OW Staff Writer
Nov 17 2011

More than $1 billion added to fund

The U.S. District Court approved a settlement in the ongoing saga between Black farmers and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) providing an additional $1.2 billion for thousands of plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit.

Aug 11 2011

Celebrities, designers, models support Urban Media Foundation

The “Lights, Camera, Runway a Celebrity Fashion Show and Fundraiser,” on behalf of the Urban Media Foundation, will be hosted by Chris Schauble and Wendy Burch of KTLA.

Jul 28 2011

French playwright and historian

On July 24, 1802, the French playwright and historian Alexandre Dumas was born in Villers-Cotterets in the department of Aisne, in Picardy, France.

He was of mixed heritage. His grandfather was Marquis Alexandre-Antonie Davy de la Pailleterie, a French nobleman and general in the artillery in what is now known as Haiti. His grandmother, Marie-Cesette Dumas, was a formerly enslaved Black woman. She died shortly after the birth of their son, the father of Alexandre, Thomas-Alexandre Dumas.

Jul 28 2011

Bring resumes and dress to impress

A job and health fair for veterans is being organized jointly by the city of Carson’s Veterans Affairs Commission and the ERB/Filipino Veterans Foundation.

The fair will be held on Friday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the city’s Veterans Park at 22400 Moneta Ave. Admission is free.

Among the services offered will be mobile health units, free haircuts for veterans, information on veterans’ benefits and workshops and seminars on job-seeking skills. 

Jul 21 2011

Fought opportunities

Lillian Mobley, a South Los Angeles activist who worked to keep Martin Luther King Drew Medical Center operating, died Monday at Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood. She was 81.

Originally from Georgia, “Mother Mobley,” as she was affectionately called, moved to Los Angeles in the 1950s, and soon became an invaluable member of the community by advocating for better lifestyles and opportunities for all, with a focus on education, healthcare and transportation.

Jul 21 2011

James Blake

2007 finalist at the Farmers Classic, is among the tennis players who have committed to compete in the 2011 Farmer’s event July 26-Aug. 1 at the L.A. Tennis Center on the UCLA campus. July 28 is kid’s day and youngsters 16 and under will get in free for the afternoon matches. Adult tickets are $10.

Across Black America

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

California
San Diego college students and volunteers will carry out their sixth home restoration project on Wednesday, July 10 through Sunday, July 14. as part of the “Healing our Heroes’ Homes” (H3) program created by the nonprofit Embrace. The five-day effort will take place at the home of medically retired Marine Corps Capt. Sarah Bettencourt. Bettencourt served with many different units across the country during the Global War on Terrorism and developed a rare neurological disorder in 2008. With a focus to restore the homes of disabled veteran homeowners, H3 falls in line with Embrace’s mission to mobilize college-student volunteers and community members to serve less fortunate members of civilian and veteran communities. The project for the Bettencourts’ home includes kitchen and bathroom remodeling, building ADA-compliant disability ramps, widening their driveway to ADA standards, widening doorways and landscaping.
 
District of Columbia
The 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival will showcase its five-year community research project on African American identity with the program “The Will to Adorn: African American Diversity, Style, and Identity.” This multicity collaboration examines the history and culture of the aesthetics of African Americans. The festival will be held June 26-30 and July 3-7, outdoors on the National Mall between Seventh and 14th streets. “Whether we realize it or not, we are all dress artists. The way we compose our look is a creative expression of our ideas about who we are and who we aspire to be,” said Diana N’Diaye, program curator. “This program explores the diversity of African American traditions of style, but also teaches young people the importance of documenting their own culture and saving that information for themselves and future generations.”