Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Asia and Ashley Matthew: Excellence Times Two - Higher Education

Asia and Ashley Matthew: Excellence Times Two - Higher Education: Growing up in Boston’s predominantly Black Roxbury neighborhood, twins Asia and Ashley Matthew began to understand that they wanted to improve the medical prognosis for underserved residents of low-income communities.

When they moved to Quincy, Mass., at age 13 and matriculated at Quincy High School, they had a choice of colleges. They selected Xavier University of Louisiana, the nation’s only historically Black Catholic university and an institution known for its STEM programs and its annual number-one national ranking for sending the most African-Americans to medical schools.

After graduating from Xavier this year with 4.0 GPAs in both pre-med and chemistry, Asia and Ashley, now 22, are now enrolled in the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

But there’s more.

Black Culture Center Directors Battling Apathy on Campus - Higher Education

Black Culture Center Directors Battling Apathy on Campus - Higher Education: Less than two weeks before the nation was to decide whether to re-elect President Barack Obama, the Association of Black Culture Centers Annual Conference examined what it means to be “Black in the age of Obama.”

Whether the age of Obama and the idea of a post-racial America draws to a close after Nov. 6 or continues until 2016, Black culture center directors say one of their biggest challenges is harnessing the energy of Black students on their campuses.

“There’s a lot of apathy as it relates to being Black or African-American at our colleges and universities,” said Tracy Adams-Peters, director of Inclusive Excellence at the University of Denver’s Center of Multicultural Excellence.

Why is baseball striking out in the black community? - The Washington Post

Why is baseball striking out in the black community? - The Washington Post: At a pee-wee football team practice in my neighborhood — before Hurricane Sandy turned the field into a lake — I stood on the sidelines with coaches talking about . . . baseball. We’d noticed that the field didn’t have a baseball backstop, only football goal posts, which set off an impromptu memorial for the death of baseball in the black community.

“Remember when every sport had its own season, and we played them all?” said Antonio Maffett, coach of the Fort Washington Stallions football team in Prince George’s County. “We’d play baseball anywhere — vacant lots, streets, alleys — and we’d use broomstick handles and socks wrapped in twine.”

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Census: Black South African household incomes surge but lag behind whites | The Raw Story

Census: Black South African household incomes surge but lag behind whites | The Raw Story: Incomes of black South African households have surged 169 percent in a decade, but whites still take home six times more money 18 years into all-race democracy, a national census showed Tuesday.

The country’s third democratic survey Census 2011 highlighted apartheid-era inequalities despite blacks making up nearly 80 percent of the 51.8 million-strong population and whites less than ten percent people.

“These figures tell us that at the bottom of the rung is the black majority who continue to be confronted by deep poverty, unemployment and inequality, despite the progress that we have made since 1994,” said President Jacob Zuma.

The ‘X’ Factor: Why female athletes are more likely to suffer career-ending injuries - Higher Education

The ‘X’ Factor: Why female athletes are more likely to suffer career-ending injuries - Higher Education: Imagine the scene: an athlete laid out on the floor in the fetal position with both hands clasped over her knee. Screams fill the air, and tears fall from her eyes as the pain is so intense that it almost defies explanation.

Sports have become an integral part of the developmental experience of many of today’s youth. Since the implementation of Title IX, more young girls and women have begun to play sports and see those sports as a possible career path. Tennis, basketball and soccer all have professional sports leagues for women, and many more sports offer women the ability to pursue their dreams through the highest levels of competition like swimming, gymnastics, track and field, volleyball, etc.

However, this increased participation in athletics has come with an increase in sports-related injuries. One injury in particular has been troublesome for women — the torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).

Monday, October 29, 2012

Denver Area Doctor Makes Breakthrough on Down Syndrome - Higher Education

Denver Area Doctor Makes Breakthrough on Down Syndrome - Higher Education: AURORA, Colo. — Dr. Alberto Costa’s discovery that a drug might help the memory of people with Down syndrome was more than just a breakthrough for him as a scientist.

His daughter, Tyche, was born with the chromosomal condition 17 years ago. The clinical trial that he recently completed, producing cautiously encouraging results about a drug called memantine, was part of a journey that began with her birth.

Costa found that little brain science had been done on people with the abnormality. There was a “huge focus,” he says, on preventing their births. His wife, Daisy, had declined the pre-natal testing that might have uncovered Tyche’s condition because testing had spurred a miscarriage of a previous pregnancy.

The birth of Costa’s daughter, named after the Greek goddess of fortune and chance, wound up reconfiguring his life and his career.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

AP poll: A slight majority of Americans are now expressing negative view of blacks - The Washington Post

AP poll: A slight majority of Americans are now expressing negative view of blacks - The Washington Post: Racial attitudes have not improved in the four years since the United States elected its first black president, an Associated Press poll finds, as a slight majority of Americans now express prejudice toward blacks whether they recognize those feelings or not.

Those views could cost President Barack Obama votes as he tries for re-election, the survey found, though the effects are mitigated by some people’s more favorable views of blacks.

Racial prejudice has increased slightly since 2008 whether those feelings were measured using questions that explicitly asked respondents about racist attitudes, or through an experimental test that measured implicit views toward race without asking questions about that topic directly.

Friday, October 26, 2012

Survey: Minority Faculty Feel More Stress - Higher Education

Survey: Minority Faculty Feel More Stress - Higher Education: Minority faculty members experience stress more frequently than their White peers, largely because of perceived discrimination and worries about personal finance, a new survey released Wednesday by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA shows.

A lead author of a report about the survey—formally known as the Undergraduate Teaching Faculty: The 2010–2011 HERI Faculty Survey—attributed the higher levels of reported stress among minority faculty to the fact that minority faculty tend to have lower rank in the world of academe.

“If you’re in a powerless position, you’re even more powerless if you don’t have tenure,” said professor Sylvia Hurtado, director of HERI. “If you feel that you’re marginalized and you don’t have the stability of job security, you’re going to feel much more vulnerable.”

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Female Grads Earn 82 Cents on Dollar for Male Peers, One Year After College - ABC News

Female Grads Earn 82 Cents on Dollar for Male Peers, One Year After College - ABC News: The gender pay gap starts right away in a woman's career, with female college graduates earning 82 cents on the dollar that male peers earn, only one year out of college.

The pay gap has been recognized for years as evidence of gender disparity, sparking a discussion during the second presidential election.

Mitt Romney's now oft-quoted line about "binders full of women," refers to his request as Massachusetts governor to review female applicants for a cabinet position.

The American Association of University Women (AAUW) analyzed the most recent data from the Department of Education to study college graduates one year after leaving college who were working full-time.

The sample included 15,000 students who received a bachelor degree between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2008 and who responded to a survey in 2009.

Deans See Families as Key to Recruiting Hispanic Students - Higher Education

Deans See Families as Key to Recruiting Hispanic Students - Higher Education: When it comes to the recruitment and retention of Hispanic students, start early and be sure to get the student’s entire family involved.

Those bits of advice ranked high among the plethora of tips offered at the first annual Deans’ Forum on Hispanic Higher Education.

The event drew deans from across the country—from New Mexico to New York—to tackle some of the most pressing issues that confront institutions of higher learning as they seek to serve increasing numbers of Hispanic students.

“There are a lot of students who are first-generation, low-income students for whom college may as well be located on the moon,” said John Moder, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, or HACU.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Global Gender Gap Report 2012: The Best And Worst Countries For Women

Global Gender Gap Report 2012: The Best And Worst Countries For Women: Gender equality has been more of a national focus than usual in the United States over the past few months, thanks to the 2012 presidential election. Republican nominee Mitt Romney recently discussed the "binders full of women" that he tried to hire when he was governor of Massachusetts, and President Barack Obama touched upon the importance of "protecting women's rights" around the world during the third and final presidential debate Monday.

