11 former Atlanta educators convicted in cheating scandal

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

How does the fear of black men in America affect society.

NPR's Michel Martin examines how the fear of black men plays out in America. She talks with two African-American men about how that fear affects their lives. Listen to that interview below.

Black Churches Cut Ties With Presbyterian USA After Same-Sex Marriage Approval

The National Black Church Initiative (NBCI), a faith-based coalition of 34,000 churches comprised of 15 denominations and 15.7 million African-Americans, has broken its fellowship with Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) following its recent vote to approve same-sex marriage.

Read more: 34,000 Black Churches Break Ties With Presbyterian Church USA

National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Hosts 41st Annual Convention in Anaheim

The 2015 NSBE Technical Professionals Conference (TPC) was recently hosted in Southern California on March 25–29, 2015, at the Anaheim Marriott and Convention Center as part of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) 41st Annual Convention. The annual convention convened over 7,000 participants and this year's convention theme is “Innovation & Excellence: Reimagining Your Future”.

The Technical Professionals Conference packed more than 12 events into the conference including executive roundtables, career panels, industry workshops, networking sessions and premier special events. Conference highlights included the TPC Executive Roundtable series featuring a dynamic lineup of 18 executive leaders covering a variety of global topics and the “Comcast NBCUniversal Experience” a special event powered by Comcast NBCUniversal featuring a showcase of media, technology and creative content. NSBE also partnered with global security company, Northrop Grumman, who hosted two signature luncheons and an executive breakfast featuring fireside chats with several top-level executives from the corporation. Lastly, the conference closed out with an evening extravaganza entitled “Empire Saturday” presented by Fox Networks with custom footage and branded items from the hit television show along with a few special surprises.

“The conference is a chance for NSBE members and industry professionals to network, explore opportunities, gain professional development, support future STEM leaders and learn best practices from successful executives,” Amilcar Aaron, TPC Conference Chair said.

The NSBE Professionals have engaged a strong roster of participating conference partners including Accenture, Campbell Soup Company, Cargill, Caterpillar, Cummins, Dell, Eaton, Electronic Arts, FBI, Georgia-Pacific, IBM, Kelley School of Business, L-3 Communications, Lenovo, Lockheed Martin, Qualcomm, RWJF New Connections, San Diego Gas & Electric, Southern California Gas Co., Starbucks, United Technologies Corporation and US Marines.

“This conference would simply not be possible without the support of these local, national and global companies,” Aaron said. “We truly value our partner relationships and really appreciate their commitment to recruiting diverse talent, sharing their expertise and supporting the NSBE mission.”

About NSBE: The National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is owned and managed by its members. With more than 30,000 members around the world, NSBE is one of the largest student-governed organizations based in the United States. NSBE’s mission is "to increase the number of culturally responsible Black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community." The organization is dedicated to the academic and professional success of African-American engineering students and professionals. NSBE is governed by an executive board of college students and engineering professionals and is operated by a professional staff at its World Headquarters, located in Alexandria, Va.

Black Women March to Senate Leader’s Office in Protest Over Loretta Lynch

[ SOURCE] About 20 prominent black women arrived at the ornate office suites of McConnell Thursday morning, asking to meet with him—even if for only a few minutes in the hallway—over the delay in confirming Attorney General-designate Loretta Lynch. They were told McConnell was too busy. The women did meet with McConnell's chief of staff for about 20 minutes.

The group that arrived at his door included Williams-Skinner; attorney Barbara Arnwine, president of the Lawyers Committee on Civil Rights; Melanie Campbell, president of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation; Sheila Tyson, a city councilwoman from Birmingham, Ala.; and Marcia Dyson, CEO of the Women's Global Initiative.

They asserted that the treatment of Lynch was a double standard rarely if ever applied to any other nominee for attorney general. Lynch, a career prosecutor who earned a degree from Harvard Law in 1984, has already been confirmed by the Senate twice before. If confirmed currently, Lynch would be the first African-American female attorney general of the 82 individuals who have been confirmed over 225 years.

Lynch has now waited longer for confirmation than any other attorney general nominee in 31 years, and longer than the last five nominees combined. The average wait time for an attorney general nominee is 18 days. Lynch, who has nominated by President Barack Obama Nov. 8, has now waited 138 days.