Serving Metropolitan Detroit Since 1944
Serving Metropolitan Detroit Since 1944
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O.J. Simpson died on April 10, 2024. But the obsession around the former football legend widely suspected of murdering his second wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman on June 12, 1994, continues. Simpson was found not guilty on October 3, 1995, after a jury acquitted him. A 1997 civil trial found O.J. Simpson was liable for the deaths of Nicole Simpson and Goldman, and he was ordered to pay over $33 million in damages. Over 150 million watched the trial live. At first, networks were...
On April 26, President Biden used his pardon powers as President for the first time. The White House announced three pardons and the commuted sentences of 75 nonviolent drug offenders. The move by President Biden follows calls by justice reform activists to use the pardon power to correct disproportionate justice impacting minorities in the U.S. Biden's pardon list included Abraham Bolden, Sr., an 86-year-old former U.S. Secret Service agent who was the first African American to serve on a...
After a third violation regarding COVID-19 misinformation, officials at the social media platform Twitter have banned Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) from their platform. Her suspended account was her personal account. Twitter has yet to ban Greene's second twitter account, which is her official congressional account. The account suspension arrived shortly after Greene tweeted false information linking COVID deaths to the vaccine. The suspension arrives as Greene and several other Republican...
In 2021, 440 bills to restrict voting access were introduced in 49 states. Nineteen states passed 34 new laws making it more difficult to vote. There have been no cases cited demonstrating evidence of any widespread voter fraud. But the main focus of Trump Republicans is on unproven claims of fraud as they question the legitimacy of the 2020 elections a year away from congressional midterms. With the clear indication that Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) are against...
On the 58th anniversary of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech and the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, marchers focused on voting rights. Voting rights have reemerged as a somewhat unexpected political battlefield as Republicans across the country pass new laws placing barriers in front of the ballot box. Last week, the U.S. House passed the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act which would restore pre-clearance, a 1965 Voting Rights Act provision requiring...
Brothers Henry McCollum and Leon Brown spent 30 years in prison for a crime they didn't commit. The two brothers were convicted at 19 and 15 and were sentenced to be executed. The two had been wrongfully convicted of a 1983 rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl. At 16, Brown became the youngest individual to be on death row in North Carolina's history. Both McCollum and Brown claimed for years their confessions at the time of the crime were coerced. In 2014, the North Carolina Innocence...
In 1921, a White mob entered the Greenwood District and destroyed Tulsa's Black community. During Memorial Day weekend, the centennial remembrance of the Tulsa Race Massacre was commemorated. The massacre began when White townspeople heard a false rumor that 19-year-old Dick Rowland, a Black shoe shiner, assaulted a White elevator operator named Sarah Page. Below are five interesting facts about the Tulsa Race Massacre. Tulsa Police May Have Encouraged Violence -Eyewitness accounts create the...
Remember these names: Ketanji Brown Jackson, Tiffany Cunningham, and Candace Jackson-Akiwumi. These are President Joseph Biden's first three nominations for the federal Court of Appeals. In 2020, Biden pledged to name the first African American woman to the U.S. Supreme Court. A number of retirements are expected from the federal judiciary now that Donald Trump is out of office. The percentage of African American judges on the federal appellate circuit is inconsistent with the makeup of the broa...
Both Stacey Abrams and the Black Lives Matter movement have been nominated to win the Nobel Peace Prize. The nominations represent an opportunity for either Abrams or Black Lives matter to win over even more support around the globe should they win. The Nobel Prizes have been given out since 1901 and were started by Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel. Prizes are given out for distinguished work in Chemistry, Physics, Physiology or Medicine, and Literature. There have been many...
He made me feel like a drug addict," Dr. Susan Moore, 52, said on a video days before her death on December 22 due to coronavirus. The Black Indiana doctor states on a Facebook video that she had received poor treatment from White caregivers because she was African American. Her message reached over a million people on social media as of December 24. Dr. Moore died on December 20. "This is how Black people get killed, when you send them home and they don't know how to fight for themselves," Dr....
An effort by pro athletes called More Than a Vote is working to increase the number of poll workers in Black electoral districts has amassed 10,000 volunteers since it began. State elections officials in many cities have sounded the alarm regarding a shortage of poll workers to handle in-person voting. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has caused an unexpected problem for local officials. The problem is a bigger issue in Black communities that have far longer wait times to vote than polls in white communities. The specific plan to increase...