But how does the United States stack up against other countries when it comes to said gender equality? According to the 2012 Global Gender Gap Report, released on October 23rd by the World Economic Forum, we're only 22nd best.

Native American activists criticize ‘Dr. Phil’ for adoption episode | The Raw Story

Native American activists criticize ‘Dr. Phil’ for adoption episode | The Raw Story: Native American advocates are denouncing talk show host Philip “Dr. Phil” McGraw for a recent episode dealing with the adoption of the daughter of a member of the Cherokee Nation.

A spokesperson for the National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) told The Raw Story McGraw and his production staff slanted the Oct. 18 episode to portray the child’s father, Dusten Brown, in a negative light, despite assurances to the contrary both before and after the episode was taped in late September.

Attempts to get a comment from Peteski Productions, the company that produces The Dr. Phil Show, were not returned.

Educational Debt, Disenfranchisement Factors in African-American Male Achievement Gap - Higher Education

Educational Debt, Disenfranchisement Factors in African-American Male Achievement Gap - Higher Education: I grew up in a church whose pastor had a heart for seeking and saving Black men. Many of my best friends graduated from Morehouse College, a school dedicated to the same. So as long as I can remember, I have heard about and fully believed in the importance of surrounding and supporting and ensuring the success of Black men. When I met Arlethia Perry-Johnson, program director of the University System of Georgia’s African-American Male Initiative at the program’s 10th anniversary conference last month, I immediately identified with her mission and supported the initiative’s aim.

Some things that I found interesting from the conference include the fact that Black males largely attribute their success to mothers, friends/life partners. For our Black men, it is that familiar support that they say gets them through to success, but, for their White counterparts, the same is often attributed to the support of academic advisers.

North Carolina HBCU Students Embrace Technology to Discuss Foreign Policy - Higher Education

North Carolina HBCU Students Embrace Technology to Discuss Foreign Policy - Higher Education: DURHAM, N.C. — With the recent explosion of social media, it’s no surprise that many of the biggest issues of the 2012 presidential campaign have been raised and examined through that medium. This has been especially true of the presidential debates, when, within seconds, phrases like #FireBigBird, #BindersOfWomen and #HorsesAndBayonets instantly became household phrases and dominated news cycles.

Like millions of others, North Carolina Central University’s Stefan Weathers has been paying very close attention to the debates between President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. The Charlotte, N.C., native said he has definitely noticed a significant amount of political discussion in his own online social network.

“My Twitter timeline has been flooded with people tweeting about the issues,” he said. “You will see #Debate2012 tweets and things like that.”

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

UTEP Digging Deeper Into Data to Get to Root of Course Failure - Higher Education

UTEP Digging Deeper Into Data to Get to Root of Course Failure - Higher Education: Whenever a semester ends at the University of Texas at El Paso, Donna Ekal, Associate Provost in the Office for Undergraduate Studies, asks the registrar to create a spreadsheet that lists all the students who failed a first-semester course.

Then she begins to investigate the reasons behind the F’s. The explanations vary, and not all of them have to do with what does or doesn’t go on in class.

“Students were failing a class but they weren’t failing for academic reasons,” Ekal said she has found.

At UTEP, where roughly three out of four students are Hispanic and many are residents of nearby Mexico, the factors ranged, she said, from family obligations, such as students being the only English-speaker in their home and having to serve as an interpreter for a relative during a doctor’s visit, to problems with transportation or having to work a significant amount of time off campus.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Louisiana woman set on fire, ‘KKK’ painted on her car | The Raw Story

Louisiana woman set on fire, ‘KKK’ painted on her car | The Raw Story: Police in Winnsboro, Louisiana confirmed on Monday that a woman had been set on fire over the weekend and racial slurs were found scrawled on her car.

Sharmeka Moffitt told police that she was attacked and burned by three men wearing white hoodies at a park in Franklin Parish on Sunday, according to KNOE.

At a press conference on Monday, police said that the letters “KKK” were spray-painted on the hood of her car.

Winnsboro Police Chief Kevin Cobb said that the FBI was investigating whether the incident was a hate crime, but authorities declined to classify the attack as racially motivated on Monday. The Franklin Parish Sheriff, Louisiana State Police and the state fire Marshall’s office were also participating in the investigation.

A friend of the Moffitt family told KNOE that the victim had burns on 90 percent of her body and was currently in stable condition at the LSU-Shreveport hospital.

Russell Means, Indian activist, actor, dies at 72

Russell Means, Indian activist, actor, dies at 72: SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Russell Means, a former American Indian Movement activist who helped lead the 1973 uprising at Wounded Knee, reveled in stirring up attention and appeared in several Hollywood films, has died. He was 72.

Means died early Monday at his ranch in in Porcupine, S.D., Oglala Sioux Tribe spokeswoman Donna Solomon said.

Means, a Wanblee native who grew up in the San Francisco area, announced in August 2011 that he had developed inoperable throat cancer. He told The Associated Press he was forgoing mainstream medical treatments in favor of traditional American Indian remedies and alternative treatments away from his home on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Means was an early leader of AIM and led its armed occupation of the South Dakota town of Wounded Knee, a 71-day siege that included several gunbattles with federal officers. He was often embroiled in controversy, partly because of AIM's alleged involvement in the 1975 slaying of Annie Mae Aquash. But Means was also known for his role in the movie "The Last of the Mohicans" and had run unsuccessfully for the Libertarian nomination for president in 1988.

HACU Urges Institutional Leaders to be Proactive, Scrutinize Programs - Higher Education

HACU Urges Institutional Leaders to be Proactive, Scrutinize Programs - Higher Education: Despite record levels of enrollment among Latinos in higher education, institutional leaders must create a “culture of evidence” in order to advance Latino student success.

That was the heart of message delivered this weekend by Dr. Frank Sanchez, vice chancellor for student affairs at The City University of New York (CUNY).

“It’s not just collecting data and analyzing data,” Sanchez said Saturday during a speech titled “Latino Student Success: Evidence Informing Policies & Practices.”

“We have to disseminate our data to the campus community, and then we have to determine where we can take action,” Sanchez said. “This is going to have to be a standard practice.”

Sanchez made his remarks as keynote speaker at the 11th Annual Latino Higher Education Leadership Institute held by the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, or HACU. The leadership institute is part of HACU’s annual conference, which wraps up Monday.

Core Case for Maryland HBCUs in Judge’s Hands Now - Higher Education

Core Case for Maryland HBCUs in Judge’s Hands Now - Higher Education: Lawyers representing a coalition of supporters of Historically Black Colleges (HBCUs) in Maryland and attorneys for the State of Maryland made their final legal arguments Friday in a federal court trial whose outcome could have widespread implications. A ruling here could impact other states where supporters of public HBCUs claim they have not been equitably funded or allowed to enhance their missions in ways that rid them of policies and practices traceable to the era of legal racial segregation in higher education.

In asking the court to find in its favor, The Coalition for Equality and Excellence in Maryland Higher Education is asking federal Judge Catherine Blake to find the Maryland Higher Education Commission has failed to rid the public higher education system of funding policies and practices traceable to the era of de jure (legally racially separate) policies.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Abigail Fisher: A Generation's Sense of Entitlement

Abigail Fisher: A Generation's Sense of Entitlement: Abigail Fisher is a puppet, nothing more than the latest Pinocchio to Edward Blum's Geppetto. She may be the vessel, but it is Blum who is the driving force of Fisher v. University of Texas -- the current Supreme Court case that may lend the fatal blow to affirmative action for which staunch conservatives have longed. He recruited her through his legal defense fund group, Project on Fair Representation, which he's used to fight race-focused legislation for two decades now. The legal fees are reportedly paid through support of DonorsTrust, a group that has directed millions of dollars to the Koch brothers' Americans for Prosperity Foundation.

