National
Fair Sentencing Act An Important First Step But Sizable Sentencing Gap Remains
WASHINGTON - The House today passed a bill that would make much needed changes to current cocaine sentencing laws and which will now go to President Obama's desk for signature. The bill, the Fair Sentencing Act (S. 1789), was unanimously passed by the Senate in March. -more-
Congresswoman Waters' Bill to Revitalize Public Housing Advances
Washington, DC – The House Financial Services Committee today passed the Public Housing Reinvestment and Tenant Protection Act (H.R. 5814), legislation introduced by Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) to preserve and revitalize the nation's public housing. -more-
California
PUC to Vote On Utility Shut-Off Protections Thursday
SAN FRANCISCO – The California Public Utilities Commission is scheduled to vote Thursday on a proposed decision that would give critical protections for Californians facing shut-off of their electricity and gas service. Last winter, The Greenlining Institute joined with a coalition of consumer advocates to push for such protections as Californians – battered by a weak economy and soaring unemployment – struggled to pay their utility bills and shut-offs spiked during the coldest, rainiest part of the year. The PUC held an emergency hearing on the crisis Dec. 16. -more-
ACTRESS TERRI J. VAUGHN'S TAKE WINGS FOUNDATION HOSTS STAR-STUDDED GALA TO BENEFIT AT-RISK TEEN GIRLS
Terri J. Vaughn
San Francisco, CA (BlackNews.com) -- Known as much for her community service as for her superbly entertaining acting, Terri J. Vaughn is founder of TAKE WINGS FOUNDATION, a non-profit organization that addresses social and life skills needs of at-risk teen girls. On Saturday, August 21, 2010, TAKE WINGS will host its seventh annual benefit black-tie affair with festivities commencing at 6:00 pm at San Francisco Marriott, 55 Fourth Street. Tickets ($150 per person) may be purchased online at www.TakeWings.org. Of course sponsors are invited and welcome. -more-
Marijuana's 'Debt Code Effect' Challenges the Real Foundation of the Criminal Justice System
By Millard Hampton
EXODUS Online - Most of us have often wondered, why does a sexual predator, the type who preys upon children for sexual pleasure receive a lighter prison sentence than a person who has been convicted of three non-violent felonies? Why does a person who sells or has in possession enough marijuana to be termed as sales according to California law be sentenced to 25 years in prison. Why does a man convicted of sexually assaulting a woman receives a sentence from probation to eight years in prison? -more-
Editorial
Race and Beyond: Obama Should Speak Up
This column marks the first of a new weekly series on racial issues by Sam Fulwood III.
Try as he might, President Barack Obama can't elude the nation's complicated racial passions. For plainly obvious reasons, this president will be judged as none before him on how well he helps the nation grapple with the prickly passions that arise when Americans confront matters involving race. So far, Obama seems mistakenly resolute in avoiding any explicit effort on this front. -more-
WHAT TEA PARTY ACTIVISTS
OWE THE LIBERALS
By Sherwood Ross
Tea Party activists may put up as many billboards as they like accusing President Obama of "socialism" and comparing him to Hitler but the fact is the only people Obama bailed out so far work mostly on Wall Street, not Main Street. As for being "socialist," the biggest socialist enterprise Obama runs is the Pentagon, that is, if the Pentagon does not run him. The Pentagon qualifies as socialist because a majority of the contracts it lets to defense firms are no longer subject to competitive bidding. The favored contractors just line up at the trough. As for America's major export, these days, it's war, pure and simple. The military-industrial complex now supplies 68% of all the killing machines sold on the planet annually and rings the world with a thousand "defensive" bases. -more-
History
Library of Congress Places William P. Gottlieb's
Iconic Jazz Images on Flickr
In the late 1930s, a Golden Age of Jazz started to emerge, as hard economic times began to fade. Airwaves were pulsating with jazz and record sales were rising. Legends like Billie Holliday, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, and many more were on the scene – and so was William Gottlieb. -more-
Entertainment
Finding Bliss
DVD Review by Kam Williams
