Libraries’ Adult English Classes Face Cuts - NYTimes.com

Libraries’ Adult English Classes Face Cuts - NYTimes.com: ...The New York Public Library is one of many providers of free English classes in New York City. The Queens and Brooklyn Public Libraries offer them, as do the New York City Department of Education, the City University of New York, and various nonprofit community groups. Even so, the need for instruction in English still seems to outpace the supply.

Registration takes place three times a year for the New York Public Library’s classes, which are offered on evenings and Saturdays in neighborhoods throughout Manhattan, Staten Island, and the Bronx. Typically, many more people show up than there are spots available, and hundreds have to be turned away. (Spots are distributed by a lottery.)

Now, with the library facing a possible $37 million budget cut, even fewer people may be able to take classes next year. If the cuts go through, the library says that in addition to closing 10 branches and cutting service across the system to four days from six, it will have to cut the number of English language classes it offers from 117 to 48, and the number of spots from roughly 3,000 to less than 1,300.

Thousands Protest Arizona Immigration Law : NPR

Thousands Protest Arizona Immigration Law : NPR: Thousands of people from around the country marched to the Arizona state Capitol on Saturday to protest the state's tough new crackdown on illegal immigration.

Marchers carrying signs, banners and flags from the United States and Mexico filled a five-mile stretch of central Phoenix. Dozens of police officers lined the route, and helicopters hovered overhead.

Police declined to estimate the size of the crowd, but it appeared at least 10,000 to 20,000 protesters braved temperatures that were forecast to reach 95 degrees by mid-afternoon. Organizers had said they expected the demonstration to bring as many as 50,000 people.

Opponents of the law suspended their boycott against Arizona and bused in protesters from around the country. Some used umbrellas or cardboard signs to protect their faces from the sun. Volunteers handed out water bottles from the beds of pickup trucks, and organizers set up three water stations along the route.

Interracial Marriage Still Rising But at Slower Pace Than 1990s

Interracial Marriage Still Rising But at Slower Pace Than 1990s: WASHINGTON – Melting pot or racial divide? The growth of interracial marriages is slowing among U.S.-born Hispanics and Asians. Still, Blacks are substantially more likely than before to marry Whites.

The number of interracial marriages in the U.S. has risen 20 percent since 2000 to about 4.5 million, according to the latest census figures. While still growing, that number is a marked drop-off from the 65 percent increase between 1990 and 2000.

About 8 percent of U.S. marriages are mixed-race, up from 7 percent in 2000.

The latest trend belies notions of the U.S. as a post-racial, assimilated society. Demographers cite a steady flow of recent immigration that has given Hispanics and Asians more ethnically similar partners to choose from while creating some social distance from Whites due to cultural and language differences

GAO Again Recommends Better Oversight of Grants to Minority Serving Institutions

GAO Again Recommends Better Oversight of Grants to Minority Serving Institutions: WASHINGTON – Since 2004, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has been telling the U.S. Department of Education that it needs to improve the way it monitors and provides technical assistance to Title III and V grantees. These federal education funds go to institutions that enroll large numbers of low-income and minority students, including historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, tribally controlled colleges and universities, and others. And, in the past 10 years, funding has almost tripled, from $230 million to $681 million.

But according to testimony delivered before the House Committee on Education and Labor on Thursday, the agency continues to make only limited progress. In fact, GAO uncovered “questionable expenditures” at four of the seven institutions where it conducted financial site visits last year—to the tune of more than $140,000.

Learning Disabilities Researcher Brings Attention to Overlooked Asian American Students

Learning Disabilities Researcher Brings Attention to Overlooked Asian American Students: When Dr. Lusa Lo began teaching elementary school in Oakland, Calif., in the mid-1990s, she felt ill prepared once she discovered that about one-fourth of her 30 students had some kind of special need or disability.

At least one of her third-graders had attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); another had dyslexia. Others had speech impairments. Some of their emotional and behavioral issues resulted in frequent outbursts interrupting class and upsetting their peers.

While continuing to teach in urban schools, Lo pursued graduate studies in special education. “I didn’t have a clue how to teach the children my first year. The one course on disabilities I had as an undergraduate simply wasn’t enough.”

Advocates Question Whether Administration’s Proposals Will Leave Minority Institutions Behind

Advocates Question Whether Administration’s Proposals Will Leave Minority Institutions Behind: More efficient, less bureaucratic government spending is always high on everyone’s list of priorities. But an Obama administration plan to consolidate dozens of education, science and community-development programs of interest to communities of color, including minority-serving institutions, continues to draw concerns from the president’s allies and adversaries alike.

At issue, will consolidation—and increased competition for federal dollars—negate minority participation in such programs or otherwise leave communities, institutions and students of color behind?

“Our children’s future should not depend on whether their state or district receives a competitive grant,” says National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel, referring to Race to the Top, one of several Obama initiatives that use competition to drive reform.

Skin color affects ability to empathize with pain - CNN.com

Skin color affects ability to empathize with pain - CNN.com: Humans are hardwired to feel another person's pain. But they may feel less innate empathy if the other person's skin color doesn't match their own, a new study suggests.

When people say 'I feel your pain,' they usually just mean that they understand what you're going through. But neuroscientists have discovered that we literally feel each other's pain (sort of).

If you see -- or even just think of -- a person who gets whacked in the foot, for instance, your nervous system responds as if you yourself had been hit in the same spot, even though you don't perceive the pain physically.

Researchers in Italy are reporting that subtle racial bias can interfere with this process -- a finding with important implications for health care as well as social harmony.

'Pain empathy is basically feeling someone else's pain,' says Carmen Green, M.D., a professor of anesthesiology at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, who was not involved in the research. 'This paper tells us that race plays a role in pain empathy.'

Bias Role Found in ‘Police-on-Police’ Shootings - NYTimes.com

Bias Role Found in ‘Police-on-Police’ Shootings - NYTimes.com: A governor’s task force studying mistaken-identity confrontations between police officers found that racial bias, unconscious or otherwise, played a clear role in scores of firearms encounters over the years, most significantly in cases involving off-duty officers who are killed by their colleagues.

The task force, formed last June by Gov. David A. Paterson to examine confrontations between officers and the role that race might have played, conducted what it said it believed was the first “nationwide, systematic review of mistaken-identity, police-on-police shootings” by an independent panel outside of law enforcement.

“There may well be an issue of race in these shootings, but that is not the same as racism,” said Zachary W. Carter, a former United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York, who served as the task force’s vice chairman. “Research reveals that race may play a role in an officer’s instantaneous assessment of whether a particular person presents a danger or not.”

The report by the task force found that 26 police officers were killed in the United States over the past 30 years by colleagues who mistook them for criminals. It also found that it was increasingly “officers of color” who died in this manner, including 10 of the 14 killed since 1995.

Arizona immigration law will boost crime in U.S. cities, police chiefs say

Arizona immigration law will boost crime in U.S. cities, police chiefs say: Arizona's new crackdown on illegal immigration will increase crime in U.S. cities, not reduce it, by driving a wedge between police and immigrant communities, police chiefs from several of the state's and the nation's largest cities said Tuesday.

