Urban League

Apr 12 2012

Succeeds Carl Ballton

Urban League President and CEO Blair H. Taylor has announced Noel Massie as the new chairman of the board of the 91-year-old organization. Massie, UPS president, Central California District, has served on the board since October 2010. He succeeds Carl Ballton, president of the Union Bank Foundation. Ballton headed the board from October 2008 to March 2012.

Massie will preside as the dinner chair of the League’s 39th Whitney M. Young, Jr. Awards Dinner on April 25.

David L. Horne, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Dec 23 2010

Practical Politics

In February and again in April, President Barack Obama met with significant elements of the African American community to discuss what Blacks saw as their most critical need, and how they could work together with the White House to improve the condition of African Americans in the country. He met with the NAACP’s Ben Jealous, the Urban League’s Marc Morial, and Rev. Al Sharpton.

Cynthia E. Griffin-  |   OW Managing Editor
Oct 21 2010

Many groups target same goal

Black students in Los Angeles are struggling to improve their academic achievement, and there are a number of efforts under way to provide the resources needed to help them succeed.
One such effort is being pushed by Los Angeles Unified School Director Board of Education member Marguerite LaMotte and the others comes from the Coalition for Black Student Equity and the African American Education Alliance.

May 28 2009

Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church

Los Angeles, CA -- Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church (MBC) is located in South Los Angeles, an area hard hit by the economic downturn. With between 15%–20% unemployment in some areas, according to the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation, South L.A. residents are suffering far more severely than other residents in the State and country. Consequently, Mt. Sinai Church has chosen to respond in action.

“We see and feel the needs of our community everyday and decided to put action behind our words,” said Pastor George E. Hurtt.

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.