HBO Films has teamed with writer Kirk Ellis, producer Doug Ellin and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin TV for a project about Harriet Tubman, with Oscar nominee Viola Davis set to portray the famous abolitionist. Read more: Viola Davis To Star In Harriet Tubman HBO Movie
In an era when athletes are more worried about their next shoe deal than what's going on in the real world it was refreshing to see NY Knicks star, Carmelo Anthony return to his childhood home and march with people protesting the death of Freddie Gray at the hands of Baltimore Police on Thursday. He did this after posting on Instagram asking people to stop rioting and destroying Baltimore. Kudos to Carmelo Anthony for being a star both on and off the court.
In an era when athletes are more worried about their next shoe deal than what's going on in the real world it was refreshing to see NY Knicks star, Carmelo Anthony return to his childhood home and march with people protesting the death of Freddie Gray at the hands of Baltimore Police on Thursday. He did this after posting on Instagram asking people to stop rioting and destroying Baltimore. Kudos to Carmelo Anthony for being a star both on and off the court.
Mark Millar the writer of Marvel's Ultimates explains why, without permission he used Samuel L. Jackson's as the model for his version of Nick Fury starting back in 2001 to Business Insider. Read his explanation below.
[SOURCE] I wanted an African-American Nick Fury to be director of SHIELD because the closest thing in the real world to this job title was held by Colin Powell at the time. I also thought Nick Fury sounded like one of those great, 1970s Blaxploitation names and so the whole thing coalesced for me into a very specific character, an update of the cool American super-spy Jim Steranko had done in the 70s and based on the Rat Pack, which seemed very nineteen sixties and due for some kind of upgrade.
Sam is famously the coolest man alive and both myself an artist Bryan Hitch just liberally used him without asking any kind of permission. You have to remember this was 2001 when we were putting this together. The idea that this might become a movie seemed preposterous as Marvel was just climbing out of bankruptcy at the time. What we didn’t know was that Sam was an avid comic fan and knew all about it.
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake took to Twitter to apologize for calling protesters thugs. Read her tweets below.
I wanted to clarify my comments on "thugs." When you speak out of frustration and anger, one can say things in a way that you don't mean.
— Mayor Rawlings-Blake (@MayorSRB) April 29, 2015That night we saw misguided young people who need to be held accountable, but who also need support. And my comments then didn't convey that
— Mayor Rawlings-Blake (@MayorSRB) April 29, 2015
Toya Graham, the mother who was caught on video smacking her son after witnessing him throwing objects at officers spoke to CBS News. Check out her interview below:
04/27/2015. It took five hours but Baltimore Stephanie Rawlings-Blake finally held a press conference addressing the riots going on in her city. She announced a curfew and referred to the protesters as thugs. Watch her full press conference below:
Loretta Lynch was sworn in as U.S. attorney general on Monday, becoming the first African-American woman to fill the position. Watch the video of the swearing in and her brief comments afterward below:
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Freddie Gray's sister Fredrica Gray made a plea for violence to stop in Baltimore.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets Saturday in the largest Freddie Gray rally yet, and after hours of peaceful demonstrations, pockets of protesters smashed out police car windows and storefronts.
Michael Eric Dyson joined HuffPost Live on Tuesday and explained why his public takedown of Cornel West, published this week in The New Republic, was "necessary," despite the "sense of hurt" that came with his break with the Princeton professor. Watch Dyson defend his positions he took in the New Republic Piece.
The Senate has reached a deal on a human trafficking bill that paves the way for a confirmation vote on Loretta Lynch's nomination for attorney general.
[SOURCE] Baltimore police have suspended six officers after the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore police custody.
Freddie Gray, 25, was critically injured after his arrest April 12. He died early Sunday morning at Shock Trauma. According to the family's lawyer, Gray suffered a severe spinal cord injury.
Most of the police force and several officials resigned after the small town of Parma, Missouri elected its first African American woman, Tyrus Byrd, as mayor.
[SOURCE] Oprah Winfrey and Lee Daniels are among the stars set to honor the achievements of African-Americans in television at a gala next month.
Winfrey and Daniels will be among the special guests at the Paley Center for Media’s tribute on May 13 in New York City.
The event will recognize milestones such as the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, and the 35th anniversary of the launch of TV network BET (Black Entertainment Television).
