By Jim Lobe   WASHINGTON (IPS) — A familiar clutch of hawks have taken wing over the rapidly developing crisis in Ukraine, as neo-conservatives and other interventionists claim that President Barack Obama’s preference for diplomacy over military action  invited Russian aggression.At stake in the current crisis, according to these right-wing critics, are not only Ukraine’s […]

By Freddie Allen, NNPA Washington Correspondent   WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 by 2016 would lift nearly 1 million low-wage workers out of poverty, according to a recent report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Although a majority of low-wage workers are White, people of color would be disproportionately affected […]

By By Kanya D’Almeida     NEW YORK (IPS) – A nurse helps an old man up from his chair. Holding onto her arms, he steps blindly forward, trusting her to lead him to his spot at the lunch table. One man breathes through a respirator. Another gropes on the nightstand for his dentures. Yet […]

By Freddie Allen, NNPA Washington Correspondent  WASHINGTON (NNPA) — Two years ago, 14-year-old Trayvon Martin was returning from a trip from a nearby 7-Eleven store in Sanford, Fla. to purchase a bag of Skittles and a can of Arizona tea when he was confronted by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watchman.Instead of making it back to […]

By Bryant Harris       WASHINGTON (IPS) — U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and several key Republican and Democrat senators agree on the need for criminal justice reform, and some are now even seeking to restore voting rights to former felons.“There is no rational reason to take away someone’s voting rights for life just because they […]

By Freddie Allen, NNPA Washington Correspondent  WASHINGTON (NNPA) — The Black unemployment rate increased from 11.9 percent in December to 12.1 percent in January, according the Department of Labor’s latest monthly report.At 12.1 percent the Black unemployment rate is nearly double the national unemployment rate of 6.6 percent. The unemployment rate for Black men over […]

By Bryant Harris  WASHINGTON (IPS) – The U.S. government is violating federal leasing policies when it sells land to certain coal-mining companies, according to a new audit from an official watchdog agency.The practice could be costing taxpayers millions of dollars even as mining operations degrade the environmental integrity of the Powder River Basin in the […]

Pioneering woman joins popular Black Heritage Stamp Series NEW YORK — The U.S. Postal Service paid tribute to pioneering Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm with the issuance of a limited-edition 37th Black Heritage Forever Stamp during a special ceremony at Brooklyn Borough Hall in Brooklyn, NY.The Shirley Chisholm Black Heritage Forever Stamp is now on sale in […]

By George E. Curry, NNPA Editor-in-Chief WASHINGTON (NNPA) — A “concerned” U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler is expected to rule next week on whether advertising she ordered major tobacco companies to purchase in order to correct their past false statements about the danger of smoking should be expanded to include black media.On Jan. 22, Judge […]

By Bryant Harris WASHINGTON  (IPS) — Pro-immigration reform advocates here are seeking to capitalize on new federal momentum on the issue after conservative lawmakers ended months of dithering late last week and released an initial set of principles that they would be interested in pursuing in broader negotiations.FWD.us, an immigration reform advocacy group funded by […]