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Engineer’s ‘Hustle’ Becomes Successful Construction Company

October 15, 2016

Avis Thomas-Lester Urban News Service Brunson L. Cooper dreamed of starting his own construction firm–but he had no money, no investors, and no connections. He decided to become his own rich uncle. The engineer spent 16 years working at Turner Construction, one of America’s largest builders. He always lived below his means and saved what […]

Popular Interests In This Article: Avis Thomas Lester, Brunson L. Cooper, Corenic Construction Group, Thomas Moorehead

Black Farmer Fights to Kill Death Tax

October 15, 2016

by Avis Thomas Lester Urban News Service John Wesley Boyd, Jr., lives off the land raising cows and growing soybeans and corn on 400 acres he owns in rural Baskerville, Virginia. He works alongside his father, John Wesley Boyd, Sr., 75, who farms 117 acres nearby that he inherited from his own father. Together they’ve […]

Popular Interests In This Article: Avis Thomas Lester, Death Taxes, Estate Taxes, Farming, John Wesley Boyd Jr., John Wesley Boyd Sr.

On the Front Lines of the Opioid Crisis: Crime, Antidotes, Overdoses

September 29, 2016

By Avis Thomas-Lester Urban News Service Kanawha County Sheriff’s Lt. Scott Elkins gets ready for his 12-hour shift by checking his patrol car and equipment, then contacting the dispatcher to discuss the team of deputies with whom he will patrol 900 square miles until dawn. Lastly, Elkins inspects his supply of Narcan, the trade name […]

Popular Interests In This Article: Avis Thomas Lester, Drug Addiction, Opiod Crisis, Overdose

From Homelessness to Hairstylist

September 29, 2016

Early Struggles Spur Beautician to Success By Avis Thomas-Lester Urban News Service She’s taught natural hair styling in Los Angeles and hair-loss prevention in Australia. She’ll be featured in New Zealand next month at the International Association of Trichologists’ Hairdressing Conference. “I do a lot of speaking engagements, so I travel a lot,” said Johnson, […]

Popular Interests In This Article: Avis Thomas Lester, Evalyn Johnson, Hair Stylists

African Hair Braiders Fight for Economic Liberty

June 10, 2016

By Avis Thomas-Lester Urban News Service Kune Gueye came from Senegal to Nashville for a better life, but she had to overcome yards of red tape to earn her American dream. To make a living, she turned to a skill she had honed over years of practice in her homeland – braiding hair. With a […]

Popular Interests In This Article: Avis Thomas Lester, Cosmetology School, Hair Braiding, Kine Hair Braiding, Kune Gueye

As Death Tax Looms, Prince’s Estate May Stay in Limbo for Years

May 13, 2016

by Avis Thomas-Lester Urban News Service How much is a vault of unreleased songs worth? What’s the value of a guitar played by a musical genius? Is Uncle Sam owed anything on a chifforobe full of rock star finery? And, what’s the going rate for a “glyph” created to protest against an artist’s record company? […]

Popular Interests In This Article: Avis Thomas Lester, Death Taxes, Estate Taxes, Prince

Was it Civil Rights or a Movement?

March 18, 2016

by Avis Thomas-Lester Urban News Service They fought for integration, equal education and voter registration. There were Freedom Rides, a march on Washington and mayhem on Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge. There were sit-ins, brutal attacks and stands against violence. In the end, freedom was achieved – at least in part. “There is no question that […]

Popular Interests In This Article: Avis Thomas Lester, Civil Rights, Civil Rights Movement, Montogmery Bus Boycott

From Civil War To Civil Rights, Frank Smith Lives Black History

March 4, 2016

By Avis Thomas-Lester, Urban News Service The 20-year-old civil rights worker had been locked up for three weeks in Greenwood for helping blacks register to vote. “After I was released from jail, I called my mother at home in Georgia to tell her I was okay,” said Smith, 73, of Washington, D.C. “She told me […]

Popular Interests In This Article: Avis Thomas Lester, Civil Rights, Civil War, Frank Smith

Foreclosure Crisis Still Hammers African-Americans

March 4, 2016

by Avis Thomas Lester, Urban News Service Willie Ann Lytle faced foreclosure on her home two days before Halloween. So she filed for bankruptcy to save it. Lytle’s parents bought the cheerful house on Addison Road in Capitol Heights, Maryland, for $10,500 in 1948. She was only 1. Her mother, Margaret, taught her to cook […]

Popular Interests In This Article: Avis Thomas Lester, Foreclosure, Willie Ann Lytle

Foreclosure Crisis Still Hammers Black Americans

January 22, 2016

By Avis Thomas Lester Urban News Service Affluence is no antidote to foreclosure. In Prince George’s County, Maryland — one of the United States’ wealthiest majority-black jurisdictions — the foreclosure crisis has hammered several solidly middle-class communities. These include Perrywood, a neighborhood of two-story homes near the county seat in Upper Marlboro; Marleigh in Bowie, […]

Popular Interests In This Article: Avis Thomas Lester, Foreclosure, Mortgages, Todd Zywicki

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