Happy New Year 2016

Aretha Franklin Brings President Obama To Tears During Electrifying "Kennedy Honors" Performance

Story by News Talk 1450 WOL Washington DC
Written by Desire Thompson

This week’s airing of the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors showed President Obama in a whole new light after a show-stopping performance from the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin.

The legendary singer brought the house down during her tribute to singer/songwriter Carole King in Washington D.C. The December 6th show aired Tuesday evening and honored Carole King, Star Wars creator George Lucas, EGOT winner and Puerto Rican actress Rita Moreno, legendary actress Cicely Tyson, and composer Seiji Ozawa.


Legendary Actress Cicely Tyson (center) was one of the "2015 Kennedy Honors" honorees.

Each entertainer had fitting introductions from Viola Davis, Kerry Washington, Gina Rodriguez, Steven Spielberg, and Yo-Yo Ma, respectively. Aretha’s performance came after tributes by Janelle Monae, who sang “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” and “One Fine Day,” James Taylor, who performed “Up on the Roof,” and Sara Bareilles, who sang “You’ve Got A Friend.”

King co-wrote Franklin’s hit “Natural Woman” in 1967. The single went on to become one of her most-recognized songs. As she stepped onto the stage in a classic gown-fur coat ensemble, Aretha sang the tune and played the piano, bringing the President to tears.

King and First Lady Michelle Obama were also loving the performance, which got a standing ovation from the crowd.

2015: The Year in Money

Story by Bloomberg Business

Apple hit a record $775 billion market cap
Netflix was the best performer in the S&P 500
Record Job Cuts
More Mega-Mergers

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-the-year-in-money/

Chicago officer pleads not guilty over death of teen shot 16 times

Story by Al-Jazeera

A white Chicago police officer charged with murder for the 2014 fatal shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald pleaded "not guilty" Tuesday in a Chicago court.

Jason Van Dyke faces six counts of first-degree murder and one of official misconduct in the 17-year-old's death.

He appeared in front of Judge Vincent Gaughan in Cook County Criminal Court and was dressed in a dark suit and blue striped tie. The next hearing is set for Jan. 29.

Public outcry has been furious since a dashcam video was released last month showing the veteran officer shooting McDonald 16 times. The teenager, armed with a knife, was veering away from officers when Van Dyke opened fire —contradicting police reports of the events.

The video shows the teenager walking away from officers on a four-lane street when Van Dyke opened fire from close range and continued shooting after the teen had crumpled to the ground and was barely moving.

Police reports, however, from several officers, including Van Dyke, described McDonald as aggressively approaching officers while armed with a knife.

Van Dyke told an investigator that McDonald was "swinging the knife in an aggressive, exaggerated manner" and that McDonald "raised the knife across chest" and pointed it at Van Dyke, according to one police report. Multiple officers reported that even after McDonald was down, he kept trying to get up with the knife in his hand.

The footage sparked days of street demonstrations, including a Black Friday protest where hundreds of demonstrators blocked store entrances and shut down four lanes of traffic in Chicago's ritziest shopping district.

On Christmas Eve, protesters returned to the shopping district on Michigan Avenue to draw attention to the 2014 killing.

The footage sparked days of street demonstrations, the forced resignation of Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy and a broad federal civil rights investigation of the police department's practices and how allegations of officer misconduct are handled.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who has been the target of heavy criticism and calls for resignation since the McDonald video was released last month, is due to return Tuesday afternoon from a family vacation in Cuba.

Over the weekend, Chicago Police shot and killed two other people, a 55-year-old woman who was shot accidentally and a 19-year-old man whom police have said was "combative" before he was shot. The department will not say how many officers fired their weapons or what the two people were doing before they were shot.

Meadowlark Lemon dead at 83: Ex-Globetrotter opened up world of basketball

Meadowlark Lemon of the The Harlem Globetrotters being interviewed for CBS Sports Spectacular, Nov. 23, 1960. Photo by CBS/Getty

Story by MSNBC
By Adam Howard

Meadowlark Lemon may be best remembered as the “Clown Prince of Basketball,” but the former Harlem Globetrotters star, who passed away on Sunday at age 83, also deserves credit for helping basketball become a bigger crossover success.

For two decades, he was the face of the Globetrotters during arguably their most ubiquitous period, which included appearances in everything from Saturday morning cartoons to variety shows and admittedly cheesy B-movies. And while it was his on-the-court buffoonery that made him a star, his genuine basketball skills were never in question.

“Meadowlark was the most sensational, awesome, incredible basketball player I’ve ever seen,” NBA icon Wilt Chamberlain once said. “People would say it would be Dr. J or even [Michael] Jordan. For me, it would be Meadowlark Lemon.”

Chamberlain played on the Globetrotters opposite Lemon before breaking into the NBA, and that team’s success helped make racial integration in the NBA possible. Although not as widely publicized as Jackie Robinson’s breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball, the entry of ex-Globetrotter Nathaniel ”Sweetwater“ Clifton in 1950 into the all-white pro-leagues alongside two other African-American players was almost as significant.

And for many up-and-coming basketball fans in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, Lemon’s Globetrotters provided the first exposure for many mainstream audiences to black players and a more liberated style of play. Now, no-look passes and slam dunks are part of the NBA’s DNA — but that may never have happened had the Globetrotters not enjoyed a national following.

“I, growing up, was living in Hawaii, which didn’t have that many African-Americans and whenever the Globetrotters came into town it was just a wonderful, fun-filled afternoon, but had I think some deeper meaning to it,” a then-Sen. Barack Obama said in a 2005 documentary tribute to the team.

Lemon purportedly played in 7,500 consecutive games, missing just one in 24 years, and his website claims he played in a total of 16,000 in more than 100 countries. Mannie Jackson, the current owner of the Globetrotters, said during a 2003 NBA Hall of Fame induction speech that Lemon “changed people’s attitudes about race, foreigners’ attitudes about America and along the way he made millions love the game of basketball.”

“I know around the world he’s known as a master comic, but those of us who played with him knew him as an unusually gifted athlete. Off the court I knew him as a serious speaker, an analyst, a deep thinker, a gentle-but-strong man and a thoughtful human being who always cared deeply about what he was and what had been given to him,” he added. There were however critics of Lemon’s goofball routines — with some uncomfortable comparisons to self-hating minstrel shows of the turn of the century — but time has been kinder to the infectious nature of his performances.

“The many times I saw Meadowlark Lemon play in the late 1950s and early 1960s, I knew then that he was more much more than a shuckin’, jivin’ basketball clown and court jester,” author and political analyst Earl Ofari Hutchinson told MSNBC on Monday. “He was the consummate professional who tossed the spotlight on the savvy and mastery of blacks on the court at a time when blacks were excluded and then marginalized in the pro game. Legions of pro players today owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to him for the role he played in breaking down racial barriers.”

Ironically, Lemon never got a chance to show his stuff on the NBA stage, even though he was inducted in their Hall of Fame.

“When I started with the Globetrotters, we were bigger than the NBA,” Lemon told Sports Illustrated in 2010. “I don’t worry that I never played against some of those guys. I’ll put it this way: When you go to the Ice Capades, you see all these beautiful skaters, and then you see the clown come out on the ice, stumbling and pretending like he can hardly stay up on his skates, just to make you laugh. A lot of times that clown is the best skater of the bunch.”

Grand Jury Declines to Indict Anyone in Death of Sandra Bland

Story by NY Times
Written by Mitch Smith

CHICAGO — Grand jurors in Texas declined on Monday to indict anyone in connection to the July death of a Chicago-area woman, Sandra Bland, who was found hanged in her cell at the Waller County jail, one of the special prosecutors assigned to the case said.

But Darrell Jordan, the special prosecutor, said that “the case is still open,” and that grand jurors would reconvene next month to discuss other aspects of it.

Many activists have called for charges against Brian Encinia, the Texas state trooper who arrested Ms. Bland after a routine traffic stop in Prairie View, northwest of Houston, turned contentious. Mr. Jordan said Monday’s decision not to indict anyone related only to Ms. Bland’s death and to the conduct of the jail staff.

“It’s all in the way you phrase it,” said Mr. Jordan, one of five special prosecutors in the case. “The case is not over. That’s what I’m stressing right now. The case is not over.”

Ms. Bland, who was 28 and black, had recently moved to Texas from Illinois to accept a job at Prairie View A&M University, her alma mater, when she was pulled over on July 10. Her death days later attracted international attention and added momentum to a national debate over the treatment of black people by white police officers. Her family has publicly disputed the authorities’ findings that she committed suicide.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/22/us/grand-jury-finds-no-felony-committed-by-jailers-in-death-of-sandra-bland.html

Chicago Police Fatally Shoot 2, Raising New Questions for a Force Under Scrutiny

Story by New York Times
Written by Monica Davey

CHICAGO — The police fatally shot a man and a woman on Chicago’s West Side early Saturday, setting off a new flurry of questions about a department already under intense scrutiny.