Aspiring director Jody Balaban (Leelee Sobieski) has just graduated from NYU film school, and is headed west fully expecting to launch a promising Hollywood career. But despite her having won an award for the best student film, she has a hard time getting a studio exec to take a serious look at the script she's written and is ready to turn into a full-length feature. -more-
Blood Done Sign
My Name
Film Review by Frank Poe
"Blood Done Sign My Name" is a story of American history in which most Americans want to forget. However the story resurfaces in the account of a murder in South Carolina. This film is based upon a true story written by Timothy Tyson. "Blood Done Sign My Name," directed by Jeb Stuart gives viewers an inside look from both sides of the fence of America's long battle to face racism in America. -more-
Slingshot (Tirador)
Film Review by Kam Williams
Tirador
If you'd like to get a load of what life is like in the slums of the Philippines, then you ought to check out Slingshot, as raw and realistic an offering as you're apt to find onscreen this year. This relentlessly-grim cinematic mosaic was painted by the brilliant Brillante Mendoza whose previous release, Service, was a just as graphic adventure but about the kinky goings-on inside a gay porn theater. Mendoza actually made Slingshot first, but for some reason it is only now being released in the U.S. -more-
CHRIS BROWN SIGNS WITH
CREATIVE ARTISTS AGENCY
LOS ANGELES, CA (July 28, 2010) – Chris Brown has signed with Creative Artists Agency (CAA), the leading entertainment and sports agency, for representation in all areas. -more-
PBS to Broadcast 'ARETHA FRANKLIN PRESENTS SOUL REWIND'
PITTSBURGH, July 23 /PRNewswire/ -- TJL announced today that PBS will broadcast ARETHA FRANKLIN PRESENTS SOUL REWIND throughout the August and September pledge periods. Hosted by the Queen of Soul herself, the special offers an abundance of long-lost archival material that has been recovered from film vaults across the United States, England, Germany and France – yielding a treasure trove of precious and vital footage. -more-
Spoken Word
Film Review by Kam Williams
Kuno Becker as "Cruz Montoya" and Persia White as "Shae"
Cruz Montoya, Jr. (Kuno Becker) is a fixture on the West Coast slam poetry circuit, having cultivated a loyal following of devoted fans over the past three years. The bi-polar, former substance abuser has finally achieved a measure of emotional stability in San Francisco between teaching poetry and the love of a good woman (Persia White) who is also an artist. -more-
Book Review
NEW BOOK "SOUL FOOD FOR THE SOUL SISTAH" OFFERS SPIRITUAL NOURISHMENT FOR WOMEN OF COLOR
Atlanta, GA (BlackNews.com) -- Finally, a book that gives tribute in true fashion to the people who have made a difference in our lives on this planet. It's been already hailed as being inspirational, motivational, and spiritually uplifting. Soul Food For the Soul Sistah by Marcus Wells gives women the real credit due to them whom so richly deserve this special recognition. -more-
E-BOOKS OPEN DOORS FOR WRITERS & READERS
Los Angeles, California – New book publisher Sugar and Spice is quickly establishing itself as a romance novel publisher to watch. For authors, such as Jacqueline Turner Banks, it fills several little-served romantic niches. For readers thirsty for page-turning reads, the electronic literature can be downloaded at economical prices. -more-
Sugar Ray Robinson
BOXING GREAT SUGAR RAY ROBINSON CARED FOR HIS OPPONENTS IN THE RING
By Sherwood Ross
Sugar Ray Robinson, ranked by the Associated Press as the greatest boxer of the 20th Century, also exhibited a caring and compassionate nature that matched his talent. According to a new biography, Robinson would whisper to an opponent he was clobbering, "You aren't a bum. Lay down. It's too much." If the opponent tried to keep his feet, the man's battering only got worse until he went limp or was knocked out. From his earliest amateur bouts on, Sugar Ray's opponents didn't know what hit them. Robinson won 69 of his 85 amateur bouts by knockouts, 40 of them in the first round, and never lost a fight. -more-
The Brand Within: The Power of Branding from Birth to the Boardroom
Book Review by Kam Williams
"What I hope to do with this book is reach out to anyone who wants to get a leg up on their own careers… And more than anything else, it's a book meant to remind readers that they will prosper from making the right choices, from conducting themselves in the right way, no matter what stage of the business world they happen to occupy." -more-
