by Janelle Berry Special to the NNPA News Wire from the HU News Service WASHINGTON – Ask Americans what the Emancipation Proclamation is and most who know of President Abraham Lincoln’s executive order will respond like 20-year-old Ebony Harris, a student of Howard University from Chicago, Ill., and say, “Isn’t that the thing that freed […]
Soaring Costs, Social-Science Data Drive Slash in State Prison Populations
By Nick Chiles Urban News Service As Earth’s most prolific jailer, America faces a thorny question: What do you do with millions of inmates when they return home? That challenge is at the heart of many bipartisan prison reforms that are sweeping the nation. Georgia recently tackled this issue. The staunchly Republican state has become […]
America Nears Sweeping Reform of a Criminal Justice System that Has Decimated Black Communities
by Nick Chiles Urban News Service When a new inmate steps behind the walls of a prison in Georgia, the entirety of his or her criminal record and mental state is fed into a complex algorithm called the Next Generation Assessment. The NGA just might be the future of America’s criminal justice system. This algorithm […]
Obama Says Black Lives Matter Movement Is Legit
by Courtne Dixon Special to the NNPA News Wire Service from HU News Service WASHINGTON – The Black Lives Matter movement, who many have embraced and others have claimed is anti-police, received an endorsement from the nation’s highest law enforcement officer, President Barack Obama, during a special White House session last week to deal with […]
Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Talks Criminal Justice Reform at National Conference
by Bria Grant The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) 45th Annual Legislative Conference (ALC) took place Sept. 16-20, 2015 in Washington, D.C. With this year’s theme being, “With Liberty and Justice for All?” it was clear that CBCF’s desire was to advance the national conversation on criminal justice reform. Milwaukee was well represented at the […]
President Obama Announces $175 Million in Apprenticeships
By Zenitha Prince Special to the NNPA from the Afro-American Newspaper President Obama this week announced new opportunities for Americans to broaden their horizons and forge successful career pathways. Speaking at Macomb Community College in Warren, Mich., on Sept. 9, the president announced $175 million worth of apprenticeship grants that will train 34,000 new apprentices […]
Julian Bond Praised for Unselfish Devotion to Human Rights
by Freddie Allen NNPA Senior Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Julian Bond, a founding member and communications director of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and immediate past board chairman of the NAACP, is being praised for his lifelong human rights contributions by people ranging from President Obama and his former civil rights colleagues to ordinary […]
President Obama is on a Winning Streak
By Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., NNPA Columnist July 10, 2015 Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., NNPA Columnist The presidency is a bit like a baseball season. Players go through streaks and slumps, good days and bad days. Teams rack up wins and losses. It is only over the course of the long season […]