News releases from the department said officers had been answering a call about a domestic disturbance in the 4700 block of West Erie Street at 4:25 a.m. on Saturday when they were “confronted by a combative subject, resulting in the discharging of the officer’s weapon.” The woman was “accidentally struck,” the police said.

The authorities provided few other details, but family members of those killed said that the shooting raised concerns about how officers are trained to handle people with mental illnesses, and about the use of weapons when people uninvolved in a confrontation may be nearby.

The police arrived at a small beige residence in a neighborhood about six miles west of downtown after a relative reported that Quintonio LeGrier, 19, was behaving oddly and carrying a metal bat around the second-floor apartment where his father lived. Mr. LeGrier, whose mother told reporters he was a college student who had been experiencing mental health problems, was fatally shot.

Bettie Jones, 55, a first-floor tenant, was also fatally shot, apparently by accident, as she tried to answer a shared front door for the arriving officers. On Saturday night, the department extended “its deepest condolences to the victim’s family and friends.” She may have been standing near Mr. LeGrier as shots were fired, her brother, Melvin Jones, said.

“None of this needed to happen,” Mr. Jones said as relatives gathered hours later in the house to mourn and pray. “And they say there will be an investigation into the shooting? I already know how that will turn out. We all know how that will turn out. When is this going to end?”

The practices of the Chicago Police Department, the nation’s second-largest after New York City’s, is the subject of a Justice Department review after the release last month of a video showing a white police officer fatally shooting Laquan McDonald, a black 17-year-old, in 2014. The video, which the city fought for months to keep private, set off weeks of protests over race and policing here.

It prompted Mayor Rahm Emanuel to remove the heads of the police force and of the city’s Independent Police Review Authority, which investigates police shootings.

The authority, which has found claims of wrongdoing against officers to be valid in only two police shootings out of more than 400 since 2007, is reviewing the latest case, the Chicago police said. A spokesman for the police directed further inquiries to the authority.

An authority spokesman said that an investigation was in progress, but that it would be premature to provide further details, including the number of shots fired or the officers’ names.

Hours later, on Saturday afternoon, the police here were involved in a second shooting, this time in the Washington Heights neighborhood on the city’s South Side.

Police said they were responding to an “assault in progress” call when they came upon a man with a gun. An officer shot the man, who was in surgery at an area hospital on Saturday night, the police said.

“I understand that you all, and all Chicagoans, are anxious for answers as to what happened here, and we will provide any and all information at the appropriate time, but now I just thank you in advance and I ask for your patience,” Sharon Fairley, the newly named acting chief administrator of the review authority, said at the scene of the second shooting.

In the fatal shooting earlier, Ms. Jones and Mr. LeGrier (whose name some officials said might have been capitalized differently, as Legrier) were both black. The Police Department did not reveal the identities or races of the officers involved.

Over a five-year period ending in 2014, officers here fatally shot 70 people, most of them black. That was the most among the nation’s 10 largest cities during the same period, according to the Better Government Association, a nonprofit watchdog group.

Family members of Mr. LeGrier and Ms. Jones said their deaths raised questions about the police’s handling of mental illness and about de-escalation training.

Some of them wondered aloud why a stun gun or backup help from other officers would not have been enough to manage an apparently volatile man with a baseball bat.

“It’s like you call for help and you lose someone,” Janet Cooksey, Mr. LeGrier’s mother, told the WGN television station. “And that has to stop.”

Ms. Jones’s boyfriend, who asked not to be named, said that he had been present when the shooting occurred, and that Ms. Jones had gotten up from bed to open a front door — shared by the first and second floors — for arriving police officers. He said Mr. LeGrier’s father, who is also the landlord for the building, had telephoned Ms. Jones from the second floor to alert her that the police were on their way and needed to be let in.

He said that when the officers arrived, Mr. LeGrier seemed to have rushed to the bottom of the stairs with his bat at nearly the same time Ms. Jones was opening the door.

“Then the shooting just started coming — bam, bam, bam!” he said. What appeared to be one bullet left a hole in the wall of a first-floor foyer wall, a bedroom and a bathroom, traveling all the way to Ms. Jones’s kitchen, where she had celebrated Christmas with some of her five grown children hours earlier.

“If you came here to her house, she took care of you, whoever you were,” Melvin Jones said of his sister, who grew up on the West Side of Chicago and worked at a baking company.

“She was everybody’s mama,” he said. “I’m not mad, but I’m hurt.”

Meadowlark Lemon, star of 'Harlem Globetrotters,' dies at 83

Leader of the Harlem Globetrotters for many years George "Meadowlark" Lemon dies at 83

Story by Reuters
Written by Bill Trott
Meadowlard Lemon's website: http://www.meadowlarklemon.org/

George "Meadowlark" Lemon, the court jester of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team who delighted audiences around the world for some 25 years with an array of trick shots, comedy routines and pure charisma, has died at the age of 83, the team announced on Monday.

Lemon, who had started a ministry and become a motivational speaker in his later years, died on Sunday in Scottsdale, Arizona, according to the Globetrotters website.

Lemon was the undisputed master of the long-range hook shot, rubber-band ball and other crowd-pleasing tricks during the years he wore the Globetrotters' star-spangled red, white and blue uniform.

The team's website said he played in 7,500 consecutive games - the equivalent of more than 92 NBA seasons - in some 100 countries before audiences that included everyone from Britain's Queen Elizabeth and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev to three popes.

He was born George Lemon III in Wilmington, North Carolina, and was unfamiliar with not just the Globetrotters but the game of basketball until he saw a newsreel about the team at a movie theater at the age of 11. He was entranced by the sight of black men taking such a joyous approach to a game during a time of segregation.

"They seemed to make that ball talk," Lemon said when inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003. "I said, 'That's mine. This is for me.' I was receiving a vision, I was receiving a dream in my heart.'"

He rushed home from the theater that day and started fulfilling the dream by fashioning a basketball goal from a clothes hanger and an onion sack and using a tin can for a basketball.

After briefly attending Florida A&M University and serving in the U.S. Army, Lemon's dream would be fully realized when he joined the Globetrotters in 1954. In 1958 he succeeded Goose Tatum as the team's main clown, a position he held for 20 years.

OPPORTUNITY FOR BLACK PLAYERS

The Harlem Globetrotters began in Chicago in the late 1920s, organized by a white businessman, Abe Saperstein, as a barnstorming team. It provided one of the few opportunities for black men who wanted to play professional basketball in the days of segregation, traveling the country and taking on community teams.

The forerunner of the National Basketball Association was established in 1946 but the league was all white until 1950, which gave the Globetrotters their pick of elite black players. While the NBA style of play was basic, deliberate and staid, the Globetrotters were playing with the flair that characterizes today's NBA - acrobatic dunks, behind-the-back passes, flashy dribbling and a showman's sensibilities.

In addition to other independent teams, the Trotters played college all-star teams and defeated the Minnesota Lakers, the top pro team, in 1948 and 1949.

Once the NBA began accepting black players, the Globetrotters' talent pool became more shallow and they began to rely more on comedy and flash. Lemon was the focus of their appeal as their following grew in the 1960s and '70s.

They would start the show with a warm-up display of fancy passing and ball spinning in a mid-court circle to their whistled theme song "Sweet Georgia Brown."

Once the game began, Lemon was a grinning, always-chatting ringmaster, harassing referees and mocking opponents, who by then were stooge teams whose primary job was not to get in the way as the Globetrotters put on their show.

Lemon had a deep repertoire stunts, including a hook shot from mid-court and a routine in which he would get upset with a teammate and throw a bucket of confetti - the audience would be expecting water - at him.

RUBBER-BAND BALL

Once a game, he would pretend to suffer a grievous injury and have to be helped to the sideline. When he returned to shoot his foul shot, he would sneak in a trick ball that would return to his hand on a long rubber band. He would then swap that ball with a weighted one to confound the referees.

The advent of the civil rights and black power movements of the 1960s caused some to brand the Globetrotters as minstrel show stereotypes, with much of the criticism falling on Lemon.

"I'm an athlete but athletes are entertainers and entertainers can be comedians," Lemon told the Los Angeles Times in 2004. "I'm all of the above."

Lemon left the Globetrotters in 1979 but returned for 50 games in 1994. He also started three comedy-basketball teams of his own over the years but none caught on like the Globetrotters.

In the 1979 movie "The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh," Lemon played a basketball-playing minister and a few years later started his own ministry.

In 2003 he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, and cited for making significant contributions to the game.

Lemon was married twice and had 10 children. In 2015 his ex-wife, who he divorced in 1977, and 48-year-old son sued him for $250,000 in child support they said he did not pay.

