Blacks

Stanley O. Williford  |   OW Editor
May 19 2011

He and seven of his siblings remained together

As we celebrate May as National Foster Care Month, OurWeekly takes a moment to reflect on the life of one prominent local citizen whose life was transformed by foster care.

In his book, “Dreamer in the Fields: My Life as a Child Migrant Farm Worker” (c.2010, Vision Publishing, $12.99, 124 pages), John Hill, who served former Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne B. Burke for 10 years as her chief of staff, writes of the torturous existence of being a child migrant farm laborer and the literal salvation he found in foster care in Fresno, Calif.

May 12 2011

Birther logic finds its equivalent in South Africa

I am glad that President Barack Obama has a sense of humor about the birthers. I don’t, and I am disgusted that Donald Trump, lacking both sense and scruples, was able to push the president to releasing his “long form” birth certificate.

Apr 21 2011

Urban League declares war on unemployment

Economists say the recession is over. Recent national job reports illustrate an upward climb to the recovery. Yet these accomplishments have not effectively reached the urban communities of color—neither Black nor Hispanic.

This is according to the National Urban League’s 2011 “State of Black America” (SOBA) released recently. To combat this painful State of Black America in 2011, the NUL has declared a war on unemployment.

Stanley O. Williford  |   OW Editor
Apr 21 2011

Clergy address reasons why some only attend on holiday

It’s Sunday morning and you normally sleep in, but this morning is special. Like a bear coming out of early hibernation, you rise uncharacteristically because you want to attend Easter services at your local church. In fact, many others all over the nation have the same idea. There’s something about the Easter holiday—or what many call Resurrection Day—that draws out the non-church-goer. It’s the day that commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the head of the Christian church.

Cynthia E. Griffin-  |   OW Managing Editor
Apr 21 2011

Leimert Park stop sought

A series of meetings that will determine the fate of the Crenshaw/LAX Light Rail will be held today at noon and April 28 at 9 a.m. at the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) boardroom.
At the meeting today, Metro officials on the Measure R Project Delivery Committee will review a proposal by Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas to make sure there is a train station in the Leimert Park area either at Vernon Avenue or the parking lot of 43rd Street; and to take the line underground from Exposition to Florence.

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.