Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts published in “U.S.”

Attorney General Loretta Lynch Vows to Investigate John Crawford’s Shooting Death in Walmart

By goodblacknews on May 21, 2015

John Crawford's parents met with Attorney General Loretta Lynch (Photo:
John Crawford’s parents met with Attorney General Loretta Lynch on May 19, 2015 (Photo: WLWT TV)

Loretta Lynch will investigate the death of John Crawford III, 22, who was shot last summer as he held an air rifle inside a Walmart in Ohio, according to WLWT TV.
Lynch, who was confirmed as the U.S. Attorney earlier this month, met with Crawford’s family Tuesday during a visit to Cincinnati to discuss police reform, reports the television news station.
Crawford’s parents tell the station that Lynch met with them for about 15 minutes, and pledged to investigate the shooting, which drew protests over the killing of young Black men by police around the country.
The family has filed a suit against the city of Beavercreek, the two Beavercreek officers involved, the police chief, and Walmart Stores Inc., charging negligence and violation of Crawford’s civil rights.
The officer who shot Crawford claims he failed to respond to repeated orders to drop the weapon and allegedly turned towards him in an aggressive manner.
From WLWT TV:

Crawford’s family said they appreciate the support from the community. They said Lynch told them it’s going to take time, but she will investigate their son’s death.
“She was just making sure that we understood that it was a process and we understand that. She said it would move. The process will move and that she will make sure,” John Crawford Jr. said.
Crawford’s mother, Tressa Sherrod, says she appreciated having the opportunity to meet with Lynch privately.

The DOJ launched a preliminary investigation into the shooting last fall to determine whether Crawford’s civil rights were violated, reports say.
article by Lynette Holloway via newsone.com

Queens Native Kareem Bellamy, Wrongly Imprisoned for 14 Years, Gets $2.75M Settlement from New York State

By goodblacknews on May 21, 2015
Kareem Bellamy, seen reacting when his murder conviction was overturned in 2011, will receive $2.75 million from the state.
Kareem Bellamy, seen reacting when his murder conviction was overturned in 2011, will receive $2.75 million from the state. (Photo: DELMUNDO, ANTHONY FREELANCE NYDN/ANTHONY DELMUNDO)

Innocent Queens man Kareem Bellamy, wrongfully imprisoned for 14 years on murder charges, reaped a $2.75 million windfall from New York State authorities on Wednesday.
“It’s a message that I’ve been saying from the start — that I was innocent,” Bellamy told the Daily News. “But it doesn’t make up for what I went through to be honest.”
Charges against Bellamy, 47, were dropped in 2011 after evidence emerged that cleared him of the fatal Queens stabbing of James Abbott Jr. 17 years earlier.
But prosecutors in the Queens District Attorney’s office never acknowledged that Bellamy was innocent — even after a judge vacated his conviction — arguing instead that an audiotaped confession by a second murder suspect was phony.
“Mr. Bellamy has now been freed from that conviction based on an outright fraud perpetrated against this court,” said Assistant District Attorney Brad Leventhal said at the time. “He has not — I repeat — he has not been exonerated.”
But Bellamy’s longtime lawyer Thomas Hoffman said the settlement, which was approved by Alan C. Marin of the New York Court of Claims, helped make that case.
“It shows some recognition that he never committed the murder,” Hoffman, who has worked with Bellamy for 11 years, told the News. “That’s why it is so symbolic that he received this money.”
Bellamy, a father of three who was incarcerated at the age of 26 until he was 41, was released from prison on bail in 2008.
He now helps advocate for the wrongfully convicted with the Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation.
The Queens District Attorney’s office had no comment by press time.
article by Eli Rosenberg via nydailynews.com

Obama’s New @POTUS Twitter Sets Guinness World Record

By goodblacknews on May 20, 2015
President Barack Obama
President Barack Obama

Barack Obama has joined Twitter and broken a Guinness World Record.

Some of you are probably thinking, “Just joined Twitter? He’s been on the social media site for years—it maybe even helped him win an election.” And you’d be correct—the President’s checkmarked profile, currently with 59.4 million followers, has been active since 2007.

But on Monday, the handle @POTUS (President of the United States) debuted, featuring tweets exclusively from the president. According to Forbes, it was amassing about 3,314 followers per minute in the time between his first tweet around noon and racking up his millionth follower around 4:15 p.m.

So, in just a little more than four hours, the Leader of the Free World got more followers on the microblogging site than many of us will ever see in our social media lifetime.

Within his first 24 hours, Obama was averaging 1,213 followers per minute. As of this writing, he had 2.17 million followers.

He’s still behind Twitter buddy and former President Bill Clinton, who has 3.52 million followers, and former rival Hillary Clinton, who has 3.54 million.

