New York – It’s on the news every day. Arrests are made for any number of crimes, including drug possession and distribution, aggravated assault, robbery, rape, and murder. Mass incarceration is particularly prevalent within the black community. The Bureau of Justice’s December 2010 “Prisoners in 2009” report illuminates that there are 563,500 incarcerated black men […]
Headlines
Judge Mablean Ephriam Foundation Presents a Tribute To Rosa Parks Starring Ella Joyce
Los Angeles, CA – Actress Ella Joyce, best known for her co-starring role of Eleanor on FOX TV’s “Roc”, and Jasmine on “My Wife & Kids, captures the famous moment in the life of Rosa Parks, affectionately called “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement”, in her highly acclaimed, one-woman play A Rose Among Thorns. The […]
Houston Man Cleared by DNA After 30 Years in Prison
By Allan Turner, Houston Chronicle – The reliability of eyewitness identification in criminal cases took another sock in the eye Tuesday as Cornelius Dupree Jr., a Houston man sentenced to 75 years in prison for a rape-robbery he did not commit, walked out of a Dallas courtroom a free man. Dupree, 51, served 30 years […]
Political Activist Ed Forchion Continues to Campaign in National Effort to Legalize Marijuana
Hollywood, CA – The campaign to legalize marijuana has been an ongoing one for decades now. Cause celebs like the recently departed Jack Herer, the recently imprisoned Eddie Lepp and the incarcerated Mark Emory are men who sacrificed their lives and livelihood for a vision that now boasts 14 states where legalization is in some […]
Singer-songwriter Teena Marie dies at 54
(CNN) — Teena Marie, an award-winning R&B singer-songwriter, was found dead Sunday at her California home, her manager said. Born Mary Christine Brockert in Santa Monica, California, the 54-year-old artist famously paired with late funk legend Rick James and was nominated four times for a Grammy Award, according to her official website. Marie was found […]
1st Black Woman Headed to Ohio Supreme Court
By Martha Neil – Born to a teenage single mother in Ohio who worked two jobs to provide for the family, Yvette McGee Brown has soared far above what might have been predicted for her based on where she started in life. McGee Brown earned her law degree at Ohio State University in 1985 at […]
Davis bids goodbye to politics, Alabama
By Deborah Berry – Washington – The last few weeks of the lame-duck session have dragged on for Artur Davis, who has had little say during the final weeks of his congressional career. The Alabama Democrat no longer has an office in the ornate Cannon House Office Building. Like other lawmakers who lost races this […]
Feds: Ex-mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, pals took millions
In the severest blow yet to what once was Detroit’s most powerful political family, a federal grand jury charged ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, his father and three associates with turning city hall into the hub of a criminal enterprise that extorted millions from contractors. “We are hopeful that this case and this indictment brings closure to […]
Thursday Press Teleconference: Clinton Commutation Beneficiaries Call on President Obama to Expedite Clemency for Crack Cocaine Prisoners
WASHINGTON, DC—Advocates for presidential clemency will join together for a press teleconference on Thursday, December 16 to urge President Obama to expedite clemency for people serving excessive terms under the now-reformed federal crack cocaine sentencing laws. Participants will be commemorating the 10-year anniversary of President Clinton’s commutation of Kemba Smith and Dorothy Gaines, two women […]