Chicago police officer already facing first-degree murder charges for the controversial shooting of a black teen will face an additional 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm, a special prosecutor announced Thursday.
The new grand jury indictment brings to 23 the number of felony charges against officer Jason Van Dyke, previously charged with six counts of first-degree murder and one count of official misconduct for the 2014 fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. The special prosecutor, Joseph McMahon, announced the additional charges during a status hearing for Van Dyke on Thursday.
Please share, this is sad that so many children are missing in one city.
There are several missing black youth in the Washington D.C. Area. Here is a listing of 13 of them. Any info please call Washington Metropolitan Police Department@ 202-727-9099.
The feds have revived the grand jury probe into the NYPD chokehold death of Eric Garner — and a police witness who was questioned in front of the panel believes an indictment is looming, sources told The New York Post on Thursday.
A high-ranking NYPD official and a sergeant testified behind closed doors in the Brooklyn federal courthouse on Wednesday after being slapped with subpoenas, sources said.
Revelation of their appearances before the grand jury marks the first sign that the US Justice Department hasn’t abandoned the racially charged case since the inauguration of President Trump and the confirmation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Google is trying something new to boost diversity.
The tech giant is partnering with Howard University to launch "Howard West," a three-month summer program open to rising juniors and seniors studying computer science.
The 25 to 30 students selected for this summer's program will be taught by senior Google engineers and Howard faculty on Google's Mountain View campus and will receive a stipend for housing and other expenses in Silicon Valley.
Alanna Walton, a junior majoring in computer science at Howard, said students are excited about the program.
"There are no HBCUs (historically black colleges and universities) on the West Coast. To bring a whole bunch of black students to the West Coast to learn is a great experience," she told CNNTech. "Pretty much the whole campus understands how big this is."
Google (GOOG) plans to expand the program to other historically black colleges and universities in the "near future." Howard called the move a "major step forward" for Google's efforts to recruit and keep diverse talent.
On March 8, 18-year-old Breana Talbott of Denison, Texas, said that she had been kidnapped by three black men wearing ski masks, who drove her into the woods and raped her. She first brought attention to the alleged crime when she walked into a local church half-naked, covered in cuts and scratches — though her then-fiancé, Sam Hollingsworth, had called police earlier to report her missing after arriving at her apartment and finding “her back door wide open,” and her belongings, including her phone and her keys, scattered about. On Tuesday, Talbott admitted to police that she had made the whole thing up, and that her injuries were all self-inflicted.
The Denison Police Department released the following statement:
PRESS RELEASE Denison Police Department Chief Jay Burch Date of release: March 22, 2017
Subject: Abduction/Sexual Assault Case Unfounded
The Denison Police Department has determined that the alleged abduction and sexual assault case reported on March 8, 2017 was a hoax. The so-called victim in the case confessed to the hoax last evening (March 21) to a member of the investigative team working the case.
On March 8, 2017 about 5:30 p.m., the Denison Police Department (DPD) received a call from a man describing himself as the fiancé of Breana Harmon Talbott, 18, claiming she was missing. The man told police Talbott’s vehicle had been found in the parking lot of the Creekmore Apartments at 3800 Texoma Parkway with the driver door open, her phone, keys and a shoe nearby.
The Denison Police Department mobilized all available resources to begin looking for Ms. Talbott. Later the same evening, Ms. Talbott walked into a church located at 3400 S. Eisenhower Parkway wearing only a shirt, bra and underwear. She told witnesses at the church she had been kidnapped and sexually assaulted in the woods behind the church. There were also visible cuts and/or scratches on her body.
DPD officers and detectives spoke with the victim who stated she was kidnapped near her vehicle at the Creekmore Apartments by “3 black males” as she described the alleged suspects, and were wearing ski masks, she said. She claimed the suspects took her in a black SUV to a wooded area nearby where 2 suspects raped her while the 3rd suspect held her down.
After getting the victim’s information, she was taken to Texoma Medical Center for examination. In the meantime, DPD patrol officers, detectives, and the K-9 team scoured the area where Talbott says she was taken and assaulted. Several pieces of evidence were gathered and more of Talbott’s clothing and other personal effects were recovered.
The case quickly gathered regional attention due to the severity of the alleged crime and rumors quickly begin to spin out of control through social media. Almost immediately, Talbott’s story and allegations began to unravel. Within only a day or two, detectives had doubts as to most of Talbott’s allegations.