But back to the world record. According to the Huffington Post, Obama logged the “fastest time to reach 1 million followers on Twitter.” That honor had previously been held by Avengers actor Robert Downey Jr., who reached the milestone in about 24 hours upon joining Twitter in April 2014.

His new account is not in the top-tier of users with the most followers—at least not yet. The honor for the most followers belongs to singer Katy Perry, who has 69.9 million followers, and Justin Bieber, who comes in second with 64 million. Obama’s first Twitter account, run by the group Organizing for Action, is at No. 59.4 million followers.
article by Joe Lyons via blackenterprise.com

Two Black Scholars, Dr. Scott V. Edwards and Dr. Jennifer A. Richeson, Elected Members of the National Academy of Sciences

By goodblacknews on May 17, 2015

nas-feature-thumbThis year the National Academy of Sciences elected 84 new members from the United States. While the academy does not release data on the race or ethnicity of its members, after an analysis of the list of new members by JBHE, it appears two of the new members are African Americans.

Dr. Scott V. Edwards
Dr. Scott V. Edwards

Scott V. Edwards is the Alexander Agassiz Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. He is also the curator of birds for the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard. A native of Hawaii, Professor Edwards is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard University. He earned a Ph.D. in zoology at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Edwards has been on the faculty at Harvard University since 2003.
Jennifer A. Richeson
Dr. Jennifer A. Richeson (photo via wikipedia.com)

Jennifer A. Richeson holds the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Endowed Chair in psychology at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She also serves as professor of African American studies at the university. Professor Richeson has been on the faculty at Northwestern since 2005. Previously, she taught at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. Dr. Richeson is a graduate of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. She holds a Ph.D. in social psychology from Harvard University.
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a non-profit organization in the United States. “Established by an Act of Congress, signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, the NAS is charged with providing independent, objective advice to the nation on matters related to science and technology.” “The National Academy of Sciences charter commits the Academy to provide scientific advice to the government “whenever called upon” by any government department. 
As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Election to the National Academy is one of the highest honors in U.S. science.
article via jbhe.com (additions by Lori Lakin Hutcherson)

Obama To Posthumously Award “Harlem Hellfighter” Henry Johnson With Medal Of Honor For Heroism

By goodblacknews on May 15, 2015

Harlem Hellfighter Henry Johnson
Harlem Hellfighter Henry Johnson

A member of the best-known African-American unit of World War I, popularly known as the “Harlem Hellfighters,” is scheduled to receive a posthumous Medal of Honor on Friday from President Barack Obama for heroism during combat.
The Medal of Honor will be bestowed upon Private Henry Johnson for his actions while serving as a member of Company C, 369th Infantry Regiment, 93rd Division, American Expeditionary Forces, according to a White House news release.
Command Sergeant Major Louis Wilson, New York National Guard, will join the president at the White House to accept the Medal of Honor on Private Johnson’s behalf. Army Sgt. William Shemin, who was Jewish and from the Bronx, NYC, is also scheduled to be honored for rushing three times across a battlefield to pull wounded comrades to safety in August 1918.
Nearly 100 years ago, then-Private Johnson, a train station porter from Albany, distinguished himself during combat near the Tourbe and Aisne Rivers, northwest of Saint Menehoul, France, on May 15, 1918.
From the White House:

While on night sentry duty on May 15, 1918, Private Johnson and a fellow Soldier received a surprise attack by a German raiding party consisting of at least 12 soldiers.
While under intense enemy fire and despite receiving significant wounds, Johnson mounted a brave retaliation resulting in several enemy casualties. When his fellow soldier was badly wounded, Private Johnson prevented him from being taken prisoner by German forces. 
Private Johnson [put] himself [in] grave danger by advancing from his position to engage an enemy soldier in hand-to-hand combat. Displaying great courage, Private Johnson held back the enemy force until they retreated.

The “Harlem Hellfighters” were a group of brothers serving as U.S. soldiers amid intense racism. “The French called them the Men of Bronze out of respect, and the Germans called them the Harlem Hellfighters out of fear,”according to NPR.
From BlackPast:

