OW Staff Writer
Dec 9 2010

Lee Wesley Gibson

Watts paid tribute to one of its own last weekend during the 45th annual Watts/Willowbrook Christmas parade. This year the community celebration featured Lee Wesley Gibson as its grand marshal in acknowledgment of the 100-year-old’s status as one of the oldest living Pullman Porters in the country. Attired in the official Pullman Porter uniform and cap, the Louisiana-born L.A. transplant, rode down the parade route in a vintage horse-drawn carriage.

Dec 9 2010

“All prayers are good.”

A community prayer vigil was recently held in Detroit for Aretha Franklin. The legendary queen of soul is reported to have undergone surgery last Thursday, which caused her to cancel all concert dates and personal appearances through May. City Councilwoman JoAnn Watson was one of the hundreds in attendance to offer support. Franklin wasn’t at the vigil, but in a statement she thanked the City Council, saying, “all prayers are good.”

Dec 9 2010

Diona Okunbo anticipates next step

Sixteen-year-old Los Angeles resident Diona Okunbo was selected to work in the prestigious U.S. House of Representatives Congressional Page Program in Washington, D.C., and is among a small group of students selected from across the country, who began participating in the program in the fall.

In addition to obtaining sponsorship from U.S. Representative Maxine Waters, Okunbo had to complete a lengthy application which included several essay questions explaining why she wanted to participate in the page program and what her contribution would be.

Dec 9 2010

Volleyball team wins fifth title in eight years

Westside Neighborhood School’s (WNS) middle school girl’s varsity volleyball team recently won its fifth Pacific Basin League Championship, after a resounding set of victories against the Archer School for Girls volleyball team, 25-12 in the first game and 25-10 in the second game.

This special group of 12 girls, under the guidance of Chip Schulte, worked hard to become a cohesive team. Their work ethic, determination and coming together as a team over the course of the season, was a key to their win.

Dec 9 2010

Named regional whip for So. Cal

Long Beach-area Congresswoman Laura Richardson was recently elected to the House of Representatives’ Democratic Steering and Policy Committee and will serve as one of two regional whips in the upcoming 112th Congress.

Richardson will represent the 17 members of the Southern California area—districts 21 through 53—and will serve a two-year term beginning Jan. 5. There is also the option that she could be elected to another two-year term.

Dec 9 2010
Spirit Awakening Foundation

Actress Debra Wilson recently hosted the Spirit Awakening Foundation’s “Voices of the Unheard” fundraiser at the Rogue Machine Theater and featured readings by detained and at-risk youth from the juvenile justice system. In addition to Wilson, actors Carmine Giovinazzo (CSI: NY), Frances Fisher (Titanic), and Esai Morales (NYPD Blue), the Rev. Michael Beckwith of the Agape International Spiritual Center, and founding director of the Spirit Awakening Foundation Akuyoe Graham also participated in the dramatic staged readings.

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.