Merry Christmas from the President and First Lady

In this week's address, the President and First Lady wished Americans a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. They celebrated the values of the season, and in that spirit of gratitude honored all the brave men and women in uniform fighting to keep us safe, as well as the families that stand by them.

The President and First Lady asked that everyone take time this holiday season to visit JoiningForces.gov, and find out how to give back to the troops, veterans, and military families in your community.

The Obamas and the Bidens share their Christmas playlists

Link to listen to the Obamas' and Bidens' favorite Christmas music: https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/12/23/listen-spotify-obamas-and-bidens-holiday-playlists?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=email540-text1&utm_campaign=holidayplaylist

Robert Smith joins The Forbes 400 with a $2.5 billion fortune

Story by Harvest Magazine
Written by Teri Washington

Robert F. Smith joins The Forbes 400 with a $2.5 billion fortune and a No.268 spot on the list of the richest Americans.

Robert F. Smith is the second-richest Black person in America, but you’ve probably never heard of him.

The Denver native isn’t an entertainer, athlete, or media personality, but he’s quietly built his $2.5 billion fortune as the chairman and CEO Vista Equity Partners, a private equity firm with approximately $15.9 billion in client assets.

Smith, a self-described computer science geek, earned a chemical engineering degree from Cornell before heading off to Columbia University for a MBA. After working for Goldman Sachs for six years, he decided to do his own thing, and started Vista in 2000. The firm invests in enterprise software companies, and according to Smith’s Forbes cover story it’s made a “killing,” regularly turning out 30 percent returns.

In spite of his enormous wealth and Wall Street track record, Smith admitted still experiencing racism, particularly when he’s trying to appeal to investors. “I still see it when I raise funds,” he told the New York Times last year. “I know that’s the reason certain limited partners don’t back us.” Still, Smith persists, and it shows in his business. Word around the industry is Smith’s firm has never lost money on an investment, and according to the magnate, Vista’s returns “are better than Warren Buffett.”

Smith also became the second richest African-American after only Oprah Winfrey, No. 211, passing up Michael Jordan (Yes, THAT Michael Jordan) No. 1741 on the global Billionaires list. Smith is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Vista Equity Partners, an Austin, Texas, private equity firm with $15.9 billion in client assets.

Miss Universe Contest Host Steve Harvey crowns the wrong Miss Universe

"I'd like to apologize wholeheartedly to Miss Colombia & Miss Philippines for my huge mistake. I feel terrible." - Steve Harvey


Above is the Miss Universe Card that Steve Harvey viewed indicating the winner and runner-ups. I would hope that the public, candidates, candidates' family, friends, and respective country's citizens (especially Columbia) can find it in their hearts to forgive Steve Harvey for making a mistake,,,yes,,,it was a big mistake.


Steve Harvey and Miss Universe chronicles the moment (AP/Washington Post).

NWA To Be Inducted Into The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame

Straight out of Compton, California in 1986 the rap group NWA was created and now they are going into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. NWA with a long rap history and noted for such albums as Niggaz4Life, Panic Zone and the latest Straight Outta Compton.

Story by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Biography

N.W.A’s improbable rise from marginalized outsiders to the most controversial and complicated voices of their generation remains one of rock’s most explosive, relevant and challenging tales. From their Compton, California, headquarters, Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, MC Ren and DJ Yella would - by force of will and unrelenting tales of street life - sell tens of millions of records, influence multiple generations the world over and extend artistic middle fingers to the societal barriers of geography, respectability, caste, authority and whatever else happened to get in their way.

As enduringly evergreen as the Beatles and as shockingly marketable as the Sex Pistols, N.W.A (Niggaz Wit Attitudes) made a way out of no way, put their city on the map and solidified the disparate elements of gangsta rap into a genre meaty enough to be quantified, imitated and monetized for generations to come.

But two decades before Rolling Stone would rank them 83rd on their “100 Greatest Artists Of All Time” list, they were just five young men with something to say. Five men, at least twice that many opposing points of view among them and well over a hundred million records collectively sold over the last 29 years, N.W.A, and its extended family tree of platinum satellites (J.J. Fad, The D.O.C, Above The Law, Michel’le, Yo-Yo, Da Lench Mob, Del the Funky Homosapien, Hieroglyphics, Snoop Dogg, Warren G, Nate Dogg, The Dogg Pound, The Lady of Rage, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, 2Pac, Westside Connection, Eminem, 50 Cent, The Game, Kendrick Lamar – an unmatched assemblage of talent) helped set the stage for hip hop’s emergence as one of this planet’s most dominant musical life forms.

KJLH Comptons' (Suburban Los Angeles) long time Air Personality Tony Valdez "TV in stereo" dead at 82

KJLH legends Lon McQ, Ted Terry, and the recently departed Tony Valdez

Message from Lakers' Public Address Announcer - and former Program Director of KJLH Compton - Lawrence Tanter:

"I saw Audre Russell (PD at KJLH) this evening, and he told me Tony Valdez (TV in Stereo) passed
away yesterday in Columbus, Ohio (age 82).

Apparently Tony suffered from a few strokes. I worked with Tony during the 70's and early
80's at KJLH.

May he rest in peace.

Tony is next to Phyllis Hyman in this 1979 photo (below)."

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's Racist View of Black Students Based on 'Myth' - Commentary by George Curry

Commentary by George E. Curry
Editor-in-Chief
George Curry Media

NEWS ANALYSIS

WASHINGTON - Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's view that students of color are better matched at "a less advanced ...slower track" schools than at the nation's top-tier universities is a myth that has been thoroughly debunked.

Scalia touched off a firestorm last Wednesday as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Fisher v. University of Texas-Austin, a case brought by a rejected White student challenging the university's affirmative action program.

The university selects 75 percent of its freshmen class (some years it has been as much as 92 percent) through a process that guarantees admission to the top 10 percent of each high school graduating class. The remaining students are chosen through an individualized affirmative action program that considers such factors as demonstrated leadership qualities, extracurricular activities, honors and awards, essays, work experience, community service, and special circumstances such as applicant's socioeconomic status, family composition, special family responsibilities, socioeconomic status of applicant's high school and race.

Even though to points are assigned to any category, Abigail Fisher decided to sue on the basis of race, saying the consideration of race violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. However, the university said she would not have been accepted even if no affirmative action program were in place.

Scalia said, "There are there are those who contend that it does not benefit African¬ Americans to ¬¬-- to get them into the University of Texas where they do not do well, as opposed to having them go to a less¬-advanced school, a less --¬¬ a slower¬-track school where they do well. One of ¬¬-- one of the briefs pointed out that ¬¬-- that most of the --¬¬ most of the black scientists in this country don't come from schools like the University of Texas. They come from lesser schools where they do not feel that they're ¬¬-- that they're being pushed ahead in --¬¬ in classes that are too --¬¬ too fast for them." http://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/14-981_4h25.pdf

Scalia, who was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1986 by Ronald Reagan, shifted from the "some people" straw argument to express his deeply personal view, which many public figures have since condemned as blatantly racist.

He said, "I'm just not impressed by the fact that --¬¬ that the University of Texas may have fewer. Maybe it ought to have fewer. And maybe some -- ¬¬ you know, when you take more, the number of blacks, really competent blacks admitted to lesser schools, turns out to be less. And ¬¬-- and I --¬¬ I don't think it --¬¬ it ¬¬ it stands to reason that it's a good thing for the University of Texas to admit as many blacks as possible."

To his credit, Gregory G. Garre, one of the attorneys representing the University of Texas, immediately challenged the core of Scalia's argument.

He replied, "This Court heard and rejected that argument, with respect, Justice Scalia, in the Grutter case, a case that our opponents haven't asked this Court to overrule. If you look at the academic performance of holistic minority admits versus the top 10 percent admits, over time, they ¬¬-- they fare better. And, frankly, I don't think the solution to the problems with student body diversity can be to set up a system in which not only are minorities going to separate schools, they're going to inferior schools. I think what experience shows, at Texas, California, and Michigan, is that now is not the time and this is not the case to roll back student body diversity in America."

Al Sharpton told supporters on the steps of the Supreme Court after the oral arguments, "Scalia says Blacks ought to go to schools that are not as hard as the University of Texas, that is not as fast for them. I didn't know if I was in the Supreme Court or at a Donald Trump rally."