Dubbing themselves “Men of Bronze,” the soldiers of the 369th were lucky in many ways compared to other African American military units in France in 1918.  They enjoyed a continuity of leadership, commanded throughout the war by one of their original organizers and proponents, Colonel William Hayward.  Unlike many white officers serving in the black regiments, Colonel Hayward respected his troops, dedicated himself to their well-being, and leveraged his political connections to secure support from New Yorkers.  Whereas African American valor usually went unrecognized, well over one hundred members of the regiment received American and/or French medals, including the first two Americans – Corporal Henry Johnson and Private Needham Roberts – to be awarded the coveted French Croix de Guerre.
 Spending over six months in combat, perhaps the longest of any American unit in the war, the 369th suffered approximately fifteen hundred casualties but received only nine hundred replacements.  Unit histories claimed they were the first unit to cross the Rhine into Germany; they performed well at Chateau-Thierry and Belleau Wood, earning the epithet “Hell Fighters” from their enemies.  Nevertheless, the poor replacement system coupled with no respite from the line took its toll, leaving the unit exhausted by the armistice in November. Although the 369th could boast of a fine combat record and a regimental Croix de Guerre, the unit was plagued by acute discipline problems resulting from disproportionate casualties among the unit’s longest-serving members and related failures to assimilate new soldiers. After considerable effort by Colonel Hayward, the 369th was welcomed home with a parade in February 1919 and reabsorbed into the National Guard.

Congratulations, Private Johnson, and thanks to President Obama for recognizing a brave solider.
article by Lynette Holloway via newsone.com

R.I.P. Grammy Award-Winning Blues Master and Musical Legend B.B. King

By goodblacknews on May 15, 2015
(Photo: Associated Press)

B. B. King, whose world-weary voice and wailing guitar lifted him from the cotton fields of Mississippi to a global stage and the apex of American blues, died Thursday in Las Vegas. He was 89.

His death was reported early Friday by The Associated Press, citing his lawyer, Brent Bryson, and by CNN, citing his daughter, Patty King.

Mr. King married country blues to big-city rhythms and created a sound instantly recognizable to millions: a stinging guitar with a shimmering vibrato, notes that coiled and leapt like an animal, and a voice that groaned and bent with the weight of lust, longing and lost love.

“I wanted to connect my guitar to human emotions,” Mr. King said in his autobiography, “Blues All Around Me” (1996), written with David Ritz.

In performances, his singing and his solos flowed into each other as he wrung notes from the neck of his guitar, vibrating his hand as if it were wounded, his face a mask of suffering. Many of the songs he sang — like his biggest hit, “The Thrill Is Gone” (“I’ll still live on/But so lonely I’ll be”) — were poems of pain and perseverance.

The music historian Peter Guralnick once noted that Mr. King helped expand the audience for the blues through “the urbanity of his playing, the absorption of a multiplicity of influences, not simply from the blues, along with a graciousness of manner and willingness to adapt to new audiences and give them something they were able to respond to.”

B. B. stood for Blues Boy, a name he took with his first taste of fame in the 1940s. His peers were bluesmen like Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, whose nicknames fit their hard-bitten lives. But he was born a King, albeit in a sharecropper’s shack surrounded by dirt-poor laborers and wealthy landowners.

Mr. King went out on the road and never came back after one of his first recordings reached the top of the rhythm-and-blues charts in 1951. He began in juke joints, country dance halls and ghetto nightclubs, playing 342 one-night stands in 1956 and 200 to 300 shows a year for a half-century thereafter, rising to concert halls, casino main stages and international acclaim.

He was embraced by rock ’n’ roll fans of the 1960s and ’70s, who remained loyal as they grew older together. His playing influenced many of the most successful rock guitarists of the era, including Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix.

16 Year-Old Thessalonika Arzu-Embry to Enter Ph.D. Program

By goodblacknews on May 14, 2015
Thessalonika Arzu-Embry
Thessalonika Arzu-Embry (Daily Herald)

Thessalonika Arzu-Embry is ahead of her class… way ahead.  The 16-year-old, who lives with her family at Great Lakes Naval Station, has a masters degree and is now going for her doctorate.

She was home schooled and started college at 11. This fall, she’s starting a Ph.D. program in aviation psychology.  “I feel honored for the opportunity to help others at an early age. I feel very glad to enter college and help people,” Arzu-Embry said.

In addition to her scholastic success, Arzu-Embry has already written three books.

article via abc7chicago.com

Courageous Passenger Kenneth Smith Hailed As Hero After Tackling Gunman On Megabus

By goodblacknews on May 14, 2015

Hero megabus passenger Kenneth Smith (Photo via
Hero megabus passenger Kenneth Smith (Photo via WMAQ-TV)

