‘Fore’ at Studio Museum in Harlem - NYTimes.com

‘Fore’ at Studio Museum in Harlem - NYTimes.com: In 2001 the Studio Museum in Harlem opened a group exhibition called “Freestyle,” the first in what would be a series intended to introduce freshly minted African-American talent. And in the catalog for that show the curator, Thelma Golden, dropped a neat little cultural bomb. She referred to the group of artists she’d chosen, most of them then in their 20s, as “post-black.”

Heads spun, and are still spinning. Artists of an older generation, particularly those deeply invested in lifelong issues of black pride, were angry. The handle-hungry art market was flummoxed, unsure of how to capitalize on the label.

Even some young artists to whom it was applied weren’t quite clear about what to do with it. Overnight the dynamics of contemporary art changed.

Two Legacies: How Blacks and Mexican-Americans Helped Shape University of Texas History - Higher Education

Two Legacies: How Blacks and Mexican-Americans Helped Shape University of Texas History - Higher Education: Before Heman Sweatt, an African-American from Houston, won his lawsuit to attend the University of Texas School of Law, Carlos Cadena, a Mexican-American from San Antonio, was among its brightest students. Cadena graduated summa cum laude from the law school in 1940, a decade before Sweatt’s lawsuit forced UT to open its graduate and professional programs to Blacks.

Unlike African-Americans, Mexican-Americans have been able to attend the university since it was founded in 1883. Though they were treated like second-class citizens in Texas, they were considered White under state law.

The different legacies of Blacks and Latinos at UT provide a window into Texas’ complex racial history as the U.S. Supreme Court considers the Fisher v. the University of Texas affirmative action case. The court will decide whether the university’s admission policy discriminates against Whites. But more than a century ago, when the Texas Constitution of 1876 created UT (“a university of the first class”), only Whites could attend the university. A separate university was to be created for “coloreds.”

Linguists And Tribe Members Work To Restore Native Languages - Higher Education

Linguists And Tribe Members Work To Restore Native Languages - Higher Education: Among Oklahoma’s 2,636-member Wichita tribe, octogenarian Doris McLemore is the sole person who fluently speaks the native language.

And Terri Parton, president of Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, says that makes her both a treasure and an imperiled, cultural linchpin.

“We are trying currently to get as much information out of her as we can. Once she’s gone …” says Parton, also the tribes’ liaison to the Breath of Life Institute, an offshoot of the quasi-federal Endangered Language Fund.

“If we lose languages, especially at the rate we are losing them now … we lose the definition of what it means to be human,” says Dr. Mary Linn, a University of Oklahoma linguist who is co-coordinator of the Oklahoma Breath of Life workshops and archival efforts aimed at nine tribes, including the Wichita.

“Every single language is a huge library,” she added. “And once that disappears, we cannot really get it back.”

At UCLA, Racist, Sexist Signs Called Asian Women 'White-Boy Worshipping Whores' (VIDEO)

At UCLA, Racist, Sexist Signs Called Asian Women 'White-Boy Worshipping Whores' (VIDEO): UCLA police are investigating racist, sexist slurs attacking Asian women that were found on campus this week.

On Tuesday, a student found a sign that read “asian women R Honkie white-boy worshipping Whores” attached to a Vietnamese Student Union sign.

On Wednesday, another student found the handwritten phrase “Asian Women are White-Boy Worshipping Sluts” in the women’s bathroom of the library basement.

The student who found the second message was Antonette Sadile, the community outreach programmer for the Asian Pacific Coalition. “I thought [Tuesday’s incident] was a more personal attack,” Sadile told campus paper The Daily Bruin. “But this is a bigger impact. It is really scary. I didn’t feel safe.

UCLA spokesman Steve Ritea said In a statement to CBS, “We share the students’ anger and sadness and condemn this incident.” He also said the occurrence is isolated and has nothing to do with other racially charged incidents reported on campus.

LOS ANGELES — The story of major transit projects in the 20th century here was the story of black neighborhoods carved into pieces. One freeway after another forced families from their homes in South Los Angeles, the core of the region’s black community. Walls of concrete were erected through their neighborhoods, which they said cut them off from wealthier parts of the city.

The Crenshaw rail line was supposed to be different. The line, a crucial link in a planned rail network that will span Los Angeles County, promised to right that historical wrong by connecting South Los Angeles to the city’s business hubs: downtown, the airport and Hollywood. 

Instead, the Crenshaw line threatens to become yet another insult to South Los Angeles and a burden for businesses, some residents and community activists have said. 

The Leimert Park neighborhood, the heart of black culture here, may be left without a stop on the rail line, a victim of limited money. And the train will run at street level through part of the area, which business owners fear will cut them off from their customers during years of construction.

New Report Finds Economic Growth is Dependent on Educating Minority Students - Higher Education

New Report Finds Economic Growth is Dependent on Educating Minority Students - Higher Education: The key to America’s future economic success relies heavily on closing the educational gap between traditionally disadvantaged, minority students and thriving White students, according to The Alliance for Excellent Education’s new report, released on Monday. With the U.S demographic swiftly shifting into a nation largely made up of citizens of color, the need to educate and prepare minority students has become extremely apparent in order to rebuild a strong, competitive economy.

Since 1990, the amount of minority students in majority White states made up a mere 29 percent. As of 2010, that amount has increased to well over 40 percent. Yet, even with the influx of minority students within public school classrooms, graduation rates and benchmarks of college readiness still remain lower for students of color in comparison to their White peers.

NAACP plans aggressive death penalty fight - baltimoresun.com

NAACP plans aggressive death penalty fight - baltimoresun.com: The NAACP is vowing to mount in Annapolis its largest-ever effort to abolish the death penalty in a state, saying Maryland's historic role in the civil rights movement makes it an appropriate place for the push.

In an interview, NAACP President Ben Jealous said Maryland is the civil rights organization's top priority in its broader campaign to eliminate capital punishment from the American justice system. He said the group will spend more than it ever has in a state as it rallies citizens to pressure lawmakers for repeal.

"We'll make sure people hear from their constituents in a way they've never heard from them before," Jealous said.

The NAACP has historically opposed the death penalty for a variety of reasons, including racial disparities in how it is applied. Jealous said Maryland is especially important to the NAACP because of the state's civil rights history — including the careers of native sons Thurgood Marshall and Frederick Douglass.

Florida man cites ‘stand your ground’ after killing of black teen amid loud music dispute | The Raw Story

Florida man cites ‘stand your ground’ after killing of black teen amid loud music dispute | The Raw Story: A Florida man who allegedly shot and killed an African-American teen on Black Friday during a parking lot argument over loud music is citing the state’s so-called “stand your ground” law as his defense.

Michael David Dunn, 45, claims he was threatened with a shotgun and feared for his life during a Friday night confrontation with 17-year-old Jordan Davis over his car stereo’s volume. Jacksonville police, however, said they did not find any weapons at the scene.

Police say Dunn fired at Davis’s car eight or nine times, according to The Orlando Sentinel, striking Davis twice. Several other teens were also in the car at the time. Dunn reportedly fled the scene and returned home, only to be arrested the following day thanks to tips from witnesses.

Colleges agree to recruit KIPP alumni - The Washington Post

Colleges agree to recruit KIPP alumni - The Washington Post: Twenty colleges and universities, including some of the nation’s most prestigious, have pledged in the past year to recruit more students from a prominent charter school network that focuses on educating the rural and urban poor.

The latest are Georgetown and Trinity Washington universities in the District. On Tuesday, they plan to announce partnerships with the charter network called the Knowledge Is Power Program, or KIPP, in an effort to help more disadvantaged students get college degrees.