Together they're dressing up her bitterness at being rejected from her first-choice college as the need to stop "discrimination" in college admissions. That's a cute little tale, but in actuality all of this boils down to someone operating under the unfortunate assumption that just because you work for something, it is owed to you. Working hard toward a goal doesn't automatically mean you deserve to achieve it.

U.S. civil rights groups ask international election monitors for assistance | The Raw Story

U.S. civil rights groups ask international election monitors for assistance | The Raw Story: American civil rights groups have appealed to the world’s biggest election monitoring organisation over concerns about controversial changes in voter registration ahead of the November 6 White House poll.

The eight civil rights group expressed their worry that millions, including those on low income as well as minorities, could be excluded from the vote for the presidency and for members of Congress.

They raised the issues during a meeting on Tuesday in Washington with representatives from the Organisation of Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which represents 56 states in Europe, Central Asia and North America.
The OSCE is likely to refer to the concerns in an interim report on the US elections out at the end of next week. It is also expected to pass on the views of the civil rights groups to its team of international observers who are being sent to monitor elections in 40 states.
The OSCE opened its observer mission in the US on October 9, led by OSCE ambassador Daan Everts. It has 13 international experts based in DC and 44 long-term observers from 23 countries being deployed throughout the country.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Backlash for Disney's first Latina princess - CNN.com

Backlash for Disney's first Latina princess - CNN.com: Move over Pocahontas and Mulan. Sofia esta aqui.

Disney's first Latina princess, featured in the movie "Sofia the First: Once Upon A Princess," has received backlash as well as support from media outlets, especially the Latino community. Is Disney's new princess a milestone for Latinos or a culturally irrelevant character?

Disney's spokeswoman provided a recent statement to CNN to help clarify what exactly makes "Princess Sofia" Latina:

"The range of characters in 'Sofia the First' -- and the actors who play them -- are a reflection of Disney's commitment to diverse, multicultural and inclusive storytelling, and the wonderful early reaction to 'Sofia' affirms that commitment. In the story, Sofia's mother, Queen Miranda, was born in a fictitious land, Galdiz, a place with Latin influences. Miranda met Sofia's father, Birk Balthazar, who hailed from the kingdom of Freezenberg, and together they moved to Enchancia, where Sofia was born."
Jake Finkbonner was so close to death after flesh-eating bacteria infected him through a cut on his lip that his parents had last rites performed and were discussing donating the 5-year-old's tiny organs.

Jake's 2006 cure from the infection was deemed medically inexplicable by the Vatican, the "miracle" needed to propel a 17th century Native American, Kateri Tekakwitha, on to sainthood. Kateri will be canonized on Sunday along with six other people, the first Native American to receive the honor.

Jake is fully convinced, as is the church, that the prayers his family and community offered to Kateri, including the placement of a relic of the soon-to-be saint on Jake's leg, were responsible for his survival.

For Minority Students at Elite New York Private Schools, Admittance Doesn’t Bring Acceptance - NYTimes.com

For Minority Students at Elite New York Private Schools, Admittance Doesn’t Bring Acceptance - NYTimes.com: ...There is no doubt that New York City’s most prestigious private schools have made great strides in diversifying their student bodies. In classrooms where, years ago, there might have been one or two brown faces, today close to one-third of the students are of a minority. During the 2011-12 school year, 29.8 percent of children at the city’s private schools were minority students, including African-American, Hispanic and Asian children, according to the National Association of Independent Schools, up from 21.4 percent a decade ago. (Nationally, the figure was 26.6 percent for the same period, up from 18.5 percent 10 years before.)

But schools’ efforts to attract minority students haven’t always been matched by efforts to truly make their experience one of inclusion, students and school administrators say. Pervading their experience, the students say, is the gulf between those with seemingly endless wealth and resources and those whose families are struggling, a divide often reflected by race.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Institutions Strive to Meet Enrollment Goals - Higher Education

Institutions Strive to Meet Enrollment Goals - Higher Education:

Lena Martinez-Watts

An open letter to students of color:

The Supreme Court has heard Fisher v. University of Texas, a case about the use of race as a factor in college admissions. Although the court will be examining a unique admissions system, where the bulk of students are admitted under a “race-blind” admissions program called the top 10 percent plan, most commentators are framing the issues broadly and speculating that the court could use this case to mark the end of affirmative action in college admissions.

This case means that race and the educational achievement gap are going to be all over the news and the subject of public “discourse” dressed up as a violent turf war. As a student of color, this means that you, your qualifications and your race could become the subject of scrutiny and potentially tried daily by a jury of your peers. My prayer is that you will have intelligent, well-informed, respectful discussions at a time that is mutually convenient for you and those with whom you choose to discuss these topics.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Florida Education officials defend race and ethnicity based learning goals

Florida Education officials defend race and ethnicity based learning goals: Florida Board of Education officials say that goals for student achievement based on race and ethnicity have been widely misinterpreted.

Last week, the Florida Board of Education approved a strategic plan that set different goals for student achievement in math and reading based on race and ethnicity for 2018. They were met with criticism and the plan was condemned for being discriminatory towards blacks and Hispanics.

But Florida Education officials say the goal is for all students to read and do math at grade level by 2023. The targeted levels for 2018 are only a step in a larger process.

“This is a snapshot of roughly halfway through that 10-year mark,” Pam Stewart, the Florida education commissioner told the New York Times. “The 100 percent is the ultimate goal and that is stated within the strategic plan.”

Remembering Andrew Brimmer - Higher Education

Remembering Andrew Brimmer - Higher Education: First meeting Dr. Andrew F. Brimmer in 1985, I was as excited as a distant fan who finally meets a rock star, but I came to know him, not only as the intellectual giant he surely was, but as a supportive mentor, a caring friend and family man as well as a civic leader who was also deeply concerned about the socio-economic development of the Black community.

I likely learned about Dr. Brimmer’s historic appointment as the first African-American to serve on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from my Oberlin College professor, Thomas Dernburg, who had served as staff on former President Johnson’s Council of Economic Advisors. At the University of Michigan, Professor Paul W. McCracken, who had served as a chair of President Nixon’s Council of Economic Advisors, praised Dr. Brimmer’s work during a Ph.D. forum. Naturally, I was quite impressed when, while assisting my mentor Dr. Alfred L. Edwards, I observed that he received a call for a freelance consulting job from the renowned Dr. Brimmer.

Three Mississippi HBCUs Finding Diversity Fuels Their Mission - Higher Education

Three Mississippi HBCUs Finding Diversity Fuels Their Mission - Higher Education: Mississippi’s three historically Black universities, like other HBCUs around the country, are gradually becoming more diverse, and their administrators say the shift in enrollment is enhancing their mission, not detracting from it.

One of them, Alcorn State, is the first and only HBCU in Mississippi to reach a court-mandated goal of having 10 percent non-Black enrollment for three consecutive years. But Alcorn isn’t stopping there.

“While we have fulfilled what the court required … we are not content that we have addressed all of the issues of underrepresented groups on campus, not only that those groups begin to appear but that they feel they have community and a voice on our campus,” Alcorn President M. Christopher Brown II told Diverse in a recent interview.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Who is behind the latest effort to end the consideration of race in college admissions? - Higher Education

Who is behind the latest effort to end the consideration of race in college admissions? - Higher Education: The homepage of the Project on Fair Representation (POFR) features a smiling photo of Abigail Fisher, the young White woman at the center of Fisher v. the University of Texas, which could end race as a criterion in university admissions.