The new Arizona law will intimidate crime victims and witnesses who are illegal immigrants and divert police from investigating more serious crimes, chiefs from Los Angeles, Houston and Philadelphia said. They will join their counterparts from Montgomery County and a half-dozen other U.S. cities in meeting Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on Wednesday morning to discuss the measure.

"This is not a law that increases public safety. This is a bill that makes it much harder for us to do our jobs," Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said. "Crime will go up if this becomes law in Arizona or in any other state."

Interracial marriage still rising, but not as fast

Interracial marriage still rising, but not as fast: Melting pot or racial divide? The growth of interracial marriages is slowing among U.S.-born Hispanics and Asians. Still, blacks are substantially more likely than before to marry whites.

The number of interracial marriages in the U.S. has risen 20 percent since 2000 to about 4.5 million, according to the latest census figures. While still growing, that number is a marked drop-off from the 65 percent increase between 1990 and 2000.

About 8 percent of U.S. marriages are mixed-race, up from 7 percent in 2000.

The latest trend belies notions of the U.S. as a post-racial, assimilated society. Demographers cite a steady flow of recent immigration that has given Hispanics and Asians more ethnically similar partners to choose from while creating some social distance from whites due to cultural and language differences.

Digging Deeper for the Roots of Curricula Reforms in the Southwest

Digging Deeper for the Roots of Curricula Reforms in the Southwest: A few weeks after Arizona approved a controversial K-12 curriculum change, its sidekick in Texas followed suit. While Arizona banned Ethnic Studies, slamming a controversial king on the table, Texas has pulled out an ace—refashioning its entire social studies curriculum.

In Texas, the changes will affect almost 5 million public school students every year over the next decade and countless more students in other states. Since Texas is the leading consumer of textbooks and dominates the market, writers and publishers base their materials on the standards in Texas.

There is a glaring directive in these moves by Arizona and Texas lawmakers and educators. They are truly coming from the same suit.

These Texas and Arizona leaders want their curricula to breed even more American patriotism. They are eliminating the relatively few oppositional spaces, ideas, principles, figures, and terms. They are removing the small amount of educational elements that millions of AALANAs (African-Americans, Latino/as, Asians, and Native Americans) and progressive Whites have fought for decades to insert into the curricula.

Collaboration Among USC Researchers, Western States Seeks To Spur Minority College Success

Collaboration Among USC Researchers, Western States Seeks To Spur Minority College Success: It’s not unexpected that policies and practices aimed at higher education diversity take a lower profile than usual when college administrators have to manage budget cuts and rising tuitions. Nonetheless, a coalition of western states is seeking to make sure diversity and equity remain high priorities for their higher education systems in the coming years.

The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) and the University of Southern California’s Center for Urban Education (CUE) are partnering to make equity a state policy issue and improve policies using data to measure the success of underrepresented students at their institutions.

“During difficult financial times, concerns for equity get lost,” said WICHE President David Longanecker. “It’s easy to get consumed with fiscal distress and essentially lose focus on the important goal that all our citizens get an equal chance at a decent life.”

Bias Payments Come Too Late for Some Farmers - NYTimes.com

Bias Payments Come Too Late for Some Farmers - NYTimes.com: On a recent Sunday in rural Macon, N.C., John W. Boyd Jr., the president of the National Black Farmers Association, went to his fourth funeral in a week.

Mr. Boyd has been burying his group’s members with bitter frequency, attending two or three funerals most weeks. Each death makes him feel as if he is running out of time.

Wrangling over the federal budget in Washington has delayed payouts from a $1.25 billion settlement that Mr. Boyd and several others helped negotiate with the federal government to compensate black farmers who claimed that the Agriculture Department had discriminated against them in making loans.

“I thought that the elderly farmers would get their money and get to live a few happy days of their lives,” Mr. Boyd, a Virginia farmer who is not a plaintiff in the settlement, said in an interview. “They deserve the money before they leave God’s earth.”

A lawyer at one of the firms handling the farmers’ claims said last week that a majority of eligible farmers were over 65 and most were in poor health. Younger relatives, she said, often filed claims for farmers who are ill or dead. The lawyer, who asked that her name and that of her firm be withheld because she was not authorized to speak on the matter, added, “We have a lot of death certificates."

And Hattie McDaniel's Oscar went to? 1940 prize, Howard U. play roles in mystery

And Hattie McDaniel's Oscar went to? 1940 prize, Howard U. play roles in mystery: ...The tribute renewed an old mystery: Where is McDaniel's own, historic Oscar?

It belongs to Howard University's theater department, which has spent years trying to figure out what happened to the Oscar that disappeared decades ago -- though nobody knows exactly when.

'It's a never-ending mystery,' says Tom Gregory, a Hollywood memorabilia collector. 'Where is it? It's really an unbelievable story.'

McDaniel was named Best Supporting Actress in 1940 for playing the servant Mammy in 'Gone With the Wind,' a performance that earned praise even as McDaniel was criticized for perpetuating negative stereotypes.

When she died of breast cancer in 1952, McDaniel bequeathed her Oscar to Howard's drama department, which had honored the pioneering actress with a luncheon after her win. (McDaniel had no academic affiliation with the school.)

'Prince Of Persia' & 'Airbender' Attacked For Perceived Whitewashing

'Prince Of Persia' & 'Airbender' Attacked For Perceived Whitewashing: ...Yet fans of the original TV series say whatever hopes they had for the live-action movie have been dashed by what is known as 'whitewashing' - the selection of white actors to fill the main hero roles instead of the people of color they say the source material requires.

'To take this incredibly loved children's series, and really distort not only the ethnicity of the individual characters but the message of acceptance and cultural diversity that the original series advocated, is a huge blow,' said Michael Le of Racebending.com, a fan site calling for a boycott of the martial-arts fantasy.

Paramount defends the film's casting, noting more than half of the credited speaking roles were filled by people of color.

Pfizer Rapamune Lawsuit: Pharma Giant's Subsidiary Accused Of Targeting 'High-Risk' Black Patients For Unapproved Use Of Drug

Pfizer Rapamune Lawsuit: Pharma Giant's Subsidiary Accused Of Targeting 'High-Risk' Black Patients For Unapproved Use Of Drug: In a stunning whistleblower lawsuit, the world's largest pharmaceutical company is being sued over the dangerous practice of illegally promoting a kidney transplant drug for unapproved uses -- and targeting African-Americans, even though they are at high risk of complications.

Two former hospital sales representatives, Marlene Sandler and Scott Paris, originally filed their suit in 2005 but the case was recently unsealed. The amended complaint against Pfizer and Wyeth was filed this week, as reported by the Pharmalot blog.

Sandler and Paris claim that Wyeth, which is now owned by Pfizer, promoted the 'off-label' use of Rapamune, a kidney transplant drug which generated $376 million in sales in 2008, encouraging its sales force to promote the drug for heart, lung, liver, and pancreas transplants even though Rapamune was never approved for those procedures. The Food and Drug Administration warned against such off-label use of Rapamune in 2004 and 2007.

Asian American Studies at a Crossroads

Asian American Studies at a Crossroads: When Dr. Chia Youyee Vang arrived at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee five years ago, numerous Hmong students along with community residents called for more courses specifically examining their life experiences.

Vang, an assistant professor of history, found herself in this dilemma: add Hmong courses or pan-Asian courses first? Because of limited resources, priorities had to be made.

