By Curtis Bunn, Urban News Service The axiom, “Those who cannot do, teach,” missed the point, as far as Blake Nathan is concerned. In fact, Nathan created the Educate Me Foundation on a wholly opposite premise: To mentor and encourage African-American students, high school and college, to pursue careers in education, especially as teachers—and to […]
Indianapolis’ Oaks Schools Use Student Diversity to Teach and Learn
By Curtis Bunn Urban News Service INDIANAPOLIS — Diversity is a slogan in many places, but at The Oaks Academy’s campuses near downtown Indianapolis, on any given Wednesday, the hallways are lined with more than 100 students and parents — black, white and otherwise, low-income, well-off and in-between — who come together for a morning […]
What Do Black Women Want? Cigars!
By Curtis Bunn Urban News Service When Monica Cooper walked into a smoke-filled room, it changed her life. She was a New York promotional model in 1998, when she worked an obscure event that she hardly remembers — except that men there smoked cigars. That occasion welcomed her into a culture in which few black […]
Left, Right Seek to Halt $4.2 Billion in Asset-Seizure Abuse
by Curtis Bunn Urban News Service Darren wants his surname kept secret. After enduring civil-asset forfeiture, he fears reprisals from law enforcement. “And you know why? Because this thing has let me know for a fact there’s no limit to what the police will do,” he said. “And they have the law behind them.” The […]
Prison Phone Rates Generate Billions for Companies – and Cause Stress for Black Families
by Curtis Bunn Urban News Service Garry Lawrence’s family worried about paying his legal fees. But phoning him in prison nearly bankrupted them. When Garry was arrested almost seven years ago on a minor drug offense, his loved ones knew that paying a lawyer to argue his case would be a major expense. They were […]
NFTE Turns Inner-City Youths into Black Entrepreneurs, Despite Persistent Challenges
by Curtis Bunn Urban News Service “My ethnicity has been empowering and encouraging for my community,” she says. “I am the first African-American balloon artist that most children in the region have seen, especially inner-city African- American children. Oftentimes, people will book me because of my color and age. Sometimes, I am even hired to […]
Homeless As Kids, Brothers Lamont and Anthony Peterson Evolve From Street Life To Boxing’s Elite
by Curtis Bunn, Urban News Service Abandoned and left on the streets, these two boxing champions are now cheered by the very parents who once cast them aside. it is the story of four individual transformations combining into one incredible tale. As a result, each victory in the boxing ring moves brothers Lamont and Anthony […]
Drexel’s ‘Healing Hurt People’ Program Helps Young Victims Recover from Emergency Room Trauma
by Curtis Bunn, Urban News Service Sobering facts: For every black youth murdered in Philadelphia, 90 others experience grave injuries, including gunshot and stabbing wounds. Each year, more than 900 young blacks are admitted to one specific local emergency room as victims of violence, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For John […]
Urban Prep Academy Turns Boys into Scholars in Chicago’s Roughest Neighborhoods
by Curtis Bunn Urban News Service CHICAGO — In some of Chicago’s lowest income neighborhoods, African-American teenage boys are overcoming their challenging surroundings. They are the young men of Urban Prep Academy, an all-male charter high school with a 100 percent graduation rate. All of those students earn college scholarships. And it all starts each […]
Rare Journey to Israel Changes NFL Hall of Famer’s Life
by Curtis Bunn Urban News Service For Chris Doleman, the NFL Hall of Fame is nothing compared to being baptized in the River Jordan. The former Minnesota Viking and 18 other NFL Hall of Famers toured Israel with Ron Dermer, that nation’s ambassador to Washington, David Baker of the Hall of Fame, and New England […]