Breaking News

Alabama

Taking Down Flags and Tearing Down Walls: Some Seriously Needed Distinctions
Dr. Maulana Karenga

Taking Down Flags and Tearing Down Walls: Some Seriously Needed Distinctions

Dr. Maulana KarengaJuly 9, 2020

This is a revisiting of an ongoing conversation beginning in 2015 about taking down symbols of oppression, especially Confederate flags, but also statues, murals and all public signs, symbols and celebrations of our domination, deprivation and degradation as a people and other people of color. My argument here, as then, is that these acts are necessary, but not sufficient, an important start, but not the end of the long, difficult and dangerous journey to a radical reconception and reconstruction of the source of these racist symbols, signs and celebrations, i.e., society itself.  

FILM REVIEW – ‘John Lewis: Good Trouble’
MoviesPolitical

FILM REVIEW – ‘John Lewis: Good Trouble’

Dwight Brow NNPA News Wire Film CriticJuly 2, 2020

“I feel lucky and blessed that I’m serving in the Congress… But there is a force that is trying to take us back to another time and another dark period,” warns congressman John Lewis. And he’d know.   

Since age 17, this brave crusader has been at the forefront of the civil rights movement. Now at age 80, he’s an elder statesmen. Following his path lets audiences retrace the steps of an activism that has led to social change, even in the midst of great oppression. For that alone, former trial lawyer turned documentarian Dawn Porter’s (Trapped, Gideon’s Army) homage to one of our greatest heroes is a blessing and an inspiring lesson in American history.  

Mike Drop: After Joe Biden’s Big Super Tuesday Wins, What’s Next for Bloomberg?
NationalNewsPolitical

Mike Drop: After Joe Biden’s Big Super Tuesday Wins, What’s Next for Bloomberg?

Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire ContributorMarch 12, 2020

Excerpt: Democrats turned out in record numbers for Super Tuesday as many are citing their desire to remove President Trump from office as a motivating factor. In the Super Tuesday state of Virginia, primary turnout was the highest ever and surpassed the 2008 primary 12 years ago when former President Barack Obama challenged former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Over 23 percent of registered voters cast ballots on March 3rd.

Senator Doug Jones Emphasizes the Importance of the 2020 Black Voter Turnout
NationalNewsPolitical

Senator Doug Jones Emphasizes the Importance of the 2020 Black Voter Turnout

Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior CorrespondentJanuary 16, 2020

Jones said voting rights had been under attack since the 2013 Shelby V. Holder decision, which eliminated a lot of voter protections. “It’s not the same as the old Jim Crow laws, but there’s still efforts out there to suppress votes and keep people from having that free access to the booths,” he stated. Jones noted that he’s working to restore “teeth” in the Voting Rights Act but doubts that the current GOP-led Senate and President Trump’s administration would approve. “I don’t see it happening, so it’s all the more important to get out and vote in the 2020 elections.”

A Tribute to a Living Legend: Civil Rights Icon John Lewis
HistoryNationalNewsPolitical

A Tribute to a Living Legend: Civil Rights Icon John Lewis

Stacy M. Brown NNPA, Newswire Senior CorrespondentJanuary 9, 2020

In 1965, Lewis and fellow activist Hosea Williams led what was planned as a peaceful 54-mile march through Alabama from Selma to Montgomery. The march, a protest of the discriminatory practices and Jim Crow laws that prevented African Americans from voting, would be remembered in history as “Bloody Sunday,” one of the most dramatic and violent incidents of the American Civil Rights Movement.

FDIC and OCC Proposals Would Strip Away Payday Loan Rate Caps In 16 States and in DC
BusinessCharlene CrowellNews (Business)Opinion

FDIC and OCC Proposals Would Strip Away Payday Loan Rate Caps In 16 States and in DC

Charlene CrowellNovember 28, 2019

For most people who either work, receive retirement or other fixed benefits, it seems that your money always goes a lot quicker than it comes. While some economists marvel at Wall Street’s brisk trading and declare that the economy is better than ever, not everyone has been included.  On Main Street America, millions of people know that the cost of living is rising faster and higher than their incomes.

Remembering Congressman Elijah Cummings and the Journey Still Ahead
Charlene CrowellOpinion

Remembering Congressman Elijah Cummings and the Journey Still Ahead

Charlene CrowellNovember 7, 2019

The nationally televised October 25 funeral services for the late Congressman Elijah E. Cummings, paused partisan debates and revealed how a son of Baltimore worked tirelessly for his constituents and for this nation. In the days since his home-going, I have marveled at how his life’s work somehow brought together officials who held firm to their stark political divides but united to honor a man who believed that everyone deserved a fair chance at all America had to offer.

The Human and Economic Toll of Gun Violence is Staggering
EconomySafety

The Human and Economic Toll of Gun Violence is Staggering

Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire CorrespondentOctober 3, 2019

The September 18 state-by-state examination of the economic costs of gun violence, reveals numbers that the committee called “staggering.” For instance, in 2017, for the first time, the rate of firearm deaths exceeded the death rate by motor vehicle accidents. Nearly 40,000 people were killed in the United States by a gun in 2017, including approximately 2,500 school-age children – or more than 100 people per day and more than five children murdered each day. Sixty percent of gun deaths each year are firearm suicides, researchers said.

Trump and the Weather
Opinion

Trump and the Weather

Bill Fletcher, Jr. NNPA Newswire ContributorSeptember 19, 2019

There have been repeated stories of the repression of science under this administration. Scientists have been informed not to use this word or that word. The suppression of scientific exploration and publication of new research on climate change. This is all being done under the cover of night. But now we have a story where it is quite public that this administration not only wants to dictate reality, but it wishes to suppress those who contradict them, irrespective of the truth.

102 House Members Rebuke Delay of Payday Loan Rule Waters Led Effort Supported by Many CBC Members
BusinessCharlene CrowellEconomyFinanceNews (Business)OpinionPolitical

102 House Members Rebuke Delay of Payday Loan Rule Waters Led Effort Supported by Many CBC Members

Charlene CrowellSeptember 5, 2019

Anyone who struggles with the rising costs of living knows all too well how hard it is to try stretching dollars when there’s more month than money in the household. Predatory lending, like payday and car-title loans, worsen financial stress with triple-digit interest rates that deepen the debt owed with each renewal.   

2020 Candidate Kamala Harris Targets State Abortion Bans
NewsPolitical

2020 Candidate Kamala Harris Targets State Abortion Bans

Juana Summer, The Associated PressMay 30, 2019

The move comes as the issue of abortion moves to the forefront of the presidential campaign. Harris is among the Democratic presidential candidates who have been sharply critical of a new spate of abortion laws that have cleared state legislatures and sharply curb abortion access. Supporters of such measures have openly predicted that the laws could spark court fights that will eventually lead the Supreme Court to revisit the landmark Roe vs. Wade decision.

THERE NEVER WAS A NOBLE SOUTH.
Opinion

THERE NEVER WAS A NOBLE SOUTH.

Oscar H. BlaytonMay 24, 2019

Have you ever noticed that when driving through the southern United States you are hard-pressed to find a city or town without a memorial to the Confederate war dead, but you are equally hard-pressed to find a city or town with a monument commemorating fallen Revolutionary War soldiers?