Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been tagged as “Black people”
A single neuron in a normal adult brain likely has more than a thousand genetic mutations that are not present in the cells that surround it, according to new research from Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) scientists. The majority of these mutations appear to arise while genes are in active use, after brain development is complete. “We found that the …
A recently released census report indicates that white populations are starting to increase in United States urban areas. Although showing signs of a slight growth in white persons living in cities where many fled decades ago, does not necessarily translate into the improvement of the social conditions of the African American and Latino communities inhabiting municipalities, the numbers in fact …
– U.S. Justice Department announced that it will begin to focus on prosecuting individual corporate executives for crimes, rather than just fining their companies. But, Russell Mokhiber, editor of the Corporate Crime Reporter, says the Obama administration is just blowing hot air, and nothing has changed. Big banks and other corporations, and their top officers, are still too big to jail.
– The mayor of Baltimore, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, says she will not run for re-election next year. Last week her administration announced it will pay the family of Freddie Gray $6.4 million as a settlement for his death in police custody. Also last week, a judge rejected a bid by lawyers for the six police officers charged in Freddie Gray’s death that their trial be moved to another jurisdiction. We spoke with Jill Carter, a young Baltimore lawyer who is widely considered to be the most radical member of the Maryland State legislature. Delegate Carter is from an activist family. She has run unsuccessfully for mayor of Baltimore, and may run again. Carter believes the rebellion over Freddie Gray’s death, and constant pressures from protesters, finally broke the current mayor’s will to continue in office.
– Jill Carter, a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, speaking from Baltimore.
– Black Agenda Report contributing writer Danny Haiphong draws moral and political inspiration from the late George Jackson, the San Quentin prison inmate who became a member of the Black Panther Party, and was killed by prison guards in August of 1971. Haiphong is author of an article in this week’s issue of BAR titled, “Why George Jackson Matters.” Haiphong is an activist with FIST – Fight Imperialism, Stand Together – in Boston, and has worked closely with local members of the Black Lives Matter organization.
– The Uhuru movement will soon have its own radio station. The African People’s Socialist Party, commonly known as the Uhuru Movement, won permission to operate a low-power FM radio station in St. Petersburg, Florida, the site of their party headquarters. Chairman Omali Yeshitela says a fundraiser will begin this weekend to raise money to put the station in opertion. We asked Yeshitela what the Uhuru Movement will bring to the airwaves.
– Chairman of the African People’s Socialist Party, commonly known as the Uhuru Movement, based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Party’s African People’s Education and Defense Fund has won permission to operate a low-power FM radio station in the city, and will hold a marathon fund-raiser this Sunday to raise money to build the station’s transmitter and tower. We asked Yeshitela what the Uhuru Movement will bring to the airwaves.
-Did you know that 95% of Latins drive with no car insurance coverage at all? That’s a fact even though most all Latin countries have mandatory insurance laws. How is that possible? How do they continuously get away with it?
-Did you know that in most Latin countries, if you go to a driving school to learn how to drive properly, the school will guarantee you a driver’s license upon completion? Here’s the crazy part: most schools will give you the “on the road” part of the driver’s test right on the premises… not in an actual car but in a simulator! Crazier yet, over half of Latin drivers either have no idea how to parallel park or are too afraid to even try it. So instead they circle and circle, block after block, waiting for an easier space to open up. That’s what happens when your license is approved by a simulator.
-What happens if you get in trouble with the law while in Latin America? Specifically, what can happen if you get in a car accident or hit a pedestrian?
-Another “boots on the ground” gringo tale of woe. This time we hear from a gringo personally involved in a hit and run accident. (He was the driver and the one who ran!)
Hillary Clinton has called, tepidly, for an end to mass incarceration, in vague terms, without policy details: “There is something profoundly wrong when African-American men are far more likely to be stopped by the police and charged with crimes and given longer prison terms than their white counterparts,” Clinton said. “There is something wrong when trust between law enforcement and …
– Upstate groups rally for secession. Yeah, upstate NY and Alabama Good luck with that, both of you. If they were to get their wish, they’d both go under financially in less than 18 months.