Edward Blum, founder of POFR, a conservative advocacy group, connected Fisher with Wiley Rein LLP, the Washington, D.C., law firm that will argue her case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Fisher claims that UT discriminated against her because she is White. But the closely-watched case is more than one young White woman’s challenge to UT’s admissions policy because she was rejected. The lawsuit is part of a concerted effort to end race-conscious policies — from universities to the workplace.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Bernette Johnson Set To Become Louisiana's First Black Chief Justice

Bernette Johnson Set To Become Louisiana's First Black Chief Justice: The Louisiana Supreme Court resolved a racially tinged power struggle inside its own ranks, ruling Tuesday that Bernette Johnson should be the state's first black chief justice.

Johnson's years of appointed and elected service on the high court give her the seniority to succeed Chief Justice Catherine "Kitty" Kimball early next year, the court said in a unanimous ruling. Justice Jeffrey Victory, who is white, argued Johnson's appointed service shouldn't count and he deserved to be chief justice.

Voters elected Johnson in 1994 to the state appeals court, and she was assigned to the Supreme Court as part of settlement of an earlier lawsuit that claimed the system for electing justices diluted black voting strength and violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Monday, October 15, 2012

NAACP leaders urge yes vote on same-sex marriage - baltimoresun.com

NAACP leaders urge yes vote on same-sex marriage - baltimoresun.com: Leaders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on Monday urged Maryland voters to cast ballots in favor of same-sex marriage, saying it is a civil rights issue, not a theological one.

Benjamin Jealous, national president the organization, drew on the history of civil rights, and that of his own family, to make the case for marriage equality.

"This is question of what side of history do you want to be on," he said. He referred to the marriage of his parents, an inter-racial couple. "My parents were married in 1966 in Washington, D.C. They were married in D.C. because it was against the law for them to be married here in this great state," Jealous said.

More Asian-Americans Seeking Higher Political Office : NPR

More Asian-Americans Seeking Higher Political Office : NPR: More Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders are running for Congress than ever before. A total of 36, including incumbents, launched campaigns this year — more than double the number from a record set just two years ago

Of those, a record 21 contenders — 18 Democrats and three Republicans — claimed victories in their primaries and are now vying to represent districts across the nation.

The candidates running are a mosaic that includes both first and second generation Asian-Americans. Many have roots to India and Japan, and most, but not all, are Democrats.

A Seat At The Table
The dramatic jump in candidates brands this election year as a potential milestone for Asian-Americans in politics, says California Democrat Judy Chu, who in 2009 became the first Chinese woman elected to Congress.
"Asian Americans are finally seeing that it can be done," she says. "We are finally bearing fruit."
Candidates are building upon legacies of pioneers like Congressman Daniel K. Inouye, the most senior member of the U.S. Senate, and the labors of newer figures like Joseph Cao from Louisiana, the first Vietnamese-American to serve in Congress.

How Many Slaves Came to America? Fact vs. Fiction

How Many Slaves Came to America? Fact vs. Fiction: (The Root) -- Amazing Fact About the Negro No. 1: How many Africans were taken to the United States during the entire history of the slave trade?

Perhaps you, like me, were raised essentially to think of the slave experience primarily in terms of our black ancestors here in the United States. In other words, slavery was primarily about us, right, from Crispus Attucks and Phillis Wheatley, Benjamin Banneker and Richard Allen, all the way to Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass. Think of this as an instance of what we might think of as African-American exceptionalism. (In other words, if it's in "the black Experience," it's got to be about black Americans.) Well, think again.

The most comprehensive analysis of shipping records over the course of the slave trade is the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database, edited by professors David Eltis and David Richardson. (While the editors are careful to say that all of their figures are estimates, I believe that they are the best estimates that we have, the proverbial "gold standard" in the field of the study of the slave trade.)

Colorism in Our Culture

Colorism in Our Culture: Growing up, one woman learned that there was a stark difference between darker and lighter skin colors in the African-American community. Washington Post contributor Marita Golden, author of Don't Play in the Sun: One Woman's Journey Through the Color Complex, says that despite the strides blacks have made in America, both those in her generation and those younger are still at odds with colorism in contemporary culture.

"When I was in high school a girl told me I acted like I didn't know I was dark-skinned, and wondered where I got my pride and dignity from," one said.  The other told us about her daughter, who has been mistaken for every nationality from Greek to Spanish: "My daughter hears all the time from black boys that they would never marry a girl darker than she is." My friend's daughter also attends a respected HBCU and has shared with her mother stories of female classmates physically assaulting one another in the wake of verbal colorist insults.

And long before our dinner other sisters shared similar stories with me:

"I was shocked to learn, the day after my grandson was born, that my daughter had been, as she said 'praying that he'd come out light, like his father, not dark like me.'  "As a light-skinned woman, brown-skinned women tell me all the time that I'm not a ‘real sister,' and sometimes even that I can't be trusted because I'm light."

Friday, October 12, 2012

Deferred Action Approved For 4,600 Undocumented Immigrants

Deferred Action Approved For 4,600 Undocumented Immigrants: Nearly 4,600 young undocumented immigrants have been granted deferred action under the Obama administration, lifting their fears of being deported and allowing them to work legally, according to figures released by the Department of Homeland Security on Friday.

The speed with which DHS processes deferred action applications has renewed importance in light of remarks by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who said last week that he would end the deferred action policy but honor the applications already approved under the Obama administration.

Romney's campaign confirmed that those still in line for deferred action wouldn't be given consideration if he became president, meaning many undocumented immigrants with pending applications would be left in the cold.

That could affect a lot of people. DHS noted that the pace of these early acceptances isn't necessarily reflective of how quickly the rest of the decisions will be made. While the 4,600 applications were approved within two months of submission, the department predicts the average time to process requests will be four to six months, spokesman Peter Boogaard said in a statement.

Native American Tribe's Battle Over Beer Brews : NPR

Native American Tribe's Battle Over Beer Brews : NPR: Anheuser-Busch, Pabst and MillerCoors are among the big beer makers the Oglala Sioux tribe has accused of illegally selling millions of cans of beer each year in Whiteclay, Neb. The town borders Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, which is located across the state line in South Dakota and is dry.

The Oglala Sioux's federal case was thrown out, but the tribe will likely go to state court now.

Lying on sidewalks in Whiteclay, passed out against storefronts day and night, are some Native Americans who come here every day to drink. The town has just one central road, a grocery, a couple of abandoned buildings and four liquor stores. Each year, those four stores sell what amounts to 4 million cans of beer.

And who lives in Whiteclay? According to the latest census: 11 people. That's right. Only 11 residents in a town that sells 4 million cans of beer each year.

Report: Despite Outpacing Men in Educational Attainment, Women’s Pay Still Lagging - Higher Education

Report: Despite Outpacing Men in Educational Attainment, Women’s Pay Still Lagging - Higher Education: While the newly released U.S. Census Bureau report on income and poverty rates in the United States shows a persistent gender gap in earnings with women lagging behind men, educational attainment paints a different picture.

On college campuses throughout the country, women typically outnumber men—especially in the African-American community. Even with college degrees working in favor of women, there is a distinct disparity in translating education into income.