Scalia, the longest serving justice on the Supreme Court, was parroting a friend-of-the-court brief filed in support of Fisher by the conservative Pacific Legal Foundation and another one filed by University of San Diego law professor Gail Heriot and Cleveland attorney Peter Kirsanow, congressional appointees to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. http://blog.pacificlegal.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Fisher-Petition-2.pdf

Matthew Chingos, a scholar at the Urban Institute, noted"[Scalia's] remarks reference the so-called 'mismatch hypothesis,' which posits that minority students are harmed by policies that allow them to attend competitive colleges for which they lack adequate academic preparation. http://www.urban.org/urban-wire/affirmative-action-mismatch-theory-isnt-supported-credible-evidence

"Mismatch is possible in theory, but it presents an empirical question as to whether selective colleges admit students who would be better off at less challenging institutions. Straightforward comparisons of students with similar academic credentials who attended different colleges consistently find that students are more likely to graduate from more selective institutions. This finding holds for all groups of students examined, including underrepresented minorities and students with weaker academic preparation."

A group of 11 experts in quantitative social science filed a brief urging to the court to ignore the mismatch theory because it "does not constitute credible evidence that affirmative action practices are harmful to minorities." They said study contained "major methodological flaws - misapplying basic principles of causal inference - that call into doubt his controversial conclusions about affirmative action." http://www.scotusblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/LCCR-and-Mintz-Fisher-Amicus-Empirical-Scholars.pdf

In short, they said, the research "is not good social science."

A friend-of-the-court brief filed in support of the University of Texas on behalf of 39 undergraduate and graduate student organizations in California thoroughly discredited Scalia's position.

Their brief noted, "But various studies provide empirical evidence that the 'mismatch' theory is nothing more than a myth," they said in their court filing. "Indeed, underrepresented minority students graduate at higher rates when they attend selective institutions. See, e.g., Sigal Alon & Marta Tienda, Assessing the 'Mismatch' Hypothesis: Differences in College Graduation Rates by Institutional Selectivity, 78 SOC. EDUC. 294, 309 (2005) (rebutting the 'mismatch' hypothesis by finding that minorities' likelihood of graduation increased as selectivity of institution attended rose); Tatiana Melguizo, Quality Matters: Assessing the Impact of Attending More Selective Institutions on College Completion Rates of Minorities, 49 RES. HIGHER EDUC. 214, 217 (2008) (finding that minority students who were admitted to highly selective institutions under affirmative action policies were more likely to graduate).

"Notably, one study found that selectivity was an important factor with a statistically significant effect on African American graduation rates. Mario L. Small & Christopher Winship, Black Students' Graduation from Elite Colleges: Institutional Characteristics and Between-Institution Differences, 36 SOC. SCI. RES. 1257, 1272 (2007). Not only did it increase the probability of graduation for African American students, it also helped African American students more than their white counterparts."

Scalia ignored an abundance of evidence that proves African Americans have successfully competed at the nation's elite universities. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1960 after completing his undergraduate study at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

W.E. B. DuBois, one of the nation's most distinguished scholars, earned his doctorate from Harvard University in 1895. That same year, William Monroe Trotter, the future crusading editor of the Boston Guardian, was awarded a Phi Beta Kappa key while earning his Bachelor's degree magna cum laude from Harvard. They were proving they didn't need to go to a "lesser" school more than a half-century before Scalia arrived in Cambridge, Mass. to enroll in law school.

More recently, both the president and the first lady, earned degrees from Harvard Law School after earning undergraduate degrees at Ivy League universities.

Congressman John Lewis (D-Ga.) described Scalia's comments as troubling.

"I was shocked and amazed by Justice Antonin Scalia's comments in the Fisher v. University of Texas case yesterday. His suggestion that African Americans would fare better at schools that are 'less advanced' or on a 'slow-track' remind me of the kind of prejudice that led to separate and unequal school systems - a policy the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional decades ago," Lewis said.

"Justice Scalia is supposed to be very well read, but he seems to have neglected study in African American history. Is he aware that the current head of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City, the noted astrophysicist Neil de Grasse Tyson, graduated from the University of Texas in 1983, before affirmative action was struck down?

"Does he know the story of Henry Sampson, the nuclear engineer, whose invention of the gamma-electric cell made the cell phone possible? He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1965 when affirmative action was likely in place. Dr. Charles Drew, the founder of the modern-day blood bank, attended Amherst on a football scholarship in the 1930s, and his medical innovations helped saved the lives of front line soldiers in World War II and are still saving lives today.

"These are only three of a host of examples which prove African Americans can not only compete in the best schools in the nation, even in applied sciences, but they can excel and even surpass some of their classmates and colleagues, if given a fair opportunity."

Radio One Shifts Direction on Washington DC Morning Drive

Story by Inside Radio

Radio One is reshuffling its morning show lineup in Washington DC, in a bid to grow audiences and better align talent with formats. All told, three of its DC stations will change AM drive talent, starting Tuesday, Jan. 19.

The domino-like effect begins with the move of “The FAM with Lil Mo and DJ QuickSilva” from afternoons on Radio One urban “92-Q” WERQ-FM Baltimore to mornings on urban “93.9 Kiss FM” WKYS Washington. The younger-skewing show is presumably a better fit for the hip-hop music on WKYS than “The Russ Parr Morning Show,” which currently occupies that position.

Parr, a longtime mainstay in the DC community, will move from WKYS to mornings on urban AC “Majic 102.3” WMMJ Washington. Parr’s three-hour weekend show “On the Air” will continue on WKYS on Saturday mornings.

Parr’s arrival bumps “The Tom Joyner Morning Show” from “Majic” to “NewsTalk 1450” WOL. Joyner will be simulcast on the HD2 channels of sister stations “Praise 104.1” WPRS, WKYS and WMMJ. Current WOL morning man Carl Nelson will move to afternoon drive. Joyner’s two-hour weekend show “Right Back Atcha” will continue to air on “Majic” Saturday mornings.

The morning show realignment better matches the demographic appeal of the hosts with Radio One’s stations. Lil Mo is an R&B singer and costar of TV One’s R&B Divas of Hollywood; DJ QuickSilva is a celebrity DJ known as “The Party Kingpin” who started his career at age 14. Vernon Kelson, program director for Radio One-Baltimore will replace them in afternoon drive on WERQ-FM.

Parr and Joyner are both nationally syndicated by Reach Media, which Radio One owns a majority stake in.

“To get what you’ve never had, you have to do what you’ve never done,” said Jeff Wilson, senior regional VP/GM, Radio One DC. “We are excited for the unique opportunity to expand our audience and promote fresh new talent on WKYS with The FAM with Lil Mo and DJ QuickSilva while serving our loyal listeners and keeping the momentum we have with Russ Parr, Tom Joyner and Carl Nelson in the market.”

Judge Declares Mistrial of Baltimore Cop in Freddie Gray Case - Baltimore Mayor comments

Airplanes' SkyDeck

U.S. aerospace technology company Windspeed says its SkyDeck design can be installed on a variety of aircraft, from private jets to wide-bodied commercial planes.

Link: http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/14/aviation/windspeed-skydeck-seats-on-top-of-aircraft/index.html

DOJ Issues New Guidance for Police in Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Cases

Police Departments Asked to Examine Gender-Bias and Victim Treatment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 15, 2015

CONTACT: Crystal Cooper, 212-519-7894, ccooper@aclu.org

WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice issued groundbreaking new guidance to law enforcement agencies today, detailing how certain police responses to domestic violence and sexual assault violate victims’ civil rights.

The guidance comes on the heels of DOJ investigations of gender-biased policing in New Orleans; Puerto Rico; Missoula, Montana; and Maricopa County, Arizona; which documented the systemic failure of police departments to properly investigate domestic violence and sexual assault cases or to hold police officers accountable when they commit domestic or sexual violence.

“Domestic violence-related calls constitute the single largest category of calls received by police departments, so how police officers respond to domestic violence and sexual assault has a huge impact on the lives of women, families, and communities across the United States,” said Sandra Park, senior staff attorney in the ACLU Women’s Rights Project. “Police practices can either help end the cycle of violence or they can perpetuate it.”

Even when an assault clearly qualifies as criminal activity, survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault may face disbelief, victim-blaming, and hostility from law enforcement. The ACLU and its partners recently released a report – “Responses from the Field: Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, and Policing” – documenting biases against survivors as reported by advocates and attorneys who work with them.

The DOJ guidance calls on local police departments to examine their practices and policies relating to policing of domestic violence and sexual assault, which disproportionately impact women and LGBT people. It lays out the following eight principles that should guide police departments:
• Recognize and address biases, assumptions, and stereotypes about victims
• Treat all victims with respect and employ interviewing tactics that encourage a victim to participate and provide facts about the incident
• Investigate sexual assault or domestic violence complaints thoroughly and effectively
• Appropriately classify reports of sexual assault or domestic violence
• Refer victims to appropriate services
• Properly identify the assailant in domestic violence incidents
• Hold officers who commit sexual assault or domestic violence accountable
• Maintain, review, and act upon data regarding sexual assault and domestic violence.
“The new DOJ guidance is a critical tool welcomed by both law enforcement and community advocates that empowers them to work together to improve how domestic violence and sexual assault cases are handled,” said Park. “Survivors must have equal access to an unbiased criminal justice system that offers them protection and ensures that perpetrators cannot act with impunity.”