The signed pledges, unusual in the competitive world of college admissions, set recruiting targets and establish a detailed framework for cooperation, seeking to create a pipeline to college for KIPP’s mostly black and Latino students. There are no admissions guarantees or enrollment quotas for KIPP alumni, but the pacts suggest one path colleges could use to diversify at a time when racial affirmative action has come under question in a case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

HIV Infections Rise Among Young Black Men In U.S. : Shots - Health News : NPR

HIV Infections Rise Among Young Black Men In U.S. : Shots - Health News : NPR: The latest data on HIV rates in American teenagers and young adults offer a sobering message.

While the number of new infections in the U.S. is relatively stable — at about 50,000 people each year — HIV is on the rise in young people under 25.

Youths age 13 to 24 made up about a quarter of all new HIV infections in the U.S. during 2010, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Tuesday. And more than half of the youths living with HIV don't even realize they're infected

The bottom line: 1,000 American teenagers and young adults become infected each month with HIV.

"Given everything we know about HIV and how to prevent it after more than 30 years of fighting the disease, it's just unacceptable that young people are becoming infected at such high rates," CDC chief Dr. Thomas Frieden said Tuesday.

The upswing is driven largely by infections among young black men, who accounted for about 45 percent of new diagnoses in this age group.

Charles Chesnutt Leaves an Indelible Legacy in Hometown and the Nation - Higher Education

Charles Chesnutt Leaves an Indelible Legacy in Hometown and the Nation - Higher Education: Fayetteville, N.C. is well known as the home of one of the country’s largest Army bases. Historians and literature lovers may know that the city was also home to America’s first famous Black novelist, Charles Waddell Chesnutt. His works focused on racial prejudice in the country in the late 19th and early 20th century, an issue he knew first-hand and wrote about long before the Harlem Renaissance.

His parents, Andrew Jackson Chesnutt and Anne Maria Sampson, were both free Blacks in Fayetteville. They moved to Ohio to be with relatives before the Civil War and Chesnutt was born in Cleveland. They returned to Fayetteville after the war when Chesnutt was 8. Chesnutt’s father was the son of a White slave-holding farmer and his Black mistress and later housekeeper. Chesnutt’s mother was the daughter of free mulattos in Fayetteville. “He could have passed as White, but he chose not to do so,” said Craig Tuttle, Fayetteville State University Archivist. Life would probably have been easier for Chesnutt if he had chosen his White heritage. But Tuttle notes that through Chestnutt’s adversity as a Black person, he became stronger. “Charles Chesnutt always involved himself in activities that ameliorated African-Americans. He was a firm believer in education,” Tuttle said.

Thurgood Marshall College Fund, Public HBCUs to Develop Academies that Blend Online, Classroom Instruction - Higher Education

Thurgood Marshall College Fund, Public HBCUs to Develop Academies that Blend Online, Classroom Instruction - Higher Education: In an initiative to create schools exemplifying 21st century innovation, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), a leading HBCU advocacy and support organization, and its member universities are collaborating to establish college prep academies that combine classroom learning with online instruction.

TMCF officials have announced that the initiative aims to launch as many as 10 college prep academies over the next five years at or near HBCU member campuses. TMCF, which counts 47 public historically Black universities as member schools, has turned to Connections Education, a division of education services giant Pearson Education, to provide online instruction and the technical support for the new schools.

The “blended” secondary schools “will deliver students a rigorous college preparatory curriculum, while also addressing 21st century learning needs,” according to officials.

Designated TMCF member schools will join in the collaboration by hosting the new secondary schools, supporting them with professional development and student teacher placement, and delivering early college programming.

A Crisis in Black Studies at Temple University - Higher Education

A Crisis in Black Studies at Temple University - Higher Education: In the last few days, the graduate students in the Department of African American Studies (AAS) at Temple University have dispatched a carefully written letter to thousands of faculty across the nation in an effort to publicize what they call “a crisis.”

Indeed, there is a crisis in this department, at this university. And now, sadly, both of my alma maters—Florida A&M University (hazing) and now Temple University—are embroiled in crisis. These emergencies have emerged in the midst of joyous anniversaries: 125 years of existence this year at FAMU and 25 years of the doctoral program in AAS at Temple in 2013.

As Temple is about to celebrate the 25-year anniversary of the nation’s first African-American Studies doctoral program, its AAS department is reeling without a permanent chair, without plans to hire a permanent chair. This state of affairs has left the “department in a state of uncertainty,” to use the students’ words.

Professors Work to Increase the Number of American Indians in Business - Higher Education

Professors Work to Increase the Number of American Indians in Business - Higher Education: As a student at Whittier College, Robert Jacobo relished learning more about Native American culture through courses in history and anthropology. But it was a business management course that helped him make up his mind about what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.

“The professor was also doing some consulting for an Indian tribe,” says Jacobo, a member of the Fort Mojave Indian tribe. “He took me on one of his consulting trips.” That trip, he says, showed him for the first time how business practices helped the tribe and its businesses.

Today, Jacobo, who graduated in May 2011 with a bachelor’s in business administration, works as catering manager for the Avi Casino and Resort in Nevada.

Jarrett L. Carter: Black College Football is Dying, and the Bands Will Play On

Jarrett L. Carter: Black College Football is Dying, and the Bands Will Play On: ...The great migration of high achieving black students and premier black athletic talent defecting from HBCUs to predominantly white institutions has cost historically black colleges and universities billions in unrealized sports revenues and alumni giving.

But desegregation's untold ravaging of black communities and their talent pool will remain just that, untold, because our bands play on.

That's not to disparage the accomplished work of HBCU student musicians or their directors. They live out what millions in stands and on fields across America every Saturday have either long forgotten or never came to learn about black colleges. Hundreds of thousands of student musicians and singers bring great acclaim to HBCUs with their talent, and they take pride in breeding excellence at schools made, maintained and molded for their experience as African-Americans.

Interview: Joe Mozingo, Author Of 'The Fiddler On Pantico Run' : NPR

Interview: Joe Mozingo, Author Of 'The Fiddler On Pantico Run' : NPR: Growing up blond-haired and blue-eyed in Southern California, Joe Mozingo always thought his family name was Italian.

But as an adult, Mozingo became skeptical of that theory when friends and co-workers began to ask him about his unusual-sounding last name.

The journey to discover the truth about the Mozingo name took him from the libraries of Los Angeles to the courthouses and plantations of Virginia and, finally, to Africa.

Mozingo spoke with weekends on All Thing Considered guest host Jacki Lyden about his first book, The Fiddler on Pantico Run: An African Warrior, His White Descendants, A Search for Family, which chronicles that journey.

College Campus Racism and Obama: Postelection Reality

College Campus Racism and Obama: Postelection Reality: The recent re-election of President Barack Obama has been met with a variety of reactions. Because of the large turnout of young people, women and people of color, the prevailing thought has been that America is officially moving beyond its racist past, embracing change and the need to recognize the value that these groups bring to the landscape. In some ways, the election reflects a "kumbaya" moment, in which people with shared histories and experiences came together so that their voices were heard, promoting the idea of unity, harmony and togetherness.

While this is an idealized response to the election, the reality is more complicated. The desire to focus on the positive and highlight the interconnectedness of diverse groups of people and their willingness to come together in pursuit of equality is admirable. However, any attempt to downplay the racist rhetoric and behavior that have followed the nation's first black president since day 1 in office is problematic.