According to the report, the data show that, for 2011, there were 58 million men who were year-round, full-time employees compared to 43.7 million women. Men who worked full time, all year round had average earnings of $48,202. For women the average earnings for year-round, full-time workers were $37,118. Women on average earned about 77 cents on the dollar compared to men.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

White Student Union: Towson University Student Matthew Heimbach Discusses Controversial Group On HuffPost Live (VIDEO)

White Student Union: Towson University Student Matthew Heimbach Discusses Controversial Group On HuffPost Live (VIDEO): The student behind a controversial White Student Union at Towson University claims that the group is necessary to fight "inherent anti-white bias in academia and mainstream society."

The group, started by Towson senior Matthew Heimbach, has sparked a debate about the balance between students' First Amendment rights and clamping down on what many have condemned as racism at the Maryland University.

Heimbach is described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a "white nationalist" who has argued black hate crimes against whites exponentially outnumber white-on-black hate crimes.

Is It Racist to Focus on Race? | Mother Jones

Is It Racist to Focus on Race? | Mother Jones: Three white lawyers argued before a mostly white Supreme Court on Wednesday about whether the University of Texas-Austin's admissions process—designed to diversify its student body—discriminated against a white applicant.

Abigail Fisher, the 22-year-old who says she was denied the education she wanted because she is white, wouldn't have gotten in anyway—her grades and scores weren't good enough, at least according to UT. Fisher graduated from Louisiana State University earlier this year, but she still wants her UT application fee back because, her attorney argued, her rights were violated by a process that saw her as a racial category rather than a human being. Fisher's tale doesn't exactly have the gravity of Linda Brown walking a mile out of her way to attend school because the state of Kansas saw black people as racially inferior to white people, but for some critics of affirmative action it's almost the same thing. After all, half of white people in the United States see racism against whites as just as much of a problem as racism against minorities.

Denying girls school entrenches poverty: report | The Raw Story

Denying girls school entrenches poverty: report | The Raw Story: Millions of girls worldwide are not going to school, an education gap that condemns them to lives of hardship and entrenches broader extreme poverty, a new report said Thursday.

The report, “Because I am a Girl: The State of the World’s Girls 2012,” was released in New York by Plan International on the United Nation’s first International Day of the Girl.

“The estimated 75 million girls missing from classrooms across the world is a major violation of rights and a huge waste of young potential,” the child poverty alleviation group said in launching the report.

A total of one in three girls is denied education, but Plan’s report focuses especially on the 39 million girls aged between 11 and 15, right on the cusp of becoming young women, who are out of school.

The report — which coincided with the news this week of a 14-year-old Pakistani girl gunned down for her criticism of Taliban campaigns against girl’s education — underlined the hugely positive impact that school can have on girls in poor countries.

Finally, After 8 Seasons, South Africa's Version Of 'Idol' Gets Its First Black Winner | Shadow and Act

Finally, After 8 Seasons, South Africa's Version Of 'Idol' Gets Its First Black Winner | Shadow and Act: So what took so long? After all, we're talking about a country in which roughly 80 percent of the population is black, yet it's taken 8 seasons in 10 years (the show debuted on South African TV network M-Net in 2002) for a black South African winner to be crowned.

Well, let's start with decades of apartheid which enforced racial segregation, curtailed the rights of blacks, and maintained white supremacy, creating deep, and still lingering imbalances in wealth that made the country one of the most unequal in the world.

And for that reason... as the program has long and continues to be broadcast on South Africa’s M-Net network (via DStv), a subscription-based private satellite channel, the subscriber base has largely been white, because blacks in the country haven't been able afford the necessary subscription fees (although that's gradually changing, as more black people are able to afford luxuries like satellite TV); and since winners are selected by votes from audiences, with a predominantly white subscription base, it should be maybe no surprise that the winners selected each of the last 7 seasons have been predominantly white (there has been 1 mixed-race winner).

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Brazil Supreme Court gets first black president: official | The Raw Story

Brazil Supreme Court gets first black president: official | The Raw Story: Joaquim Barbosa, the tough justice overseeing Brazil’s high-profile corruption trial, was officially nominated president of the Supreme Court, the first black to assume the post.

In a plenary session, the court’s 10 justices picked the 58-year-old Barbosa, the most senior member, to assume the rotating presidency for a two-year term.

He will formally take his post in the coming weeks.

In a country, where more than half of the 194-million-strong population is of African descent, Barbosa is the only black on the court.

The low-key justice has shot to fame as the most vocal critic of the congressional vote-buying scheme laid bare in the ongoing “Mensalao” (big monthly payments) trial of former top aides of ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva;
Tuesday, six of the court’s 10 judges found Lula’s ex-chief of staff Jose Dirceu guilty in connection with the scheme, which ran from 2002 to 2005 during the popular president’s first term.

Colleges Value Diversity, but Will the Court? - NYTimes.com

Colleges Value Diversity, but Will the Court? - NYTimes.com: The most anticipated case of the new Supreme Court term, to be argued on Wednesday, was brought by Abigail Noel Fisher, a white student who was denied admission to the University of Texas at Austin in 2008.

Ms. Fisher graduated from Louisiana State University this year, so there is good reason for the court to dismiss the case: her lawsuit is not a class action, and the only claim that remains is for the return of her $100 application fee. But eight justices (Elena Kagan is recused) will consider her contention that the University of Texas’ effort to create a racial mix in the student body that more closely matches that of the state population violates the Constitution’s equal protection clause and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

In 2008, the university admitted about four-fifths of its freshman class by automatically taking the top 10 percent of graduates from every public high school. The state adopted the strategy to increase minority admissions after the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit struck down race-conscious admissions there in 1996. But the university concluded that the 10 percent program left minority representation at too low a level for “the full benefits of diversity to occur.”

With Affirmative Action, India's Rich Gain School Slots Meant for Poor - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

With Affirmative Action, India's Rich Gain School Slots Meant for Poor - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: CHENNAI, India -- The two women both claim that affirmative action cost them coveted spots at elite public universities. Both cases have now reached the Supreme Court.

One of the women, Abigail Fisher, 22, who is white, says she was denied admission to the University of Texas based on her race, and on Wednesday, the United States Supreme Court is to hear her plea in what may be the year's most important decision. The other woman is from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, and two weeks ago the Indian Supreme Court ordered that she be admitted to medical school pending the outcome of a broader court review.

"When I came to know that I could not get into any medical college, I was really shocked," C. V. Gayathri, the Indian student, said in an interview. "I didn't speak to anyone for a week. I cried. I was very depressed."

Carroll F. Johnson, a Pioneering School Superintendent Who Led in School Integration, Is Dead at 99 | TC Media Center

Carroll F. Johnson, a Pioneering School Superintendent Who Led in School Integration, Is Dead at 99 | TC Media Center: Teachers College alumnus and former faculty member Carroll F. Johnson, who presided over integration of the White Plains, New York, school district – the first U.S. school system to voluntarily institute a racial desegregation plan, and subsequently a model for school integration efforts nationwide – has passed away at the age of 99.

Johnson, a Southerner who grew up on a farm in rural Georgia and was educated in a one-room schoolhouse, was a nationally revered figure who advised hundreds of school districts across the country on the hiring of superintendents, creating a blueprint for that process that ensured a voice for community members. During the volatile era of the 1960s and early 1970s, he also spoke widely on how to handle student unrest, particularly around racial issues.

For Judge in Firefighter Discrimination Case, an Evolving Opinion - NYTimes.com

For Judge in Firefighter Discrimination Case, an Evolving Opinion - NYTimes.com: One after another, nearly 150 white firefighters approached a lectern facing a federal judge and, voices sometimes trembling with anger, decried what they called a perversion of justice. Years of hard work to make it into the ranks of the department were being tossed aside to make way for unqualified minority candidates, they said, all in a questionable effort to end discrimination.