President and CEO of the Paley Center, Maureen J. Reidy, says in a statement, “Television, more than any other medium, has paved the way for social change, and this momentous African-American tribute is a great expression of the Paley Center’s mission to highlight the critical role of media within our society.”
In addition to Winfrey and Daniels, other celebrities slated to attend include Diahann Caroll, Phylicia Rashad, Cicely Tyson, Anthony Anderson and Wynton Marsalis, among others.
Director Spike Lee is making a new film for Amazon studios which has already become the focus for controversy for it's working title, "Chiraq". The movie will focus on the Chicago community of Englewood and the "black on black violence that occurs there. Some in Chicago including Mayor Emanuel are not happy about the title. Some believe that it negatively portrays the city and in some way endorses the violence while others believe that it describes the state of violence in the city right now. What do you think about the title? Should Spike Lee keep it or drop it out of respect for those in Chicago against the use of that title and that have to live with the violence everyday?
[SOURCE] President Obama got impatient as he expressed his disappointment with Senate Republicans’ delay of Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch’s confirmation.
“It’s gone too far,” Obama said during a press conference with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. “Enough. Enough.”
Obama blasted the Senate’s “dysfunction” in failing to confirm Lynch, who is set to become the first black female Attorney General in the nation’s history. A career prosecutor from New York, Lynch has now waited twice as long for her confirmation as the last seven attorney general nominees combined.
On Friday, the President said he was outraged. “Call Loretta Lynch for a vote. Get her confirmed. Let her do her job,” Obama said. “This is embarrassing, a process like this.”
As the Missouri National Guard prepared to deploy to help quell riots in Ferguson, Missouri, that raged sporadically last year, the guard used highly militarized words such as "enemy forces" and "adversaries" to refer to protesters, according to documents obtained by CNN.
Read more: Missouri National Guard's term for Ferguson protesters: 'Enemy forces'
The smooth-talking scoundrel strikes back! Marvel and Lucasfilm announced today that Lando Calrissian — puffer pig collector, Cloud City administrator, and Rebel hero — will star in his own limited series. Lando #1, from creators Charles Soule (Death of Wolverine, Inhuman, She-Hulk) and Alex Maleev (Daredevil, Spider-Woman, Moon Knight), hits stores in July, and finds Lando embarking on his greatest caper ever.
In Marvel’s Lando, developed closely with Lucasfilm, the titular character — in the days before he became a hero, but still with Lobot at his side — looks to steal one of the galaxy’s most valuable ships. But, as usual, he may be in over his head.
Read more: LANDO #1 COMING IN JULY FROM MARVEL – EXCLUSIVE!
It's been one year since Boko Haram kidnapped 200 Nigerian school girls which led to the creation of the #BringBackOurGirls hashtag. Unfortunately the girls are still missing. CNN iReporter Charles Alasholuyi has taken a picture of himself holding a sign with the hashtag bring back our girls nearly everyday since the kidnappings to keep the girl's story alive. Watch his story below.
[SOURCE] The Rev. Al Sharpton's advocacy group and female civil rights leaders launched a hunger strike Wednesday to press for the confirmation of U.S. attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch.
"These outstanding women leaders are taking an exemplary moral stand that should shake the conscience of the nation as to how unfairly this qualified woman is being treated by Senate leadership," Sharpton said Wednesday.
"These outstanding women leaders are taking an exemplary moral stand that should shake the conscience of the nation as to how unfairly this qualified woman is being treated by Senate leadership," Sharpton said Wednesday.
[SOURCE] Michael Lomax is the head of the United Negro College Fund. On Sunday in Atlanta, the UNCF holds its 36th annual telethon. Lomax sees the event as part of a greater effort to recruit a new generation of African-American stars to donate to the organization, which distributes millions in aid annually to historically black colleges and universities and provides scholarships to racial and ethnic minority students to attend all types of institutions. Here are five things to know about the UNCF, based on an Associated Press interview with Lomax:
[SOURCE] Tulsa County reserve deputy Bob Bates has been charged with manslaughter in the death of Eric Harris. Bates, 73, shot and killed Harris during an undercover gun deal April 2, 2015.
“Mr. Bates is charged with Second-Degree Manslaughter involving culpable negligence," said District Attorney Stephen Kunzweiler.
