Michael Brown family statement on Ferguson grand jury decision

"We are profoundly disappointed that the killer of our child will not face the consequence of his actions.

While we understand that many others share our pain, we ask that you channel your frustration in ways that will make a positive change. We need to work together to fix the system that allowed this to happen.

Join with us in our campaign to ensure that every police officer working the streets in this country wears a body camera.

We respectfully ask that you please keep your protests peaceful. Answering violence with violence is not the appropriate reaction.

Let's not just make noise, let's make a difference."

Lesley McSpadden and Michael Brown, Sr.

Parents of Michael Brown, Jr.

Marissa Alexander agrees to plea deal, will spend 65 more days in jail.

Facing a possible 60 years in prison for firing a gun at her estranged husband and his two sons, Marissa Alexander agreed Monday to a plea deal that effectively ends the four-year old criminal case against her.

According to the terms of the plea, Alexander was ordered to serve three years in prison after pleading guilty to all three counts against her. Alexander will get credit for the 1,030 days she's already spent in jail.

That means she'll have to spend 65 more days in jail. Alexander will return to Duval County Jail following Monday's hearing. She'll be released on Jan. 27.

Read more: Marissa Alexander agrees to plea deal

12 year old black boy, Tamir Rice shot and killed by police

Cleveland Police are investigating after an officer-involved shooting at a Cleveland rec center on Saturday afternoon. Cleveland EMS says a 12-year-old boy, Tamir E. Rice was shot and taken to MetroHealth Medical Center with serious injuries. MetroHealth Medical Center confirmed that Tamir has died as a result of his injuries.

White Americans Draw Distinctions Between African-Americans and Blacks

This was a very surprising study to see. I was surprised because online you read post by some whites about the divisiveness of the term African American while at the same time, maybe even unbeknownst to them they have a different perspective of African Americans vs "Blacks". George L. Cook III AfricanAmericanReports.com.

White Americans are fine with African-Americans. Blacks, however, are a different story.

That’s the disturbing implication of a new study, which finds the way a person of color is labeled can impact how he or she is perceived.

In the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, a research team led by Emory University’s Erika Hall argues that “the racial label ‘black’ evokes a mental representation of a person with lower socioeconomic status than the racial label ‘African-American.’”

“The content embedded in the black stereotype is generally more negative, and less warm and competent, than that in the African-American stereotype,” the researchers write. “These different associations carry consequences for how whites perceive Americans of African descent who are labeled with either term.”

Read more: http://www.psmag.com/navigation/health-and-behavior/white-americans-draw-distinctions-african-americans-blacks-94554/

Mayor Marion Barry dies at 78

Former Washington Mayor Marion Barry is dead, a hospital spokeswoman said early Sunday. He was 78.

Barry was elected four times as the city's chief executive and was a council member for Washington's 8th Ward at the time of his death.