Minority Voters: Bringing an End to White Male Privilege

Minority Voters: Bringing an End to White Male Privilege: In December 1976, United Artists released Rocky, the story of an obscure, aging Philadelphia boxer, an underdog who challenged insurmountable odds to get his shot at facing a brutish, flamboyant champion.

Sylvester Stallone never claimed that he intended any racial connotations in his now-beloved character, but it's easy to see Rocky as a metaphor for white men who felt they were slowly losing control over a society that they felt was their birthright to dominate.

Rocky went the distance against the arrogant Apollo Creed, a cartoonish characterization of Muhammad Ali, whose over-the-top persona had been an offense to the sensibilities of many whites ever since he defied the draft and refused to go to Vietnam.

Wenceslao Casares, others helping Latinos ascend in Silicon Valley. - Slate Magazine

Wenceslao Casares, others helping Latinos ascend in Silicon Valley. - Slate Magazine: While Silicon Valley is an immigrant-friendly place—witness Russian-born Sergey Brin’s triumph at Google or Hungarian-born Andy Grove’s success at Intel—there are signs that immigrants’ influence in the tech mecca may be plateauing. A study released last month by AnnaLee Saxenian of Berkeley and Vivek Wadhwa of Duke found that 43.9 percent of Silicon Valley startups launched in the past seven years had at least one key founder who was an immigrant. That’s a big number, but it’s a drop from 2005, when 52.4 percent of startups were immigrant-founded.

The composition of immigrants in the Valley has shifted a bit, too. In Saxenian and Wadhwa’s ranking of countries that produced the most U.S.-based techies, Taiwan fell from fourth to 23rd. (The reasons for that drop—and the decline of immigrant-founders across the board—can be attributed in part to U.S. visa issues and burgeoning opportunities abroad.) At the same time, though, some tech insiders have seen Latin American-born entrepreneurs, a previously invisible cohort, begin to make their presence known in Silicon Valley.

Photo Essay: When a Kid's Bedroom Isn't a Room | Mother Jones

Photo Essay: When a Kid's Bedroom Isn't a Room | Mother Jones: A few years ago, James Mollison began taking photos of children around the world and their rooms. "I soon realized that my own experience of having a 'bedroom' simply doesn't apply to so many kids," he recalls in his book Where Children Sleep, which collects his images from 18 countries. Striking and unsentimental, Mollison's work shows that wherever a child lies down at night is not so much a retreat from as a reflection of the world outside.

Mexican American Studies: Tucson Courses Improved Achievement, New Report Says

Mexican American Studies: Tucson Courses Improved Achievement, New Report Says: Latino students who attended Tucson’s controversial Mexican American Studies courses graduated high school and passed state exams at higher rates than those who didn’t, a new study says.

The study by education professors at the University of Arizona offers new evidence of the positive impact the Mexican American Studies courses had on Tucson’s Latino student achievement, just as the courts are preparing to hear a new plan that may bring the courses back to the city’s public schools.

“These results suggest that there is a consistent, significant, positive relationship between MAS [Mexican American Studies] participation and student academic performance,” the study reads. The report also attempted to assess whether students who attended the classes had a higher chance of going to college, but the data was incomplete.

Latinos Are All About Family And Faith... But Not Applying The Bible To Their Lives

Latinos Are All About Family And Faith... But Not Applying The Bible To Their Lives: Nevermind the latest political trends -- Latinos are all about their faith and family values, a new survey says.

“Hispanic America: Faith, Values & Priorities,” a study conducted by Barna Group in partnership with American Bible Society, the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference and OneHope, says Hispanics believe a traditional family is the main building block for a healthy community, and that their most important contribution to American society is the commitment they have to their own.

The news provides a silver lining for conservatives looking to appeal to the growing Latino vote after Mitt Romney's poor performance among Hispanics played a major role in costing him the presidential election.

"Faith and family are the main building blocks of Hispanic Americans,“ Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference said in a statement. "The 2012 election catapulted the importance of the Latino demographic to the proverbial stratosphere."

Latinos Are Less Likely To Receive Paid Time Off Work Or Have Workplace Flexibility: STUDY

Latinos Are Less Likely To Receive Paid Time Off Work Or Have Workplace Flexibility: STUDY: With the holidays just around the corner, most employees are thinking about taking time off work.

But for many Latinos, paid leave won’t be an option. According to a study released Tuesday by the Center for American Progress, Latinos have the least access to paid sick days or parental leave, let alone paid vacation.

Only 38.4 percent of Latinos have paid leave available, compared to 64.7 percent of Asians, 60.4 percent of whites and 57.4 percent of blacks. The study attributes the difference to “historical trends resulting from decades of institutionalized racism and the fact that workers of color are more likely than white workers to be employed in low-wage, low-quality jobs.”
“For too many Latinos, being a good worker and a good family member has become mutually exclusive,” the study states.
In addition to less paid time off, Hispanics often don’t have as much flexibility at work. The study says:

Anyone who has ever gotten the flu, needed to stay home to care for a sick loved one, or welcomed a new child into their home should understand that there are times when employees cannot be at work -- but too often that means losing a day’s pay.

Bolivia Omits 'Mestizo' As Category In Its First Census In 11 Years

Bolivia Omits 'Mestizo' As Category In Its First Census In 11 Years: LA PAZ, Bolivia -- A dispute over ethnicity marked census-taking day in Bolivia as the landlocked Andean nation's population submitted Wednesday to its first national head count in 11 years.

The controversy revolved around a decision by the government of President Evo Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, not to include "mestizo" as a category.

It might not have been an issue – "mestizo" never appeared as an option on previous censuses – had not Bolivians been given the option Wednesday of declaring themselves members of one of 40 ethnic groups, including Afro-Bolivians.

Critics of Morales say he is afraid people would check "mestizo," or mixed-race, so as not to identify themselves with a particular indigenous group, thus delegitimizing the government.

African-Americans vs. black immigrants: Do institutions of higher learning give preference to foreign blacks? | theGrio

African-Americans vs. black immigrants: Do institutions of higher learning give preference to foreign blacks? | theGrio: President Barack Obama signed the first-ever initiative aimed to improve the academic success of African-Americans in higher education this past summer. Announced in July during Obama’s speech at a National Urban League conference, the initiative stimulates an ongoing debate surrounding African-Americans facing unequal opportunities in the academic sphere.

While this is an interesting development, what officials at the White House failed to do through this act was specify exactly which types of African-Americans the program would benefit. Which blacks are benefiting most from programs meant to help them in the sphere of education is sparking controversy. According to a study produced by Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania, immigrants, who make up 13 percent of the nation’s college-age black population, account for more than a quarter of black students at Ivy League and other select universities.

Texas education commissioner’s new plan to close racial achievement gap | theGrio

Texas education commissioner’s new plan to close racial achievement gap | theGrio: Michael Williams, Texas’ new education commissioner, is planning to implement a rating system that takes the achievement gap among poor and minority students into account when measuring schools’ performances.

According to the Associated Press, Texas schools are currently rated by their students’ performances on standardized tests, but some school officials complain this approach is an all-or-nothing program which labels schools “academically unacceptable” if they fail in one area.

Under Williams’ rating system, which he plans to begin by March 2013, schools would be ranked by four indicators: student progress, student achievement, student post-graduation preparedness and progress in closing the achievement gap. He said he would give more weight to the achievement gap than the other indicators.

