A conspiracy to kill Dr. King?
CHARLENEM and Starla Muhammad -Final Call Staffers- Nearly 50 years after murder civil rights leader's death, questions about who killed him still raised While Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was lauded, his life celebrated, and his legacy praised on the day that commemorated his birth, there remained lingering questions about his assassination and whether all the facts surrounding his death are...
Honoring a literary giant: Memories of Maya Angelou
By Charlene Muhammad CHARLENEM The world continues to mourn the loss of Dr. Maya Angelou, beloved poet, author, civil rights activist and educator, who passed away at age 86 in her North Carolina home May 28. Dr. Angelou's family, close friends and colleagues planned to gather June 7 for private funeral services at Wake Forest University. The institution has put up a...
U.S. contractors convicted in 2007 Blackwater Baghdad traffic massacre
JIM.LOBE WASHINGTON - A federal jury here recently convicted one former Blackwater contractor of murder and three of his colleagues of voluntary manslaughter in the deadly shootings of 14 unarmed civilians killed in Baghdad's Nisour Square seven years ago. The judge in the case ordered the men detained pending sentencing. The massacre, which resulted in a wave of popular anger in...
Talking income inequality and acting for change
By Saeed Shabazz-Staff Writer- NEW YORK - Social scientists have become concerned with income and wealth inequality in the United States and are organizing “Equity Summit 2015: All in for inclusion, Justice, and Prosperity.” The two-day conference is scheduled for Los Angeles, California, Oct. 27-29. “Join thousands of committed, dynamic, diverse, and passionate leaders determined to craft and fortify the next...
Mr. Donald Trump and the dumpster of American politics
ASKIAM and Brian Muhammad FinalCall Staffers WASHINGTON - The “dog whistle style” of racist campaigning being waged by Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump may be both an underestimation of how deep the resentment is for the election of President Barack Obama by so-called “angry White males,” while at the same time it's an exaggeration of the true national electoral power of...
Police Mistreatment Of Blacks Listed As Violation By Human Rights Watch
By Charlene Muhammad CHARLENEM In its annual review, Human Rights Watch ranked police mistreatment of Blacks in America among human rights crises occurring across the globe. In “World Report 2016: Events of 2015,” experts criticize U.S. police practices and become yet another international body bringing the plight of Blacks in America onto the international stage. “Once again, high-profile police killings of unarmed...
America’s forgotten history of violence
By Charlene Muhammad CHARLENEM American citizen Omar Mateen's alleged brutal murder of 49 partygoers and injury to 53 others in Orlando's gay Pulse nightclub was horrific, but contrary to media descriptions, it was not the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. The mass shootings of Blacks and Native Americans are forgotten or are outright being ignored, said political scientists and activists...
‘One of Detroit’s finest’
By Charlene Muhammad CHARLENEM Mother Tynnetta Muhammad honored in street-naming ceremony DETROIT– More than 100 Muslims at one point, and a modest, steady flow throughout the day, flocked to the Martin Park neighborhood to witness and celebrate the unveiling of “Tynnetta Muhammad Avenue,” named in tribute to writer, artist and scholar Mother Tynnetta Muhammad, dearly departed wife of the Honorable...
‘We Have Wealth, We’re Not Pooling Our Resources’
By Charlene Muhammad CHARLENEM An ever-accelerating racial wealth gap has Black families on track to see their median wealth hit zero in this lifetime, making it difficult or impossible to transfer wealth to the next generation, according to a new report. In “The Road to Zero Wealth: How the Racial Wealth Divide is Hollowing Out America's Middle Class,” researchers looked...
Report: Bail requirements, pre-trial detentions can hurt poor Blacks who are accused of crimes
By Charlene Muhammad CHARLENEM Despite no trial or conviction, poor people are often languishing behind bars due to a bail system that can also leave families in ruin long after cases are closed. Shannon Harris, who runs Mr. Bail in Waterloo, Iowa, recalled the plight of one young father who was among the near half million people detained before trial each...