A passenger on a Megabus that was heading north from Chicago has been hailed as a hero after he reportedly subdued an armed man who fired at least one shot minutes after the bus started its journey.
Kenneth Smith, 28, told the Chicago Tribune that he had just settled into his seat late Tuesday when a loud noise resounded through the bus. Smith was traveling to Minneapolis to visit his 6-year-old son.
“It was real loud,” Smith told WMAQ-TV. “We didn’t know what it was until we saw the gun.”
Police said the gunman discharged his weapon in the bathroom of the bus. He then approached the driver and allegedly began harassing her. A witness said it appeared the gunman also attempted to grab the steering wheel, per WMAQ-TV.
That’s when Smith intervened, confronting the man and telling him to return to his seat. The suspect reportedly did as he was told, but came back moments later, with a gun.
“He came back downstairs, he was grabbing at his hip, I had already seen that and I told him he was getting too close,” Smith told WMAQ-TV. “As he kept coming that’s when I rushed him, I choked him, he fell to the floor, the clip came out of the gun and that’s when I saw it so I pulled it out, gave it to my cousin and I held him down until the police arrived.”
According to WGN-TV, the bus stopped at the Des Plaines Oasis, where the gunman was taken into police custody. Police said charges are expected to be filed against the suspect.
Passengers on the Megabus praised Smith’s quick action.
“He saved us,” Ken Hasley told WMAQ-TV. “The bus could’ve crashed or anything the way that guy was aggravating the bus driver so that guy right there is a hero.”
article by Dominique Mosbergen via huffingtonpost.com

Chicago Wins Bid to Host Barack Obama Presidential Library

By goodblacknews on May 12, 2015
Martin Nesbitt, chairman of the Barack Obama Foundation, announced on Tuesday that the library would be built in Chicago’s South Side. (Credit: Joshua Lott for The New York Times)

CHICAGO — Maybe the Obamas will never return to live in Chicago after the presidency is over, their global celebrity pulling them toward New York or Los Angeles and away from the unpretentious Midwest. But Chicagoans will always have this: As it was formally announced on Tuesday, their city will be home to his presidential library.

“His journey began on the South Side and now we know that it will come full circle with his library coming home to the South Side of Chicago,” an elated Mayor Rahm Emanuel said on Tuesday at a ceremony here, where the Barack Obama Presidential Center, which is to include the library, museum and space for the president’s foundation, will be built.

But as Chicago officially notched a victory over New York and Hawaii, which were also contenders, it immediately turned to the next question: Where, exactly, on the South Side will the library be built?

The Obama Foundation says it is still undecided on the location and will make the announcement in roughly the next six to nine months. Two parks near the University of Chicago’s campus on the South Side are being considered for the library: Washington Park, a 380-acre space that borders several neighborhoods, including Washington Park and Hyde Park; and Jackson Park, which hugs both the neighborhood of Woodlawn and Lake Michigan, and is the site of the Museum of Science and Industry, a golf course, soccer fields and a children’s hospital. The transfer of about 20 acres where the library could be built was approved in February by the Chicago Park District.

City officials have trumpeted the project’s potential to give the South Side a much-needed influx of tourism, new jobs and economic development. (Credit: Joshua Lott for The New York Times)

The library will be built in a partnership with the University of Chicago, where President Obama once taught law, and could open by 2020 or 2021.  Amid the triumphant announcement and buoyant speeches by civic leaders, there are still concerns being raised by some people about the permanent loss of valuable parkland in a highly populated part of the city.

"Women on 20s" Organization Pushing U.S. Treasury to Replace Andrew Jackson with Harriet Tubman on the $20

By goodblacknews on May 12, 2015
Harriet Tubman mock-up, provided by Women on 20s

A group that wants to kick Andrew Jackson off the $20 bill and replace him with a woman has, after months of collecting votes, chosen a successor: Harriet Tubman.
Tubman, an abolitionist who is remembered most for her role as a conductor in the “Underground Railroad,” was one of four finalists for the nod from a group of campaigners calling themselves “Women on 20s.” The campaign started earlier this year and has since inspired bills in the House and the Senate.
The other three finalists were former first lady and human rights activist Eleanor Roosevelt; civil rights figure Rosa Parks; and Wilma Mankiller, the first female chief of the Cherokee Nation. Now that voters participating in the campaign have chosen Tubman, Women on 20s will bring a petition with the people’s choice to the White House.
“Our paper bills are like pocket monuments to great figures in our history,” Women on 20s Executive Director Susan Ades Stone said in an e-mailed statement. “Our work won’t be done until we’re holding a Harriet $20 bill in our hands in time for the centennial of women’s suffrage in 2020.”
In all, the group said, it has collected more than 600,000 votes for its campaign.  In Tuesday’s White House press briefing, Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that Tubman was a “wonderful choice” for the bill, but stopped short of saying whether the President backs putting Tubman on the $20.
If the government agrees that it’s time to replace Andrew Jackson on the bill, its choice might not end up being Tubman. But the idea of putting a woman on America’s paper currency has attracted some notable support.
“Last week, a young girl wrote to me to ask why aren’t there any women on our currency,” President Obama said in a July speech in Kansas City, before the launch of the Women on 20s voting campaign. “And then she gave me a long list of possible women to put on our dollar bills and quarters and stuff — which I thought was a pretty good idea.”