Our OpEd

Between The Lines
OW Contributing Columnist
The Hutchinson Report
OW Contributing Columnist
Practical Politics
OW Contributing Columnist
OW Contributing Columnist
David L. Horne, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
May 23, 2013
NNPA Columnist
May 23, 2013
Julianne Malveaux  |   OW Contributing Columnist
May 23, 2013
Sikivu Hutchinson  |   OW Contributing Columnist
May 23, 2013
Harry C. Alford  |   OW Guest Contributor
May 23, 2013
Julianne Malveaux  |   OW Contributing Columnist
May 16, 2013

Our Features

Cynthia E. Griffin-  |   OW Managing Editor
May 9 2013

High levels of suspensions and special education placement to be targeted

Nearly 500 people turned out Saturday for a town hall discussion on the status of Black children in California’s public education and system.

The event, sponsored by Congresswoman Karen Bass, D-Calif., was held at Audubon Middle School in the Crenshaw District and drew people ranging from high school students attending local campuses, to former school district superintendents, to educational professionals, to parents to concerned community stakeholders.

May 8 2013

Claim is “outrageous and pathetic”

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — A dancer-choreographer has filed a claim against Michael Jackson’s estate related to alleged child sex abuse by the late pop icon.

Wade Robson, now 30, denied in testimony at Jackson’s child molestation trial in 2005 that he had been molested by the singer.

Two months after Jackson’s death in 2009, Robson said they had “a wonderful relationship” and he called Jackson “a kind human being.”

May 8 2013

Suspect wouldn’t let family inside

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Ropes and chains have been found inside the Cleveland home where police say three women spent close to a decade in captivity, city officials said Wednesday.

While Public Safety Director Martin Flask said investigators haven’t confirmed how the ropes and chains were used, police Chief Michael McGrath told NBC’s “Today” that they were used to restrain the missing women.

“We have confirmation that they were bound,” he told NBC.

May 3 2013

4,000 homes threatened

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — A Los Angeles-area wildfire exploded from 10 acres to 10,000 acres in about 25 hours and threatened 4,000 homes Friday afternoon, fire authorities said.

The fire, which began Thursday morning, damaged 15 homes,15 outbuildings and five commercial properties, but none were destroyed and no one had been injured, authorities said.

Authorities ordered a mandatory evacuation Friday afternoon for the affluent Ventura County community of Hidden Valley, northwest of Los Angeles, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said.

May 2 2013

Best design is a marriage of technology, science and manufacturing techniques

Forecasting future technology has never been easy. In the 1950s, scientists and technologists envisaged that by now the world would be free from disease, traversed by flying cars, and fueled by minerals from distant planets.

Such visions, of course, have not come to pass. But then again, as recently as 10 years ago, few would have envisaged that 3D-printed food, bionic body parts and invisibility cloaks were just around the corner.

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.”