Many African Americans migrated to the North from the South upon being declared free people. Most came for opportunities to experience a new life and to build new foundations for their newfound freedom. For many, this freedom would mean a new and unpredictable journey. Towards the middle of the 20th century, this migration continued and brought with it a young man named Archie … [Read more...]
Critics say GOP education reform would hurt poor and Black students
As the Republican-led Congress prepares to update the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), civil rights groups, educators and student advocates fear that current proposals leave many poor and Black children behind. According to analysis by the Center for American Progress (CAP), a Washington, D.C. –based progressive think tank, the bill submitted by Senator Lamar … [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...]