By Freddie Allen, NNPA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON (NNPA) —Even with overwhelming support from black voters, Democrats still lost control of the United States Senate in the mid-term elections and President Barack Obama will have to compromise with the GOP-controlled Congress in order to get anything done in his last two years. “First let’s put it […]

By Jane Regan and Yuxiao Yuan SOMERVILLE, Massachussetts(IPS) — Pedro sought a safer life. He traveled to Somerville from Chalantenango, El Salvador on foot, by bus, car, and in the back of a tractor-trailer truck. Now he’s one of 60 new students from Central America who have enrolled in Somerville Public Schools after making it […]

By Marilyn Tavenner, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Fall is a wonderful time of year. Changing leaves. Cooler weather. It’s also the season for people with Medicare to review their current Medicare coverage, as Medicare Open Enrollment begins. As we prepare for Medicare Open Enrollment, which began on October 15 and ends on […]

By Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. NNPA Columnist Is there any doubt about the preeminence of the race factor that helped to determine the outcome of the 2014 midterm elections across the United States?  I have no doubt. Many of the Democrats who lost their campaigns for Congress and statewide office made no sustained effort to […]

By Freddie Allen, NNPA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON (NNPA) — In what may be the first test of the GOP-controlled, United States Senate’s willingness to work with the White House, President Barack Obama nominated United States Attorney Loretta Lynch to succeed Eric Holder as the next attorney general. If confirmed, Lynch would become the first Black […]

By Jazelle Hunt, NNPA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON (NNPA) —U.S. Attorneys across the nation are professional prosecutors, making sure criminals are locked up for their crimes. Beginning this fall, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia will take on a new and very different role as it turns its attention to those convicted of […]

By Freddie Allen, NNPA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON (NNPA) — When it comes to cashing checks and other financial transactions, Blacks are “unbanked” at much higher rates than Whites, according to a new report by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The FDIC, an independent government agency that guarantees deposits up to $250,000 at insured banks, […]

By Dr. J. A. Salaam, Special to the NNPA from The Final Call  FERGUSON, Mo. (FinalCall.com) – Tensions over the police shooting of Michael Brown, Jr., 18, by a White police officer here and the unrelated shooting of 18-year-old Vonderrit Myers Jr. in nearby St. Louis have not eased—and are unlikely to go away soon. […]

By Jazelle Hunt, NNPA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON (NNPA) —Between the rise of digital media, changing social landscapes, and decreased funding, the nation’s 8,956 public library systems are at a crisis stage. And underserved communities and people of color stand to lose more than other communities. Public libraries stand in the gap for many Black Americans […]

By Zenobia Jeffries, Special to the NNPA from the Michigan Citizen (Part I of 2)    “Detroit’s revitalization is completely one-sided. The surge in investment in this majority-Black city is not going to (B)lack residents.”                       — Alex B. Hill   DETROIT — Research by a […]