"Oklahoma law defines culpable negligence as ‘the omission to do something which a reasonably careful person would do, or the lack of the usual ordinary care and caution in the performance of an act usually and ordinarily exercised by a person under similar circumstances and conditions,'” Kunzweiler said.
“The defendant is presumed to be innocent under the law but we will be prepared to present evidence at future court hearings," he said.
Hillary Clinton would be an "excellent president," U.S. President Barack Obama said on Saturday, one day before his former secretary of state is expected to announce her campaign for the White House in 2016.
"She was a formidable candidate in 2008, she was a great supporter of mine in the general election, she was an outstanding secretary of state, she is my friend. I think she would be an excellent president," Obama said during a news conference at the Americas summit in Panama City.
Obama said when Clinton makes her bid public, he expects "she will be very clear about her vision for the country moving forward."
Obama offered a strong endorsement of her abilities and lauded her foreign policy as the top U.S. diplomat during his first term in office.
Read more: Obama says Hillary Clinton would be 'excellent president'
During the National Action Network convention Dr. Ben Carson called the shooting of Walter Scott an execution. You know you screwed up when even Mr. "Say bad stuff about black people" questions your actions. Yeah, it could have been the venue or the fact that this shooting is was caught on video but I'll give Carson the benefit of the doubt on this one. Watch Dr. Carson's comments below.
Praying for #WalterScott's family. Heartbreaking & too familiar. We can do better - rebuild trust, reform justice system, respect all lives.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) April 9, 2015
South Carolina Senator Tim Scott tweeted several messages about the horrific shooting of Walter Scott in North Charleston. See his messages below.
After watching the video, the senseless shooting and taking of #WalterScott's life was absolutely unnecessary and avoidable. (1/2)
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) April 8, 2015My heart aches for the family and our North Charleston community. I will be watching this case closely. (2/2)
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) April 8, 2015The horrific video that came to light yesterday is deeply troubling. #WalterScott (1/6)
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) April 8, 2015It is clear the killing of #WalterScott was unnecessary&avoidable; my prayers are with the Scott family as they go through this ordeal (2/6)
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) April 8, 2015The swift action taken by SLED&relevant authorities upon receiving the video shows the severity of this terrible event. #WalterScott (3/6)
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) April 8, 2015With several protests planned today, I join community leaders in North Charleston in calling for peace. #WalterScott (4/6)
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) April 8, 2015I understand the hurt, the frustration and the anger many are feeling today. But violence solves nothing. #WalterScott (5/6)
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) April 8, 2015We must come together as a community, state, and nation in working to bring our communities together and rebuild trust. #WalterScott (6/6)
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) April 8, 2015
I'm sure by now that you have all seen the tragic shooting death of Walter Scott by the hands of a South Carolina police officer. That officer, was charged with murder. Just one day later another South Carolina officer from North Augusta has been arrested and charged in the murder of another unarmed black man, Ernest Satterwhite who was parked in his own driveway. George Cook AfricanAmericanReports.com
A white public safety officer in South Carolina who fatally shot a black man after a 2014 car chase has been arrested on a felony charge, the state’s Law Enforcement Division announced Tuesday.
Justin Gregory Craven, a 25-year-old North Augusta public safety officer, was charged with discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle in the February 2014 death of Ernest Satterwhite. If convicted, Craven could go to prison for up to 10 years and face a fine of $1,000.
According to investigators, after Craven attempted to make a traffic stop for a suspected DUI, Satterwhite, 68, led the officer on a car chase from North Augusta to Satterwhite’s home, miles away in Edgefield County. There, investigators say, Craven fired repeatedly through the driver-side door of Satterwhite’s car after Satterwhite had stopped in his driveway.
Read more: White officer now faces felony charge for fatally shooting a black man in his driveway
Residents in Ferguson, Mo. Tuesday elected two black city council members, transforming the political body's racial composition after months of protests over racial profiling and police brutality.
One sitting black member of the council was not up for re-election. When the two new African-American council members take their seats it will be the first time that blacks have controlled half of the council, despite the fact that two-thirds of the city's 21,000 residents are black.
Tuesday voters elected Wesley Bell and Ella Jones, who are both black.
Read more: Ferguson voters make history and increase turnout
A white police officer in North Charleston, S.C., was charged with murder on Tuesday after a video surfaced showing him shooting and killing an apparently unarmed black man, Walter L. Scott in the back while he ran away.