Courts and the DOJ have concluded that victims of domestic and sexual assault crimes are denied equal protection under the U.S. Constitution when these crimes are treated less seriously than other offenses based on gender bias. Victims’ due process rights are also violated when police commit acts of violence, such as sexual assault, or when a victim is put at greater risk as a result of police conduct.

The ACLU, along with other civil rights and anti-violence groups, sought DOJ guidance on gender-biased policing, and over 180 national, state, and local groups joined a letter reinforcing this request in June.

Domestic violence and sexual assault are two of the most prevalent forms of gender-based violence. In the U.S., over one million women are sexually assaulted each year, and more than a third of women are subjected to rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime, with women of color disproportionately affected.

This press release is available at:
https://www.aclu.org/news/doj-issues-new-guidance-police-domestic-violence-and-sexual-assault-cases

More information about the ACLU's work on violence against women is available at:
https://www.aclu.org/issues/womens-rights/violence-against-women

Muhammad Ali defends Muslims in response to Donald Trump's ban plan

Muhammad Ali poses with Shaquille O’Neal at a function in Louisville in October. Photograph: Timothy D. Easley/AP

Story by The Guardian
Written by Bryan Armen Graham

Muhammad Ali hit out against Islamic extremists and Donald Trump’s plan to bar Muslims from entering the United States on Wednesday.

“I am a Muslim and there is nothing Islamic about killing innocent people in Paris, San Bernardino, or anywhere else in the world,” the three-time world heavyweight champion said in a statement. “True Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so called Islamic jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion.”

The Louisville-born boxer, who converted to Sunni Islam in 1975, called on Muslims to “stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda”.

He added: “They have alienated many from learning about Islam. True Muslims know or should know that it goes against our religion to try and force Islam on anybody.”

The 132-word statement, issued under the headline ‘Presidential Candidates Proposing to Ban Muslim Immigration to the United States’, also took a thinly veiled swipe at Trump’s sweeping proposal for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States”, made on Monday in the wake of the San Bernardino shooting.

“Speaking as someone who has never been accused of political correctness, I believe that our political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the religion of Islam and clarify that these misguided murderers have perverted people’s views on what Islam really is,” Ali said.

Trump had unwittingly invoked Ali earlier this week in the Republican presidential candidate’s response to President Barack Obama’s address to the nation on Sunday night, tweeting: “Obama said in his speech that Muslims are our sports heroes. What sport is he talking about, and who? Is Obama profiling?”

Many were quick to mention the two had crossed paths many times over the years, with Trump himself referring to Ali as “my friend” in a Facebook post only seven months prior.

Even with advanced Parkinson’s disease having severely limited his speech and mobility, the 73-year-old icon continues to lend his global clout to a number of humanitarian causes.

In March, the Olympic gold medalist called on the Iranian government to release an imprisoned Washington Post journalist, calling the detained Jason Rezaian a “man of peace and great faith” who used his “gift of writing and intimate knowledge of the country to share the stories of the people and culture of Iran to the world”.

In 2011, Ali headed a group of prominent US Muslims in calling on Iranian leaders to release a pair of American hikers who had been detained near the Iran-Iraq border two years prior.

Known simply as The Greatest, he is renowned today as much for his principled stances on religious freedom and racial justice as his epochal victories over Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier and George Foreman.

Congressman Elijah E. Cummings Urges Maryland General Assembly Leaders to Support Universal Voter Registration Legislation - Maryland Would Be Third State to Adopt Policy

Washington, D.C. (December 14, 2015) — Today, Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD) urged President of the Maryland Senate Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr. and Maryland House Speaker Michael E. Busch to support universal voter registration legislation that has been pre-filed for the 2016 legislation session.

Link here to Pre-Filing: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/gmd-democrats-propose-automatic-voter-registration/2015/12/11/a3c56c8c-9fad-11e5-a3c5-c77f2cc5a43c_story.html

In a letter to the Democratic leaders, Cummings wrote, “I write today to express my strong support for the creation of a Universal Voter Registration program that would automatically add to state voting rolls all Maryland residents who are eligible to vote.”

Last week, State Senator Roger P. Manno (D-Montgomery) pre-filed legislation to implement Universal Voter Registration in Maryland. If passed, Maryland would be only the third state to adopt the policy.

Cummings continued, “I also believe that Maryland should seize every opportunity to be a national leader in eliminating all impediments that stand between eligible citizens and the voting booth.”

The Congressman noted that any Universal Voter Registration program must use data from several state sources, not just the Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) in order to identify citizens eligible to vote. More than 9 percent of U.S. households—and 30 percent of Baltimore households—do not own a vehicle.

“Many Maryland residents who do not own cars have never obtained a driver’s license and limiting a Universal Voter Registration program to the use of data collected by the MVA would exclude these individuals from the voter rolls,” Cummings wrote.

View the full text below:

December 14, 2015

The Honorable Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr.
President of the Maryland Senate
State House, H-107
Annapolis, MD 21401

The Honorable Michael E. Busch
Maryland House Speaker
State House, H-101
Annapolis, MD 21401

Dear President Miller and Speaker Busch:

I write today to express my strong support for the creation of a Universal Voter Registration program that would automatically add to state voting rolls all Maryland residents who are eligible to vote.

In a speech he gave earlier this year in Selma, Alabama, to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday, then-Attorney General Eric Holder warned that:

It has been clear in recent years that fair and free access to the franchise is still, in some areas, under siege. Shortly after the historic election of President Obama in 2008, numerous states and jurisdictions attempted to impose rules and laws that had the effect of restricting Americans’ opportunities to vote—particularly, and disproportionately, communities of color.

Numerous studies have documented the measures states have adopted to restrict citizens’ – particularly low-income and minority citizens’ – access to the voting booth. For example, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, as of this month, 36 states had adopted measures requiring residents to show a proof of identification at the polls, and these laws were in force in 32 states. Last year, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report concluding that voter identification laws have led to a statistically significant decrease in voter turnout.

At the federal level, I support a range of legislation that would strengthen voting rights throughout the nation. For example, I am a cosponsor of the Voter Empowerment Act (H.R. 12), which would amend the Help America Vote Act and the National Voter Registration Act to improve all facets of the voting process.

I also believe that Maryland should seize every opportunity to be a national leader in eliminating all impediments that stand between eligible citizens and the voting booth. For that reason, I believe the General Assembly should adopt legislation during the upcoming session that will create a Universal Voter Registration program.

Such a program should utilize data from a variety of state sources, not just the Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA), to identify citizens who are eligible to vote. A recent study released by the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute found that in 2012, more than 9% of U.S. households did not have a private vehicle, and in Baltimore, more than 30% of households lacked a vehicle. Many Maryland residents who do not own cars have never obtained a driver’s license and limiting a Universal Voter Registration program to the use of data collected by the MVA would exclude these individuals from the voter rolls.

Thank you for your steadfast efforts to ensure that every eligible Maryland resident is able to cast a ballot. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to support the creation of a Universal Voter Registration program in our state.

Sincerely,

Elijah E. Cummings
Member of Congress

Poll: 71% of Russians believe U.S. is world's bad guy

Story by USA Today / Global Post via UkrainGlobal
Written by Dan Peleschuk based in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Ever notice the bad guys in Hollywood flicks are often Russians? Well, most Russians feel the same way about Americans.

A new poll by a respected think tank in Moscow found a whopping 71% of Russians believe the United States plays a negative role in the world today. That's up from 50% only two years ago.

Even more — 75% believe the U.S. and other Western powers are Russia's adversaries, bent on harming its interests.

The figure may be startling, but it's not exactly surprising.

Thanks mostly to a state-friendly media machine, the Kremlin has long stoked anti-Western sentiment to consolidate support among conservative Russians for President Vladimir Putin.

Moscow has repeatedly warned against the U.S. and NATO holding military exercises near its borders. Many Russians even fear a U.S. invasion of their country.

Anti-Western rhetoric dramatically increased last year after the crisis in Ukraine escalated into a full-blown war, which Russia has blamed on the Ukrainian government and its Western — particularly American — allies.

Now, with Russia and the U.S. locked into what analysts are calling a "proxy war" in Syria, that feeling isn't going away soon.

And unfortunately, it's mutual: A Pew Research Center poll conducted last August found that 67% of Americans had an unfavorable view of Russia.

So here's to happier days:

Passin' It On - 1993 Black Panther Documentary

Dr. Umar Johnson on Self-Hate and Materialism

WCHB Detroit - First Black Radio Station "Built from the Ground Up"

Story by Ken Coleman

FIRST BLACK RADIO STATION IN NATION ‘BUILT FROM GROUND UP’
www.onthisdaydetroit.com

Dr. Wendell Cox and Dr. Haley Bell on November 7, 1956 launched WCHB 1440-AM— the nation’s first black-owned and operated radio station from the ground up.

