50th anniversary

Sheyanne Jackson  |   OW College Intern
Jun 2 2011

Reunion in Mississippi

The Freedom Riders recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of their harrowing bus trips through the South, which began on May 4, 1961, in attempt to protest against the Jim Crow laws. They had been outlawed by a Supreme Court decision to prohibit segregation in all interstate travel and public transportation facilities months prior to the demonstrations.

Nov 4 2010

On October 1, Nigeria celebrated the 50th anniversary of its independence from Great Britain. This milestone will likely be ignored in Los Angeles. It shouldn’t be.

Most Americans know very little about Nigeria, and that which they do know is extraordinarily negative.

Nigeria is viewed as a nation with a breathtakingly corrupt government, intractable violence in its oil producing region, and as the source of the e-mail scams that clog countless in-boxes each and every day.

Nigeria’s most damaging label, that of burgeoning terrorist haven, was sadly affixed last Christmas Day, when a young Nigerian who was radicalized in the Middle East attempted to blow up a plane over Detroit.

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.