The target of their wrath sat silently before them: Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis of Federal District Court in Brooklyn, whose expansive rulings have forced the New York Fire Department — “a stubborn bastion of white male privilege,” in his words — to overhaul its practices to hire more minority candidates. 

One fireman, Sean Fitzgerald, bluntly accused the judge of playing a “social experiment” and questioned whether he was driven by “socioeconomic problems, personal ambition or inner guilt.”

Bringing My White Boyfriend Home to Mom - NYTimes.com

Bringing My White Boyfriend Home to Mom - NYTimes.com: Is interracial dating still such a big deal for people to grasp?

I posed the question to a group of my girlfriends one evening not long ago, as we sat on the rooftop of Latitude Bar and Grill, among a mixed crowd of 20-something professionals, sipping margaritas and enjoying the last days of a New York summer. The collective response was a nonchalant who cares, with all agreeing that the topic has been overly probed in the media. “Maybe it’s because we live here,” one friend said, “but it’s not a big deal.” 

We are a group of women of color who have all participated in interracial dating. It is inevitable, especially being single and living in New York City. All in our mid-20s, we live a reality that is a melting pot of mixing and mingling, people open to making connections with anyone who can hold down a good conversation. This can lead to multiple dates and that can lead to marriage. According to the Pew Research Center, interracial marriage rates are at an all-time high in the United States, with the percentage of couples exchanging vows across the color line more than doubling over the last 30 years.

Dymally broke racial barriers in Calif. politics - SFGate

 LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mervyn Dymally broke racial barriers during his more than four decades in California politics but also was dogged throughout his career by a variety of corruption allegations.

The Trinidad-born trailblazer who rose to become California's highest-ranking black politician died Sunday at age 86 in Los Angeles after a period of declining health, his wife said.

A self-described civil rights champion, Dymally decorated his Sacramento office with black-and-white pictures of Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez. He introduced the bill that lowered the voting age in California to 18 and wrote the resolution by which California ratified the Equal Rights Amendment.

He became California's first foreign-born black assemblyman in 1962, its first black state senator in 1966 and its first and only black lieutenant governor in 1974. He won a congressional seat in 1980, representing Compton and its surrounding area, one of the most solidly Democratic bastions in Los Angeles County.

Tuesday, October 09, 2012

At U. Of Texas, A Melting Pot Not Fully Blended : NPR

At U. Of Texas, A Melting Pot Not Fully Blended : NPR: On Wednesday, the Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in a landmark case about race and college admissions. In 2008, a white student named Abigail Fisher was denied admission to the University of Texas, Austin.

Fisher sued the university, claiming she was denied admission because of her race. Her suit, Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, could mean the end of admissions policies that take race into account.

The key argument in favor of affirmative action policies is the notion that diverse campuses benefit everyone. In previous cases, justices have ruled that a campus with a diverse student body promotes cross-racial understanding and a robust exchange of ideas, while also helping to break down stereotypes.

Today, University of Texas students say their diverse campus of 52,000 students does provide opportunities for students of different backgrounds to interact. But, some note, despite the racial and ethnic mix, divides and stereotypes still exist.

NYPD Cops Calls 16-Year-Old Harlem Student Named Alvin A 'F**king Mutt' During Stop-And-Frisk (VIDEO)

NYPD Cops Calls 16-Year-Old Harlem Student Named Alvin A 'F**king Mutt' During Stop-And-Frisk (VIDEO): In shocking new audio recording of the NYPD performing a stop-and-frisk of a 16-year-old Harlem student, police officers are heard calling the teenager a "fucking mutt," and threatening him with repeated violence.

The profanity-laced clip, obtained by The Nation , exposes extremely racist and violent attitudes held by the three plainclothes officers who stopped the student, named Alvin, simply because he "kept looking back" at them.

In the two-minute recording, Alvin is repeatedly heard asking the officers why they've stopped him, to which none of the officers provide a legitimate answer. Instead, the officers attempt to intimidate him with threats to "break [his] fucking arm" and punch him in the face.

At one point, an officer answers the teenager and tells him he's been stopped because he's a "fucking mutt."

Asian-American, Pacific Islanders Flying Under Radar as a Political Force - Higher Education

Asian-American, Pacific Islanders Flying Under Radar as a Political Force - Higher Education: In such a tight presidential race, Asian-American and Pacific Islanders would like to be the swing vote that can provide a margin of victory for somebody—if only anyone would pay attention.

Instead, it appears the AAPI voters have taken on the trait of their subgroup, the Pacific Islanders, the people and descendants of Oceania and its three regions: Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia.

When it comes to the area that includes the remote unincorporated American territories like American Samoa and Guam, most people have amnesia.

Ironically, one of the moments we are reminded of this oft-forgotten group comes during the political conventions, when the cameras pan or the picture cuts away to reveal the small delegations underneath the name banners declaring a real political presence.

Unfortunately, with no electoral votes allocated to the territories, it makes for a hollow political show.

At least they had their place at the conventions.

Goal of Increasing Diversity in Medical School Becoming Reality - Higher Education

Goal of Increasing Diversity in Medical School Becoming Reality - Higher Education: ...Given the disproportionately lower rates of wellness among people of color than among Whites—driven by everything from lack of finance to insufficient self-care to lingering distrust of mainly White-run medical institutions—Taylor has co-launched a campaign aimed at urging more students of color to pursue medicine and to create means of putting medical school within their reach.

Since its somewhat accidental launch—it all started with a Facebook collage of 131 Black women doctors thanking Disney for making Doc McStuffins a Black girl—the We Are Doc McStuffins Project & Artemis Medical Society has achieved a global membership of more than 2,400 female medical, osteopathic or naturopathic physicians. Ninety percent of them Black, while the rest are in other areas of medicine.

“I was just intuitively inclined toward becoming a doctor,” said Artemis Society co-founder Dr. Erikka Magra, who practices emergency medicine at the U.S. Naval Base in Naples, Italy. Coming up, she was one of a handful of Blacks in her San Diego schools. Her doctor was White and a wonderful caregiver. His race didn’t factor into her decision as much as her view of science as very cool stuff.

Monday, October 08, 2012

Supreme Court and Affirmative Action: Fisher Case a Chance to Reframe Issue

Supreme Court and Affirmative Action: Fisher Case a Chance to Reframe Issue: As the Supreme Court prepares to hear oral arguments this week in Fisher v. University of Texas, we can expect our country to descend into the now standard hand-wringing about affirmative action. But our conversations about Fisher, like those surrounding the Ricci v. DeStefano firefighter case four years ago and the Grutter v. Bollinger case nine years ago, will most likely avoid engaging the core questions that lie at the heart of whether and how affirmative action should be continued.

The blame for the inadequate nature of our conversation about affirmative action must be shared by civil rights organizations and right-wing groups. In the late '70s and early '80s, when right-wing groups and the Reagan Justice Department were engaged in a full-frontal attack on affirmative action, civil rights organizations were hard at work fighting the toughest cases in the courts. What civil rights organizations were not doing was fighting the right on the terrain of America's hearts and minds. Of course, civil rights leaders thought that they had fought that battle already. The civil rights movement was not just a monumental legal and legislative victory over institutionalized racism in the U.S.; it was also -- and perhaps more importantly -- a moral victory over the idea of white supremacy.

‘Columbusing’ black Washington - The Root DC Live - The Washington Post

‘Columbusing’ black Washington - The Root DC Live - The Washington Post: More than 500 years ago, Christopher Columbus showed up on the shores of the Bahamas. For many years, the Italian explorer was credited with “discovering” the New World. It’s understood now that his arrival was more invasion than discovery. The fact that Columbus is celebrated as a hero is widely protested in many places on this day.