According to Talbott’s confession, we believe the crime scene – from the initial “kidnapping” scene at the apartment complex to the point of Talbott’s condition when she walked into the church - were staged. Talbott also admitted the injuries to her body were self-inflicted.
Although I do not have the official report, it is our understanding that medical personnel who examined Talbott were unable to corroborate that Talbott had been sexually assaulted.
This release is to notify the media and public that the Denison Police Department is closing the investigation of this case as reported and it is officially UNFOUNDED. Due to Breana Harmon Talbott’s confession she lied to police when making this report, the department will file a criminal case against her for False Report to a Peace Officer, a Class B Misdemeanor. The department will also seek restitution for the significant costs for conducting such a major investigation.
Our team of detectives, led by John Watt, did an outstanding job in the case. Almost from the beginning, we had doubts in Breana Harmon Talbott’s story as the puzzle pieces just weren’t coming together. We were unable to corroborate any of Talbott’s allegations that she had been abducted or sexually assaulted.
This alleged crime as reported by Breana Harmon Talbott made many in the community fearful there were individuals abducting women. Even though we know the story to be a hoax, there is still potential damage to the reputation of the City of Denison and the Texoma region as many may remember the reported crime but not the outcome. That is unfortunate.
Breana Harmon Talbott’s hoax was also insulting to our community and especially offensive to the African-American community due to her description of the so-called suspects in her hoax. The anger and hurts caused from such a hoax are difficult and all so unnecessary.
Many persons fell victim to Breana Harmon Talbott’s hoax. The police were quickly disparaged by Talbott’s family and friends. Social media comments and opinions were out of control making it difficult to focus on solving this case. Even though we originally assumed this case to be legitimate, the great work of Denison Police Department investigators and officers quickly led to major questions as to the validity of the alleged crime. Even though we strongly felt this was a hoax soon into the investigation, it was my decision to delay notifying the public until we had 100% confirmation it didn’t happen. Plus, we wanted to insure we did everything we could on the remote chance there was any truth to the alleged crime.
It’s unfortunate a person can falsely report such a major incident in our community that wastes the time of law enforcement and needlessly puts some people in fear. I apologize to those who have current investigations with the department as we delayed those to focus on this case. As I said in a recent Facebook post, Denison has been and will remain a safe community with a great quality of life.
So, Breana Talbot lied about being raped by three black men
President Trump and members of the Congressional Black Caucus met to discuss his proposed budget. The group came prepared and gave Trump a 130 page policy document titled "We Have a Lot to Lose: Solutions to Advance Black Families in the 21st Century". Not only that but they avoided the dreaded useless photo-op that only serves Trump. CBC Chairman Cedric Richmond made a few comments to the media afterward. Watch those comments below:
Police said the man who surrendered Tuesday in connection with the fatal stabbing of a man in Midtown Manhattan traveled to New York City with the intent to attack and kill black men. Watch more below:
Jordan Peele, the breakthrough writer/director of Universal Pictures’ smash “Get Out,” will receive the “CinemaCon® Director of the Year,” it was announced today by CinemaCon Managing Director, Mitch Neuhauser. CinemaCon, the official convention of The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), will be held March 27-30, 2017 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Peele will be presented with this special honor at the “CinemaCon Big Screen Achievement Awards” ceremony, which takes place on the evening of Thursday, March 30, at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, hosted by the Coca-Cola Company, the official presenting sponsor of CinemaCon.
“With the phenomenon known as ‘Get Out,” Jordan Peele has instantaneously become a force to reckon with as a gifted and enormously talented director and filmmaker,” noted Neuhauser. “He has audiences and critics around the globe enamored and spellbound, dare I say hypnotized, with his wildly inventive directorial debut, and we are ecstatic to be honoring him as this year’s ‘Director of the Year.’”
In Universal Pictures’ “Get Out,” a speculative thriller from Blumhouse and the mind of Jordan Peele, when a young African-American man visits his white girlfriend’s family estate, he becomes ensnared in a more sinister real reason for the invitation.
Now that Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) and his girlfriend, Rose (Allison Williams), have reached the meet-the-parents milestone of dating, she invites him for a weekend getaway upstate with Missy (Catherine Keener) and Dean (Bradley Whitford).
At first, Chris reads the family’s overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter’s interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he could have never imagined.
