Birdman won Best Picture at the 87th annual Academy Awards on a night periodically punctuated by politically-conscious acceptance speeches. That film and The Grand Budapest Hotel tied for the most wins, four, followed by Whiplash with three, and Boyhood with two. There weren’t any upsets in terms of the major categories, with Julianne Moore (Still Alice) and Eddie … [Read more...]
African Americans underrepresented in STEM classes
Many young African Americans will be shut out of the high paying jobs of the future, if they don’t earn a degree in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), according to a new report. The new report by The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of more than 200 advocacy and outreach groups, said that less than 3 percent of Blacks have … [Read more...]
Plans for two separate marches in Selma cancelled as groups unify
A very public conflict between the Bridge Crossing Jubilee, Inc., the local group that has been commemorating the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery March for more than four decades, and the largely White-run The Faith & Politics Institute, a Washington-based group that had organized competing marches in Selma and Montgomery on the weekend commemorating the 50th anniversary of … [Read more...]
Willie Carter would quit a job to box
A chance to fight is what brought him to Minnesota Willie Carter was born October 24, 1943, in Shawnee, OK, 40 miles east of Oklahoma City. His father, Thomas Lee Carter, and his mother, Willie Mae (nee Burrell), were both born and buried in Oklahoma. His mother died when he was about a year old. “She hemorrhaged to death. Couldn’t go to a hospital back in those days.” He … [Read more...]
Opinion: NAACP’s Voting Suppression Problem
While recalling those commercials, featuring Andre Agassi (pro tennis player) saying, “Image is everything” and Billy Crystal’s “Saturday Night Live” character, Fernando, who always said, “You look marvelous! It is better to look good than to feel good,” I also thought of the NAACP Image Awards and the fact that the NAACP’s image is taking a huge hit, especially among some of … [Read more...]