Located at Ecorse Road and Henry Ruff Road in Inkster, the station call letters came from the men’s initials (Wendell Cox, Haley Bell).

Its program director was Larry Dean (Faulkner). One of its first popular radio personalities was Joltin' Joe Howard who is recruited to Detroit.

Other founding voices included Trudy Haynes, a Howard University-trained fashion model, and Bill Matney, a popular sports and news columnist at the Michigan Chronicle.

WCHB became known for playing some of the best R&B music during the 1960s and '70s. It featured popular radio personalities Bill Williams, Butterball Jr. (Wade Briggs), Jay Butler, Fred Goree, Martha Jean"The Queen" Steinberg and John R. Arnold.

In “Radio Station WCHB Makes Auspicious Debut” the Michigan Chronicle editorialized on November 24, 1956:

“The opening of radio station WCHB marks another milestone in the growth and progress of Negro-owned and operated businesses in Michigan.”

“The very act of conceiving and carrying through such a project must be a source of pride to those who did so and is most surely a source of pride to the entire community,” the Chronicle concluded.

In 1960, WCHB’s parent company, Bell Broadcasting, launched WCHD-FM 105.9. It will showcase radio personalities like Jerry Blocker and Ed Love as well as Bill Johnson and Rosetta Hines-Loving who played the area’s best jazz music. It later became WJZZ 105.9 FM.

By 1966, “Soul Radio” celebrated 10 years on air. It operated 24 hours a day with a staff of more than 40 “highly trained professionals whose combined experience in broadcasting total over 250 years.”

When asked why the station had been so successful, Dr. Bell replied: “The secret of success is giving others an opportunity to develop and apply their talents and skills. We believe this is the reason for the success of Radio Station WCHB.”

The station changed frequency on the radio dial, from 1440 AM to 1200 AM, in 1990.

Dr. Bell joined the ancestors in 1973; Dr. Cox joined him in 2007. Mary Bell, Haley’s wife, was an executive with the company until her death in 1995.

Freddie Gray To Baltimore Officer on April 12, 2015: “I Need Help”

Testimony during the trial of Baltimore officer William Porter on Friday revealed Freddie Gray’s pleas for medical attention were ignored. CNN reports prosecutors played a tape that showed Porter’s versions of the April 12 arrest in court for the first time on Friday.

Story by CNN
Written by Desire Thompson

Testimony during the trial of Baltimore officer William Porter on Friday revealed Freddie Gray’s pleas for medical attention were ignored.

CNN reports prosecutors played a tape that showed Porter’s versions of the April 12 arrest in court for the first time on Friday. When Porter was asked about his interaction in the van with Gray, he says Officer Caesar Goodson, the van’s driver, asked an officer to check on the 25-year-old. Porter volunteered to check and was told by Gray he needed medical attention.

Porter’s defense team argued Gray was known to exaggerate his injuries. Porter also didn’t believe an ambulance would arrive promptly. They also claim Gray wasn’t specific with Porter when he was asked about his injuries.

CNN reports:

At first, Porter said, he asked Gray, “What’s your deal?” and Gray responded, “I need help, I need help.” Porter said he helped Gray onto a bench inside the van and asked if he needed a medic, to which Gray replied, “Yes.”

Later, Porter was asked again about what took place. This time, Porter said he asked Gray, “What’s up?” and that Gray said nothing, then, “Help me up.” Porter asked, “You need a medic or something, a hospital or something?” And Gray said “Yes.”

Gray was known to fake injuries, Porter added.

“He played the ‘I need a medic’ game.”

The New York Times reports Dr. Carol Allan, the medical examiner, testified Friday Gray died of suffocation due to his spinal cord injures. Allan ruled his death a homicide. Allan described Gray’s spinal cord was “functionally cut through,” leaving Gray to rely on other accessory muscles in the rib cage and eventually exhausting them, leading to his death.

Porter’s defense team argued he was a rookie cop who was the only one to come to Gray’s need. Porter joined the force in 2012 and forgot about his training in placing seat belts on those who ride in the van because no one ever acted out on it. They also claimed Porter joined the force in the midst of turmoil in the Western Division station.

An email notice officers received about securing suspects in seatbelts was sent three days before the incident and was one of 41 work emails Porter received that day.

The trial will continue Monday morning. Porter has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office charges.

The 13th Amendment: 150 Years Later, President Obama Reflects on the Abolition of Slavery

President Barack Obama delivers remarks at an event commemorating the 150th anniversary of the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Dec. 9, 2015.

On December 6, 1865, the U.S. ratified the 13th Amendment to the Constitution: the abolition of slavery. It was a long overdue step in the long road we continue to walk in our efforts to address and uproot the systemic injustices embedded into our society.


As many made clear at the time of its ratification, the 13th Amendment was not a final step, but rather the first step in making real the promise that all men are created equal. Read the letter above that Annie Davis, an enslaved woman living in Maryland, wrote to President Lincoln asking if she was free after he had signed the Emancipation Proclamation. He never replied, but the answer was no. It would take an amendment to Maryland's constitution -- and the 13th Amendment -- to ensure that she and all enslaved people in the U.S. were free in the eyes of the law.

In sharing his thoughts on the 13th Amendment, the words of Frederick Douglass ring true today: "Verily, the work does not end with the abolition of slavery, but only begins."

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia argues Black students benefit from ‘Slower’ Colleges than the University of Texas

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia says Blacks are educationally inferior to Whites at the University of Texas. Photo: Jim Mone/AP

Story by AP
Written by Liz Goodwin

Near the end of oral argument in a high-profile affirmative-action case Wednesday, conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia suggested that black students benefit from a “slower track” at less prestigious schools and are thus harmed by affirmative action. The comments come during a time of racial turmoil on campuses across the country, from Yale to the University of Missouri.

“There are those who contend that it does not benefit African-Americans to get them into the University of Texas, where they do not do well — as opposed to having them go to a less advanced school, a "slower-track school" where they do well,” Scalia said FROM THE BENCH. “One of the briefs pointed out that most of the Black Scientists in this country don’t come from schools like the University of Texas. They come from "lesser schools" where they do not feel that they’re being pushed ahead in classes that are too fast for them.”

Scalia went on to say that it could be bad if the “really competent blacks” do not go to these “lesser” schools because they might then not become scientists. “I don’t think it stands to reason for the University of Texas to admit as many Blacks as possible,” he concluded.

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/politics/scalia-argues-black-students-benefit-from-slower-210637220.html

Protesters Call for Chicago USA Mayor Rahm Emanuel's Resignation in Citywide Walkout

Hundreds of protesters demanding an investigation of Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration flooded downtown Chicago streets Wednesday afternoon as part of a citywide walkout just hours after Emanuel publicly apologized for the shooting death of Laquan McDonald and vowed to fix broken Chicago police practices.

The group chanted "Whose city? Our city," "Who's got to go? Rahm's got to go," and "No more killer cops."

Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Protesters-Plan-Citywide-Walkout-to-Call-for-Emanuels-Resignation-361231611.html#ixzz3trjKAMJU

Read more: http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Protesters-Plan-Citywide-Walkout-to-Call-for-Emanuels-Resignation-361231611.html

President Obama takes veiled swipe at Trump at Capitol Hill ceremony

Story by AP
Written by Mary Clare Jalonick

(Washington DC) President Barack Obama on Wednesday took a veiled swipe at Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has called for blocking Muslims from entering the United States in the aftermath of terror attacks at home and abroad.

Speaking at a Capitol Hill ceremony marking the 150th anniversary of the abolition of slavery, Obama detailed the efforts of previous generations to fight discrimination, and said Americans today must be willing to do what they did — namely, "to remember that our freedom is bound up with the freedom of others, regardless of what they look like, or where they come from, or what their last name is or what faith they practice."

Obama drew a standing ovation for his remarks. He did not mention Trump by name. The GOP front-runner's statement has drawn widespread condemnation from lawmakers of both parties and several of his rivals.

The president said Americans will betray their past if "we were to deny the possibility of movement, the possibility of progress, if we were to let cynicism consume us and fear overwhelm us."

Joined by Republican and Democratic leaders, Obama recounted how slavery shaped American politics and nearly tore the country apart during the Civil War.

He said the country would do a disservice to "warriors of justice" like Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, President Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr., if it denies the scars of the "nation's original sin" are still there today.

"We betray the efforts of the past if we fail to push back against bigotry in all its forms," Obama said.

After the speech, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Obama has long promoted the ideas of equal opportunity and rejecting discrimination based on a person's last name, appearance, sexual orientation or religion, and that his comments Wednesday were not specifically directed at Trump.