Equal parts gripping thriller and provocative commentary, “Get Out” is produced by Blumhouse’s Jason Blum, as well as Sean McKittrick, Edward H. Hamm Jr., and Peele. The film also stars Caleb Landry Jones, Stephen Root, Milton “Lil Rel” Howery, Betty Gabriel, Marcus Henderson and Lakeith Stanfield.
Among its many accolades, the film has earned a 99% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Previously, Emmy Award winner Peele was the co-star and co-creator of Comedy Central's “Key & Peele”. The hit series garnered more than 1 billion online hits, and in addition won a Peabody Award, an American Comedy Award, and earned 12 Emmy Award nominations during its five-season run. Peele also recurred on the Emmy Award-winning FX series “Fargo”, was a series regular on FOX's “MADtv” and received an Emmy Award nomination for his music video “Sad Fitty Cent.” Peele starred in the New Line feature “Keanu,” alongside Keegan-Michael Key, which Peele also produced and co-wrote with Alex Rubens. Upcoming in TV, Peele is executive producing the new Tracy Morgan comedy show for TBS."
(Black PR Wire) ATLANTA - Spelman College was named among the nation’s colleges and universities that produced the most 2016-2017 Fulbright U.S. students. The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program. Top-producing institutions are highlighted annually in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
The College prepares its students to be global leaders by making available opportunities for them to conduct research and engage in study abroad experiences. Fulbright is one of numerous notable programs to recognize Spelman students for their academic achievements and potential in the global arena. From 1999 to 2017, 48 Spelman students have been awarded Fulbright fellowships.
Four graduates won Fulbright awards for 2016-2017, placing the College among the top 35 bachelor’s degree institutions to produce Fulbright fellows. Spelman’s awardees, who will participate in the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Program, are: Lindsey Burgess, C’2016, history major, (Morocco); Jumaanah Harris, C’2016, English major (Malaysia); Sarah Brokenborough, C’2016, comparative women’s studies major (Laos); and Tyra Beaman, C’2016, international studies major, (Dominican Republic).
"It is so exciting for Spelman to be back on the top producing list for Fulbright this year,” said Margery A. Ganz, Ph.D, director of the Spelman Study Abroad and International Exchange Program and professor of history. “These young women have worked hard to prepare themselves to either teach English overseas or do interesting research projects. They make us proud.”
Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, has provided more than 370,000 participants — chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential — with the opportunity to exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. More than 1,900 U.S. students, artists, and young professionals in more than 100 different fields of study are offered Fulbright Program grants to study, teach English and conduct research annually. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program operates in over 140 countries throughout the world. Lists of Fulbright recipients are available at: fulbrightonline.org/us.
The Fulbright Program is funded through an annual appropriation made by the United States Congress to the Department of State. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations in foreign countries and in the United States also provide direct and indirect support.
In the United States, the Institute of International Education administers and coordinates the activities relevant to the Fulbright U.S. Student Program on behalf of the Department of State, including conducting an annual competition for the scholarships. The Fulbright Program also awards grants to U.S. scholars, teachers and faculty to conduct research and teach overseas. Two Spelman faculty have received Fulbright awards since 2010. Most recently, Kimberly Jackson, Ph.D., Spelman associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, taught in Antigua and Barbuda in 2016 as a Fulbright Scholar. She spent the spring semester at the University of West Indies teaching “Communicating Chemistry Through Local Cuisine,” a biochemistry course with infused food chemistry modules.
Some 4,000 new foreign Fulbright students and scholars come to the United States annually to study for graduate degrees, conduct research and teach foreign languages.
About Spelman College Founded in 1881, Spelman College is a highly selective, liberal arts college widely recognized as the global leader in the education of women of African descent. Located in Atlanta, Georgia, the College’s picturesque campus is home to 2,100 students. Outstanding alumnae include Children’s Defense Fund Founder Marian Wright Edelman, Sam’s Club CEO Rosalind Brewer, Broadway producer Alia Jones, former Acting Surgeon General and Spelman’s first alumna President Audrey Forbes Manley, Harvard University Professor Evelynn Hammonds, author Pearl Cleage and actress LaTanya Richardson Jackson. For more information, visit spelman.edu.
President Trump has invited all 49 members of the Congressional Black Caucus for a meeting at the White House next Wednesday, according to White House press secretary Sean Spicer.
