Professor

Jan 12 2012

Tuskegee airman, civil rights activist, professor

Memorial services for Raymond L. Johnson will be held today at 11 a.m. at Holman United Methodist Church, 3320 West Adams Blvd. He was 89.

Johnson was born on July 31, 1922, in Providence, R.I., to Jacob and Lelia Johnson. The youngest of five children, he would attend Howard University before being drafted into the Army and stationed at Walla Walla, Wash., where he was assigned to maintain airplane radios.

Fungai Maborke  |   OW Guest Contributor
Oct 6 2011

She chose cremation in order to save a tree

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Professor Wangari Wanjiku Maathai was recently cremated and her ashes interred per her request at a Kenyan educational institution dedicated to peace and the environment.

She joins a small handful of Kenyans whose bodies are cremated, in a tradition that is fairly rare among Africans. It was her wish to avoid chopping down another tree for a casket.

Instead, more than 5,000 seedlings will be planted countrywide in a program sponsored by the Green Belt Movement and the government.

Aug 4 2011

Played in the NFL

The body of Lawrence Jarmon, Ph.D., retired dean of student services at West Los Angeles College and former professional football player, was interred Friday at Inglewood Park Cemetery.

Jarman died in Los Angeles on July 15. He was 64.

A Los Angeles native, Jarmon attended Manual Arts High School, Los Angeles Harbor College and California State University, Los Angeles. 

David L. Horne, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Jan 27 2011

Practical Politics

The president was presidential. He stood before a packed room of Democrats and Republicans sitting together; of elders, poor people, the elite, the military, gays, Latinos, the disabled, Asian Americans, Black Americans, White Americans, etc. The president stood tall among them all and well represented the America to which he was elected to lead.

Oct 21 2010

Outstanding contributions

PASADENA, Calif.—A Caltech professor was named as the recipient of the National Medal of Science, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on scientists.

Amnon Yariv, a professor of applied physics and electrical engineering, will receive the award, along with 10 others, during a ceremony at the White House later this year.

“The extraordinary accomplishments of these scientists, engineers and inventors are a testament to American industry and ingenuity,” President Barack Obama said.

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.