Blacks with graduate degrees live longer lives | theGrio

Blacks with graduate degrees live longer lives | theGrio: Here’s some motivation as students head back to campus this fall. For black students, adding degrees to your resume can also add years to your life. According to a study in the August issue of Health Affairs, black women and men with less than 12 years of education are living ten to 14 years less, respectively, than their white counterparts with 16 or more years of education.

For black males in 2008, the life expectancy was age 66 for those without a high school diploma. But a bachelor’s degree or higher can extend their life by ten years. For a black female, the life expectancy goes from age 74 to age 80 for those women with advanced degrees.

“Over the last couple of decades, almost all longevity boats have risen,” said S. Jay Olshansky, professor of epidemiology at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health and lead author of the study. “But there have been some subgroups that have had a drop in life expectancy.”

Sierra Leone whiz kid builds own radio station | theGrio

Sierra Leone whiz kid builds own radio station | theGrio: Kelvin Doe’s neighborhood in Sierra Leone has power lines, but they seldom deliver electricity. So, the 16-year-old whiz kid built his own battery out of acid, soda, and metal parts scavenged from trash bins that he now uses to light up area homes and help him work on his own inventions.

Among other gadgets to his credit are a homemade radio transmitter, plus a generator to power it, that he uses to run his own community radio station under the handle DJ Focus.

“People normally call me DJ Focus in my community because I believe if you focus you can do invention perfectly,” he said in a video about the whiz kid produced by @radical.media for the THNKR YouTube channel.

Ken Burns examines lives lost, racial bias in ‘Central Park Five’ | theGrio

Ken Burns examines lives lost, racial bias in ‘Central Park Five’ | theGrio: Famed documentary filmmaker Ken Burns calls his latest release The Central Park Five his most “journalistic” project ever.

The film, which opens in limited release in New York Friday, details the story behind the ‘Central Park Jogger’ assault and rape case which nearly left a young woman dead on April 19, 1989.

The Central Park Five focuses on the five black and Latino teens who were convicted of the crime, served their sentences but were later exonerated after the real rapist came forward in 2002. Burns shares credit on his latest project with his daughter Sarah and her husband filmmaker David McMahon.

Notice at Houston apartment warns against ‘adolescents of Afro-American race’ | theGrio

Notice at Houston apartment warns against ‘adolescents of Afro-American race’ | theGrio: A notice warning residents about black youth was posted at a southwest Houston apartment complex yesterday to the outrage of some of the city’s community members.

The Houston Chronicle reported that the notice, which was posted in the Rock Springs Apartments laundry room, read, “We ask you to please contact the office immediately every time you see teenagers or adolescents of Afro-American race or any other suspicious people in the property.”

It was posted in English and Spanish, since the majority of the complex’s tenants are Hispanic.

DeLoyd Parker, of S.H.A.P.E. Community Center, called on the Houston Housing Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to investigate the incident.

University of Kansas showcases historic black photography online | theGrio

University of Kansas showcases historic black photography online | theGrio: The University of Kansas is now making a historic collection of images showcasing African-American life available online.

The collection, compiled from the work of African-American photographer Leon K. Hughes, is called “African American Life in Wichita, Kansas” and features photos of the city’s black community life from the late 1940s to the 1970s.

According to the KU website, Hughes was a self-taught photographer. He and his wife, Rose, began a home-based photography business in 1946 for which he captured photos of the community for the next three decades. In 2009, his wife gifted the collection of more than 2,700 images to the university.

Frederick Douglass statue moves to Emancipation Hall | theGrio

Frederick Douglass statue moves to Emancipation Hall | theGrio: A statue of Frederick Douglass, orator, writer, abolitionist, and advocate for equality of all people, will move from the atrium of a government office building to Capitol Hill’s Emancipation Hall to represent the District if Colombia.

Douglass will be one of three African-Americans represented in that hall, including busts of Sojourner Truth and Martin Luther King Jr.

Also, it will be the first statue to represent the city.

The Emancipation Hall holds two statues for each state. Statues of notable people that the state can call their own. Washington D.C. is not a state and therefore is not represented.

The federal capital, created in 1791, has long been struggling for recognition with Congress, which still oversees the city’s budget. It was not until 1961 that residents were allowed to vote in the presidential election.

Alabama black farmers sue USDA alleging discrimination | theGrio

Alabama black farmers sue USDA alleging discrimination | theGrio: Around half a dozen African-American farmers in Alabama are filing a class action lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture for alleged discrimination.

The farmers are suing the federal agency because they alleged that loans provided to white farmers were not provided to them.

“Black folk, y’all need to wake up. Wake up black folk. This is what is going on in the United States. They don’t want us here. But it’s OK, we’re here,” said Mike Stovall, a farmer from Town Creek, Alabama.

According to Fox WBRC, a $1.2 billion settlement had been offered in this case; however, the Birmingham farmers say they are not part of that class action case, and theirs is an independent lawsuit that has yet to be addressed.

Robert Binion, a farmer from Clanton, Alabama, said, “The black farmer lawsuit started in 1999. They have tried on several occasions to pay us but they have failed to pay all of us.”

Report: US coal plant distribution unfairly burdens minority communities | theGrio

Report: US coal plant distribution unfairly burdens minority communities | theGrio: A new NAACP report shines a light on the many coal power plants dotting the silhouettes of major American cities. Coal Blooded: Putting Profits Before People addresses the issue of coal-fired power plant pollution and its disproportionate impact on communities of color.

The grassroots groups Indigenous Environmental Network and Little Village Environmental Justice Organization partnered with lead researcher and author Adrian Wilson and several other contributors to create this study. This coalition scored, graded, and ranked the nation’s coal power plants based on the impact of each plant’s pollution output on the health, economics, and environment of nearby neighborhoods.

Native American roots in Black America run deep | theGrio

Native American roots in Black America run deep | theGrio: Do you have Indian in your family? That’s a common question asked in the black community. Many African-Americans lay claim to Native American ancestry, and yet very few blacks have taken the steps to research this part of their history, to learn about their Native American roots and embrace the culture.

Thanksgiving is known as a time for American families to reunite, partake in feast and be grateful. And yet for Native Americans it is a time for mourning, a reflection on the arrival of European settlers that ultimately led to their displacement and elimination by the millions. Blacks in America are intertwined with that history, and yet the evidence they possess is mostly anecdotal, such as the grandmother who had long, straight black hair, high cheekbones or a red tint to her skin.

While most African-Americans would likely say they have Indian blood flowing in their veins, DNA testing suggests that fewer than 10 percent of black people are of Native American ancestry.  To be exact, 5 percent of African-Americans have at least 12.5 percent Native American ancestry, meaning at least one great-grand parent.  In contrast, 58 percent of black Americans have at least 12.5 percent white ancestry.

‘Lincoln’ punts on former president’s ambiguous views on race | theGrio

‘Lincoln’ punts on former president’s ambiguous views on race | theGrio: The opening scene of Lincoln, the finely-acted Steven Spielberg Civil War drama about the Great Emancipator, begins with a scene in 1865 where President Abraham Lincoln himself is engaged with a cadre of awe-struck infantrymen, who begin to haltingly recite bits of the Gettysburg Address from memory.

It’s Corporal Ira Clarke – a young black soldier who, after regaling Lincoln with the plight of black soldiers, finishes the president’s most famous speech word for word.

That poignant scene is one of several in Lincoln that function as an impressive bit of cinema magic: it manages to humanize one of American history’s most well-known figures and brings to life the aspirations of blacks born as slaves and yearning to be free.

It also highlights two of the film’s biggest drawbacks. It depicts Lincoln as a legend without deep exploration of his belief system, and very seldom shows him interacting with the very same people he’s trying to free.

