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

California
Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez this week announced that he has appointed Assemblymember Wilmer Amina Carter to serve as assistant majority policy leader for the 2011-2012 session of the California State Assembly.
“I am delighted that Assemblymember Wilmer Amina Carter will be bringing her commitment and skill to the role of assistant majority policy leader,” Pérez said. “Ms. Carter is dedicated to education and job creation, two of the Assembly’s top priorities, and she is a respected legislator whose soft-spoken approach gets results. I am confident that as a part of the Assembly Democrats’ leadership team, she will be very effective in helping shape our policy priorities and oversight activities.”
“As assistant majority policy leader, I am hopeful I can use the experience I’ve gained serving in these tough times to help the Assembly’s Democratic majority, especially our new members, set priorities and advance the kind of smart, innovative policy solutions our state needs to create jobs, recover from the recession and prepare our students for the future,” Carter said.
“I’m also looking forward to the part of the job that will help ensure that the policies we enact are being implemented to the full benefit of the people of California.”
Assemblymember Carter represents the 62nd Assembly District which covers the cities of Rialto and Colton, portions of the cities of Fontana and San Bernardino, as well as the communities of Bloomington and Muscoy.

Colorado
Thousands of fans cheered on as America’s top Black cowboy and cowgirls headlined the National Western complex’s Martin Luther King Jr. African American Heritage Rodeo on Monday. Champion Black rodeo athletes including Lawrence Greer, Lee Vann, Justin Richard and Aliza Fulbright competed in the Pony Express relay, ladies’ steer undercoating, bull-dogging and more traditional rodeo events.

District of Columbia
In recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, The Justice Movement sponsored the “March for Jobs and Justice” at the nearly-completed Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. From there, the march proceeded to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for a rally in the exact location where King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. The Justice Movement defined their purpose for the rally as a way to fix the broken political system.
“It is no longer able to effectively serve the interests of the American people. American exceptionalism must be employed in the cause of justice for economic security and jobs, for U.S. and global healthcare including an end to HIV/AIDS, for the environment, and for electoral justice, putting an end to political demonization and polarization,” stated the group.

Florida
Many top financial and business experts agree that a recession can be the best time to start or grow a business. This proven concept is the underlying theme in Andrew Morrison’s free three-night Small Business Revival held from January 18-20th at the International Palms Resort in Orlando, FL. According to Small Business Camp founder, Andrew Morrison, there’s never been a better time to grow your business.
“Sometimes it just takes just a nudge to steer us in the right direction, said Morrison. “It’s my hope that my three-night event will be the nudge many small business owners need to help breathe life back into their passion and show them how they can grow their business even during these tough economic times.” This three-night event entitled “Three-Night Small Business Revival” brings Morrison’s highly effective “11 Principles to Turning Your Concept into Cash” seminar to Florida.

Illinois
Richard Lyons was taken into police custody recently for the death of his daughter, who suffered fatal stab wounds in the summer of 2008, according to his wife Latrice Lyons. Mya Lyons, the victim, who had been visiting her father for the summer, was stabbed in the neck and abdomen before she was found in an alley, roughly a half block from her father’s home in the 8400 block of South Gilbert Court. He and a relative then rushed her to Jackson Park Hospital. Within days of the murder, Lyons, submitted DNA samples to law enforcement authorities. The following week, police questioned a “person of interest,” but later ruled the man out as a suspect, police said. After failing a polygraph test, police searched Lyons’ home for potential leads. He was taken into custody at his job later that week. Lyons and his lawyer have since refused to comment.

Kentucky
The Kentucky’s College Education Savings Plan is sponsoring a contest for grade school students to earn $1,500 toward their college career. The contest began Tuesday and continues through March 18. Students from kindergarten to sixth grade have a chance to win $1,500 and an additional $500 for their school in the “Dream Out Loud Challenge.” Students are asked to submit an original drawing, poem, essay or video answering the question “How will I change the world, after I go to college?” Nine winning entries will be selected by a panel of judges in three, age-specific categories. Visit www.kysaves.com for more about the contest.

Louisiana
Mississippi Winn, better known as “Sweetie” the woman who was believed to be the oldest living African American in the United States, and seventh oldest person in the world, died Friday in Shreveport, L.A. She lived to be 113-years-old. Only one in five million people live to be 110. About 60 people that age live in the United States, with another 300 or so in other countries around the world.

