As an English resource teacher at Gaithersburg High School, Jennifer Bado-Aleman’s goal is to ensure her students are learning the skills they need to succeed in life. On Jan. 15, she had the opportunity to talk about that mission on a national level.

White House officials invited Bado-Aleman to speak at a film screening of “The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete,” hosted by Michelle Obama. The event is part of the first lady’s campaign to help more young people make it to, and through, college.

“It was a really exciting opportunity,” said Bado-Aleman, a Gaithersburg resident.

Bado-Aleman was introduced by Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Alicia Keys, who was the movie’s executive producer and wrote the score. After giving her own remarks, the teacher introduced Mrs. Obama.

‘12 Years a Slave’ starts with a ship’s manifest, where a family sees name of an ancestor

The slave manifest for the brig Orleans, bound from Richmond that Tuesday in 1841, included one Plat Hamilton — male, age 26, height 5 feet 7 inches, color “yellow.”

He was one of 41 men, women and children being shipped, along with a cargo of tobacco, to the slave markets of New Orleans.

The manifest declared the shipment legal, and the description of the cargo, upon examination, to be “correct.”

 But the document, which went on display last week at the National Archives in downtown Washington, carried more than details of tobacco and slaves.

Thursday afternoon, Vera J. Williams, approached it carefully, her eyes filling with tears. She knew Plat Hamilton was really her great-great-great-grandfather, Solomon Northup, author of the book “12 Years a Slave.”

Changing Demographics: What Does It Mean Now and in the Future? - Higher Education

Changing Demographics: What Does It Mean Now and in the Future? - Higher Education: We live in a society where racial demographics serve as a factor in how we fund, operate, and make policies about our higher education institutions. People tend to steer away from acknowledging race as an influential component to education, but it is intertwined in the fabric and has become so much a part of the culture that it is unrecognizable. I could provide extensive examples of this; however, as education professionals we may have encountered these racial differences a time or two or heard stories about them. Over the past few years there have been reports stating that there will be a shift in U.S. racial demographics over the next 40 to 50 years. I have provided some of the statistics below.

From the 2000 to the 2010 Census, the Hispanic population has increased by 15.2 million people, 16.3 percent of the US population; making this group the largest racial minority population. However, over the 10-year span, there was a decrease in the proportion of the non-Hispanic White population from 69 to 64 percent of the total population.

California State University System Makes Recruitment, Retention of Students of Color a Priority - Higher Education

California State University System Makes Recruitment, Retention of Students of Color a Priority - Higher Education: WASHINGTON ― In an effort to bolster student achievement and degree completion among underrepresented students, the nation’s largest four-year public university system, California State University (CSU), has focused on a series of enrollment and retention initiatives.

As of fall 2012, the 23 campus system educates 437,000 students and employs 44,000 faculty and staff. Chancellor Dr. Timothy P. White said he is dedicated to ensuring that students have the skills needed to not just get into college but to successfully matriculate and graduate. In an interview with Diverse, White said that, “through education, disadvantaged students have a chance to do more for their families and communities.”

In February, the African American Initiative (AAI) has been in full swing coordinating its eighth annual CSU Super Sunday event where trustees, campus presidents, alumni, students as well as the chancellor visit predominantly African-American churches throughout the state. Black students made up only 4.8 percent of the student body as of 2012, down from 6 percent in 2010. The goal is to give youth and their families, information on admissions, financial aid and face-time with system representatives. In his first year as chancellor, White felt that this tradition needed to not only continue but to expand.

President Obama Takes Issue of At-risk Boys of Color to Heart - Higher Education

President Obama Takes Issue of At-risk Boys of Color to Heart - Higher Education: WASHINGTON — Even as President Obama announced an ambitious $200 million initiative to focus resources on helping at risk-young boys of color, a chorus of voices—both Republican and Democrat—quickly criticized the president for acting too late to address the widening crisis.

“Young men of color face a crisis—one which President Obama has talked about the past five years but seemed uninterested in truly correcting,” said Orlando Watson, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee. “We’re glad the President is addressing this issue, but with Black and Hispanic youth unemployment at 26.2 percent and 15.5 percent, respectively, why has it taken the President more than five years to act?”

Speaking in the East Room of the White House yesterday, Obama talked personally about the challenges that young boys of color face, drawing from his own personal experiences growing up in a household without a father.

In the Northwest, Whitman College Answers Call to Improve Knowledge of Civil Rights Movement - Higher Education

In the Northwest, Whitman College Answers Call to Improve Knowledge of Civil Rights Movement - Higher Education: The 2011 Southern Poverty Law Center education report graded the states on what they require public schools to teach about a nation-changing era—the Civil Rights Movement. Thirty-five states flunked.