– Cop pays for hotel for homeless mom and daughter. So often, we badmouth all police as if there’s no difference among them. This story shows it’s not true.
– From local Kentucky fixture to lightning rod. This woman, Kim Davis, should either be summarily fired or impeached for failing to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples, as required by law. And this from a woman who has been married four times, twice to the same man. Oh yeah, that all happened before she found God.
– Obama gets votes needed on Iran nuclear deal. Sen. Barbara Mikluski was the 34th vote. Now the Republicans and warhawks can go on to another issue. Wanna bet they won’t?
– After playing down a homeless crisis, de Blasio changes course. He needed to, after the person tasked with fixing the problem quit.
– Sony altered “Concussion” film to prevent NFL protests, e-mails show. And Sony doesn’t even do direct business with the league. Guess is, they’re backing away from showing any league responsibility in crippling injuries.
– Power failure snarls Long Island Railroad service. Even the NY Times is starting to realize this, and NJ Transit’s similar problems are a function of infrastructure neglect. Question is, who is to be held accountable?
– Hearing starts in Freddie Gray’s police death case. This one may not be as simple as some black activists want it to be or think it will be.
– Man accused of gunning down Texas deputy at gas station had history of mental illness. Story here is that Texas authorities at first blamed Black Lives Matter. They had to back away from that one. Notice, however, the use of race in this case, where there was no mention of whatever demons drove the white guy in Louisiana to kill a state trooper who had stopped to help him.
– Judge in California delivers Uber’s worst nightmare. This has to do with whether drivers are employees or contractors, and it may have national implications. Cute commercials may not get them out of this.
Although he is still a clown, nobody laughs at Donald Trump anymore — which may be the real purpose of his candidacy, at least as far as he is concerned. The casino mogul is pleased to instill fear among Republican elites, as he dominates their presidential nominating contest — and forces them to face a hard question about the man …
Police Killings: The Problem That Won’t Go Away
Election 2016: Leid Stories Measures the Political Temperature
Leid Stories discusses the fatal shooting yesterday of a black teenager by white police officers in St. Louis, Missouri, which once again has ignited a firestorm over police use of force and the racial dynamic that persists in the policing of communities of color throughout the United States.
Eighteen-year-old Mansur Ball-Bey was shot and killed after fleeing a house where two white police officers were conducting a search, St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson said yesterday. Ball-Bey pointed a gun at them as he fled, Dotson said, of the killing, which prompted local protests that recalled the police killings a year ago of Kajieme Powell in St. Louis and Michael Brown in Ferguson.
A “poll” of Leid Stories listeners registers the political temperature of the 2016 presidential campaign.
One way to fight health disparities and obesity may be to turn off the TV. Food companies disproportionately target television advertising for unhealthy products like candy and sugary drinks to Latino and African-American youth, new research shows. African-American children and teens in the U.S. are more than twice as likely to see an advertisement for candy and soda on TV …
Having grown up in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, Reverend James Stern is an African American pastor and civil rights activist devoted to racial justice and reconciliation between the Blacks, Whites and other races. He is the founder of No Color Inc and Racial Reconciliation. His community work has included facilitating dialogues between the black community and Korean shop owners following the 1992 LA riots, brokering a truce between the Crips and the Bloods and founding a community banking system within the NAACP. In addition, James has a particularly unique history. Having been incarcerated in Mississippi for mail fraud he found himself sharing a prison cell with the former Ku Klux Klan wizard and recruiting officer Edgar Ray Killen. Previously Killen had been sentenced to 60 years for masterminding the murders of three civil rights workers in 1964. That story later became dramatized in the film Mississippi Burning. During the course of James’ and Killen’s developing relationship, James became the klansman’s confessor and Killen confided many secrets in conversation and letters about the Klan and its history that remain relatively unknown. His website is JamesHStern.com