Her answer became clear when 200 people turned out for a Hmong event on campus.

“For us, it made sense to focus on Hmong,” Vang says of the campus where Hmong-Americans, at 2 percent of student enrollment, represent the largest subgroup of Asians.

Now, her university offers a certificate in Hmong diaspora studies. It is part of a growing tide within Asian American studies — more ethnic-specific courses and programs. And it suggests that Asian American studies as a field is transitioning its curriculum in response to changing U.S. demographics.

Catherine Ariemma, Georgia History Teacher, Let Students Wear Klan Outfits

Catherine Ariemma, Georgia History Teacher, Let Students Wear Klan Outfits: ATLANTA — A North Georgia teacher is on administrative leave and could lose her job after she allowed four students to don mock Ku Klux Klan outfits for a final project in a high school class Thursday, administrators said.

The sight of people in Klan-like outfits upset some black students at the school and led at least one parent to complain.

Catherine Ariemma, who teaches the advanced placement course combining U.S. history with film education, could face punishment ranging from suspension to termination, Lumpkin County School Superintendent Dewey Moye said Monday. Ariemma has spent nearly six years teaching in the rural county about 75 miles north of Atlanta.

She told The Associated Press Monday that students were covering an important and sensitive topic – but one that she might handle differently in the future.

Why the Wealth Gap Between Blacks and Whites is Growing

Why the Wealth Gap Between Blacks and Whites is Growing: A new study (PDF) by the Institute on Assets and Social Policy at Brandeis University finds that her story of lost wealth and growing debt mirrors the struggles of many African-American families, a situation that will not change until we fix the policies that have created it.

The study followed the same group of families for 23 years, from 1984 to 2007, and discovered that the gap in wealth between white families and African-American families more than quadrupled during that period, from $20,000 to $95,000. Looking at financial assets excluding home equity, the study found that the median value of wealth held by white families increased from $22,000 to $100,000 during the period, while black families saw very little increase and had a median wealth of $5,000 in 2007.

Supreme Court says black firefighter lawsuit can proceed

Supreme Court says black firefighter lawsuit can proceed: The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Monday that a group of African Americans may sue the city of Chicago on their claim that the city's discriminatory use of an application test kept them from being hired as firefighters.

The justices rejected the city's argument that the class of 6,000 black applicants had waited too long to bring the suit. Antonin Scalia, writing for the court, said each time the city used the test results to hire firefighters over the next six years represented a new chance for the denied applicants to bring their suit.

'Under the city's reading, if an employer adopts an unlawful practice and no timely charge is brought, it can continue using the practice indefinitely, with impunity, despite ongoing disparate impact' on minorities, Scalia wrote.

Former Sheriff Named Interim President at Historically Black Florida-based College

Former Sheriff Named Interim President at Historically Black Florida-based College: Edward Waters College, the small cash-strapped historically Black college in Jacksonville, Fla., has turned to an alumnus and former sheriff to serve as interim president.

Nat Glover, a member of Edward Waters’ class of 1966, officially became interim president of the African Methodist Episcopal-affiliated college last week. He replaces Dr. Claudette Williams, who announced her resignation at the end of February to take a job as vice president with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the agency that accredits Edward Waters.

Glover, a former sheriff of Duval County and the first African-American sheriff in Florida since Reconstruction, inherits the top administrative position at a college that confronts persistent challenges.

Texas State Board of Education Approves Controversial Social Studies Curriculum Changes

Texas State Board of Education Approves Controversial Social Studies Curriculum Changes: On Friday, the members of the Texas State Board of Education voted 9-5 on social studies curriculum standards for Texas Public Schools. Proposed revisions to textbooks will largely eliminate the civil rights movement from the curriculum.

Former U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige and NAACP President and CEO Ben Jealous were among those who spoke before the board earlier in the week. Paige, who served as Education Secretary during President George W. Bush’s first term, implored the board members to take more time to consider the new standards, saying they will diminish the importance of civil rights and slavery.

For example, the “slave trade” will be renamed the “Atlantic triangular trade.” References to activists such as Susan B. Anthony and Upton Sinclair will be minimized. In a small concession by conservatives, Thomas Jefferson was restored to a list of political philosophers to be studied.

Student Protests Tie Up Campuses in Puerto Rico - NYTimes.com

Student Protests Tie Up Campuses in Puerto Rico - NYTimes.com: SAN JUAN, P.R. — The seven entry gates on the largest campus of the University of Puerto Rico system remained chained shut on Thursday. Beyond improvised barricades were hundreds of students in makeshift camps, some with portable showers and stoves, hardly engaged in the typical college springtime routine of studying for final exams and preparing for graduation.

The students here have hunkered down, bringing the academic calendar to a halt. They are a month into a strike that has crippled an 11-campus system with more than 62,000 students, intent on persuading the administration to revoke austerity measures that they believe will unfairly hamper low-income students. Only one campus, for medical sciences, is operational.

Prof's anti-Latino e-mails: harassment or free speech? - USATODAY.com

Prof's anti-Latino e-mails: harassment or free speech? - USATODAY.com: Overturning the ruling of a lower court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has granted Arizona's Maricopa Community College District immunity from a lawsuit filed by a group of Latino professors who charged that college officials had not sufficiently disciplined a colleague who sent e-mails they viewed as discriminatory.

Chief Judge Alex Kozinski's opinion Thursday on behalf of a three-judge panel is a strong endorsement of academic freedom. It argues that 'courts must defer to colleges' decision to err on the side of academic freedom.' In doing so, the opinion defends the decision by Glendale Community College and Maricopa Community College District officials not to discipline or dismiss Walter Kehowski, a Glendale mathematics professor who 'sent three racially charged' e-mails via the institution-maintained distribution list.

UniverSoul, world's only African American-owned circus, has poodles and passion

UniverSoul, world's only African American-owned circus, has poodles and passion: ...The circus has come to town, and it's not your everyday circus, either.

It's called UniverSoul Circus, billed as the only African American-owned circus in the world. But you've never been here before and you find yourself wondering, from your seat inside the big top, how a circus can have soul. You understand soul food, with its staples of greens and sweet potatoes, and soul music, such as Aretha Franklin singing 'Respect.' You understand when somebody says, 'You got soul,' and you pump your fist into a black pride salute.

But soul and circus is not a concept you have confronted.

Rev. Jesse Jackson: Racial Wealth Disparities Report Underscores Immediate Need for Civil Rights Intervention

Rev. Jesse Jackson: Racial Wealth Disparities Report Underscores Immediate Need for Civil Rights Intervention: A new study released by the Institute on Assets and Social Policy revealed that even when African-Americans had a good education and well-paying jobs, they could not achieve the wealth of their white peers in the workforce. As a result the wealth disparity between white and black households has more than quadrupled, regardless of income bracket.

Disparities are driven by racial discrimination because civil rights laws have all but been abandoned over the past decade. I am making a request that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy to examine ways to strengthen enforcement of civil rights laws.

Opinion: Ethnic Studies is Valuable for All Americans

Opinion: Ethnic Studies is Valuable for All Americans: It’s widely known that Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer recently signed legislation that bans ethnic studies in public schools throughout the state. The ban highlights the misunderstanding of and hostility toward any educational strategy or method that sheds light on the complexity of American history. The relationship among culture, politics and identity in the United States is rich and problematic. Ethnic studies is an educational response to our nation’s full history and is intended to provide greater understanding of all the peoples that make our nation what it is today.

