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July
26
1916
Born on this date in Richmond, Va., Spottiswood W. Robinson, III was an educator, civil-rights attorney, judge and the first black person to be appointed to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
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by Frederick H. Lowe President John Mills of the Republic of Ghana died suddenly on Tuesday at a military hospital, where he was being treated for an undisclosed illness, Martey Newman, his chief of staff, announced on Ghana’s official portal. “It is with a heavy heart and deep sorrow that we announce the sudden and untimely death of the President of the Republic of Ghana---his excellency, Professor John Atta Mills. The death occurred at the 37 Military Hospital this afternoon while receiving
African Americans who live in rural areas of Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia face significant challenges visiting department of motor vehicle (DMV) or county election offices to obtain state-issued photo-identification cards. Residents of the three states must show such ID in order to vote in November’s presidential election.Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi are among 10 states that have the restrictive voter-ID laws. The other states are Indiana, Kansas, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin. Legal precedent requires these states to provide a free photo ID to eligible voters who do not have one, according to a study, “The Challenge of Obtaining Voter Identification,” by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School. The study found that nearly 1.2 million eligible black voters in the 10 states with restrictive voter ID laws live more than 10 miles from a photo ID-issuing office that is open more than two days a week. In the case of Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia, DMV offices are located long distances from where individuals live or the facilities are open only one or two days per week, according to the Brennan study. In addition, office employees provide inaccurate information regarding what is needed to obtain a free photo ID card. In some instances, county election officials have posted incorrect addresses and telephone numbers online. People of color are more likely to be disenfranchised by these laws since they are less likely to have Photo IDs than the general population, the Brennan Center reported. “For instance, in 11 contiguous counties in Alabama, all of which are squarely located in the black belt, all state driver’s license offices are part-time and are open one or two days per week. More than 135,000 eligible voters live in these 11 counties. Nearly half of them are black, and the black poverty rate is 41 percent,” the study found. The study found similar problems in Mississippi and Georgia. Georgia has 21 contiguous counties, and Mississippi has 13 contiguous counties within the black belt that do not have a single full-time driver’s license office. Georgia, however, requires county offices to provide free voter ID, but the Brennan Center found that wasn’t easy. “First, most county offices in Georgia do not print their business hours in an easily accessible location online and some have even printed incorrect office address or phone numbers online,” the report found. “Second, even when contacted directly, county offices in Georgia frequently gave incorrect information about free IDs. In 12 of 21 county offices in the Georgia black belt, election officials could not correctly describe what forms of identification would be required to obtain a free photo ID. For instance, officials in Barrow and Sumter County offices said that applicants must show a Social Security card to obtain a free ID, but the Georgia law has no such requirement.” In four other offices, election officials who answered the phone said they knew very little about free IDs. Officials in the remaining five offices in the Georgia black belt did not answer calls from the Brennan Center. Mississippi’s law requires county offices to provide photo IDs, but the state’s ID requirement first must be approved by the U.S. Department of Justice before it takes effect. Mississippi has a nation’s largest black population.
RICHMOND, Va. (TriceEdneyWire.com) - Two White Richmond police officers have been fired for calling for the assassination of President Barack Obama during his campaign visit to the city in May. City Hall confirmed the dismissal of the two officers just before President Obama made another campaign stop in the Richmond area last week. That confirmation was followed by a separate announcement that a month-long halt to promotions in the Richmond Police Department had been lifted.
New America Media WASHINGTON, D.C.—The mortgage crisis has slammed every age group—especially the oldest Americans 75-plus -- and has hit Latino and African-American seniors and their families the hardest, according to a study being released by the Washington, D.C.-based American Association of Retired Persons ( AARP).
Willie A Watkins Funeral Home Inc. will hold a viewing on Thursday, July 26, for Singer Usher's 11-year-old stepson, Kile Glover, who died two weeks after an accident on a lake. The viewing will take place between noon and 9 p.m. at the funeral home's West End Chapel in Atlanta, a spokesperson tells The NorthStar News & Analysis. Funeral services are scheduled for 11am Friday at Wieuca Baptist Church in Atlanta, the spokesperson says.
by Frederick H. Lowe The African Union Commission, which is the administrative branch of the African Union, elected Dr. Nkosazana Clarise Dlamini-Zuma chairman at the organization’s meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethopia. Dr. Dlamini-Zuma, South Africa Home Affairs Minister, is the first woman to be elected chairman. She defeated incumbent Dr. Jean Ping of Gabon for the post.
Leprino Foods Inc., a Denver-based federal food contractor, has agreed to pay $550,000 to more than 250 African- American, Hispanic and Asian individuals who were denied entry-level jobs at the company’s plant in Lemoore, Calif. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) entered into a consent decree to resolve
New America Media Three days of grassroots activism, petitions and popular pressure have resulted in a reversal of the British Olympic Association’s decision to deny press accreditation to The Voice, the UK’s only national, weekly newspaper for the black community.
By Julianne Malveaux (TriceEdneyWire.com) - George Zimmerman, the Florida man who killed Trayvon Martin, told Fox News personality Sean Hannity that the events that occurred on Feb. 26, 2012 were “God’s will.” What a cynical manipulation of our Creator, to suggest that the massacre of an African-American teenager by a crazed vigilante is the will of God.
The Rhode Island Black Heritage Society on Saturday will unveil a plaque at the former Meeting Street School, which in 1828 became the first public school in Rhode Island and one of the first in the nation to enroll African-American
Sherman Hemsley, who played George Jefferson on the popular television sitcom The Jeffersons, died on Tuesday at his home in El Paso, Texas. He was 74.
Sylvia Woods, who co-founded Sylvia's restaurant in Harlem with her husband, Herbert Woods, in 1962, was remembered during a more than two-hour service on Tuesday at Abyssinian Baptist Church.
A Plaque And A New Biography Give Forgotten Black Opera Star An Encore by Frederick H. Lowe The Rhode Island Black Heritage Society recently dedicated a plaque to 19th-and 20th-century opera singer Sissieretta Jones, who is the subject of a new biography published by the
July 26 through August 1 July 26 1916 ----- Born on this date in Richmond, Va., Spottiswood W. Robinson, III was an educator, civil-rights attorney, judge and the first black person to beRead more