"I think it's appropriate for you to notice the difference in those messages, but I would contest the notion that this is something that the president newly inserted into his remarks to respond to one individual," Earnest said.

On Tuesday, Earnest lambasted Trump as a "carnival barker" and called on his rivals to denounce their fellow candidate.

At the ceremony, lawmakers celebrated the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which was ratified on Dec. 6, 1865 following approval in 27 states. House and Senate leaders read historical accounts of what happened in Congress and in the states leading up to ratification.

"When we read those 43 short and simple words, we should remember these men and what they did," House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said of the amendment. "We should realize those words, like their acts, were gallant, noble and profound."

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the values exemplified by Tubman "are a guiding light" in fights for higher wages, better education and criminal justice reform.

"Every day we must work together to raise our nation from the depths of its darkest chapters to higher expressions of our values," Reid said.

Donald Trump's Statement on Banning All Muslims Entering America in USS Yorktown Speech

Story by You Get News

Donald Trump calls to ban all Muslims from entering US Republican frontrunner wants ‘total and complete shutdown’ of borders to Muslims after San Bernardino shooting in latest boundary-pushing proposal.

Donald Trump, the front-runner in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, is holding a Pearl Harbor Day Rally on the USS Yorktown in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Donald Trump holds Pearl Harbor Day rally in South Carolina aboard U.S.S. Yorktown in South Carolina CV-10.

Donald Trump, the leading contender to become the Republican party’s nominee for US presidential candidate, has called for a “total and complete shutdown” of the country’s borders to Muslims in the wake of the San Bernardino terrorist attack.

Trump made his most extreme pledge yet – in a race in which he has consistently pushed the boat out on issues of race and immigration – in a statement released to the media through his presidential campaign team.

He said there was such hatred among Muslims around the world towards Americans that it was necessary to rebuff them en masse, until the problem was better understood.

“Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in Jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life,” the billionaire real estate developer said.

Trump put out his incendiary proposal just hours before he was scheduled to appear at a rally on board the USS Yorktown, a second world war aircraft carrier that is berthed near Charleston, South Carolina. The military location was carefully chosen for an address that falls on the 74th anniversary of the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor that brought America into the war. After being interrupted several times at a later event, he said the proposal was “probably not politically correct, but I don’t care”.

President Obama's Address to the Nation

President Obama addressed the nation on the steps we are taking to keep the American people safe.

Triple suicide attack 'kills 27 on Lake Chad island'

Story by AFP
Written by Stephanie Yas

N'Djamena (AFP) - A triple suicide bombing on an island in Lake Chad on Saturday killed at least 27 people and left more than 80 wounded, a Chadian security source said, in another apparent strike by Boko Haram Islamists despite a regional offensive to stop the insurgency.
Three suicide bombers blew themselves up in three different places at the weekly market on Loulou Fou, an island in Lake Chad," the source in the capital N'Djamena told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

He said the explosions had killed 30 people including the three attackers, and injured more than 80 others.

N'Djamena on November 9 declared a state of emergency in the flashpoint Lake Chad region, which also straddles Nigeria, Cameroon and Niger and is frequently targeted by Nigeria's Boko Haram fighters who this year declared allegiance to the Islamic State group.

The decree granted the governor of the remote region the authority to ban the circulation of people and vehicles, to search homes and to seize arms.

The European Union in a statement said Saturday's attacks were "a threat to the stability of the country and the region".

The bloc stood ready to "use all available means to help in the fight against terrorism" in the region, it added.

In recent months, Boko Haram fighters have stepped up attacks and suicide bombings on Chadian villages in the lake region that lie close to the frontier with Nigeria.

The deadliest attack on Chad's side of the lake took place on October 10, another triple suicide, which killed 41 people at Baga Sola, according to N'Djamena.

Since the start of the year, the Chadian army has been on the front line of a regional military operation against Boko Haram, whose attacks have spread from northeast Nigeria, its traditional stronghold, to the country's three Lake Chad neighbours.

The joint operation of the four Lake Chad countries plus Benin has involved 8,700 soldiers, police and civilians.

- 'Weakened but not defeated' -

Despite being hit hard by the offensive, losing territory, Boko Haram has responded with a wave of attacks and bombings.

Their attacks are often carried out by young women or adolescent boys targeting markets, which are at heart of African daily life.

Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno recently admitted that the regional force, which is not yet fully operational, "has without a doubt weakened" the Islamists but "it has not defeated" them.

Still, Cameroon, part of the regional offensive, on Wednesday claimed to have dealt a major blow to Boko Haram, killing around 100 fighters and freeing 900 hostages in a three-day operation last week.

The claim comes on the heels of twin attacks by women suicide bombers the previous day in the far north of Cameroon, an area repeatedly targeted by the Islamists in which at least six people died.

No independent confirmation of the Cameroonian government's statement was immediately available from the region, which is inaccessible to the media.

Boko Haram fighters, believed to be hiding out in Nigeria's Sambisa forest and the Lake Chad's many islands, are held responsible for 17,000 deaths and for making 2.5 million people homeless in their six-year campaign of violence.

Over the past year Boko Haram has stepped up cross-border attacks in Niger, Chad and Cameroon while also continuing to mount shooting and suicide assaults on markets, mosques and other mostly civilian targets within Nigeria itself.

U.S. Stocks Rally With Dollar on Economy Optimism; Crude Falls

Story by Bloomberg
Written by Jeremy Herron and Joseph Ciolli

U.S. stocks surged the most in almost three months and the dollar rebounded as jobs data reinforced optimism that the economy is robust enough to withstand higher interest rates.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rallied 2 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 370 points. The greenback jumped after its steepest drop since March as jobs data that topped estimates kept the odds for a rate increase this month above 75 percent. Treasuries rose with gold on speculation any subsequent hikes will be gradual. Oil plunged to $40 a barrel.

The payrolls report underscored Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s contention that the American economy can withstand higher interest rates this year. Equities extended gains after Mario Draghi signaled the European Central Bank will add to stimulus if needed, a day after the institution roiled markets by disappointing investors with the scale of expanded monetary support.

The employment report “ought to clinch it for the Fed in terms of liftoff in December,” Phil Orlando, who helps oversee $360 billion as chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors Inc. in New York., said by phone. “We should have a spike after yesterday’s overreaction on the euro and Draghi.”

Friday’s headlines bring to an end three days of economic developments that will help shape the direction of markets into 2016 as the Fed prepares to raise interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade while central banks in Europe and Asia have committed to expanding stimulus if necessary.

Stocks

The S&P 500 rose 2.1 percent at 4 p.m. in New York, erasing a weekly loss. The index fell to a three-week low Thursday after the ECB’s decision sparked a selloff in risk assets. The gauge is down 1.9 percent from its May record.

Employers added more jobs than forecast in November, government data showed Friday, following a surge in October that was bigger than previously reported. The jobless rate held at a more than seven-year low of 5 percent.

“The data implies an improving U.S. economy, which should provide a backdrop for the Fed to raise rates at their upcoming meeting,” said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities Inc. in Los Angeles. “You’ll see the market react positively to this data, erasing some of yesterday’s declines.”

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index retreated 0.4 percent, capping a weekly drop of 3.4 percent, the most since August. Optimism for a strong new round of ECB stimulus helped push the index to a three-month high on Monday. It spent the week through Wednesday hovering near this level, pushing gains from a September low to 13 percent.

Bonds

Treasuries gained as jobs data bolstered expectations the Fed will take its time with additional increases if it raises rates at its Dec. 16-17 meeting. Government debt prices rebounded after two-year yields reached the highest since 2010. The 10-year rate fell four basis points to 2.27 percent.

The figures tell investors that “the Fed won’t go that fast but they’ll still go, so I think the bond market is kind of relieved,” said George Goncalves, head of interest-rate strategy in New York at Nomura Holdings Inc., one of the 22 primary dealers that trade with the Fed.

The 10-year German bund yield rose one basis point to 0.68 percent after jumping by 20 basis points, the most since 2011, on Thursday when the ECB extended its quantitative-easing program without increasing the pace of monthly purchases.

Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.4 percent after plunging 1.4 percent Thursday. Gains were tempered by a report showing the trade deficit unexpectedly widened. The index fell 1.1 percent in the week.

"The dollar is trading stronger in reaction to the payrolls data as it gives more justification to a Fed December rate hike," said Eimear Daly, a currency strategist at Standard Chartered Plc in London.

The euro weakened 0.6 percent to $1.0873 after soaring 3.1 percent on Thursday. The currency had slumped about 5 percent this quarter prior to the ECB decision.

Commodities

Oil dropped after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries lifted the group’s production ceiling to 31.5 million barrels a day. Futures fell as much as 3.6 percent in New York. The previous target was 30 million barrels a day.