Members of the group later accepted the invitation for the meeting set for March 22 at 3pm.
The Congressional Black Caucus confirmed the meeting with the following tweet:
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Yes, we are meeting w/ @realDonaldTrump on March 22 @ 3 PM. We will answer his campaign question to Black America: What do you have to lose?
Check out these four videos in tribute to Rock & Roll pioneer "Chuck" Berry which include performances of Johnny B. Goode, Roll Over Beethoven, and Maybellene. Rock on in Heaven!
After meetings with the Trump administration last month, leaders of historically black colleges and universities expressed cautious optimism that the increased funding they requested might actually make it into the White House budget. It did not.
Instead, Trump’s first presidential budget released Thursday calls for “maintaining” $492 million in appropriations for HBCUs and minority-serving institutions. Combined discretionary spending for those schools, however, is actually $577 million right now. The White House directed questions about the discrepancy to the Education Department, which did not respond to requests for comment.
There is no mention in the budget of any federal investment in scholarships, technology or campus infrastructure for historically black colleges that leaders requested. And instead of expanding Pell grants for low-income students to cover summer courses as they had asked, the budget raids nearly $4 billion from the program’s reserves.
“Less than three weeks ago, this administration claimed it is a priority to advocate for HBCUs but, after viewing this budget proposal, those calls ring hollow,” Rep. Alama Adams (D-N.C.), a graduate of the largest HBCU, North Carolina A&T State University, said in a statement.
A Cleveland police dispatcher was suspended for eight days for failing to warn officers in the 2014 shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice that a 911 caller had described the scene as probably a child with a fake gun, the boy's family lawyer said on Wednesday.
Reports of the suspension published in Cleveland on Tuesday led to criticism of authorities on social media under the Twitter hashtag #TamirRice, including "8 days suspension? How pathetic" and "the 911 dispatcher whose words lead to the terrible death of tamir rice, an INNOCENT 12 year old, should be FIRED, not simply suspended."
The shooting of the black child, who was playing with a replica gun that fired plastic pellets, by two white police officers was one of several that fueled scrutiny of police use of deadly force across the United States, particularly against minorities.
The family's lawyer Subodh Chandra said the dispatcher, Constance Hollinger, also received a disciplinary letter after a 10-month investigation that ended in February. An off-duty officer at the scene, William Cunningham II, was suspended for two days without pay.
Samaria Rice, Tamir's mother, has urged that anyone involved in the shooting be fired and Chandra said the mother considered Hollinger's eight day suspension without pay “unacceptable.”
Chandra publicly released a March 6 letter about the city's decision on Tuesday evening.
City and police union officials confirmed the letter's legitimacy.
The attorney for Hollinger, Keith Wolgamuth, could not be reached to comment.
Wells Fargo & Company has set aside a staggering $60 billion to lend to at least 250,000 black homeowners by the year 2027.
Metropolitan Atlanta’s second-largest bank also pledged to increase the diversity of its home lending sales team and spend another $15 million to give financial education and counseling over the next 10 years.
The announcement came at a recent press conference in Atlanta that was attended by representatives from several organizations including the National Urban League, the NAACP and the National Newspaper Publishers Association – an organization comprised of 211 African-American-owned newspapers and media companies.
“The National Newspaper Publishers Association enthusiastically salutes Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Division for taking steps forward to promote and to advance African-American homeownership,” said NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. “As we conclude celebrating 2017 Black History Month, it is aspirational for Wells Fargo to offer $60 billion in loan accessibility specifically for African-Americans who want to purchase and own a home.”
Chavis continued: “This is unprecedented in the mortgage lending space in the United States. Millions of African-American families will now be able to strive more effectively to own a home. This is also about economic justice.”
Chavis said that the NNPA intends to work directly with Wells Fargo to raise public awareness about this new initiative to substantially assist African-Americans to be homeowners across America.”
The banking giant’s commitment was hailed as a direct action to help address the lower homeownership rates in the Black community and it follows Wells Fargo’s announcement to address Hispanic homeownership rates in 2015.
Further, officials said the company’s commitment seeks to increase the diversity of the Wells Fargo Home Lending sales team, and support the effort with $15 million to support a variety of initiatives that promote financial education and counseling over the next ten years.