NFL Quarterback Colin Kaepernick, 32, hasn't played in the NFL since the 2016 season. He was blackballed by the NFL after silently protesting police brutality by silently taking a knee on the sidelines during the national anthem at the start of NFL games. Kaepernick became a free agent after the 2017 season but was not signed. In November 2017, he filed a grievance against the owners of the NFL and accused them of colluding against him. In Feb. 2019, Kaepernick withdrew the grievance after... Full story
Richard Wayne Penniman, better known as Little Richard, was one of the most influential singer songwriters in popular music. He was one of the founders of Rock n' Roll in the 1950s and one of the most memorable performers in rock history. Little Richard was born in 1932 in Macon, Georgia. "Tutti Frutti" (1955), one of Richard's signature songs, became a hit reaching the No. 2 on the Billboard chart. Another hit, "Long Tall Sally" (1956), hit No. 1 on Billboard. "Tutti Frutti" was added to the Na... Full story
On March 23, standing at the podium in the White House Briefing Room, President Trump was asked whether or not using the term "Chinese virus" when referring to COVID-19 pandemic was racist or was inspiring recent violence against Asians. "It's not racist at all. It comes from China, that's why," Trump said to punctuate the point. President Trump's press briefings on COVID-19 are carried by millions and in multiple appearances the President referred to COVID-19 as "the Chinese virus." A reporter... Full story
In a letter dated February 4, and sent to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) said comprehensive demographic data on people tested or treated for the virus that causes COVID-19 doesn't exist. Cities with large black populations have now emerged as new hot spots for the spread of the virus. They include Houston, New York, Detroit and New Orleans. Nearly 70 percent of the COVID-19 deaths in New Orleans have been African... Full story
The coronavirus health crisis that hit America in the middle of March has compelled Governors to shut down states, requested citizens to stay in their homes and moved Congress to pass an unprecedented stimulus of over two trillion dollars. As the COVID-19 crisis hit its peak, the Congressional Black Caucus began to fight to "support the needs of Black families, seniors, workers, businesses, and communities. On March 20, the CBC submitted an extensive 11-page proposal to House and Senate leadersh... Full story
Black churches in America have faced the challenges of wars, arson and racism written into the law. Following several slave revolts, including Nat Turner’s Rebellion in 1831, Virginia passed a law that required that a white person be present during service. The COVID-19 pandemic has presented an unprecedented challenge for Black churches which, in part, is financial. In the wake of a killer pandemic impacting all businesses and local travel, African American churches across the U.S. have been forced to be innovative and make quick a... Full story
During the State of the Union, Trump featured several African Americans from the gallery with long words of praise and detailed introductions. The Republican party has always struggled with Black voters. But Trump's political team believes that even a small percentage of that vote could mean victory. Trump is increasingly highlighting his pitch to African Americans as Democrats struggle to decide amongst a crowded field. Political observers understand that Trump is unlikely to win more than ten... Full story
On August 19, New York City Police Commissioner James O'Neill announced the firing of Officer Daniel Pantaleo. Pantaleo. Pantaleo choked Eric Garner, 43, to death on a sidewalk in Staten Island New York on July 17, 2014, after Pantaleo stopped Garner for selling loose cigarettes. The video of Garner begging for his life and repeating the words "I can't breathe" eleven times, catapulted the case into the national spotlight and made it an often-mentioned example of police brutality. Pantaleo was... Full story
President Donald Trump went on a racist screed on Twitter and attacked Democratic congresswomen of color and their ancestry. The 45th President, who succeeded the first African American President of the United States, Barack Obama, has often attacked Black female elected officials, such as Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Black athletes, immigrants, and other women of color. As is his general habit, Trump lies in his communications and brands places where people of color reside as dangerous. President... Full story
On April 15, President Trump announced he will award championship golfer Tiger Woods with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Woods and Trump have golfed together in Florida over the years. Woods won his fifth Masters title and 15th major title overall on April 14. He is now only three major titles away from the record set by golf legend Jack Nicklaus, the sole remaining major golf record left unbroken by Woods. "I felt for a long time he was going to win again. And, you know, the next two... Full story
Eddie Murphy will once again play crown prince Akeem Joffer in a sequel to the 1988 hit movie, Coming to America. The film's plot centered around a Prince who travels to New York to find an independent woman who loves him in spite of his royal title. The sequel will have Prince Joffer returning to America after he finds out he has a long-lost son who is heir to his throne. The screenplay will be written by Kenya Barish, who is the creator of the ABC show "Black-ish." Craig Brewer, who produced... Full story
On December 19th, the U.S. Senate finally passed the first anti-lynching bill in history. The bill, entitled the Justice for Victims of Lynching Act of 2018, was passed by a voice vote. Should it become law it would federally criminalize lynching, attempts to lynch and lynching conspiracies. The legislation was introduced in June 2018 by the three African American members of the U.S. Senate: Senators Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Tim Scott (R-SC) and Cory Booker (D-NJ). Murder by mob rule and with... Full story
The death of former President George H.W. Bush on November 30 was the impetus of much comment and debate on his legacy. Many kept their tributes to a focus on his incredible military service in World War II. Others focused on the simple fact that, compared to the unprecedented behavior of the current occupant of the White House, Bush represented a more respectful political time. Several Black journalists who worked around him and had a close up view of the man as an individual, shared memories... Full story
The U.S. Department of Justice has once again reopened the infamous Emmett Till case. The 1955 murder case was a major turning point in the Civil Rights Movement and one of the most notorious murders in United States history. In August 28, 1955, Emmett Till, who was 14, was murdered in the town of Money, Mississippi by Roy Bryant and his half-brother J.W. Milam after Bryant’s wife Carolyn alleged that Till whistled at her and groped her. Bryant and Milam abducted Emmett Till from the home of his great-uncle, beat him, shot him in the head a... Full story