And that act of “nouveau-Columbusing” — showing up someplace and acting as if history started the moment you arrived — is directly germane to the discussion of gentrification in the District.

Over the past month, I’ve sat on three panels discussing differentaspects of the changing qualities of Washington. And what’s clear to me is that, although the sting of displacement is understandably harsh, too many black Washingtonians are doing their own brand of nouveau-Columbusing when it comes to the history of the city.

Guinier: Affirmative Action Assessment Goes Down Wrong, Narrow Path - Higher Education

Guinier: Affirmative Action Assessment Goes Down Wrong, Narrow Path - Higher Education: As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to soon hear the case about whether race should be allowed to be used in college admissions, the attendant debate has caused many to lose sight of the broader purpose of higher education.

That was the criticism that Harvard law professor Lani Guinier levied Thursday during a panel discussion titled “Will Affirmative Action in College Admission Survive.”

Guinier was joined on the panel by Ward Connerly, a former University of California Regent and a longtime critic of race-conscious affirmative action.

Guinier said too much weight has been given to college entrance exam scores and public opinion about the merits of race-conscious affirmative action.

Black Male Incarceration Crisis: Transparency and Education Are Key in Effecting Change - Higher Education

Black Male Incarceration Crisis: Transparency and Education Are Key in Effecting Change - Higher Education: Transparency and education are the best ways to start changing the effects of mass incarceration on voting rights in the United States, concurred a panel of experts at a session at the Seventh Annual Black Male Initiative Conference at the City University of New York’s College of Staten Island.

“Unfortunately, we are at the tail end of a huge failed experiment in mass incarceration, and I’m not sure how we turn around this ship in a short amount of time,” said Glenn Martin, vice president for development and public affairs at The Fortune Society, a nonprofit that specializes in prisoner reentry into society. “We have 5 percent of the world’s population, but 25 percent of the world’s prisoner population.”

At Friday’s gathering, Martin stated that mass incarceration traces back to just after the civil rights movement, noting that it has spiked and continued to climb in the last 40 years for Black males, Latinos, and Black women. It’s no longer about denying African-Americans the right to vote, but about barring those who have been incarcerated the right to vote, he explained. In addition, more behavior is being criminalized than even 10 or 15 years ago.

Sunday, October 07, 2012

Students from segregated Montgomery County schools reunite - The Washington Post

Students from segregated Montgomery County schools reunite - The Washington Post: During the days of segregation, Clarence Herndon was bused from Maryland to the District for swimming lessons with other black kids. They weren’t allowed in Montgomery County pools.

Herndon drank from hoses while white kids sipped from drinking fountains. And when he watched Hopalong Cassidy or Captain Midnight movies with friends, they entered the theater through the fire escape because they weren’t allowed in the seats downstairs.

But when it came to education, Herndon said, he didn’t think he was getting anything less than what white students experienced.

“We had the best doggone teachers,” said Herndon, who started his education at a segregated school and graduated from an integrated high school. “The only difference was we always got the hand-me-down books.”

Friday, October 05, 2012

Katherine Archuleta is the First Latina to Direct a Major Party’s Presidential Campaign - Higher Education

Katherine Archuleta is the First Latina to Direct a Major Party’s Presidential Campaign - Higher Education: When President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign appointed Katherine Archuleta national political director in June 2011, pundits across the country took this as a sign that the president was serious about nabbing the Latino vote once more in 2012, more specifically putting several swing states out West in his column. However, Latino leaders, including Archuleta, who is Mexican-American, took this as a sign of much more.

Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), said assigning Archuleta national political director was a huge milestone for Latinos.

“What was most significant of the appointment is that here we have a Latina who is not responsible for outreach to Latinos only, but it’s a position that has overall responsibility for the campaign,” he said, adding, “This is a mainstream position, which is something that we’ve been wanting to see for some time now. And I think it’s recognition of the kind of talent and experience that we have within the Latino community and certainly within Katherine Archuleta herself.”

Thursday, October 04, 2012

At Excelencia, Experts Discuss Ways to Boost Latino Recruitment and Retention - Higher Education

At Excelencia, Experts Discuss Ways to Boost Latino Recruitment and Retention - Higher Education: If you ask Julio Blanco, associate provost at CSU Bakersfield — what enabled his institution to boost Latino enrollment and graduation rates in STEM fields over the past few years, you get a plethora of answers: Federal grants; corporate support; aggressive recruiting.

The university’s School of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering (NSME) — where Blanco serves as dean — also revamped its course offerings, set up transfer and articulation agreements with Bakersfield College and launched a student center where students are encouraged to meet regularly with an academic advisor.

Subsequently, figures show, CSU Bakersfield has seen enrollment in its NSME program grow from 670 students in 2006 to 1039 currently. Of those students, 420, or 40 percent, are Latino, which represents an 88 percent increase in Latino enrollment.

The six-year graduation rate for Latinos was 41 percent, modestly higher than their White counterparts at 38.5 percent. Latinos also surpassed other ethnicities in the five-year graduation rate in STEM fields, the figures show.

African-American high school student allegedly hazed with a noose by white teammates | theGrio

African-American high school student allegedly hazed with a noose by white teammates | theGrio: The city of Wynne, Arkansas is getting some unwanted attention after white students on the high school junior varsity football team were accused of hazing an African-American student with a noose.

KSDK.com reports seven Wynne High School students are alleged to have put nooses around the unidentified student’s neck as part of the hazing ritual.

“There was an incident in the ninth grade locker room,” Superintendent Carl Easley told KSDK.com. “Two students are being recommended for expulsion and five have been suspended from school.”

The students may face not just school disciplinary action but criminal charges as well. Members of staff may also find themselves in trouble.

“Kids at no time should be left unsupervised and we’re gonna have to revisit how we supervise students,” said Easley.

Wednesday, October 03, 2012

Forum at Morgan State illuminates race disparities among youths charged as adults - baltimoresun.com

Forum at Morgan State illuminates race disparities among youths charged as adults - baltimoresun.com: Nearly every juvenile housed in Baltimore's adult prison last month was black, an issue that brought more than 300 stakeholders together Wednesday at Morgan State University to discuss racial disparity in the criminal justice system.

Lisa M. Garry, a project director for the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services, said the purpose of the Disproportionate Minority Contact Conference was to address the discrepancy in the number of minorities incarcerated, the societal consequences of inequity, and the actions needed to create safer communities while rehabilitating youth offenders.

"So much of the work is changing our behavior, changing our policies, our practices and expanding our options," said Garry, who leads agency reform projects. "The biggest enemy of any reform is the perception of public safety. We have this mindset that the kids we are encountering in our system are high-risk, felony-type offenders. We have this boogeyman, so to speak, that we're always fighting."

US births down for 4th year; big drop among Hispanics; lagging economy seen as reason - The Washington Post

US births down for 4th year; big drop among Hispanics; lagging economy seen as reason - The Washington Post: U.S. births fell for the fourth year in a row, the government reported Wednesday, with experts calling it more proof that the weak economy has continued to dampen enthusiasm for having children.

But there may be a silver lining: The decline in 2011 was just 1 percent — not as sharp a fall-off as the 2 to 3 percent drop seen in other recent years.

“It may be that the effect of the recession is slowly coming to an end,” said Carl Haub, a senior demographer with the Population Reference Bureau, a Washington, D.C.-based research organization.

Most striking in the new report were steep declines in Hispanic birth rates and a new low in teen births. Hispanics have been disproportionately affected by the flagging economy, experts say, and teen birth rates have been falling for 20 years.