Maryland
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. recently announced plans to help rebuild one of the damaged elementary school buildings in Haiti. Alpha is the world’s oldest collegiate fraternity of Black men, and the first integrated collegiate fraternal organization in the U.S. There are scores of Haitian-born members and Haitian descendants among the nearly 200,000 men initiated into Alpha since its founding in 1906. After the catastrophe last January, fraternity members across the US began collecting funds, and supplies. A delegation of brothers, including health and medical professionals, educators and social scientists, journeyed to Haiti on a humanitarian mission.

Mississippi
Leflore County authorities are awaiting the evidence to convict two 19-year-old males recently accused of raping an 11-year-old girl. The suspects, Isaiah Jones and Daniel Mumford, are currently being held at the Leflore County jail, on statutory rape charges. According to reports, the victim admitted during a police interview that she was sexually involved with both Mumford and Jones. The evidence has been sent to the Mississippi Crime Lab by investigators, and both suspects face substantial charges pending the results. Mumford and Jones are each being held on a $10,000 bond.

Missouri
Jefferson Elementary school offered 25 newly enrolled students $300, if they achieved 95 percent attendance last fall semester. The incentive also prohibited suspension from school, and parents and/or guardians were required to attend three out of four Parent Teacher Organization meetings by the end of the semester. Students also had to live in one of the surrounding areas—Residences at Murphy Park, O’Fallon Place and Carr Square neighborhood - all developed by McCormack Baron Salazar company. Its affiliate organization, McCormack Baron Ragan, funded the incentive program through a nonprofit group, Urban Strategies Inc. Nearly 80 percent of the 25 students made the grade.

North Carolina
The mother of a missing North Carolina teen is pleading for information about her 16-year-old daughter in a case police say might have gained more media attention, if the girl had been White. Baltimore police set up 24-hour hotline and are pleading for the community’s help finding Phylicia Simone Barnes. Barnes disappeared while spending Christmas break with relatives in Baltimore. Her mother last talked to Barnes on Christmas, just three days before she disappeared from her half-sister’s apartment in Northwest Baltimore. The disappearance has been reported in local media, NBC’s TODAY show, CNN and ABC’s “Good Morning America.” But a Baltimore police official told NBC News that had the missing person been White, the case might have received even more media attention, perhaps aiding investigators in finding a suspect.

Washington
James Kelly is stepping down from his post as president and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle (ULMS). He announced his intention to find a successor Tuesday morning, but promises to stay on until a proper replacement is found.
“I love this work of the League, and I love being a player at the table of every major jobs, education, public safety, transportation and public policy issue to face the area,” he said to reporters during an interview. “But after 11 years, it’s time to move on, move out and move into other areas that I haven’t ever had time, energy, or the chance to do.”
Under Kelly’s Leadership, ULMS was widely regarded as one of the most successful Urban League chapters in America. He is credited with growing the League’s housing, jobs and education programs into one of the most productive in the nation; and being a key political advisor to state, local and regional leaders. His initiatives on youth violence are perceived as critical to the dramatic decline in gang-related youth deaths in the area.

National
WomenScholarships.org is giving away a $10,000 monthly scholarship award to a female who is 18 years of age or older. The scholarship award is designed to help women and moms, who make up nearly two-thirds of all college students. It can be used to pay for tuition, books, housing, and more. To apply, students simply have to register online, view free information from sponsor colleges and universities, and then confirm their registration. Females of all ethnic groups and age brackets are eligible to apply. Applicants must, however, be permanent residents of the United States, and must be planning to attend or are already enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program at any college, university, or trade school. At the end of each month, one random winner is selected from a drawing, and the scholarship monies are paid in one lump sum directly to the winner upon verification.

Federal agents are investigating race as a possible motive after finding an abandoned backpack containing a bomb on the street along the route of a Martin Luther King Jr. parade in Spokane, Wash.
“The confluence of the holiday, the march and the device is inescapable, but we are not at the point where we can draw any particular motive,” said Frank Harrill, special agent in charge of the Spokane FBI office.
The backpack was seen by three city employees nearly an hour before the parade began. They informed police and the bomb was successfully disabled. Spokane is known to be heavily populated with members of the White supremacist Aryan Nation.