Opinions of Obama’s nomination of Kagan differ among Blacks
- WASHINGTON (FinalCall.com) - President Barack Obama's nominee to succeed Justice John Paul Stephens on the Supreme Court–Solicitor General Elena Kagan–is not a popular choice among the President's Black supporters. The NAACP gave the nominee a lukewarm endorsement, after a debate by the organization's Board of Directors. Black women were openly disappointed. A group of 28 women signed a letter to...
Young children bear consequences when parents are imprisoned
CHARLENEM (FinalCall.com) - Until two years ago, Shawnta Jones experienced bitter pain, resentment, and insecurity after her father, Earvin, was imprisoned for life. She was nine and her sister, Jasmine, just four at the time, but since that day in Los Angeles, phone call by phone call, memory by memory, the 23-year-old has reclaimed the trusting little girl that she buried...
Protesters charge British Petroleum with greed and negligence
-Staff Writer- SAN FRANCISCO - “Hey, hey, ho, ho, BP's greed has got to go!” “BP did the crime, Now they've gotta do the time!” Those chants and more were shouted from coast to coast in 20 cities including D.C., New York, Los Angeles, New Haven, Chicago and Philadelphia where demonstrations organized by the Seize BP Campaign were held...
Long-term effects of systemic racism examined
-Staff Writer- $75 million being used to launch initiative combating inequity WASHINGTON, D.C. (FinalCall.com) - “Racism continues to affect every area of Black life from education, to health care, to employment, to housing and the problems are not getting any better,” Dr. David Williams, Florence and Laura Norman, Professor of Public Health, Harvard University told The Final Call. Dr. Williams...
During tough economic times, more explore the reality of ‘Doing For Self!’
Nisa Islam Muhammad and Jesse Muhammad, Staff Writers When Mark Luckie was laid off from Entertainment Weekly in 2008 he was shocked. “I was dumbfounded. I didn't expect it. I was unemployed for nine months. My blog, 10,000 words, was initially my personal outlet but I ramped it up after I was laid off to become my professional outlet....
Justice Department pushed to probe case of death row inmate Mumia Abu Jamal
- WASHINGTON (FinalCall.com) - For the second time in just five months, 150 supporters of Mumia Abu Jamal marched to the U.S. Justice Department to demand both a civil rights investigation and a meeting with the department's Civil Rights Division Director Thomas E. Perez. The April 26 march and rally at New York Ave. Presbyterian Church–where President Abraham Lincoln often worshiped–was...
An America For Whites Only?
CHARLENEM What is behind the anti-immigration push and who are the next targets? (FinalCall.com) - The fall out over passage of an anti-immigration law in Arizona continued across the United States this week with people wondering is America being reduced to a nation “for Whites only?” Anti-racism activist and author Tim Wise says a sense of “White racial anxiety,” has in his...
Anti-gov’t sentiment growing
JIM.LOBE WASHINGTON (IPS/GIN) - Public hostility toward the government has reached record highs, according to a major new survey released on the 15th anniversary of the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building, the worst deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. territory before 9/11. The survey, which comes amid growing media attention to the openly anti-government “Tea Party” movement rallies, could...
Poverty causes cancer? Yes!
- LOUISVILLE, Ky. (FinalCall.com) - As shocking as it sounds, poverty and racism are actually direct causes of cancer, this according to Dr. Edward Halperin, a clinical oncologist, historian, and dean of the Medical School at the University of Louisville. “The big issues are not changing the window of insurance (in the new health reform legislation approved by Congress),” Dr....
Urban violence brings renewed calls for National Guard deployment
CHICAGO (FinalCall.com) - The idea of coordinated military action to counteract gang related violent crime is not a new idea, however, it appears to be gaining traction among some lawmakers as the number of those killed in many cities across America continues to rise. “Gang activity and its resulting violence has taken a toll on my community for far too...