Civil Rights

Myths and lies about poverty

No doubt, some will always be wealthier than others. We wouldn’t want to live in a society that forced all to be equal. But poverty isn’t inevitable. The 30 million people in America who lived in poverty even before the pandemic when unemployment was at record lows needn’t exist in that state. 

Advocates Connect Black Justice, Health and Money to Environmental Concerns

The Healthy Air Alliance, a California-based organization committed to reducing environmental pollution, and the Rev. Dr. William D. Smart Jr., president and CEO of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Southern California, co-hosted a panel discussion on environmental justice July 23.

Two Years Later, Black Mother Wrongfully Accused of Murdering White Woman in Rolling Hills Estates Still Fighting to Get Her Name and Car Back

Cherie Townsend and attorney forced to come out of coronavirus quarantine or have civil rights lawsuit dismissed It’s been nearly two years since mother of two, Cherie Townsend, was accosted at gunpoint by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and arrested for the May 3, 2018 murder of Susan Leeds.  At the time, Leed’s death led the local news and made national headlines because she was a white woman who was murdered in a wealthy Los Angeles County suburb. Then-Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell wasted no time in trying to pacify the residents of two cities that contracted his

An Ode to Joseph Echols Lowery: An American Icon and Human Rights Champion

From my first Sunday at Central until my last visit with him in July, he never ceased to impress me. On the first Sunday I attended Central, I was blown away by his power in the pulpit. He brought justice and Jesus together with a wit, wisdom, and eloquence and accessibility that made you believe that through God’s grace broken nations and broken hearts could be made whole, whatever the circumstance. The man was a preaching machine.

Civil Rights Leader, MLK Aide Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery Dies at 98

ATLANTA (AP) — The Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, a veteran civil rights leader who helped the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and fought against racial discrimination, died Friday, a family statement said. He was 98. A charismatic and fiery preacher, Lowery led the SCLC for two decades — restoring the organization’s financial stability and pressuring businesses not to trade with South Africa’s apartheid-era regime — before retiring in 1997. Lowery, considered the dean of civil rights veterans, lived to celebrate a November 2008 milestone that few of his movement colleagues thought they would ever

Supreme Court Sides with Comcast in Discrimination Dispute Against Byron Allen

The lawsuit arose out of Comcast’s decision several years ago not to carry several Allen-owned television channels, such as Pets.TV and Recipe.TV. Comcast has argued its rejection of Allen’s channels was purely a business decision, reflecting what it viewed as the channels’ limited audience appeal. Allen then promptly filed a $20 billion lawsuit against Comcast, alleging that the company’s refusal to contract with Allen’s company was racially motivated, in violation of Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866.

EXCLUSIVE: Rory Gamble Named First African American President of the UAW

“I was sitting at home and brainstorming on things that I needed to do, and then the phone started to ring,” stated Rory Gamble, a welder fixture repairman, who joined the UAW in 1974 when he worked at the Ford Motor Co. Dearborn (Mich.) Frame Plant. “The local NAACP chapter president called, and others,” noted Gamble, who in December was named the 13th president of the 85-year-old union. “It hit me then that, ‘Hey, you’re the first African American president,’” Gamble recalled. “It struck me like a rock. It’s a great accomplishment.”

BBA Hosts Annual Black History Awards Dinner

The Black Business Association (BBA), the oldest ethnic business organization in the State of California commemorated Black History Month or African American Heritage Month, during its Salute to Black History Annual Awards Dinner on Thursday, February 27, at the California African American Museum CAAM.