After the report, titled “Teaching the Movement: The State of Civil Rights Education 2011,” revealed the state of civil rights education, only one college contacted the author. That college—located in a state that received an F—is a small liberal arts institution in an isolated region of southeastern Washington, best known for growing sweet onions and having scores of wineries.

The upshot of the email exchange and follow-up phone conversations is a pioneering educational program that Whitman College launched with the local school district in Walla Walla, Wash. This February marked the third time that Whitman students volunteered in Walla Walla classrooms to teach the next generation about such historic episodes as the student sit-ins at a lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C., and Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter from the Birmingham, Ala., jail.

Obama to detail program to help minority youth

Obama to detail program to help minority youth: WASHINGTON — President Obama will announce details for what he is dubbing his "My Brother's Keeper" initiative on Thursday, a new government partnership with businesses and philanthropic organizations that he hopes will help high-risk minority men gain the skills they need to succeed as adults and stay out of jail.

Obama, who will unveil the initiative at an afternoon event at the White House, wants to adopt best practices from communities throughout the country where businesses and foundations are already working together to mentor young minority men.

In support of the program, the Obama administration recruited several philanthropic groups — including the Annie E. Casey Foundation, The Ford Foundation and The John and James L. Knight Foundation — to pledge at least $200 million over the next five years to develop programs on early childhood development, parenting, school discipline reform and other critical areas.

NAACP, UNCF and National Urban League to Receive Walmart Grants - Higher Education

NAACP, UNCF and National Urban League to Receive Walmart Grants - Higher Education: Walmart announced this week that it will give $1.75 million in grants to three organizations in an effort to help African-Americans pursue higher education, job training and placement.

The Walmart Foundation will provide grants to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the National Urban League (NUL) and the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), according to Tony Waller, senior director of corporate affairs at the big-box corporate giant headquartered in Bentonville, Ark.

“With today’s economic climate there is a growing need to empower individuals in communities nationwide with access to opportunities that will help them live better,” said Waller. “By helping one individual at a time build a successful career, we are growing a more competitive work environment. A competitive environment ignites innovation, which helps build stronger communities and, ultimately, a stronger America.”

Hispanic-Serving Institutions Continue Growth With More Poised to Join Ranks - Higher Education

Hispanic-Serving Institutions Continue Growth With More Poised to Join Ranks - Higher Education: Eleven percent of U.S. colleges and universities now qualify as Hispanic-serving institutions, a figure that may grow substantially soon as more institutions inch closer to the designation, a new report says.

The nation had 370 Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) in 2013, an increase of nearly 60 percent during the past decade, said the new report from Excelencia in Education, based in Washington, D.C. In 2003, 242 colleges met the definition.

Under federal law, HSIs are accredited, degree-granting public or private nonprofit institutions where Hispanics represent at least 25 percent of full-time equivalent student enrollment.

New York City International Film Festival's Latino Film Day Founder Notes a Surge in Latina Female Filmmakers in 2014 : Life&Culture : Latin Post

New York City International Film Festival's Latino Film Day Founder Notes a Surge in Latina Female Filmmakers in 2014 : Life&Culture : Latin Post: "To have a platform to show your film is very important, especially for filmmakers who show their films in New York City -- it's the mecca of filmmaking," Roberto Rizzo, founder and CEO of the New York City International Film Festival, told the Latin Post.

A filmmaker himself, Rizzo says that you can have the best camera or the latest in technology, but if you don't tell the story right, then you don't have a successful film -- it's what is behind the lens is the most compelling part.

The Italian-born Rizzo, who founded the NYCIFF five years ago, noticed the surge of Latino filmmakers and actors within the mainstream market, an increase in its presence in the Hollywood industry, and most importantly the power behind Latino storytelling. Given this movement, he that it would be best to dedicate an entire day within the NYCIFF to showcase the talents of Latino filmmakers and actors from the U.S. and around the world, thus, Latino Film Day was born.

'Back to Black' photo sets goal of inspiring community | kvue.com Austin

'Back to Black' photo sets goal of inspiring community | kvue.com Austin: GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. - A stunning photo turning heads around the Twin Cities is meant to make history during February's Black History Month.

Twelve influential African American women from Minnesota are front and center of a new photo spread called "Back to Black."

Stylists at the online magazine Fashion Odds selected women who enrich Minnesota's black history and future. The spread is inspired by a former layout in Vanity Fair called "Women in Black" featuring black supermodels.

"And that's when we said why don't we use 12 influential African American women that would not only be models, but role models?" said Parker, Fashion Odds' creative director. "I want every person that looks at this photo, whether they be black, white, Latino, purple, blue, Asian, I don't care. I want them to see this photo and see their stories and be like, wow!"

Parker helped select women like Sonya Goins, 50, a reporter at Cable 12 news in Brooklyn Park. She's also a mother of three teenager and fights Crohn's disease. She's been hospitalized more than 30 times in past two years.