Street gangs gain foothold on Native American reservations | theGrio

Street gangs gain foothold on Native American reservations | theGrio: During this time of year, school children are often taught the story of the first Thanksgiving where the Pilgrims met the Indians upon coming to North America. Much like the first Thanksgiving, the true story of the current struggle of Native Americans has remained largely untold and misunderstood.

Native Americans live in some of the most extreme cases of rural poverty in the world and in recent years have encountered many of the same issues plaguing some of the country’s largest urban centers. A prime example of such is the Badlands of South Dakota, which is home to the Pine Ridge Reservation and the Oglala Lakota tribe.

Pine Ridge, once the home of chief Crazy Horse as well as the 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee, is experiencing poverty on levels seen only in third-world nations. Over 90 percent of the residents live below the poverty line, the unemployment rate is estimated to be 85 to 90 percent and life expectancy is 48 years for men and 52 for women.

Lawrence Guyot, civil rights leader and community activist, dies at 73 - The Washington Post

Lawrence Guyot, civil rights leader and community activist, dies at 73 - The Washington Post: Lawrence Guyot, a leader in the civil rights movement, lawyer and community activist who fought to empower the poor and disenfranchised from his native Mississippi to the District, died Nov. 23 at his home in Mount Rainier. He was 73.

He had a heart ailment, his daughter, Julie Guyot-Diangone said.

As a civil rights activist in Mississippi in the 1960s, Mr. Guyot (pronounced GHEE-ott) endured arrests and beatings as he fought for voting rights and political representation for African Americans. He showed courage by standing up against authorities who had beaten and, in some cases, killed civil rights workers.

Mr. Guyot began working for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in 1962 and became director of the 1964 Freedom Summer Project in Hattiesburg, Miss. He was the founding chairman of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, which sought to include African Americans among the Democratic Party’s delegates to the national convention.

Prescient ‘First Black President’ Still Trying to Steer Youth in Positive Direction - Higher Education

Prescient ‘First Black President’ Still Trying to Steer Youth in Positive Direction - Higher Education: A quarter-century before Barack Hussein Obama was elected as president, he was portrayed by Dennis Rahiim Watson on college campuses across the country. Watson didn’t know the genuine equivalent to his one-man show ― “The First Black President of the United States” ― would become a reality within his lifetime. But he understood the importance of inspiring students to think and act in a manner that could lead them to reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C.

“It seems like yesterday,” said Watson, a motivational speaker/activist who helped turn out the youth vote for Obama in 2012 and 2008. “The show included a mock press conference with the audience asking the president about domestic and foreign policy. Howard University was one of the first major institutions that brought me on campus. As a result of the response I got there, I’ve spoken at more than 200 universities and been known as ‘The First Black President’ for 30 years.”

Tribal Colleges Make An Effort To Return To Their Food Roots - Higher Education

Tribal Colleges Make An Effort To Return To Their Food Roots - Higher Education: High in the hills south of Santa Fe, N.M., stands a greenhouse that Luke Reed hopes will help American Indians eat healthier.

The airy structure, on the serene campus of the Institute for American Indian Art, is producing 6 pounds of lettuce per week for the school cafeteria, with a goal of 30 pounds by Christmas. Students are starting to distinguish the greenhouse lettuce from commercially-grown greens, says Reed, U.S. Department of Agriculture land grants manager for IAIA.

But Reed also recently used the structure, completed in August, to teach a course on greenhouse management to representatives of the nearby Santo Domingo, Cochiti and Santa Clara pueblos. Near the greenhouse, fruit trees and a community garden that grows lettuce, spinach, broccoli and cauliflower have also provided fare for the school cafeteria — as well as lessons in raising healthy food.

Reed, who serves 22 pueblos and tribes in New Mexico, says the need to eat healthy hit him personally, and he hopes others see it, too.

Watch: The disenfranchisment of Native Americans continues today | The Raw Story

Watch: The disenfranchisment of Native Americans continues today | The Raw Story: Though the story of the first American Thanksgiving in which the Pilgrims host a great banquet to thank Native Americans who helped them survive the first winter, there is a darker history to the encounter.

The man behind that generosity, Tisquantum (Anglicized as Squanto), had been kidnapped by a British seafarer named Thomas Hunt in 1614 while Hunt was serving under Captain John Smith (he of Jamestown and the story of Pocahontas). Hunt sold Tisquantum — a Patuxet nation member, which was a part of the Wampanoag confederacy — into slavery in Spain, from which he eventually escaped. Tisquantum then signed up as an interpreter for a Newfoundland-bound ship, and made his way back to New England only to find that he was the sole survivor of a smallpox epidemic that claimed every other Patuxet. He is nonetheless credited with teaching basic survival skills, like planting and fishing, to the Pilgrims and helping them survive the harsh conditions, which was the reason for the November 1621 feast Americans now celebrate as Thanksgiving.

Inner Harbor site approved for Du Burns statue - baltimoresun.com

Inner Harbor site approved for Du Burns statue - baltimoresun.com: A bronze statue of Baltimore's first African-American mayor can join a statue of former Mayor William Donald Schaefer on the west shore of the Inner Harbor, a municipal panel ruled Wednesday.

Baltimore's Public Art Commission voted 6-0 to allow a city-owned parcel near the Maryland Science Center to become the permanent setting for an 8-foot-tall statue of the late Clarence H. Du Burns. The one-time high school locker room attendant rose through the ranks of city government and was mayor for 11 months in 1987.

The statue of Burns, which has already been fabricated, will be placed just off the Inner Harbor promenade, 800 feet south of the Schaefer statue. When Schaefer became governor of Maryland, City Council President Burns automatically succeeded him as mayor.

Race and the N.C.A.A. - NYTimes.com

Race and the N.C.A.A. - NYTimes.com: ...The central character in this drama, aside from Muhammad himself, is Benjamin Lincoln, a white, middle-aged financial adviser based in Charlotte, N.C. In 2007, when Muhammad was in seventh grade, Lincoln met Ron Holmes, Muhammad’s father, at a wedding. Over time, the two men became close.

Holmes is in the Las Vegas real estate business, and things got a little rough after the housing bubble burst. So when, as a top recruit, Muhammad wanted to visit Duke and the University of North Carolina — visits his family would have to pay for — Lincoln told Holmes he would pick up the tab. Under the N.C.A.A.’s byzantine amateurism rule, close family friends are allowed to pay for such visits, but agents, boosters and hangers-on are not. It almost goes without saying that the N.C.A.A. gets to decide who is a close family friend and who is a booster.

Asian-Americans Face Dilemma In Debate Over Affirmative Action : The Two-Way : NPR

Asian-Americans Face Dilemma In Debate Over Affirmative Action : The Two-Way : NPR: It's been an eventful couple of months for those following the debate over affirmative action.

Six weeks ago, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, a case that challenges the consideration of race in college admissions. On Nov. 6, voters in Oklahoma approved a measure banning the use of affirmative action in state employment, education and contracting. Then, just over a week later, a federal appeals court ruled that a similar ban in Michigan was unconstitutional, raising the prospect of a Supreme Court review.

Among those paying close attention to these developments are Asian-Americans, who have had somewhat of a prominent role in the Fisher v. Texas case. In petitioner Abigail Fisher's main brief, Asian-Americans are mentioned 22 times. The brief asserts that the university's use of race in admissions discriminates against Asian-Americans, who are deemed to be "over-represented." Asian-American civil rights organizations filed briefs on both sides of the case.