Oil has slumped since Saudi Arabia led OPEC’s decision last year to maintain production and defend market share against higher-cost rivals. Energy shares in the S&P 500 fell 0.8 percent for the biggest declines, while oil and gas producers in Europe paced losses there.

Gold traders are taking the long view, spurring enough optimism in the market to drive the biggest price gain since April. Bullion futures for February delivery gained 2.2 percent to settle at $1,084.10 an ounce. Prices touched $1,045.40 on Dec. 3, the lowest since 2010.

Emerging Markets

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell for a third day to a two-month low, sliding 1 percent and extending the week’s loss to 1.8 percent. Equity gauges in Brazil, China, Turkey, Poland and South Africa dropped at least 1.5 percent.

China’s stocks fell for the first time in five days, with the Shanghai Composite Index retreating 1.7 percent as initial public offerings resumed after a five-month freeze. The gauge advanced 4.3 percent this week through Thursday on speculation the central bank will extend monetary easing

Radio and Politics Now Much Better Bedfellows

Story by Inside Radio

Presidential candidates may finally be warming to the inviting, and targetable tones of radio. As stations push for a larger share of political ad dollars in 2016, Republican and Democratic presidential hopefuls are giving local radio more attention—and a larger share of ad dollars.

For instance, iHeartMedia is already seeing gains this election cycle, with political up 30% for the fourth quarter over Q4 2011, according to The New York Times. Radio’s broad reach and low production costs—selling points broadcasters pitch to all ad categories—are making the medium appealing for political ads, strategists note. An effective TV campaign in the Des Moines market would cost $85,000, while a similar radio run would cost $48,000, the Times notes. Production costs for radio are a fraction of TV, and ads can be produced and distributed quickly.

In Iowa, radio airwaves are filling up with ads for Republican primary candidates, including campaign ads, spots by super PACs supporting candidates, and issue groups. TV is littered with political ads and, “You’ve got to find a way around that,” Dr. Ben Carson’s campaign spokesman, Doug Watts, said in the Times. “Radio works.”

Republican hopefuls can effectively reach their constituents on popular conservative talk radio stations. In South Carolina, Democratic hopeful and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is running spots on African-American-targeted hip-hop and R&B stations. For her part, former Senator and First Lady Hillary Clinton recently debuted her first radio ad on African-American-oriented stations, a 60-second spot discussing her mother’s life and Clinton’s own work in South Carolina. So far, Donald Trump’s campaign is avoiding local TV altogether, buying only radio in six states, the Times said.

Radio companies are aggressively courting candidates and issue groups, with radio owners such as CBS, Univision and iHeart tapping new political ad executives to spearhead efforts. iHeartMedia, for one, last month hired Adam Weiss, a former Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee manager, as VP of political strategy.

AFT on the Shootings in San Bernardino, Calif.

WASHINGTON— American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten on the horrific mass shooting that took place in San Bernardino, Calif., yesterday:

“Once again, we as a nation are forced to deal with another inexplicable mass shooting. The devastating loss of life yesterday is unacceptable anywhere, much less in a free, developed and civilized society.
“Today, we join the nation in grieving the loss of 14 mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends and loved ones—including SEIU caregivers who serve people with disabilities and their families—whose lives have been cut short.
“We cannot bear one more life taken, one more funeral or one more tragic headline. Now is the time for us as a nation to come together and do the right thing by pushing for sensible gun safety laws.”

Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten
________________________________________

The American Federation of Teachers is a union of 1.6 million professionals that champions fairness; democracy; economic opportunity; and high-quality public education, healthcare and public services for our students, their families and our communities. We are committed to advancing these principles through community engagement, organizing, collective bargaining and political activism, and especially through the work our members do.

Communications Department • 555 New Jersey Ave. N.W. • Washington, DC 20001 • T: 202-879-4458 • F: 202-879-4580 • www.aft.org
AFT Teachers • AFT PSRP • AFT Higher Education • AFT Public Employees • AFT Nurses and Health Professionals

Mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif.; at least 14 dead, gunmen at large

Story update by ABC News

A manhunt is under way for up to three gunmen who killed at least 14 people and wounded 14 others in a mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., Wednesday afternoon. Follow Yahoo News' live blog for the latest information.

What's known so far:

* At least 14 people are dead and 14 others injured in a shooting at Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, Calif., Wednesday afternoon.
* Up to three gunmen opened fire inside the facility — which serves people with developmental disabilities — and fled in a dark SUV, police said.
* The gunmen were armed with long guns and were wearing what appeared to be ski masks and vests, witnesses said.
* A manhunt for the suspects is under way.
* FBI and ATF agents cleared the building. About 300 people were evacuated, police said.
* Bomb technicians were called in to inspect a suspicious device.
* President Obama called for stricter gun control in the wake of the shootings.

Apple's Legendary Steve Jobs' last words

Reach Media Denies Report Of Joyner ‘Retirement.’

Story by Inside Radio

Reach Media is denying a story in the U.K.’s Daily Mail that claims syndicated morning man Tom Joyner will be forced into early retirement to coincide with President Obama’s exit from the White House in early 2017. “Any stories that suggest major changes to the Tom Joyner Morning Show are inaccurate,” Reach Media, a subsidiary of Radio One, said in a statement. “Tom Joyner is under contract with Reach Media until the end of 2017. We expect that Reach will continue to syndicate Tom’s show beyond that date and for as long as he would like to be on the air.”

The Daily Mail story says Radio One plans to replace Joyner with syndicated host Russ Parr in Washington, DC and Baltimore in January 2016. And while Reach Media says it plans on sticking with Joyner for the long haul, it acknowledges that it might make some changes to the host’s market clearance map. “There has always been refinements and updates to the show as well as market changes due to local conditions, and there may be some in the future; but Tom Joyner and the Tom Joyner Morning show continues to be strong and is a daily Party with a Purpose,” the statement says. “Reach is committed to Tom Joyner for the long term who remains committed to radio, his audience and the future.”

Daily Mail Link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3339587/Blame-Obama-Radio-legend-African-American-nationally-syndicated-host-Tom-Joyner-getting-boot-timed-President-s-exit-White-House.html

Chicago mayor fires police chief in wake of video release

People gather outside Chicago police headquarters for a prayer vigil and demonstration to protest the death and alleged cover-up of Laquan McDonald on November 30, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke shot and killed 17-year-old McDonald on October 20, 2014, hitting him with 16 bullets. Van Dyke, who was charged with murder last week, posted bail and was released from jail today. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Story by Associated Press
Written by Don Babwin

Chicago, Illinois USA Mayor Rahm Emanuel fired the city's police superintendent Tuesday, a week after the release of a dash-cam video that showed a white Chicago officer fatally shooting a black teenager 16 times.

Emanuel called a news conference to announce the dismissal of Garry McCarthy, who only days ago insisted to reporters that the mayor had his "back."

The mayor praised McCarthy's leadership of the force but called it an "undeniable fact" that the public's trust in the police has eroded.

"Now is the time for fresh eyes and leadership," Emanuel said.

Protesters have been calling for McCarthy's dismissal in response to the handling of the death of Laquan McDonald, a 17-year-old who was killed in October 2014.

The city released video of the shooting only after a judge ordered it to be made public. The release set off several days of largely peaceful protests. Officer Jason Van Dyke has been charged with first-degree murder.

Emanuel introduced McCarthy as his pick to lead the department in May 2011, replacing former FBI agent Jody Weis, who was unpopular with many rank-and-file officers who claimed Weis did not stand behind them.

McCarthy rose through the ranks of New York City's police department and was police director in Newark, New Jersey, when he was hired in Chicago. At the time he promised he would "have the cops' backs."

Emanuel praised him for knowing how to run a large police force and said the city needed "a leader with Garry's depth of experience and a track record for delivering results."

In New York, McCarthy rose from patrolman to an executive position and was involved in rescue and recovery efforts after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks before taking the job in New Jersey. But his time in Newark was not without challenges or complaints.

The NAACP in New Jersey said McCarthy was more concerned about improving the safety of downtown Newark than of its neighborhoods. The American Civil Liberties Union complained that Newark police were plagued with problems from lax internal oversight to issues of excessive force during arrests.

In Chicago, the silent video shows McDonald walking down the middle of a four-lane street. He appears to veer away from two officers as they emerge from a vehicle, drawing their guns. Van Dyke opens fire from close range and continues firing after McDonald crumples to the ground.

Police have said McDonald was carrying a knife, and an autopsy revealed that he had PCP, a hallucinogenic drug, in his system. Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez has said the 3-inch blade recovered from the scene had been folded into the handle.

Defense attorney Dan Herbert says his client feared for his life, acted lawfully and that the video does not tell the whole story.

Van Dyke was released from jail Monday after paying the $150,000 required of his $1.5 million bail.