“Wells Fargo’s $60 billion lending goal can contribute to economic growth by making responsible homeownership possible for more African-Americans in communities across the country,” Brad Blackwell, executive vice president and head of housing policy and homeownership growth strategies for Wells Fargo, said in a statement. “We are proud to be the first mortgage lender to make a public commitment to help increase African-American homeownership. And, we are grateful for the support of key housing and civil rights organizations, who work alongside us to increase economic prosperity in our communities,” Blackwell said.
The company has also pledged to continue to improve diversity of its sales team, including increasing the number of Black home mortgage consultants, noting that they’ll dedicate $15 million to support a variety of initiatives that promote financial education and counseling for African-American homebuyers.
The African-American lending commitment is the second initiative from the company’s Housing Policy and Homeownership Growth Strategies group, a Wells Fargo Home Lending team advancing homeownership for minorities, first-time homebuyers and low- to moderate-income customers.
“Homeownership has become an indispensable part of being a full participant in American society,” National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial said in a statement.
Morial continued: “An erosion of homeownership rates among African Americans represents not only a devastating financial loss but a barrier to full participation in the American dream.”
To my fellow black fathers out there you are vital to your child/children's education in ways you may not even know. You can help lay the foundation for your child/children to build on and it's a role that we must take seriously. Watch more on this very important topic below.
Tim Scott the only African American Republican in the U.S. Senate has denounced Iowa congressman Steve King's racist tweets in which King seems to be supporting white nationalism. Below is one of those tweets.
Wilders understands that culture and demographics are our destiny. We can't restore our civilization with somebody else's babies. https://t.co/4nxLipafWO
“Rep. King’s comments immediately brought to mind the motto printed on our nation’s coins – e pluribus unum, or ‘out of many, one,’ ” Scott said in an email. “And as a Christian myself, I believe we are all descended from the same place. His comments stand in direct contradiction to those ideas and beliefs, and I firmly reject them.”
Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) has released the following press release following Steve King (R-Iowa) “bigoted and racist” comments that appeared to support white nationalism.
REP. JOHN LEWIS CRITICIZES REP. KING’S COMMENTS ON THE NEED FOR A “HOMOGENEOUS” AMERICA
March 13, 2017
Press Release
WASHINGTON—In response to tensions surrounding immigration during the election season in the Netherlands, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) tweeted this statement on Sunday in support of Dutch right-wing politician Geert Wilders, “ Wilders understands the culture and demographics are our destiny. We can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies.” The statement has been widely criticized, including by the Chairman of the Iowa GOP, Jeff Kaufmann. Well-known white supremacist David Duke, however, did indicate his support for King’s tweet. According to a National Public Radio report, King refused to back down from the statement in an interview this morning adding, ‘”I meant exactly what I said,’ and that he’d ‘like to see an America that’s just so homogeneous that we’d look a lot the same, from that perspective,’”
Rep. John Lewis made this statement in response to King’s comment:
“My colleague has made a deeply disturbing statement because it ignores the truth about the history of this nation. Western civilization did not create itself. It was founded on traditions that emerged from Africa, Iran, China, Greece and Rome and other nations.
“With the exception of Native Americans, we all came to this land from some other place in the world community, and this country is a melting pot of cultures, traditions, appearances, and languages. In order to live together as one people, we must come to respect the dignity and the worth of every human being. It is that understanding that will make us one nation, not a homogeneous appearance.
“Rep. King’s statement is bigoted and racist. It suggests there is one cultural tradition and one appearance that all of humanity should conform to. These ideas have given rise to some of the worst atrocities in human history, and they must be condemned.”
The Jordan Peele directed movie Get Out which is an allegory of African-American strengths being siphoned for the benefit of white people, disguised as a run-of-the-mill horror flick crossed over into blockbuster status this weekend. The movie which cost $4.5 million to make has now grossed over $111 million at the box office. No matter what happens from here on out it will be most of the most profitable movies of the year.
Universal and Blumhouse's Get Out finished third this weekend, once again outperforming expectations as it dropped just 25.4% for an estimated $21 million for a domestic cume that now stands at $111 million. Coming up with comparisons for Jordan Peele's breakout thriller is near-impossible as its week-over-week performance is mind-blowing as it is already Blumhouse Productions' second highest grossing release of all-time and showing absolutely no signs of stopping. And it can't be said often enough, the film's budget was a mere $4.5 million.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) used the House floor to pay tribute to New York rapper The Notorious B.I.G. on the 20th anniversary of his death Thursday.
