Najee Ali

Gail Choice  |   OW Contributor
Jan 24 2013

Hollywood by Choice

Score one for the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, and Najee Ali, director of Project Islamic Hope, for their very emotional outcry about the so-called “Django Unchained” slave dolls. On Friday, Jan. 18, the Weinstein Co. announced that it has asked toy maker NECA to discontinue the “Django Unchained” action figure dolls after receiving complaints that the dolls were offensive and trivialized the horrors of slavery.

Jan 17 2013

Author: Najee Ali

There are people in your community that make it stronger.

In many cases, you don’t know who they are. They work quietly behind the scenes, and all you ever see is the good they do.

In other cases, you hear from them loud and clear, and you know they’ve got your back. And in the new book “Raising Hell: A Life of Activism” by Najee Ali (BookBaby, $9.99, foreword by California Congresswoman Karen Bass), you’ll meet one of those people.

Nov 8 2012

Autobiography: ‘Raising Hell: A Life of Activism’

Operation HOPE has planned a reception and book signing for Najee Ali, the well-known activist, community organizer, founder and executive director of Project Islamic HOPE.

Ali’s autobiographical work is titled “Raising Hell: A Life of Activism,” and the event will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 15 at 3721 S. LaBrea Ave.

Sep 6 2012

During arrest for child endangerment

Los Angeles Police Department officers involved in restraining a 35-year-old mother—who struggled while they arrested her, was found unresponsive in the back seat of a police car and died at a hospital—were removed from field duty by Chief Charlie Beck.

Jun 18 2012

Corner of Crenshaw and Vernon at 6 p.m.

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—A community tribute will be held in Leimert Park today to honor Rodney King, the motorist whose 1991 videotaped beating by Los Angeles police officers led to the city’s worst riots.

The 47-year-old King was pronounced dead early Sunday after being pulled from the bottom of the backyard swimming pool at his home in the 1000 block of East Jackson Street in Rialto in San Bernardino County.

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.