-Thomas said two majority Latino district are needed because Hispanics now comprise 48 percent of the county’s population— about one-third of voting-age residents. They also agreed that one district with an African American plurality is needed.

Dec 29 2011

Societal pressures changing the relationship

The love between a mother and her son is like no other. Oftentimes athletes are captured on TV giving a shout-out to their mamas who have supported them through everything.

“I love you mom” is usually accompanied by a victorious smile, a few tears, and a championship ring.

But lately that relationship has begun to change.

Dec 29 2011

National, state, local

National Newsmaker
Without a doubt, the 27-year campaign to build a national monument to honor civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. that came to fruition this year is more than worthy of all the words of praise, acknowledgment and congratulations that have been previously spoken.

But in the eyes of Our Weekly, this feat to enshrine the first non-president and African American on the National Mall deserves much more recognition. That is why we have selected Alpha Phi Alpha as our national newsmaker of the year.

Dec 29 2011

Stores to fund nonprofits

The Los Angeles Urban League and the Harlem-based Abyssinian Development Corp. announced this year that for a three-year period, Starbucks will donate a minimum of $100,000 out of the profits from two of its stores to each of the nonprofit groups for use to help bolster programs in the communities the organizations serve.

In Los Angeles, the bustling Starbucks at Crenshaw Boulevard and Coliseum Street will serve as the focal point, and a location at 125th Street and Lenox Avenue in New York will support Abyssinian.

Dec 15 2011

Union to post results Friday

While about 100 parents, community stakeholders and school officials spent Saturday and Monday vetting plans to operate three Los Angeles Unified School campuses as part of the Public School Choice program, the next step in the process to select new operators will depend on how members of United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) vote on a proposed agreement.

Dec 15 2011

Union to post results Friday

While about 100 parents, community stakeholders and school officials spent Saturday and Monday vetting plans to operate three Los Angeles Unified School campuses as part of the Public School Choice program, the next step in the process to select new operators will depend on how members of United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) vote on a proposed agreement.
 

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.