President Obama Signs 'Emmett Till Bill'

With only weeks left in office President Barack Obama signed the “Emmett Till Civil Rights Crimes Reauthorization Act of 2016,” expanding the responsibilities of the Department of Justice and the FBI to investigate and prosecute criminal civil rights violations that occurred before 1980 and resulted in a death. Read a summary of the bill from the Congressional Research Service below.

Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Reauthorization Act of 2016

(Sec. 2) This bill reauthorizes the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of 2007 (Emmett Till Act) and expands the responsibilities of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to include the investigation and prosecution of criminal civil rights statutes violations that occurred before 1980 and resulted in a death. (Currently, Emmett Till Act investigations are limited to violations that occurred before 1970.)

The bill expresses the sense of Congress that all authorities with jurisdiction should: (1) meet regularly with civil rights organizations, institutions of higher education, and DOJ-designated entities to coordinate information sharing and discuss the status of DOJ's Emmett Till Act work; (2) support the full accounting of all victims whose deaths or disappearances were the result of racially motivated crimes; (3) hold accountable under federal and state law individuals who were perpetrators of, or accomplices in, unsolved civil rights murders and disappearances; (4) keep families regularly informed about the status of the investigations; and (5) expeditiously comply with Freedom of Information Act requests and develop a singular, publicly accessible repository of these disclosed documents.

In investigating a complaint, DOJ may coordinate activities with entities that DOJ determines to be appropriate.

DOJ may reopen and review cases closed without an in-person investigation conducted by DOJ or the FBI.

DOJ must hold meetings with the Civil Rights Division, the FBI, the Community Relations Service, civil rights organizations, institutions of higher education, DOJ-designated entities, and state and local law enforcement to discuss the status of its Emmett Till Act work.

In an annual report to Congress, DOJ must indicate:

• the number of cases referred by a civil rights organization, an institution of higher education, or a state or local law enforcement agency;
• the number of such cases that resulted in federal charges;
• the date any such charges were filed;
• whether DOJ has declined to prosecute or participate in an investigation of a referred case;
• the outreach, collaboration, and support for investigations and prosecutions of violations of criminal civil rights statutes, including murders and disappearances; and
• any activity on reopened cases.

The Community Relations Service must provide technical assistance by bringing together law enforcement agencies and communities to address tensions raised by civil rights era crimes.

President and First Lady Obama's last Christmas address

In this week’s address, the President and the First Lady wished all Americans a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. They reflected on the honor of serving the American people as President and First Lady over the past eight years and the progress that has been made. Watch their statement below.

Doll diversity showing up in toy aisles

One of the few items on the Christmas list of Emily Noreen's 4-year-old daughter is a doll she can call her own.

"I want her to have something preferably that looks like her, which is hard because their father is African-American, and I'm white," Noreen said.

So she was heartened to find more than one option in the Our Generation line, a less-expensive alternative to American Girl, while perusing the toy aisles of Target. After some deliberation, she picked out a doll named Nahla, whose skin is a bit darker than her daughter's but whose curly hair was pretty close to her daughter's.

Richard Barry, chief merchandising officer for Toys R Us, said the changes in the toy aisles are happening as toymakers and retailers finally listen to customers' demands for more diversity.

"We hear from customers," he said. "We get applauded on the things we have, but they are also very keen to tell us the things we don't or the things they would like us to have. We feed that back to our manufacturing partners."

The need for more multicultural options was one of the insights Toys R Us took to heart when developing its private-label line of dolls called Journey Girls. Launched in 2010 with four dolls, it has expanded to seven dolls of all shades.

Read more: Doll diversity showing up in toy aisles

Spared from demolition, 1920s Savannah black schoolhouse being saved

SAVANNAH, Ga. | A one-room schoolhouse built in the 1920s to teach black children on St. Simons Island is making a comeback from years of rot and neglect.

Preservationists saved the Harrington School from scheduled demolition in 2010 and since then have spent about $300,000 to stabilize its deteriorating frame and leaky roof. Recently, the group Friends of the Harrington School announced a grant award that it hopes will bring in $50,000 needed to finish restoring the schoolhouse’s interior.

Read more: Spared from demolition, 1920s Savannah black schoolhouse being saved

Mississippi church member charged in 'Vote Trump' arson

I was always suspicious about a Trump supporter being behind the arson case involving Hopewell Baptist Church in Greenville Mississippi. The immediate red flag that went up was not that the suspect painted Vote Trump on the side of the church, it was that they spelled it right. George L. Cook III AfricanAmericanReports.Com Watch more on this story below.

Andrew McClinton, a parishioner of at Hopewell Baptist Church in Greenville Mississippi was arrested Wednesday and charged with intentionally setting fire last month to a Mississippi church, which was also vandalized with the words "Vote Trump."

Read more: Parishioner charged with setting fire to Mississippi church