Contrary to the fears and charges that ethnic studies divides and incites the overthrow of our government, it attempts to critically examine the nexus of events, peoples and consequences of actions by individuals, states and the nation itself. In doing so, ethnic studies offers students the opportunity to explore and discuss a range of topics, issues and questions that every American should consider.

Texas education standards spark debate on slavery, politics - USATODAY.com

Texas education standards spark debate on slavery, politics - USATODAY.com: The Texas State Board of Education was set to vote Friday on changes to social studies standards that have angered and, in some cases, baffled critics, including President George W. Bush's first education secretary, who is protesting the politicization of the process.

Among the proposed changes: calling the USA's slave trade the 'Atlantic triangular trade' and minimizing the role of Thomas Jefferson, who espoused a strict separation of church and state.

The new standards set curriculum for millions of Texas school children and lay the groundwork for textbooks and standardized tests for a decade. But the changes could also carry outsized influence because Texas is a large state — textbooks sold to other states often carry content tailored to Texas specifications.

N.C. County School Board Ends Diversity Policy

N.C. County School Board Ends Diversity Policy: RALEIGH N.C. – A North Carolina school district once considered a model for diversifying its classrooms ended its busing policy Tuesday in favor of keeping students in schools close to their homes.

The final, official vote by the Wake County school board was expected and followed a similar decision made at a far more contentious meeting in March.

Still, Tuesday's meeting drew more than 100 people, and more than a dozen residents made speeches in a last-ditch effort to sway the board's majority.

Many said they feared the shift to community-based schools would segregate students and create a large disparity in quality.

Needy Students Don’t Apply for Financial Aid, College Board Report Says

Needy Students Don’t Apply for Financial Aid, College Board Report Says: WASHINGTON – The financially neediest students are the least likely to apply for financial aid, according to a new study titled “The Financial Aid Challenge” by the College Board’s Advocacy and Policy Center.

Less than 60 percent of eligible community college students completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) compared with 77 percent of eligible students at four-year schools in the 2007-08 academic period. During that time, full-time enrollment at two-year schools increased 24 percent nationwide.

“The [report] highlights the startling fact that millions of dollars are left on the table each year by eligible students who just aren’t applying,” said College Board President Gaston Caperton, who added that the report is part of a series on community colleges the organization plans to release. Caperton, College Board officials, and community college experts announced the report’s release in downtown Washington on Wednesday.

America’s First Muslim College To Open This Fall

America’s First Muslim College To Open This Fall: Letters of admission went out last month to the approximately 20 students who will make up the inaugural freshman class of Zaytuna College, which founders hope will become the nation’s first accredited Muslim institution of higher learning.

The founders of the college, which is scheduled to open in Berkeley, Calif., this fall, say Zaytuna will be a Muslim liberal arts college in the same tradition as other sectarian liberal arts colleges that operate in this country. In its early years, Zaytuna will offer bachelor’s degrees in Islamic law and theology and Arabic, according to Dr. Hatem Bazian, a co-founder of the college and chair of its academic affairs committee. As the college grows, he says, it will add majors.

“We are trying to graduate well-rounded students who will be skilled in a liberal arts education with the ability to engage in a wider framework of society and the variety of issues that confront them,” says Bazian.

Malcolm and Martin, closer than we ever thought - CNN.com

Malcolm and Martin, closer than we ever thought - CNN.com: (CNN) -- The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was leaving a news conference one afternoon when a tall man with a coppery complexion stepped out of the crowd and blocked his path.

Malcolm X, the African-American Muslim leader who once called King 'Rev. Dr. Chicken-wing,' extended his hand and smiled.

'Well, Malcolm, good to see you,' King said after taking Malcolm X's hand.

'Good to see you,' Malcolm X replied as both men broke into huge grins while a gaggle of photographers snapped pictures of their only meeting.

That encounter on March 26, 1964, lasted only a minute. But a photo of that meeting has tantalized scholars and supporters of both men for more than 45 years.

As the 85th birthday of Malcolm X is marked on Wednesday, history has freeze-framed him as the angry black separatist who saw whites as blue-eyed devils.

Yet near the end of his life, Malcolm X was becoming more like King -- and King was becoming more like him.

To fight 'dropout factories,' school program starts young - USATODAY.com

To fight 'dropout factories,' school program starts young - USATODAY.com: ...For years, educators have tried — often in vain — to get more students to graduate from high school on time and boost college-going rates. But few approaches have had much success: Dropout rates in many cities approach 50%, and a few cities — including Baltimore, Dallas, Detroit, Houston and Philadelphia — graduate fewer than 45% of students. On a school-by-school basis, recent research suggests that about one in eight high schools in the USA — many of them in the nation's biggest cities — are virtual 'dropout factories' where fewer than 60% of freshmen graduate within four years.

'Historically, we have never really tried to turn around chronically underperforming schools in this country,' U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan told a group of charter school advocates last month. 'Instead, we have allowed the status quo to languish in underserved communities, sometimes not just for years, but literally for decades.'

But a few educators are now taking a hard look at what happens to kids years before they get to high school, where, as it turns out, red flags appear with alarming regularity.

Readers: Children learn attitudes about race at home - CNN.com

Readers: Children learn attitudes about race at home - CNN.com: CNN) -- The discussion of race is never a black and white issue, and recent 'AC360' and CNN.com reports about young children's attitudes on race became one of the most discussed stories on the site, eliciting more than 4,500 comments.

In the study, white children had an overwhelming bias toward white, and black children also had a bias toward white, but it was not nearly as strong as the bias shown by the white children.

Many users of the site thought parenting was the issue behind the results, some thought the kids were too naive and others thought the testing method was flawed.

Kids' test answers on race brings mother to tears

Margaret Beale Spencer, a leading researcher in the field of child development, designed the pilot study for CNN's 'AC360.' Beale Spencer used a team of three psychologists to implement it: two testers to execute the study and a statistician to help analyze the results.

Her team tested 133 children from schools that met very specific economic and demographic requirements. In total, eight schools participated: four in the greater New York area and four in Georgia.

Ala. teacher uses Obama assassination in geometry

Ala. teacher uses Obama assassination in geometry: BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- A Jefferson County geometry teacher was placed on paid administrative leave Tuesday after being accused of using a hypothetical assassination plot on President Barack Obama as a way to teach geometric angles.

School Superintendent Phil Hammonds said Corner High School teacher Gregory Harrison could face possible termination.

Hammonds earlier said the teacher remained at work and there were no plans to fire him. But in announcing that the teacher was being placed on leave, the superintendent said his office had been flooded with calls from people around the nation, mainly upset that further action hadn't been taken against the teacher.

A Generation Gap Over Immigration - NYTimes.com

A Generation Gap Over Immigration - NYTimes.com: ...The generational conflict could complicate chances of a federal immigration overhaul any time soon. “The hardening of this divide spells further stalemate,” said Roberto Suro, the former head of the nonpartisan Pew Hispanic Center.

