News
Lee Saunders, AFSCME's first African American leader
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14 Feb 2013
- Written by Jenée Desmond-Harris Desmond Harris/The Root
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees is America's largest union, and Lee Saunders is the first African-American president in its 80-year history.
According to Saunders, while AFSCME's members are only 16 to 18 percent black, its ties to the African-American struggle for economic equality run deep.
On the 45th anniversary of the Memphis Sanitation Strike of 1968, The Root spoke to him about the significance of the landmark civil rights event in the labor movement's history, the import of his organization's efforts for the African-American community and what he hopes to see from President Obama's second term.
Police Declare Christopher Dorner Investigation 'Over'
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14 Feb 2013
- Written by The Atlanta Daily World

(CNN) -- Authorities said Wednesday they are reasonably sure that the body found inside the burned cabin near Big Bear Lake, California, is that of Christopher Dorner, the rogue ex-cop who had been pursuing a vendetta against his fellow officers.
"We believe that this investigation is over, at this point, and we'll just need to move on from here,"
...Black Americans: The new face of HIV/AIDS
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14 Feb 2013
- Written by The New Pittsburgh Courier
CLARISSE JORDAN
In the late 1980s when Clarisse Jordan contracted HIV, it was known to her and many others as the “gay White male disease.” She wasn’t gay, White, a prostitute, drug user, or any of the other identifiers used in the early days to categorize those living with HIV/AIDS.
She’d only had one partner, her boyfriend, but when her family discovered he had been diagnosed with HIV, her mother urged her to get tested. “I went in and my doctor took the blood and it took a month and a half for the results to come back,” Jordan said. “I wasn’t worried.”
Today, Jordan is one of the more than 510,000 African Americans living with HIV/AIDS in the United States and while Blacks make up 12 percent of the population, they represent 44 percent of total HIV/AIDS cases. She shared her story as part of the National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day event hosted by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health’s Minority Student Organization on Feb. 7.
“I’ve literally almost died 11 times. My mother never came to see me,” Jordan said after explaining how her mother kicked her out after she was diagnosed with HIV. “I’ve been positive for 28 years and my mother is just now able to ask me about my health.”
Jordan was in and out of the hospital from 1997 to 2006, but today her viral load, which measures the severity of the virus, is undetectable. Her t-cell count is high, which signifies the strength of her immune system, and she is down to 12 pills a day from her previous medicinal cocktail of 27.
“There’s nothing fun about having HIV; there is nothing pretty about it,” Jordan said. “The medicine basically makes you feel like you’re going crazy. Those are the side effects for me.”
Last Minute Gift Ideas For Your Valentine
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14 Feb 2013
- Written by The Michigan Chronicle

It's happened to the best of us. Valentine's Day rolls right around just as fast as it did last year, and you find yourself with the same dilemma. When it sneaks up on you, it's easy to find yourself plagued with the question of what to get your significant other at the last minute.
Fear no more, and look no further! Here's a
...Highlights from the State of the Union address
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13 Feb 2013
- Written by Tri-State Defender Newsroom
Whether you missed President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address Tuesday evening or just need a refresher, here are some of his main points:
- Noting that more than 1,000 people have died from gun violence since the Connecticut school massacre, President Obama said proposals ranging from expanded background checks to limiting the size of ammunition magazines should receive a vote in Congress. "They deserve a simple vote," Obama repeated to sustained applause in what was the evening's most emotional moment with the families of gun violence victims in attendance.
Overtime for checking work email off the job?
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12 Feb 2013
- Written by Tri-State Defender Newsroom
A federal lawsuit in Chicago claims that answering calls and emails from bosses on one's smartphone after hours constitutes overtime.
According to the Huffington Post, Chicago police Sgt. Jeffrey Allen claims in his suit that the city owes him and other officers millions in overtime pay for work performed on their BlackBerry phones.
"A culture has developed where police officers feel compelled to work for free in order to possibly gain a promotion and/or maintain their coveted assignment," according to a plaintiff filing.
Could the next pope be from Africa?
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12 Feb 2013
- Written by Eric Marrapodi and Catherine E. Shoichet/CNN
Hours after Pope Benedict XVI's resignation announcement Monday, speculation was surging over who might be his successor – and what part of the world the new pontiff could be from.
The 118 cardinals who will pick the next pope are also in the running for the job. Those cardinals are from around the globe, but more than half of them hail from European nations, according to Vatican statistics.
Worldwide, the demographic trends among the Roman Catholic Church's nearly 1.2 billion members show a different breakdown, with the church seeing only a trickle of new members in Europe while membership numbers have grown significantly in Africa, according to Vatican statistics.
Chris Dorner and the roots of his LAPD war
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07 Feb 2013
- Written by Matt Smith/CNN
What authorities are calling Chris Dorner's campaign of guerrilla warfare against his former comrades in the Los Angeles Police Department has its roots in a hotel lobby in San Pedro, the city's port district.
In July 2007, the former Navy officer was an LAPD probationary officer, riding patrol with a veteran of the force, when they were dispatched to check out a report of a disturbance at the DoubleTree Hotel. A man had refused to leave the premises and was sitting on the bench outside the lobby when they arrived.
Does Google’s ad placement on black-related news amount to racial bias?
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05 Feb 2013
- Written by NewsOne
Have you ever wondered why when you search for black-related news using Google, several ads selling access to criminal history and arrest records pop up?
According to Harvard professor Latanya Sweeney, that happens more often than we think and may expose society's racial bias.
BBC reports:
Rainbow PUSH Coalition Economic Summit – a post mortem
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05 Feb 2013
- Written by Kam Williams
The mood was both festive and businesslike at this year's Wall Street Project Economic Summit, hosted by the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, in New York City.
"For the first time," former U.S. President Bill Clinton opined during his speech last Thursday afternoon, "(minorities) are in a position to persuasively argue that the economic inequality, which exists in America today, is a severe strain on the economic future of all Americans."
Clinton was among a plethora of luminaries, politicians, and businessmen who gathered for the Rev. Jesse Jackson's three-day summit, which ran at the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan from Jan. 30 through Feb 1.
African American History Month – by the numbers
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04 Feb 2013
- Written by George Curry
The U.S. Census Bureau has released the following figures about Black America to coincide with African American History Month. I found them interesting enough to share.
Population
43.9 million – The number of blacks, either alone or in combination with one or more other races, on July 1, 2011, up 1.6 percent from the census on April 1, 2010.
The power of a nap
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04 Feb 2013
- Written by Ellis Moore/NNPA News Service
Need to recharge? Don't depend on a cup of coffee – a power nap will boost your memory, cognitive skills, creativity, and energy level. A short snooze is an economical (and easy) way to boost mental and physical health.
To combat fatigue and stay on top of things at work and at home, make power naps a regular part of your routine. Say goodbye to a lack of drive and hello to simple a healthful boost in energy!
What are the benefits of a nap?
Nielsen asks: How many hours in your viewing day?
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04 Feb 2013
- Written by Cheryl Pearson-McNeil
Nielsen's latest State of the Media Cross Platform Report examines the concept of "just how many hours are in a day," measuring in-home streaming, in-home Internet and in-home television viewing behaviors.
Re-thinking the concept of "how many hours are in a day" almost sounds like science fiction, doesn't it? But, with time and place-based shifted viewing, we have the power to bend time and space to our will. We can watch our video content any time we choose and wherever we choose through our mobile devices (smartphones and tablets), our digital video recorders (DVR), expanded video on demand (VOD), or on live TV (or Internet).