Racial Differences in Breast Cancer's Toll - NYTimes.com

Racial Differences in Breast Cancer's Toll - NYTimes.com: Using large national cancer registries, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have found vast racial disparities in breast cancer severity, treatment and mortality.

Although black women get mammograms as often as white women, by the time of diagnosis the disease has spread to other organs in 45 percent of blacks, compared with 35 percent of whites, the researchers found. Black women fare worse at each phase of management: follow-up of abnormal findings, starting treatment and completing it.

Black women have a slightly lower incidence of breast cancer than white women, but their death rate from the disease is 41 percent higher.

Even among women with similar insurance, black women have longer intervals between diagnosis and the start of treatment.

Quality of the health care is one reason for the disparity. Biology is another. Black women are more likely to have types of tumors that have a poorer prognosis.

Black Views on Gay Marriage: Behind the Gender Gap

Black Views on Gay Marriage: Behind the Gender Gap: Though President Obama's re-election was widely celebrated in the black community, and his victory attributed to the overwhelming support he enjoyed among black voters, there was another victory on Nov. 6 -- credited at least in part to black voters -- that has not received nearly as much attention.

Same-sex marriage was approved in ballot measures in three states, including Maryland. According to exit polls, black voters played a significant role in the legalization of same-sex marriage in Maryland: Twenty-nine percent of its population is African American, and 46 percent of them voted in support of same-sex marriage.

But an analysis of national data shows that despite high-profile support from African-American men like President Obama and Jay-Z, political support within the black community for legalizing same-sex marriage is being driven largely by women. The Washington Post notes that nationally, 59 percent of black women now support gay marriage, compared with 42 percent of black men, which the Post terms "a huge gender gap."

Schools Scrambling to Reinstate Students in Wake of PPL Reversal - Higher Education

Schools Scrambling to Reinstate Students in Wake of PPL Reversal - Higher Education: The Department of Education’s decision this month to reverse its denial of loans to thousands of parents trying to help their children go to college clears the way for institutions to try to recover from what has been widely characterized as a fall enrollment disaster for many Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan says the agency has reviewed complaints from a number of institutions and advocacy groups and has decided to use the “extenuating circumstances” provision of its Parent PLUS Loan program to reconsider the rejected loan applications.

The new, more forgiving conditions governing the review process suggest the agency will probably waive most of the tougher loan restrictions imposed this spring and summer.

In Mexico, racism hides in plain view - CNN.com

In Mexico, racism hides in plain view - CNN.com: Mexico City, home to 20 million people, represents the paradox of the modern Mexico, the side-by-side juxtaposition -- in everything from politics to architecture -- of old and new.

Turn a corner, and you'll see a church that is 300 years old. Turn another, and you can get Wi-Fi in a Starbucks.

The Distrito Federal, also known as Mexico City, serves as a constant reminder that Mexicans are about maintaining tradition, except when they're sidestepping it. They're about moving forward, except when they are unable to let go of the past. They're about preserving memory, except when they have amnesia.

Howard Students Say Blacks Need to Reach Out to Lift Community - Higher Education

Howard Students Say Blacks Need to Reach Out to Lift Community - Higher Education: WASHINGTON — Howard University students Anthony Miller and Shaquille Turner said a more global outlook can be done when improving the Black community in America by working with other oppressed people.But fellow student Victor Ehienulo said Blacks in America and those of African descent worldwide must help themselves.

“I was called [derogatory names] by other African-Americans,” said Ehienulo, a 20-year-old junior from Nigeria who studies business. “If we can’t come together as Blacks first, then we can’t help anyone else.”

These and other topics were discussed at a student forum last week at Howard’s Blackburn Center in conjunction with the State of the Black World Conference at the school that lasted throughout the weekend.

Columbia Professor and GZA Aim to Help Teach Science Through Hip-Hop - NYTimes.com

Columbia Professor and GZA Aim to Help Teach Science Through Hip-Hop - NYTimes.com: They are an unlikely team of educational reformers.

Christopher Emdin is a Columbia University professor who likes to declaim Newton’s laws in rhyme. GZA is a member of the Wu-Tang Clan who left school in 10th grade. When the two men met this summer, at a radio show hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson, the director of the Hayden Planetarium, they started talking about science and education — particularly, why science classrooms were failing to engage many African-American and Latino students, who together make up 70 percent of New York City’s student body. Only 4 percent of African-American seniors nationally were proficient in sciences, compared with 27 percent of whites, according to the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress. 

Class-Based vs. Race-Based Admissions - NYTimes.com

Class-Based vs. Race-Based Admissions - NYTimes.com: Admissions policies that take class into account, rather than race, are getting a renewed push as a win-win solution. The contention is that they more fully serve the goal of diversity in higher education and provide a progressive way to resolve an enduring conflict that has now returned to the Supreme Court in a case about race-conscious admissions at the University of Texas at Austin.

But a crucial premise of the class-over-race argument is wrong. It is not possible to maintain the same level of racial diversity in higher education while applying a race-blind admissions policy. Class-based admissions generally reduce the number of black and Hispanic students. To maintain or build the levels of racial diversity on selective campuses, it is necessary to maintain race-conscious admissions. 

Anglicans ordain Africa’s first woman bishop | The Raw Story

Anglicans ordain Africa’s first woman bishop | The Raw Story: JOHANNESBURG — The Anglican Church of Southern Africa has ordained the first woman bishop on the African continent, officials said Monday, in a historic move that comes as the Church of England in London prepares to vote on whether to allow female bishops.

The consecration of Ellinah Wamukoya, originally from the diocese of Swaziland, took place in the country’s economic capital Manzini on Saturday in front of more than 3,000 worshippers. She had previously served as mayor of the city.

“We were gathered to consecrate and ordain a bishop in the Church of God: not a black woman, not an African, not a Swazi woman, but a priest of the Church,” the Anglican church said in a statement.

Patrick implements Mass. DREAM Act for undocumented students | The Raw Story

Patrick implements Mass. DREAM Act for undocumented students | The Raw Story: Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) announced on Monday that he will be directing the state’s Board of Higher Education to grant in-state tuition to the state’s undocumented immigrants, making it the 13th state to offer a state-level DREAM Act.

The directive will take place immediately, according to an unidentified official who spoke to the Boston Globe. This will be a significant financial benefit to undocumented students. For example, the state’s flagship, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, will be able to offer undocumented students the in-state tuition rate of $13,230 instead of its out-of-state rate of $26,645.

President Barack Obama signed an executive order earlier this year that would defer deportation of young people who attend college or join the military. Though Congress is not expected to take up immigration reform before the end of the year, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) indicated he was hopeful about the Senate taking it up next year.

Texas Southern Fails in Bid to Stop Discrimination Suit - Higher Education

Texas Southern Fails in Bid to Stop Discrimination Suit - Higher Education: A White assistant dean at Texas Southern University’s Thurgood Marshall School of Law can pursue her Title VII employment discrimination and retaliation claims, a federal judge in Houston has ruled.

U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison rejected the university’s bid to throw out the suit by Patricia Garrison, an alumna of the law school who was appointed assistant dean for academic support in 2007.

Garrison still holds the position, but her lawyer, Katherine Butler of Houston, said, “It becomes increasingly difficult. Nobody wants to be in the position of suing their employer.”

“There will be a trial,” Butler said.

Garrison had received strong performance reviews by Dean McKen Carrington, who hired her, but the suit contends that current Dean Dannye Holley began a racially motivated campaign to force her out after his interim appointment in 2009. Holley was a longtime TSU faculty member, and Garrison had been one of his students.

