black

Lisa Olivia Fitch  |   OW Contributor
Jun 14 2012

The awards show celebrates various forms of entertainment

Billed as “the biggest night in music,” the Black Entertainment Television (BET) Awards has evolved since its start in 2001 into a major effort to celebrate the accomplishments of musicians, actors and sports stars.

All told, there are … persons/acts nominated to receive honors in 20 categories at the July 1 event, and the music category is loaded with the majority of recipients. Actor Samuel L. Jackson, declared the highest-grossing movie actor of all time, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, will be this year’s BET Awards host.

Jun 4 2012

David James Garrison of Leimert Park

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—A physician assistant convicted using the stolen identities of doctors as part of a $10.7 million Medicare fraud scheme faces a second federal trial in November on charges of dealing in OxyContin.

After a two-week trial, David James Garrison of Leimert Park was found guilty late Friday of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, six counts of health care fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. He faces multiple years in prison at sentencing Sept. 17.

May 24 2012

University plans to fight lawsuit by victims’ families

Two men suspected in the shooting deaths of two USC graduate students from China during a botched robbery were charged Tuesday with capital murder.

Bryan Barnes, 20, and Javier Bolden, 19, will be arraigned on June 25. They are charged with the April 11 killings of Ming Qu and Ying Wu, both 23.

The electrical engineering students were attacked while they sat in Qu’s double-parked, 2003

BMW in the 2700 block of Raymond Avenue, not far from the USC campus, during a downpour.

May 17 2012

Jamiel Shaw’s parents to speak

Jurors heard evidence Tuesday in the penalty phase of the trial of a 23-year-old gang member convicted of gunning down a standout Los Angeles High School football player whom he mistook for a rival gang member.

Prosecutors will be seeking the death penalty for Pedro Espinoza, who killed 17-year-old Jamiel Shaw Jr. on March 2, 2008, while the defense will ask jurors to recommend life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Apr 12 2012

Complications from diabetes

Jamaa Fanaka, born Walter Gordon, on Sept. 6, 1942, was an American filmmaker best known for his 1979 film, “Penitentiary,” and one of the leading directors of the L.A. Rebellion film movement. Fanaka died April 1, from complication of diabetes. He was 69.

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.”