And the causes are partly linked to experience. Demographically, younger and older Americans grew up in vastly different worlds. Those born after the civil rights era lived in a country of high rates of legal and illegal immigration. In their neighborhoods and schools, the presence of immigrants was as hard to miss as a Starbucks today.

In contrast, baby boomers and older Americans — even those who fought for integration — came of age in one of the most homogenous moments in the country’s history.

Immigration, which census figures show declined sharply from the Depression through the 1960s, reached a historic low point the year after Woodstock. From 1860 through 1920, 13 percent to 15 percent of the country was foreign born — a rate similar to today’s, when immigrants make up about 12.5 percent of the country.

Can I Get A Cab? It Appears Not : NPR

Can I Get A Cab? It Appears Not : NPR: Here I am, in so-called post-racial Washington, D.C., happily walking out of a theater where I've just watched the opera Otello on a giant movie screen.

I stand in the soft glow of the theater's marquee on an otherwise fairly dark block in this up-and-coming neighborhood — H Street in Northeast Washington. I raise my arm, trying to hail the cab I see headed in my direction with its friendly little light on.

The taxi stops before it gets to me — and I can see the driver asking a young white couple leaning on a car if they want a ride. After they wave him off he continues up the block to where I stand, a few steps into the street so he doesn't miss my raised arm.

But instead of pulling over — he swerves into the opposite lane of traffic, floors the accelerator and hurtles — just in case my outstretched hand sullies the chrome on his door handle.

Perhaps my afro scared him?

Opinion: Reimagining Diversity in Our Institutions

Opinion: Reimagining Diversity in Our Institutions: Social and institutional change is born in struggle. As a Chicana in higher education, I know this from my experience as a diversity educator with deep roots in the cultural borderlands of U.S. society. I also know that access to education for diverse students is a cornerstone of our future as a democratic society.

As our institutions struggle to balance their budgets, institutional leaders are understandably on the lookout for any unit or program that is “underperforming,” “wasteful,” or nonessential. They’re looking for savings that will not diminish their stature, cut into their core mission, or erode “excellence” as it is currently defined.

UND’s First Black Valedictorian Encourages Doubtful Minority Students to Seek Support

UND’s First Black Valedictorian Encourages Doubtful Minority Students to Seek Support: On Sunday, Katie Washington, a biological science major from Gary, Ind., graduated from the University of Notre Dame as the first African-American valedictorian in the institution’s 168-year history.

Washington had no intentions of becoming a pioneer at the onset of her undergraduate career. In fact, she entered Notre Dame questioning her ability as a product of Gary Public Schools to compete at such a selective institution, despite having been valedictorian of her class at West Side High School. Her only goal, she said, was to do her best.

But, as classmates began dropping out of the rigorous program, she also needed to overcome the feeling of isolation that set in, a sentiment often experienced by students of color pursuing STEM degrees at predominately White institutions."

Undocumented student's arrest called part of 'civil rights disaster' - CNN.com

Undocumented student's arrest called part of 'civil rights disaster' - CNN.com: Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- Staring at the throngs of media representatives who came out to hear and see her Friday, Jessica Colotl took another step into the fight for her future.

The undocumented student from Mexico whose case has become a lightning rod in the immigration debate had been released on $2,500 bond just a couple hours earlier. The 21-year-old student at Kennesaw State University in Georgia surrendered Friday morning to authorities in response to a warrant for her arrest issued Wednesday night by the Cobb County Sheriff's Office.

Standing nervously before the crowd, Colotl fought back tears when people cheered for her. The media bombarded her with questions as she tried to give voice to her struggle.

Just a week earlier, she'd been released from a deportation facility in Alabama after being stopped in March for a minor traffic violation.

Pr. William teen charged in posting swastika signs at school

Pr. William teen charged in posting swastika signs at school: It was mid-April when the administrative staff at Potomac High School in Prince William County first noticed Post-it-size swastika stickers showing up on school property, officials said Friday.

The first was found above the entrance to Potomac High, and school officials immediately removed it. Six more followed, placed on exit signs, lockers and a police vehicle belonging to the school's resource officer, before police were able to make an arrest, said Ken Blackstone, a school system spokesman.

Joseph W. Barnes, 18, was arrested Tuesday and charged with five counts of destruction and defacing property. Blackstone said the Potomac High student, who is due in court June 24, is not in school and that the case is being handled according to the school system's code of behavior. Blackstone said he could not comment further on individual disciplinary actions.

Study: White and black children biased toward lighter skin - CNN.com

Study: White and black children biased toward lighter skin - CNN.com: (CNN) -- A white child looks at a picture of a black child and says she's bad because she's black. A black child says a white child is ugly because he's white. A white child says a black child is dumb because she has dark skin.

This isn't a schoolyard fight that takes a racial turn, not a vestige of the 'Jim Crow' South; these are American schoolchildren in 2010.

Nearly 60 years after American schools were desegregated by the landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling, and more than a year after the election of the country's first black president, white children have an overwhelming white bias, and black children also have a bias toward white, according to a new study commissioned by CNN.

Renowned child psychologist and University of Chicago professor Margaret Beale Spencer, a leading researcher in the field of child development, led the study. She designed the pilot study and led a team of three psychologists: two testers to execute the study and a statistician to help analyze the results.

Undocumented “Dreamwalkers” Ponder Next Moves For DREAM Act, Immigration Reform Activism

Undocumented “Dreamwalkers” Ponder Next Moves For DREAM Act, Immigration Reform Activism: WASHINGTON – Just days after arriving in the Washington, D.C., area, the “Dreamwalkers” found themselves exhausted one early May evening after a series of public events and news media interviews that publicized their cross-country odyssey for immigration reform. For the Dreamwalkers, four undocumented college students—Carlos Roa, Gaby Pacheco, Felipe Matos, and Juan Rodriguez—the end of a 1,500-mile trek north to Washington from Miami was just the beginning, a chance to reflect and ask what’s next.

Ethnicity divides on Arizona immigration law - Behind the Numbers

Ethnicity divides on Arizona immigration law - Behind the Numbers: New polls - from the Associated Press and Univision and from NBC News and the Wall Street Journal - suggest that Hispanics and non-Hispanics are sharply divided on Arizona's new immigration law and on how the issue should be handled more broadly.

The results from the Associated Press and Univision, released Thursday, find that two-thirds of Hispanics oppose Arizona's law, 15 percent support it and 17 percent hold a neutral view. In a separate survey of all adults which asked the same question, 45 percent of non-Hispanics back the law, 20 percent oppose it and three in 10 neither favor nor oppose it. The NBC-WSJ poll found a similar dynamic, with adults overall far more supportive of the measure than Hispanics.

Report: Few Hispanic high school dropouts earn GED - AP News Wire, Associated Press News - Salon.com

Report: Few Hispanic high school dropouts earn GED - AP News Wire, Associated Press News - Salon.com: A report released Thursday by the Pew Hispanic Center found that one in 10 Hispanic students who drop out of high school go on to earn a General Equivalency Development degree.

Educators and students say limited outreach, immigration and pressure to work may be to blame.

Using data from the Census Bureau, researchers found that fewer Hispanic students earn a GED credential than white or black dropouts. Black students earned a GED at a rate of two in 10. For white students, the rate is three in 10.