Buddhist 'People Of Color Sanghas,' Diversity Efforts Address Conflicts About Race Among Meditators

Buddhist 'People Of Color Sanghas,' Diversity Efforts Address Conflicts About Race Among Meditators: They came from near and far on a Tuesday night last month for an unusual gathering in the city's chic Capitol Hill neighborhood, a place known for its vibrant restaurants, art galleries and gay bars, not for its diversity. They were nervous, confused and a bit scared. Should they — seven women of African-American, Native American and Asian descent — even be here?

None of them would use the same words to describe their race, but they were united around the colors of their skin. They entered a small church hall, sat in a circle, closed their eyes and faced their teacher, hungry for Buddhist wisdom.

"Challenge your notions," the 55-year-old woman with dreadlocks told them, sharing her journey as a black Christian turned Buddhist, a racial rarity among meditators. "I once thought there was something devilish and 'woo-woo' about this, that people would find out, that they would say bad things about me. There was a cultural 'I can't do this' thing. But I tell you: You can do it."

Kevin MacDonald, Cal State Professor, Under Fire For Alleged White Supremacist Beliefs (VIDEO)

Kevin MacDonald, Cal State Professor, Under Fire For Alleged White Supremacist Beliefs (VIDEO): California State Univeristy, Long Beach psychology professor Kevin MacDonald, a man the Southern Poverty Law Center calls the "neo-Nazi movement's favorite academic," continues to rile community members with language that some say espouses white supremacist and neo-Nazi beliefs.

MacDonald prefers the description "white advocate." As a director of the new political party American Third Position (AP3), he believes that immigration (both illegal and legal) must be stopped in order to preserve American society.

According to the OC Register, part of AP3's mission statement reads: "Government policy in the United States discriminates against white Americans ... white Americans need their own political party to fight this discrimination."

Howard County School Board Apologizes for Segregated Schools - baltimoresun.com

Howard County School Board Apologizes for Segregated Schools - baltimoresun.com: On the day that the Howard County school board apologized for the system's treatment of African-American students during segregation, Dottie Cook thought back to her middle school days, when she received a hand-me-down education that included tattered books with her uncle's name written in them.

An African-American resident from Dayton, Cook said her family petitioned the Howard school board to allow her to go to a school that white students attended — a more modern school with new books — and they were told she could but only if she got permission from the bus driver to be taken there.

"My father and I went to the gentleman's house," said Cook, 61, "and he told my father that if I didn't cause any trouble that he would pick me up and take me to the school."

Appeals court overturns Michigan ban on affirmative action | Inside Higher Ed

Appeals court overturns Michigan ban on affirmative action | Inside Higher Ed: A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that Michigan’s ban on affirmative action, enacted by voters in 2006, is unconstitutional.

In an 8-7 decision, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit struck down the amendment to the state's constitution, known as Proposal 2, on the grounds that it creates unfair barriers to minority participation in the political process. A three-judge panel of the same court had overturned the ban on race-conscious admissions in 2011, but later vacated the decision.

Thursday’s decision explains: A white student who wanted to alter the University of Michigan’s admissions policies to include alumni relationships as a factor could petition university leadership or present her case to the board, but a black student seeking to have race included as a factor in admissions would be forced to attempt to amend the state’s constitution. Such a structure, the court found, is a violation of the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees all citizens fair opportunity to enter the political process.

Summit Looks at Diversity of Advanced Placement Enrollees - Higher Education

Summit Looks at Diversity of Advanced Placement Enrollees - Higher Education: At the Polk County Public Schools in Florida, district leaders began to discuss whether the demographics of their students enrolled in Advanced Placement courses reflected the demographic profile of their students as a whole in to 2006.

They didn’t like what they saw.

So the school district began to hold an annual “AP Summit,” where all of the district’s guidance counselors and AP teachers were engaged in a conversation about equity and access. The district brought in various minority professionals, consultants and guest speakers from the College Board — creator of AP courses — to discuss ways to remove barriers and open access to AP courses for students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.

“The students typically are not the barriers,” said Rebecca Braaten, director

of Academic Rigor and Secondary Curriculum/Instruction for Polk County Public Schools. “The adults are the barriers.”

Women’s College Basketball Hiring Shows Some Decline in Forward Momentum - Higher Education

Women’s College Basketball Hiring Shows Some Decline in Forward Momentum - Higher Education: Data from Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools with openings for head coaches showed decreases from 2011 in the percentages of people of color being interviewed and on search committees for women’s college basketball vacancies.

The Black Coaches and Administrators (BCA) introduced the BCA Hiring Report Card (HRC) for NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Head Coaching Positions in 2008 to address the lack of people of color in head coaching positions. Since then, significant strides have been made, but the latest HRC released this week shows some stalling in forward momentum.

The HRC, which was authored by Dr. Richard Lapchick, examines the hiring process for vacant head coaching positions of women’s basketball teams at the 120 colleges and universities in the FBS. BCA executive director Floyd Keith said they limit the survey to FBS schools in order to maintain consistency with the organization’s measurements of football and men’s basketball.

Louise Erdrich Wins National Book Award for Fiction with 'The Round House' : Book Reviews : Books & Review

Louise Erdrich Wins National Book Award for Fiction with 'The Round House' : Book Reviews : Books & Review: In a year of especially tight competition, Louise Erdrich won the 2012 National Book Award for fiction with her novel, "The Round House," the tale of a teenage boy's quest to investigate an attack on his mother, and his struggle to come to terms with racial injustice.

As the National Book Awards celebrated its 63rd anniversary, the ceremony packed about 670 guests into the lavish Cipriani restaurant on Wall Street. Ms. Erdrich accepted the award partly in her Native American tongue. She wanted to acknowledge "the grace and endurance of native women," she said.

She added, "This is a book about a huge case of injustice ongoing on reservations. Thank you for giving it a wider audience."
Ms. Erdrich is the author of 14 novels, including "Love Medicine," which was published in 1984. In April 2009, her novel "The Plague of Doves" was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

The Exposed Bigotry of Generation ‘Y’ Manifests Itself - Higher Education

The Exposed Bigotry of Generation ‘Y’ Manifests Itself - Higher Education: We are a little over a week past election day 2012. A largely fractured and polarized electorate re-elected the nation’s first Black president to a second term. This fact in and of itself was a momentous source of pride and satisfaction for the president’s supporters and a major source of frustration and resentment for his detractors. Left-wing bloggers have been working overtime, typing praises of joy and relief that their candidate was able to weather off a fierce challenge (at least during the last month of the campaign) from a Republican candidate who appeared to be an “everyman” of sorts, depending on the environment he was in and the audience he was addressing. On the contrary, right-wing blogs have been in overdrive with venomous rhetoric and intra-party finger pointing, as well as paranoia as to the legitimacy of the outcome of the election.

The Success of Black Men in College Involves the Help of Many - Higher Education

The Success of Black Men in College Involves the Help of Many - Higher Education: In order to improve college completion rates among Black men, multiple stakeholders must reshape public policy on several fronts — from college sports to financial aid — in ways that create more favorable conditions for Black men to earn a degree.

So concludes a new report released Wednesday titled Men of Color: A Role for Policymakers in Improving the Status of Black Male Students in U.S. Higher Education.

The report — issued by the D.C.-based Institute for Higher Education Policy, or IHEP, and the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for the Study of Race in Education — comes at a time when many in scholarly circles have argued for the need to divorce race from public policy.

But IHEP officials and the authors of the report maintain that race cannot be ignored when data analyses consistently turn up gaps in degree attainment that follow racial lines.