Falling births is a relatively new phenomenon in this country. Births had been on the rise since the late 1990s and hit an all-time high of more than 4.3 million in 2007.

EspnW Hosts Women Sports Summit - Higher Education

EspnW Hosts Women Sports Summit - Higher Education: In this 40th anniversary year of Title IX, 250 people involved in women’s sports —athletes, coaches, sponsors, academics, executives and other decision-makers —gathered in Tucson, Ariz. this week to discuss how to collaborate in building a stronger future for female athletes and for women involved in sports.

Laura Gentile, vice president of espnW, a website focused on female athletes and sports fans, described this week’s summit, titled “The Future Is Ours,” as an opportunity to craft a forward-looking agenda to raise the profile of women’s sports. Through the sharing of ideas and strategizing, the goal is to improve the business of women’s sports, as well as create greater opportunities for female athletes.

The summit began with a preview of the documentary film series ESPN has commissioned to mark the anniversary of Title IX, Nine for IX. The nine films, all of which will be directed by female filmmakers, will not be a list of athletes or a countdown, said Connor Schell, vice president and executive producer of ESPN Films and ESPN Class

‘Hoodwinked’ Finds More Black Men in College - Higher Education

‘Hoodwinked’ Finds More Black Men in College - Higher Education: Documentarian Janks Morton has a simple message when it comes to statistics that portray African-Americans in a negative light: Go to the source and fact-check the figures for yourself.

This is the message that reverberates throughout Morton’s new movie, Hoodwinked: We Can No Longer Doubt Our Greatness, which is being premiered in the coming weeks and months in various venues, including at 7p.m. on Oct. 11 at Howard University, where parts of the documentary was shot.

In the piece, Morton visits Howard and other campuses in the Washington, D.C. area to revisit a question for which he previously gained notoriety: Are there more Black men in college or in jail?

And he introduces another question that exposes the gap between what people believe the high school dropout rate is for Black males as opposed it really is.

Tuesday, October 02, 2012

School Funding Inequity Forces Poor Cities Like Reading, Pa., To Take Huge Cuts

School Funding Inequity Forces Poor Cities Like Reading, Pa., To Take Huge Cuts: The day before school starts, 8-year-old Tianna wakes up worried. She's worried about the cafeteria food that she receives for free, because usually "it's nasty." She's worried about making friends, since she'll be in a new school. But most of all, she's worried about where all the fired teachers will go.

"When we were at assembly, I learned that people didn't have enough money to let all the teachers come back next year, so they were kicking teachers out," explains Tianna, in a quiet, earnest voice as she bounces up and down on her chair. "There was this one teacher that I really liked, and she's getting kicked out."

Tianna's mother, Tashima, tries to ease her fears, but it doesn't help much. "Tianna's like an old lady -- she's really nosy," Tashima says, laughing. "She just gets upset."

Tianna does seem world-weary for a third-grader, maybe in part because she lives in Reading, Pa., until September the country's poorest city, according to U.S. Census figures. And her school is feeling the city's poverty.

Setting the Record Straight on Latino Political Participation - Higher Education

Setting the Record Straight on Latino Political Participation - Higher Education: Presumption No. 1: Latinos who vote generally speak English, not Spanish, most of the time.

Presumption No. 2: Females in Latino families hold little political sway.

Presumption No. 3: If White Catholics are disproportionately enrolled as Republicans, the same must be true of Latino Catholics.

Fallacies all, according to scholars who track both the rising ranks of Latinos living in the United States — a group whose growth is outpacing all others — and what they describe as myth-making over how that growing population is reflected at the ballot box.

Thus far, the population surge alone hardly tells the full story, scholars said, adding that roughly 65 percent of eligible Latino voters actually register to vote, compared to roughly 75 percent each for eligible Black and White voters and 50 percent for Asians.

HBCUs Facing Challenges Amid Efforts to Stay Financially Viable and Competitive - Higher Education

HBCUs Facing Challenges Amid Efforts to Stay Financially Viable and Competitive - Higher Education: Like the thousands of freshmen converging on college campuses across the nation, hundreds of college administrators who hope to shepherd those and other students’ college pursuits are more than anxious about the months ahead.

While some students may be perplexed over choosing one course or major over another and many are wondering how to raise the money needed to finish school, college and university leaders are wrestling more than ever with increasingly pressing challenges on a broad range of fronts that are likely to frame their future for years to come.

HBCUs are no exception. They are facing increasing pressure to reinvent themselves to stay alive and relevant as more and more Black students choose to attend majority institutions and private, for profit colleges.

Baruch College Reinforces Humanities Curriculum with Hispanic Heritage Month Events - Higher Education

Baruch College Reinforces Humanities Curriculum with Hispanic Heritage Month Events - Higher Education: Baruch College at the City University of New York may be a business school, but its Departments of Modern Languages and Comparative Literature and Black and Hispanic studies are working hard to ensure students are receiving an education in humanities with a robust calendar of events for Hispanic Heritage Month.

“You go to business school but then you go into the world, and you need that humanities part,” said Hedwig Feit, an adjunct lecturer in the Black and Hispanic studies department, at a panel discussion with Latina entrepreneurs on Monday morning.

“Some families that have gotten to this country don’t themselves have the pride to pass their heritage to their children, so it is our duty to them to do it. After we take care of our Latino population, then [we’ll] spread knowledge about our culture to the rest of the community. I find that the lack of information is just too great,” said Feit, a longtime friend of the school who started an endowment for interdisciplinary seminars in the 1980s, created the Paul Andre Feit Memorial Fund that deals with Latin American issues in honor of her son, and recently launched the Valentin Lizana y Parrague Chair of Latin American Studies — the first of its kind — in her grandfather’s name.

Monday, October 01, 2012

Ole Miss Students Look Back At Integration : NPR

Ole Miss Students Look Back At Integration : NPR: Fifty years ago, James Meredith, the first black student at the University of Mississippi, had to be escorted by federal marshals to his mostly empty classes. His enrollment came after a standoff between state segregationists and the federal government that led to a deadly riot on the Oxford campus.

Today, black and white juniors and seniors at Ole Miss sit together around a table in an Honors College class on the school's turbulent history. The course is called "Opening the Closed Society," and is an in-depth look at the integration of Ole Miss.

Journalist Curtis Wilkie, who is white, was a senior at Ole Miss during the riot. He teaches the course with a younger black political science professor, Marvin King. King says teaching around this pivotal moment shows students the broader implications of the battle here.

"Mississippi was finally going to integrate. And if Mississippi was going to integrate ... it wasn't the last test, but it was probably most severe test," King says.

Culturally sensitive mental health treatments for young Latinas that work

Culturally sensitive mental health treatments for young Latinas that work: When Norma Villalobos, 34, was a teen, she felt like she didn’t fit in. Her parents were born in Mexico and she was born in the U.S. She had a traditional Mexican upbringing. “It sets you apart from the rest of your classmates,” she says. She became depressed and developed an eating disorder. “I always wanted to fit the American ideal of being thin.” She felt like she couldn’t talk to her parents because they didn’t understand her. “If I was crying, they would say would say ‘stop with the craziness.’”

Villalobos experienced what is common for many young Latinas. Latina adolescents must not only deal with typical teenage problems, they must also navigate the role of their ethnicity in their identity. Their rates of depression and suicide are high. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in 2011 suicide attempts for Hispanic girls, grades 9-12, were 70% higher than for White girls in the same age group. Latinas in the United States had the highest reported rates, with 21 percent having seriously considered suicide, according to CDC.