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 […]

By Freddie Allen, NNPA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON (NNPA) — As voters prepare to cast ballots in the first federal general election since the United States Supreme Court shredded a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) with the Shelby County v. Holder decision, civil rights groups are gearing up to make sure […]

By Jazelle Hunt, NNPA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON (NNPA) — While black and white people have similar rates of Internet use, black people are slightly more plugged in to certain social media sites, where sharing life’s minutiae is the norm. “Social networks are a great way to stay connected with others, but you should be wary […]

By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON (IPS) — A federal jury here Wednesday convicted one former Blackwater contractor of murder and three of his colleagues of voluntary manslaughter in the deadly shootings of 14 unarmed civilians killed in Baghdad’s Nisour Square seven years ago. The judge in the case ordered the men detained pending sentencing. "To this […]

By Bill Fletcher The November 4 election is only a moment away.  Believe it or not, as of about two weeks ago, two thirds of the people in the U.S.A    did not know that there is to be an election on November 4, 2014.  As far as some segments of our society are concerned, […]

By Marc H. Morial “The extent of and continuing increase in inequality in the United States greatly concern me… I think it is appropriate to ask whether this trend is compatible with values rooted in our nation’s history, among them the high value Americans have traditionally placed on equality of opportunity.”   — Janet Yellen, […]

By Freddie Allen, NNPA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON (NNPA) — The shooting death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, in Ferguson, Mo., by Darren Wilson, a white police officer, was as much the product of a century of housing segregation spurred by federal, state, and local policies as longstanding tension between Blacks and police, according […]