Arizona immigration law hits Latino businesses | Reuters

Arizona immigration law hits Latino businesses | Reuters: (Reuters) - A month ago, Efrain Gaytan's Mexican diner was bustling with migrant workers wolfing down a breakfast of eggs and burritos before they headed out to work as landscapers and day laborers across west Phoenix.

But around 8 a.m. all but three tables are empty as customers rattled by Arizona's tough new law cracking down on illegal immigrants stay away -- even though the law does not go into effect until July.

'Before, there would have been a lot of people eating breakfast but now everyone is worried that they're going to get pulled over,' Gaytan, 42, said one recent weekday morning.

The Arizona law requires state and local police, after making 'lawful contact,' to check the immigration status of anyone they reasonably suspect is in the country illegally.

Migrant-dependent businesses from cafes and car dealers to pinata shops in the state capital Phoenix say they already are taking a big hit as fear ripples through the Hispanic community.

Gaytan, whose bright, clean diner offers Mexican staples such as beef soup and spicy seafood dishes, says turnover slumped 35 percent to 40 percent after Arizona's Republican Governor Jan Brewer signed the bill into law on April 23.

Arizona Gov. Signs Bill Targeting Ethnic Studies

Arizona Gov. Signs Bill Targeting Ethnic Studies: PHOENIX – Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has signed a bill targeting a school district's ethnic studies program, hours after a report by United Nations human rights experts condemned the measure.

State schools chief Tom Horne, who has pushed the bill for years, said he believes the Tucson school district's Mexican-American studies program teaches Latino students that they are oppressed by White people.

Public schools should not be encouraging students to resent a particular race, he said.

'It's just like the old South, and it's long past time that we prohibited it,' Horne said.

Brewer's signature on the bill Tuesday comes less than a month after she signed the nation's toughest crackdown on illegal immigration, a move that ignited an international backlash amid charges the measure would encourage racial profiling of Hispanics. The governor has said profiling will not be tolerated.

The measure signed Tuesday prohibits classes that advocate ethnic solidarity, that are designed primarily for students of a particular race, or that promote resentment toward a certain ethnic group.

Minority Student Activists Protest Education Cuts

Minority Student Activists Protest Education Cuts: IRVINE, Calif. – If campus activism still brings to mind peace signs, a sea of White faces, and liberal strongholds like Berkeley, meet Jesse Cheng.

Cheng is a third-year Asian-American studies major at the University of California, Irvine, a campus less than five decades old in the middle of Orange County, a place of strip malls and subdivisions that gave birth to the ultraconservative John Birch Society.

Comfortable talking with both administrators and anarchists, Cheng is a presence at protests but avoids getting arrested. He doesn't want to put his graduation at risk or upset his mother, who worked hard to get him here and worries for his safety because she witnessed what happened to dissidents in her native China.

Cheng is part of a growing movement of minority students rallying around a new cause—fighting a budget crisis that's undermining access to higher education at a time when students of color have become a stronger demographic force.

Arizona bans ethnic studies in public schools - CNN.com

Arizona bans ethnic studies in public schools - CNN.com: (CNN) -- Fresh on the heels of a new immigration law that has led to calls to boycott her state, Arizona's governor has signed a bill banning ethnic studies classes that 'promote resentment' of other racial groups.

Gov. Jan Brewer approved the measure without public statement Tuesday, according to state legislative records. The new law forbids elementary or secondary schools to teach classes that are 'designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group' and advocate 'the overthrow of the United States government' or 'resentment toward a race or class of people.'

The bill was pushed by state school Superintendent Tom Horne, who has spent two years trying to get Tucson schools to drop a Mexican-American studies program he said teaches Latino students they are an oppressed minority. There was no immediate response from the Tucson Unified School District, the law's main target.

L.A. To Boycott Arizona Over Immigration Law : NPR

L.A. To Boycott Arizona Over Immigration Law : NPR: The Los Angeles City Council voted 13-1 to stop doing business in Arizona unless the state's tough new immigration law is repealed. But city officials will first have to figure out which contracts can be suspended without risking a lawsuit.

The city does about $52 million worth of business with Arizona companies, but it's likely that only about $8 million worth of contracts can be terminated. Purchase agreements for wind and nuclear energy would be maintained, but contracts for helicopter services, Tasers and waste management might be ended.

Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who co-authored the resolution, said it would be impractical to cancel some deals.

Higher black voting rates in 2008 mostly occurred in South, report says

Higher black voting rates in 2008 mostly occurred in South, report says: A sharp rise in African American voting rates in the 2008 presidential election was largely a Southern phenomenon, according to a Census analysis of voting patterns released Wednesday.

The South was the only region in the country where the voting rate among blacks increased sizably from the 2004 election, from 59 percent to 66 percent. The West, Northeast and Midwest had smaller increases in black voting rates, but they did not represent a significant change, the Census said.

The report, an analysis of raw data released last year, offers a more nuanced view of results from the election, in which an African American was on the ballot for president in the general election for the first time.

About 64 percent of voting-age Americans went to the polls. Nationally, 5 million more Americans voted than four years earlier, including 2 million more African Americans and 2 million more Hispanics. But the voting-age population increased by 9 million during that period, so the turnout rate remained roughly the same and the percentage of registered voters decreased slightly.

Obama Administration Officials Deliver Commencement Speeches at HBCU, HSI Graduations

Obama Administration Officials Deliver Commencement Speeches at HBCU, HSI Graduations: While President Barack Obama graduation’s talk at the University of Michigan last weekend focused national media attention on the 2010 college and university commencement season and issues facing new college graduates, the president’s scheduled address at Hampton University, a historically Black institution, this Sunday should help bring a spotlight to minority-serving institutions.

The president will have help in that task because on Saturday first lady Michelle Obama will send off the students at the University of Arkansas – Pine Bluff, a historically Black public university. Also on Saturday, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan will speak to graduating students at Xavier University of Louisiana and Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez will deliver the commencement address at Northeastern Illinois University.

Education Secretary, Experts at DeVry Forum Assess U.S. College Completion Challenge

Education Secretary, Experts at DeVry Forum Assess U.S. College Completion Challenge: WASHINGTON – There was a time when the United States led the world in almost every social and economic sector from education to industry. Today, that is no longer true, and several nations have surpassed the U.S. in having the highest rate of college graduates in the workforce. As a result, President Barack Obama has issued a challenge to the nation to regain its former leadership status by producing the world’s largest share of college graduates by 2020.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, along with expert panelists, offered their perspectives on how best to achieve that goal during a policy forum titled “The 2020 Imperative: College Attainment and US Workforce Development,” hosted by DeVry University on Tuesday.

Sprinter Excels in the Classroom and the Community

Sprinter Excels in the Classroom and the Community: At a recent talk with 20 middle school boys with academic and behavioral problems at an alternative school in Charlotte, N.C., Darius Law made the case as a living example that earning good grades, studying and setting goals are “cool.”

Despite balancing a demanding business management course load daily with intense track and field practices that can run a grueling three hours, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte junior eagerly makes time for such events. He can thank his mother for that.

“I saw how she helped others, and I feel I should do the same thing,” he says of his mother, who raised two biological sons and several foster children on her own in Raleigh, N.C. “That’s why giving talks to students at places like [the alternative school in Charlotte] is important. We all need someone to help us out.”

