‘Grim Sleeper’ Verdict Opens And Closes Painful Wounds At The Same Time
By Charlene Muhammad CHARLENEM LOS ANGELES–After three grueling months, a seven woman five man jury found Lonnie Franklin, Jr. guilty of killing 10 young, Black women and girls over a 22-year period. Mr. Franklin, dubbed the Grim Sleeper for the serial murders that occurred between August 1985 and January 2007, disposed of their partially clothed or naked bodies like trash in...
L. A. District Attorney’s Disappointing Record On Police Accountability
By Charlene Muhammad CHARLENEM LOS ANGELES– Some residents expressed pride, some trepidation, when Jackie Lacey made history in becoming L.A.'s first Black female and first non-White district attorney. But those sentiments have grown to outrage and disappointment because since becoming L.A.'s 42nd District Attorney in 2012, Atty. Lacey has continued in the same vein as her predecessors, and failed the Black...
Exploitation of Innocence – Report: Perceptions, policies hurting Black girls
By Charlene Muhammad CHARLENEM She could have a baby doll in one hand and crayons in the other, but a Black girl as young as five-years-old is seen as less innocent and more adult-like than her White peers, according to a new study. “Girlhood Interrupted,” released by the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality, indicated that perception is of Black...
Advocacy and reform amid challenges in U.S. prisons
By Michael Z. Muhammad -Contributing Writer- The American criminal justice system holds more than 2.3 million people in 1,719 state prisons, 102 federal prisons, 901 juvenile correctional facilities, 3,163 local jails, and 76 Indian Country jails. There are also people locked up in military prisons, immigration detention facilities, civil commitment centers, and prisons in the U.S. territories according to statistics taken...
Saying thanks to Minister Farrakhan
CHICAGO–Earlier this year, the Nation of Islam (NOI), in cooperation with the progressive business community, hosted a “Tribute of Thanks” at the Gallery Guichard in Chicago to support Saviours' Day and the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. Nearly 100 business professionals and entrepreneurs attended the event, wanting to show their appreciation for the Minister and his 62 years of dedicated...
‘I was kidnapped … You can be made to disappear very easily’
ASKIAM and Richard B. Muhammad WASHINGTON–Even though she was never charged with a crime, U.S. born Iranian TV journalist Marzieh Hashemi was detained, often shackled by federal authorities for 10 days because, she insists, the U.S. government wants to intimidate her and those who would support her. Ms. Hashemi was released from federal custody, but she remains defiant, urging her...
Pathway cleared for Mumia Abu-Jamal to appeal
, Contributing Writer PHILADELPHIA–Mumia Abu-Jamal has found the pathway to justice extended, winding and trepidatious. He may have found a chance at last as the path has straightened with his right to appeal his case before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court finally granted. Standing in his way was Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner who blocked Pennsylvania Common Pleas Court Judge Leon...
Falling Black homeownership remains a problem
By Charlene Muhammad CHARLENEM Blacks are in the throes of a homeownership crisis, even in the midst of a robust economy with strong employment rates and steadily increasing pensions, according to the 2019 edition of the State of Housing in Black America report. The ownership gap between Black and White households today is larger than it was in 1968 (40.9 percent),...
Combatting coronavirus in U.S. homeless populations
By Charlene Muhammad CHARLENEM Homeless advocates are working to curb the spread of coronavirus among the already vulnerable U.S. homeless population. They anticipate staggering numbers of infections and urge federal, state and local officials to take clear and certain actions. Activists demand more funding, clearer guidelines, an end to police arrests, and housing to combat the disease known as Covid-19. “First,...
Snow, suffering, loss are signs of America’s downfall Latest onslaught of unusual, deadly and punishing weather is driven by divine chastisement
In boxing parlance, it’s called a shoeshine. It’s when an opponent is hit with a flurry of devastating combinations, leaving him dazed and confused. From Massachusetts to the Mexican border, Winter Storm Uri wreaked havoc with a lethal shoeshine combination of snow and ice from coast to coast, including the deep South and Southwest. It caused death and destruction in its...