California
CALIFORNIA ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT LAUNCHES SPANISH-LANGUAGE FACEBOOK AD CAMPAIGN AGAINST MEG WHITMAN
LOS ANGELES – The Democratic Governors Association’s (DGA) California Accountability Project Independent Expenditure Committee today announced it has launched a new micro-targeting advertising initiative designed to utilize Facebook to connect Spanish-speaking California voters with the facts on Meg Whitman’s record on Latinos and cynical effort to save her candidacy through fear mongering and immigrant bashing. -more-
Education
FUN PRIMER ON VIRTUES ENTITLED "JOURNEY TO VIRTUE PLANET: AN INTER-ACTIVE STORY" EMPOWERS KIDS
Denver CO and Poughkeepsie, NY (BlackNews.com) – Veteran actress and author Nancy Nelson-Ewing aka Nan-Lynn Nelson, today announced the release of Journey to Virtue Planet: An Inter-Active Storybook, published by Outskirts Press. -more-
"DRUGS & JAIL WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS"
THE PSYCHO-ACADEMIC WAR AGAINST BLACK BOYS
By Umar R. Abdullah-Johnson
The professional nomenclature has now become household words. Children as young as six can now speak of "Ritalin," and "ADHD" with stunning efficiency of what these words mean. Teachers and principals are telling single-parent mothers that their sons need "CYCLERT" and "ADDERALL." Special education children are telling their instructors that they cannot be suspended from school for more than ten days because they have an "IEP." Teenage boys are blaming their behavior on "I didn't have my pill today." -more-
GREAT GRANDDAUGHTER OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON TO LEAD OAKLAND/BAY AREA YOUTH IN HISTORICAL JOURNEY ACROSS COUNTRY, FOLLOWING HIS FOOTSTEPS FROM SLAVERY TO FREEDOM
San Leandro, CA (BlackNews.com) - When President Obama was elected he asked Americans to help restore the country. Oakland, California native, Sarah O'Neal Rush, great-granddaughter of Booker T. Washington, has not forgotten her pledge to do just that. Rush is the founder and executive director of Booker T. Washington Empowerment Network (BTWEN), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. From July 30, 2010 - August 7, 2010 she will lead eight youth and three mentors on a Freedom Journey, a rite of passage, following the footsteps of her great-grandfather from slavery to freedom. -more-
Beauty
ALOE FOR MOCHA SKIN CARE PRODUCTS FOR ETHNIC SKIN EXPANDS NATIONAL REACH WITH NEW DISTRIBUTION PARTNERSHIP
New York City, N.Y.— July 26, 2010 – AloeForMocha skin care products, a nature-based premium skincare suite of products designed specifically for dark tones announced today their official partnership with Sherrell Dorsey, notable beauty writer and licensed skin therapist to distribute AloeforMocha™ throughout the North East territory. -more-
Business
Interactive One and Council Of Urban Professionals Conclude Successful Inaugural Digital Summit, a Conference Examining the Importance of the Multicultural Online Consumer
NEW YORK, July 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Interactive One, LLC, the digital connection for Black America and the digital division of Radio One, Inc., and the Council of Urban Professionals (CUP), a nonprofit advancing the social, political and economic interests of minorities and women, today announced the completion of their inaugural Digital Summit in New York City on July 21, 2010. -more-
Health
JULY IS HERBAL AND PRESCRIPTION AWARENESS MONTH
A pain relief specialist discusses the pros and cons of prescription
remedies and their herbal counterparts
(Pinellas Park, Fla.) July 19, 2010 – Herbal supplements have been credited with aiding everything from digestion to depression- but how much is too much when it comes to your body? According to the Mayo Clinic, these pseudo-medications don't even require FDA approval before being put on the market. Sure, you can read the ingredients on the back, but unless "M.D." comes after your last name, you probably won't know what kind of chemical reactions to expect when taking multiple supplements or medications. -more-
CHOLESTEROL: IS IT REALLY AS BAD AS IT SEEMS?
Cardiothoracic surgeon tells you the good and the bad about this common bodily substance
(Venice, Fla.) July 15, 2010 – Cholesterol is made in the body and it's taken in by the food we eat. Too much of it increases the risk for deadly heart disease, while too little can have the same effect. So where can you find the perfect balance – especially during the barbecue season? -more-