By Jazelle Hunt, NNPA Washington Correspondent   WASHINGTON (NNPA) —Just before Labor Day 2005, the world was stunned as images of Gulf Coast citizens, trudged through chaos and stagnant floodwaters, strewn with the debris of wrecked buildings and storm-tossed earth. The sights seemed to replay just before Halloween 2012, as coastal New York and New […]

By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON (IPS) — U.S. President Barack Obama’s new strategy to “degrade, and ultimately destroy” the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is being met with widespread skepticism among both hawks and doves, as well as regional specialists. While Congress is expected to acquiesce, if not formally authorize, the plans he outlined […]

By Freddie Allen, NNPA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON (NNPA) — In an effort to combat police brutality in the Black community, the National Bar Association (NBA) recently announced plans to file open records requests in 25 cities to study allegations of police misconduct. Pamela Meanes, president of the Black lawyers and judges group, said that the […]

By Carey L. Biron WASHINGTON(IPS) — A United Nations panel reviewing the U.S. record on racial discrimination has expressed unusually pointed concern over a new pattern of laws it warns is criminalizing homelessness. U.S. homelessness has increased substantially in the aftermath of the financial downturn, and with a disproportionate impact on minorities. Yet in many […]

By Freddie Allen, NNPA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON (NNPA) —The unemployment rate for Blacks (11.4 percent) and Whites (5.3 percent) remained unchanged from July to August, but the fact that Black unemployment is 2.4 percent higher than when the recession began five years ago is an indication that Blacks have the farthest to go to get […]

By Marc H. Morial “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.”  —Fannie Lou Hamer, legendary civil rights activist and co-founder of the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party   The funeral is over. The protests have died down. The lax and listless wheels of justice in Ferguson, Mo. are beginning to turn. Last […]

By Jazelle Hunt, NNPA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON (NNPA) — As the nation’s families head back to school, they may notice that for the first time, elementary and middle school students of color will equal the percentage of White students, according to Department of Education projections.White student enrollment has steadily declined, as have birth rates among […]

By Jazelle Hunt, NNPA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON (NNPA) — At noon on Saturday, August 9, Michael Brown, 18, and his friend, Dorian Johnson, crossed paths with Ferguson, Mo. police officer Darren Wilson. By 12:04 p.m., Wilson had fatally shot Brown six times. His body was left out for hours as other officers responded to the […]

By Zafirah Mohamed Zein NEW YORK  (IPS) — Joe sits on newspapers spread on the sidewalk by the entrance to midtown’s Grand Central Station. His head rests in his hands, only looking up when coins from passersby clink into his paper cup.“A shelter is like a prison without guards,” he says, when asked why he […]

By Richard B. Muhammad, Special to the NNPA from The Final Call FERGUSON, Mo. (NNPA) — The National Guard has rolled in and out, but the pain and passion of people in the streets, in homes and in businesses remain and broken hearts still ache. Tear gas, rubber bullets, gas masks, gas canisters and armored […]