Job Fair Friday For Military, Women and Minorities - Local News - Washington, DC - Washington D.C. | NBC News

Job Fair Friday For Military, Women and Minorities - Local News - Washington, DC - Washington D.C. | NBC News: Re-Employing America has partnered with more than 30 national and local employers to host a job fair Friday specially for unemployed or underemployed veterans, military families, women and minorities.

The job fair will be held at the Washington Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Place, NW, on Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Employers including American Express, The Coca-Cola Company, Children’s National Medical Center, General Motors, Sodexo, State Farm, Sibley Memorial Hospital, the U.S. Department of Energy and the Washington Metro Transit Authority will be on site.

They will conduct in-person interviews in the following fields: administration, marketing, accounting, finance, information technology, human resources, healthcare, engineering, technical logistics, sales, construction, project management and more.

People who want to attend the job fair should register and upload their resumes first.

International Recruitment Should Explore Emerging Markets - Higher Education

International Recruitment Should Explore Emerging Markets - Higher Education: While the steep increase in international student enrollment has advocated diversity on college campuses, it has also been extremely considerate to the financial health of U.S. Institutions. Although, a recent report released by World Education Services (WES), a nonprofit organization evaluating international credentials, suggests that, if American schools fail to tap into non-traditional countries with regards to international recruitment, the budgets of such schools could be in danger.

With China, India and Korea continuing to bring forth a prominent number of foreign students to U.S. schools, more than $20 billion from international student enrollment has poured into higher education Institutions, according to Dr. Rahul Choudaha, director of Research and Advisory Services at WES. While these three countries certainly elevated the playing field for international student recruitment, research introduces a few challenges that American colleges could encounter if they neglect other, emerging markets.

In Spielberg’s ‘Lincoln,’ Passive Black Characters - NYTimes.com

In Spielberg’s ‘Lincoln,’ Passive Black Characters - NYTimes.com: THE latest film by Steven Spielberg, “Lincoln,” which opens nationwide on Friday, has the makings of an Oscar shoo-in, particularly for Daniel Day-Lewis’s performance in the title role. The first scene is arresting: Two black soldiers speak with the president about their experiences in combat. One, a corporal, raises the problem of unequal promotions and pay in the Union Army. Two white soldiers join them, and the scene concludes as the corporal walks away, movingly reciting the final lines of the Gettysburg Address.

Unfortunately it is all downhill from there, at least as far as black characters are concerned. As a historian who watched the film on Saturday night in Chicago, I was not surprised to find that Mr. Spielberg took liberties with the historical record. As in “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan,” his purpose is more to entertain and inspire than to educate.

But it’s disappointing that in a movie devoted to explaining the abolition of slavery in the United States, African-American characters do almost nothing but passively wait for white men to liberate them.

Commentary: Post-Election Student Protests Highlight Racist America - Higher Education

Commentary: Post-Election Student Protests Highlight Racist America - Higher Education: While millions of Americans partied on election night, celebrating President Barack Obama’s re-election, several hundred students protested in anger.

These students have been written off in the last week by many Americans as fanatics. They have been mocked and ridiculed as crazy. But are they? Or are they merely highlighting a racist America?

Within hours of Obama’s re-election, about 40 students rallied outside of the Minority Student Union at Hampden-Sydney College, a tiny, private, all-male school near Richmond, Va. They tossed racial slurs, bottles and threats of physical violence and set off fireworks. To these protestors, the Minority Student Union embodied blackness, Obama embodied blackness, and thus they protested against blackness on their campus.

Haynes Gives HBCUs a Voice in Washington - Higher Education

Haynes Gives HBCUs a Voice in Washington - Higher Education: When Leonard Haynes III came to Washington in 1989 as an assistant secretary of education, the Southern University-trained historian found a national government marked by bipartisanship, collaboration and cooperation on a wide range of topics of importance to people of color in higher education.

For sure, institutions focused on serving people of color were not getting all the funds or programs they wanted from the federal government. Still, there was some desire for diverse perspectives to be heard when decisions were being made about how to distribute federal funds to the nation’s higher education community.

Today, the landscape and environment are “more partisan and less collaborative and cooperative,” says Haynes, who at 65, is marking 15 years of continuous service in Washington as an inside advocate for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and other institutions with histories of serving students of color.

Surge of International Students on U.S. Campuses Pays Off in Diversity, Revenue - Higher Education

Surge of International Students on U.S. Campuses Pays Off in Diversity, Revenue - Higher Education: Want to see how quickly the look and business model of American public universities are changing? Visit a place like Indiana University. Five years ago, there were 87 undergraduates from China on its idyllic, all-American campus in Bloomington. This year: 2,224.

New figures out Monday show international enrollment at U.S. colleges and universities grew nearly 6 percent last year, driven by a 23-percent increase from China, even as total enrollment was leveling out. But perhaps more revealing is where much of the growth is concentrated: big, public land-grant colleges, notably in the Midwest.

The numbers offer a snapshot of the transformation of America’s famous heartland public universities in an era of diminished state support. Of the 25 campuses with the most international students, a dozen have increased international enrollment more than 40 percent in just five years, according to data collected by the Institute of International Education.

National Museum of African American History and Culture: Black Philanthropists Donate

National Museum of African American History and Culture: Black Philanthropists Donate: The National Museum of African American History and Culture, created by an act of Congress in 2003 and slated to open in 2015, is still under construction. But the 19th division of the Smithsonian Institution is already making an impact on the future that transcends its history-focused primary goal: The NMAAHC 's $250 million public capital campaign is attracting, inspiring and cultivating leadership among black professionals who the museum hopes could represent the next generation of major African-American philanthropists.

At the museum's February groundbreaking, President Barack Obama delivered remarks, Phylicia Rashad was master of ceremonies and national media flocked to Washington, D.C.'s National Mall to cover the historic beginning of its construction. But Tasha Coleman, now the museum's senior manager for donor and board relations, recalls that seven years ago, there was much less fanfare and just two employees: she and famed historian, and founding director, Lonnie G. Bunch III.

"I still remember when first we walked into the office ... we didn't even have furniture; we were just looking at each other," Coleman, who was the museum's council liaison in 2005, told The Root.

Victoria's Secret received plenty of well-deserved recognition for their role in helping out with Hurricane Sandy relief efforts in the week leading up to their annual fashion show, and this year's Nov. 7 spectacle was every bit the glittery, star-studded bash that we've come to expect.

But all is not well in lingerie land after the company sent American model Karlie Kloss, 20, down the runway in a feather headdress, buckskin bikini and turquoise jewelry. The outfit, meant to represent Thanksgiving, sparked outrage within the Native American community for its misappropriation of cultural attire.

The controversy came mere days after band No Doubt pulled their video for "Looking Hot", which featured singer Gwen Stefani dressed up in similarly stereotypical garb. And just last year, the Native American community criticized retailer Urban Outfitters for use of the word "Navajo" in product names, including "Navajo Hipster Panty."
Aptly-titled blog Native Appropriations points out that, beyond merely jumbling all American Indian cultures into one mish-mash, the Victoria's Secret outfit is especially hurtful to a group of women who face widespread sexual violence:

Besides the daily harm of these ongoing microaggressions for Native folks, the sexualization of Native women continues to be an ignored and continuing epidemic…So Victoria's Secret, now is the time to apologize. It's not too late to cut Karlie's headdressed outfit out and leave it on the editing room floor. This isn't "fun," this isn't a "fantasy" character. This is about our cultures, our bodies, and our lives. Native people demand and deserve far more respect than this."