Kellogg Foundation Commits $75M To Combat Racial Inequality

Kellogg Foundation Commits $75M To Combat Racial Inequality: WASHINGTON – The Kellogg Foundation has inaugurated an ambitious nationwide campaign to combat racial and ethnic inequality with a five-year, $75 million commitment to award grants to support organizations working to fight racism.

At their news conference in Washington, D.C., Kellogg officials on Tuesday challenged the tendency of Americans to identify post-racial progress with statistics that instead demonstrate the pervasive disparities between Whites and racial minorities in nearly every social and economic indicator.

“Far too many vulnerable children still grow up in profoundly limited opportunities to succeed because of the damaging effects of long-term racial and ethnic discrimination,” said Fred Keller, trustee of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. “They face the effects of structural racism in every aspect of their lives.”

Philadelphia cop intentionally shot himself, commissioner says - CNN.com

Philadelphia cop intentionally shot himself, commissioner says - CNN.com: Pennsylvania, police officer who told authorities he was shot while on patrol last month has admitted he shot himself intentionally, the city's police commissioner said Tuesday.

Sgt. Robert Ralston, 46, confessed to police early Tuesday morning that he made up the story, possibly to a get attention or a transfer, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said in a news conference.

Ralston reported that on April 5 he saw two African-American males arguing on a train track in West Philadelphia. He told investigators that when he stopped the two men for questioning one of them pulled out a gun and shot him in the left shoulder.

His claim sparked a search for a phantom suspect.

Arizona Education Loses The Accent Of America : NPR

Arizona Education Loses The Accent Of America : NPR: Arizona's new immigration law is outrageous to anyone who's had the bad luck of living in a country where fear of the police was a constant source of suppressed rage. A huge weight lifted off my psyche when I came to the U.S. from Communist Romania and was told that the police couldn't stop me just because I still wore my commie trench coat and spoke with an accent.

That was in 1966, and now in Arizona in 2010, the police can target both my trench coat and my accent. The Arizona Department of Education has told schools that teachers with 'heavy' or 'ungrammatical' accents are no longer allowed to teach English to kids just learning to speak the language.

Oh boy! Did I land back behind the Iron Curtain half a century ago? My last 40 years of teaching would have never happened if the Arizona law had been the law of the land in 1966. Forty years of accented instruction gone by the wayside! Gone also the 40 years when American education, lower and higher, finally recognized the diversity of America.

Arizona Gov Signs Ethnic-Studies Ban - The Two-Way - Breaking News, Analysis Blog : NPR

Arizona Gov Signs Ethnic-Studies Ban - The Two-Way - Breaking News, Analysis Blog : NPR: With the bonfire of controversy over its anti-illegal immigration law still burning strong, Arizona got more tinder going on another controversy Tuesday when Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law a ban on ethnic studies in the state's schools.

The legislation was specifically targeted at high schools in the Tucson Unified School District with courses in Mexican American studies. Critics of those courses said they were used by activists in Tuscon to incite hatred, particularly of whites.

A fact sheet for House Bill 2282 gives the purpose of the bill thusly:

Prohibits public schools from including courses or classes, which promote the overthrow of the U.S. government or resentment towards a race or class of people, and specifies rules pertaining to pupil disciplinary proceedings are not to be based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin or ancestry.

The law has certain exceptions, such as for native Americans, for instance.

Courtland Milloy - Teaching by example: African American women head back to school

Courtland Milloy - Teaching by example: African American women head back to school: ...It's an increasingly familiar story, yet no less amazing with each telling: older women -- in this case, African American mothers and daughters -- returning to college, inspired by one another and motivated by an unwavering belief that education is the key to self-improvement, professional advancement and even freedom itself.

...Among African Americans, the college graduation rate for women is 47 percent, compared with 36 percent for men -- none of which is really worth bragging about given the 63 percent graduation rate among whites.

Nevertheless, black women are making significant strides, earning 70 percent of the master's degrees awarded to African Americans, according to the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. In 2009, black women made up 61.7 percent of the African American enrollment at the nation's 50 highest-ranked law schools.

The American Council on Education reports that there are now more black female undergraduates 25 and older than there are 24 and younger. And with this maturity comes more of the discipline and commitment required to achieve their goals.

Louisiana Senate Bill Could Hobble State’s Law School Clinics

Louisiana Senate Bill Could Hobble State’s Law School Clinics: BATON ROUGE La. – Law clinics at universities across Louisiana fear a state senator's proposal could force them to close, leaving their impoverished clients without free legal services in cases ranging from child support to water pollution.

Sen. Robert Adley, R-Benton, said he's heard those concerns and plans to put limits on the legislation.

Both sides acknowledge the measure is aimed at the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic, which Adley and business lobbyists say has driven jobs from the state. The clinic's supporters argue its lawyers help community groups hold state and federal regulators accountable to make sure they comply with pollution laws.

Gymnast Balances Stellar Academics With Dazzling Athletics

Gymnast Balances Stellar Academics With Dazzling Athletics: It’s easy to spot Marcia Newby, a member of the University of Georgia women's gymnastics team, a powerhouse that has won five national championships in the last six seasons. She has the biggest and heaviest book bag.

“I carry all my books around just in case I have 15 or 20 extra minutes. I can start studying in that time frame,” says the 22-year-old senior biological science major.

In addition to competing in gymnastics and sustaining a 3.9 cumulative grade-point average in premed studies, Newby served as co-president of the student-athlete advisory committee (SAAC), an organization that addresses issues affecting student-athletes. Newby is among a select group of student-athletes involved in helping UGA earn recertification from the NCAA. She was named to the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Community Service Team, among other honors for her community service, which includes coordinating food drives and volunteering at the Special Olympics.

Lena Horne: Of Race And Acceptance : NPR

Lena Horne: Of Race And Acceptance : NPR: In the reports of Lena Horne's death that have emerged so far, much has been made of the fact that she was a black woman in an age of popular entertainment dominated by white faces. Her talent was obvious, but her skin hampered her attempts to become a major movie star, assigning her to bit parts that could be removed for Southern audiences.

Eventually, after the civil rights movement, Horne would be recognized as an entertainment icon. Her work as a jazz singer, theatre performer and television actress did much for that legacy, as well. But she also knew that the skin color that worked against her also worked for her. In the obituary that came over the AP wire, she is quoted as saying this:

'I was unique in that I was a kind of black that white people could accept,' she once said. 'I was their daydream. I had the worst kind of acceptance, because it was never for how great I was or what I contributed. It was because of the way I looked.'

Black college graduates face bumpy road - USATODAY.com

Black college graduates face bumpy road - USATODAY.com: ...When it comes to educating African Americans, schools such as Hampton do the heavy lifting. While they graduate nearly 25% of blacks who earn undergraduate degrees, the nation's 105 historically black colleges and universities have produced the lion's share of black professionals. More than half of the students who get their undergraduate degrees at these schools go on to attend a graduate or professional school, according to the United Negro College Fund.

But the ugly truth is that the road to success that the degree they've earned was supposed to open up is littered with potholes that their education alone cannot overcome. This year, blacks who have earned a bachelor's degree and higher have a higher unemployment rate than whites who have only obtained a two-year college degree. And blacks with college degrees earn substantially less than white college graduates.