The officer, Michael T. Slager, 33, had said he feared for his life because the man took his stun gun in a scuffle after a traffic stop on Saturday. A video, however, shows the officer firing eight times as the man fled. . If you watch the video closely you can also see the officer pick something up off the ground and drop it near Mr. Scott's body after the shooting. Planting evidence? Maybe. Watch the shocking video below:
High school senior Nik Bostrom has a major decision to make. It's not where to spend spring break or who to take to prom. Bostrom is deciding between the seven Ivy League colleges he's been accepted to.
The Verona teenager has always been a good student and a well-rounded member of his school community, but he said that when he decided to apply to seven of the eight Ivy League schools earlier this year, he didn't think that he would get into any of them.
"I really didn't anticipate getting in," he said. "I didn't expect this to happen. It doesn't seem real; it's a dream."
Bostrom is not only boasting an impressive GPA and taking advanced classes, but also heavily involved in his school's music program and marching band. He was also on the Verona track team until a back injury forced him to step down last year.
Even with the impressive record, Bostrom said he and his family were extremely surprised when he acceptances kept rolling in — Harvard, Yale, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Princeton, and the University of Pennsylvania all accepted Nick. He didn't apply to the eighth Ivy, Dartmouth.
Read more: N.J. teen accepted to 7 Ivy League schools
Some may believe that I am anti-cop because I post stories like this. I post stories like this not because I'm anti-cop but pro good cop. I'm doing what "good cops" don't do and that's expose the bad behavior of their so called peers. Maybe if cops checked each other, there would be less of these stories to tell. George L. Cook III AfricanAmericanReports.com
A Minneapolis cop was caught on camera threatening to break the leg of a teenager, Hamza Jeylani who said he was racially profiled. Watch the video below:
A group of prominent black coaches headlined by Tubby Smith and Shaka Smart are forming an organization to address the dwindling numbers of minority head coaches in college basketball.
The National Association for Coaching Equity and Development is in response to the dissolution of the Black Coaches Association. Ten years after minority coaches held more than 25 percent of the jobs across the country, the percentage dropped to 22 percent last year. And another 12 minority coaches have been fired this season.
As the NCAA's crown jewel — the men's Final Four — descends on Indianapolis this weekend with all four teams coached by white men, Smith, Smart, John Thompson III and a growing list of some of the game's most accomplished coaches say they are answering the call from those who came before them to speak up with authority and address the issues that have bubbled back to the surface.
"There hasn't been a voice for people speaking out and saying, 'Look, what are you all doing administratively? What's this about? Why has this all happened?' And question it," Smith, who won a national title at Kentucky and now coaches at Texas Tech, told The Associated Press.
Smith was one of the charter members of the Black Coaches Association, a once-powerful group headed by trail blazers like John Thompson, George Raveling and John Chaney to kick down the doors that colleges and universities slammed in the faces of minority coaches.
So it pained him to watch the BCA lose its influence in recent years while struggling to come up with funding from the NCAA and other sources. As the BCA started to disappear, so have the opportunities for black coaches across the country.
The new group, the National Association for Coaching Equity and Development, has more than 40 minority coaches on board and aims to replace the now-defunct BCA as the most influential advocate to push schools to give candidates of color more consideration for head coaching jobs. It also wants to better prepare the younger generation of coaches to succeed in those jobs and help athletes gain admission to college and excel when they get there.
Read more: Top college coaches form group to address minority hires
Duke University is condemning the latest apparent act of racism on campus. Students protested throughout the day as authorities investigated who left a noose hung from a tree on campus.
In the Fusion documentary Ferguson: A Report from Occupied Territory, the directors turn to the residents of St. Louis County to tell us what it’s like to be racially profiled and under siege. Watch the full documentary below:
In one of the biggest cheating scandals of its kind in the U.S., 11 former Atlanta public school educators were convicted Wednesday of racketeering for their role in a scheme to inflate students' scores on standardized exams.
The defendants, including teachers, a principal and other administrators, were accused of falsifying test results to collect bonuses or keep their jobs in the 50,000-student Atlanta school system. A 12th defendant, a teacher, was acquitted of all charges by the jury.
The racketeering charges carry up to 20 years in prison. Most of the defendants will be sentenced April 8.
Read more: 11 former Atlanta educators convicted in cheating scandal