black community

Anthony Asadullah Samad, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Jul 14 2011

Between the Lines

The U.S. Supreme Court recently ordered the state of California to address its prison overcrowding problem. As a quick fix nearly 30,000 low-level (nonviolent) offenders will be released in the next few months—nearly 12,000 in Los Angeles County—so the county has a few perplexing dilemmas:

Cynthia E. Griffin-  |   OW Managing Editor
Jul 7 2011

Changes are a ‘mistake’

According to a new visualization pre-map published last weekend by the California Redistricting Commission, (CRC), South Los Angeles and Malibu have enough in common that they should be lumped together into one voting district.

That bombshell was released last weekend on the web site www.wedrawthelines.ca.gov, and has the African American community reeling and fuming.

Anthony Asadullah Samad, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Jul 7 2011

Between the Lines

The nation’s second largest market is called, among other things, the “City of Dreams.” Whatever you want, whatever you can think of … you can get it here in Los Angeles. Everything except one thing—a National Football League team.

David L. Horne, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Jul 7 2011

Practical Politics

Imagine a well-dressed African American man and woman driving through Death Valley on the way to Vegas to party with some of their disposable income. They are chatty, enjoying each other’s company, and hurrying to get through the Mars-like landscape of the California desert. Abruptly, there is an awful moan from under the hood of their automobile, and the engine of their expensive foreign car simply quits, the car rolling to a stop on the side of the road.

Jun 30 2011

Is retirement a boom or bust proposition for African American baby boomers?

As the 78 million boomers—more than 9 million of them Black—continue to make a gradual, but highly visible exit from the workforce, data show that pre-retirement factors, such as income and planning, are key determinants of how well off they will remain financially in their later years.

Boomer and retiree Gilda Austin, of Las Vegas, Nevada, launched her retirement savings plan the day she began her education career by taking advantage of the pension plan made available to her by the Clark County Unified School District.

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.