In 2008, the mean annual income of blacks with a four-year degree was more than $13,000 less than that of whites with the same level of education. And blacks who had a master's earned about $1,500 a year less than whites with a bachelor's degree.

Obama at Hampton Says Education Is Responsibility of All Americans

Obama at Hampton Says Education Is Responsibility of All Americans: HAMPTON Va. – President Barack Obama, addressing graduates at historically Black Hampton University on Sunday, said it is the responsibility of all Americans to offer every child the type of education that will make them competitive in an economy in which just a high school diploma is no longer enough.

Obama told the nearly 1,100 graduates assembled in the university’s sun-splashed Armstrong Stadium that they have the added responsibility of being role models and mentors in their communities.

Clad in a blue gown, Obama recalled the university’s humble beginning in September 1861 as a school for escaped slaves who sought asylum after fleeing nearby plantations in the Confederate South. Obama said the founders recognized that, with the right education, such barriers as inequality would not persist for long.

NCAA Scrutiny Helps Hasten Decline of Tradition-Rich Black Prep School

NCAA Scrutiny Helps Hasten Decline of Tradition-Rich Black Prep School: LAURINBURG, N.C. - The Laurinburg Institute, the oldest historically Black prep school in the country, is a shell of its former self these days. The tennis court has no net and is over-run with weeds. Behind it, a two-story dormitory sits forlornly, still unrepaired after an arsonist’s fire some years ago.

Also boarded up is the school’s gymnasium, which has produced such NBA stars as Sam Jones, Charlie Scott and Charlie Davis. Although the gym was condemned in the late 1990s after moisture caused part of the roof to fall in, the school still maintains its prestige in prep hoops.

“We play where we can, at the public park courts or elsewhere,” says Laurinburg coach Napoleon Cooper. As such, it has placed more than 30 players on Division I teams in the past decade.

But a recent NCAA ruling is threatening to end that record. Last year, NCAA officials declared the school “not cleared” after a review of its academics and curriculum during the 2006-07 and 2007-08 school years. The designation means that Laurinburg graduates are not eligible for initial eligibility in intercollegiate athletics or for consideration for scholarships.

For more children, dinner is coming from Uncle Sam

For more children, dinner is coming from Uncle Sam: More low-income school kids could soon have access to free nutritious dinners like the lasagna that Avery loved. A U.S. Department of Agriculture program in Vermont, 12 other states and the District of Columbia provides reimbursements for the suppers, served at after-school programs for at-risk kids in communities where at least 50 percent of households fall below the poverty level.

'What it allows us to do is provide those kids with an extra nutritious meal before they go home because some kids go home to nothing,' said Susan Eckes, director of child nutrition programs for the Food Bank of Northern Nevada in McCarran, Nev.

Around the country, about 49,000 children benefit from the after-school meals each day. The program is expected to cost a total of $8 million from 2009 to 2013, the USDA said.

Lena Horne dies at 92; dynamic singer and activist broke barriers in Hollywood

Lena Horne dies at 92; dynamic singer and activist broke barriers in Hollywood: Lena Horne, 92, an electrifying performer who shattered racial boundaries by changing the way Hollywood presented black women and who enjoyed a six-decade singing career on stage, television and in films, died Sunday at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

Ms. Horne, considered one of the most beautiful women in the world, came to the attention of Hollywood in 1942. She was the first black woman to sign a meaningful long-term contract with a major studio, a contract that said she would never have to play a maid.

'What people tend not to fully comprehend today is what Lena Horne did to transform the image of the African American woman in Hollywood,' said Donald Bogle, a film historian.

Bridgette McGee-Robinson Digs For The Truth About Willie McGee : NPR

Bridgette McGee-Robinson Digs For The Truth About Willie McGee : NPR: When Bridgette McGee-Robinson was growing up, she didn't know anything about her grandfather — who he was, where he was from, why no one ever talked about him.

But, as a child, while helping her mother clean the house, she came across a packet of old articles and photographs hidden under a mattress. She asked her mother who the man in the old photographs was, but her mother snatched the papers away and told McGee-Robinson that she was too young to understand them.

Four decades later, McGee-Robinson went to Mississippi to find out everything she could about her grandfather's life and death. She went to find people who could tell her what Willie McGee was like, who he was and what happened to him.

Arizona immigration law: Residents demand that district defy Senate Bill 1070

Arizona immigration law: Residents demand that district defy Senate Bill 1070: Some parents fear long arm of school-resource officers

Community members are calling for the Phoenix Union High School District to implement a policy to keep school-resource officers from complying with Arizona's new immigration law.

Their concern is that the sworn police officers assigned to campuses will be arresting students or their family members who are in the country illegally. School officials sought to assure residents that would not occur.

At a meeting this week, Eve Aguirre, a parent in the Phoenix Union district, demanded the district adopt a policy of non-compliance in the wake of Senate Bill 1070, saying the strict new immigration law negatively affects young people. The law takes effect July 29, four days before the first day of school.

Who Should Attend | Spelman College

Who Should Attend | Spelman College: What is the Leadership and Women of Color Conference?

This leadership conference provides critical research, proven strategies and best practices for creating and sustaining authentic and ethical leadership. Private and public sector thought leaders, from multicultural communities, will explore the importance of civility in strengthening America, community by community, workforce by work force, and leader by leader. In doing so, the conference presents the case for “Building Civil Communities for Change” by examining:

* The importance of women in building and sustaining civil societies
* The influence of civility on public discourse and behaviors of individuals and groups

* The role of media in promoting and fostering civility
* How to leverage civility to strengthen and elevate the workplace
* Case studies demonstrating the power of civility in leadership


The Conference, organized by the Spelman College Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement (LEADS), is a positive environment for stimulating dialogue as well as a professional development opportunity for individuals and organizational teams.

Report: Advancement for Black Football Coaches Tied Heavily to Diverse Contacts

Report: Advancement for Black Football Coaches Tied Heavily to Diverse Contacts: In the world of college football coaching, it’s not just “who you know” and how well you know them that factor in career advancement opportunities but what’s their race, according to a new study by North Carolina State University researchers.

White college football coaches who have a number of “strong social ties” and a mostly White network tend to succeed in securing new jobs. Black coaches generate no such benefit from same-race networks, according to a study on assistant football coaches’ social networks published in Sociological Spectrum.

The findings in “Not So Fast, My Friend: Social Capital and the Race Disparity in Promotions Among College Football Coaches” help explain the relationship between networking and the low number of African-Americans in head coaching positions.

Latino and Civil Rights Groups Announce Arizona Boycott

Latino and Civil Rights Groups Announce Arizona Boycott: WASHINGTON – The National Council de la Raza along with other national civil rights and labor organizations announced a boycott against Arizona to remain in effect until the state’s “oppressive and odious” immigration law is repealed or Congress passes immigration reform.

During a press conference at the Washington, D.C., headquarters of the Latino advocacy organization, NCLR President Janet Murguia said the council is asking all affiliated organizations to cancel major events and conventions in the state as a show of solidarity.

“Our system is broken, but this Arizona law is not the answer,” Murguia said. “Our immigration system should reflect both our nation’s interests and values.”

Last month, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed the nation’s toughest state immigration enforcement measure directing local police to enforce federal laws and to arrest anyone “reasonably suspected” of being an undocumented immigrant.