Black history month is a token tribute, but Afro-Latinos don't even have that| Icess Fernandez Rojas | Comment is free | theguardian.com

Black history month is a token tribute, but Afro-Latinos don't even have that| Icess Fernandez Rojas | Comment is free | theguardian.com: I cringe every time February rolls around. For me, black history month has become predictable. First, it's the arguments against it: "What about white history month?" Then up come the defenses: "How come black history month is the shortest month of the year?" Then, when we eventually get around to honoring the heroes and heroines of the hour, we dust off the biographies, documentaries, and frankly, Wikipedia entries, of the following: Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks, and that guy who invented peanut butter. By the time it's the end of the month, we've in fact forgotten what in fact we were meant to be celebrating and move on, confident that we've done our duty.

Yes, February is cringe-worthy for me. But the above reasons, although valid, aren't why I recoil at the calendar. February is the month when everyone forgets that I'm black, too.

National study finds US Latinos prone to developing Type 2 diabetes | Multi-American | 89.3 KPCC

National study finds US Latinos prone to developing Type 2 diabetes | Multi-American | 89.3 KPCC: Initial findings from a major national study of Latino health were released today by the National Institutes of Health. The study explores in detail the health experiences of more than 16,000 Latinos in four U.S. cities, including how certain diseases and risk factors play out differently among distinct national-origin groups.

Among other things, the study found a high prevalence of pre-diabetes and uncontrolled diabetes in Latinos, and that Latinos are more prone to develop Type 2 diabetes than other ethnic groups. According to the report, about 1 in 3 Latinos had pre-diabetes and among those who already had the disease, only about half had it under control.

These findings played out fairly evenly among all the national-origin groups studied -- those being respondents who self-identified as being of Mexican, Central American, Cuban, Dominican, Puerto Rican, and South American origin. But in other cases, different groups of Latinos experienced illness in different ways, with some suffering from certain conditions more than others.

America's Native Language Spanish? Latino's Influence on U.S. History, According to a Historian Felipe Fernández-Armesto : US&Politics : Latin Post

America's Native Language Spanish? Latino's Influence on U.S. History, According to a Historian Felipe Fernández-Armesto : US&Politics : Latin Post: Historian Felipe Fernández-Armesto's new book, Our America: A Hispanic History of the United States, was inspired when he was working the lecture circuit in 2007. The Notre Dame Professor was delivering a speech at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, and following his oration an instructor from the academy shared his personal thoughts, stating that the U.S. should be welcoming to immigrants, and immediately followed that remark with the desolate statement, "people who come here must learn the native language."


To the Air Force instructor's surprise, Fernández-Armesto stated, "I quite agree... everyone should learn Spanish." Fernández-Armesto then went on to remind the audience and the instructor that the word "Colorado," itself, was a Spanish word. That was Fernández-Armesto's "eureka" moment, where he discovered that "that these nice, cultured, well-educated people had little understanding of the country's Hispanic past," and felt that it was his duty to inform them.

Time to close Del. education diversity gap

Time to close Del. education diversity gap: February is Black History Month and we're thinking about the critical need for more diverse educators in our state. Delaware's public school population is 45 percent African-American and Latino and 52 percent white. Teachers of color in our state have comprised 13 percent of the teacher workforce statewide for two decades.

This disparity goes far beyond optics and affects how students see themselves, what they believe is possible, and what they understand about the world outside their school buildings.

Students benefit from the insights and experiences of teachers who reflect all communities in Delaware to shape the curriculum and day-to-day experiences offered in our schools. Their pre-K though grade 12 experience must prepare them to thrive in a diverse world, and to believe amazing and unstoppable things about their potential within it. This concerns all of us.

New MSI exhibit promotes science and engineering to African American students | WGN-TV

New MSI exhibit promotes science and engineering to African American students | WGN-TV: The Museum of Science and Industry is testing out a new experiment: The Black Creativity Innovation Studio.

It’s a space for young people to experiment and explore new ideas in science and engineering.

The studio is a part of the Museum of Science and Industry’s black creativity project and pays tribute to the heritage and scientific contributions of African Americans.

The program runs in conjunction with the black creativity juried art exhibition, which is the longest-running exhibition of African American art in the nation.

The works of 100 amateur, professional, and youth African American artists are on display at the museum.

The black creativity project is open to all young people.

The inventions created by the participants at the innovation studio are put on display to inspire others.

The Black Creativity Innovation Studio forces young people to think outside the box and develop solutions to real life challenges.

African-Americans split on health - Lifestyles - Lifestyles in and around Florida A&M University - The Famuan - The Student Voice of Florida A&M University

African-Americans split on health - Lifestyles - Lifestyles in and around Florida A&M University - The Famuan - The Student Voice of Florida A&M University: Keivon Bell makes it a priority to eat the right foods.

The junior psychology student from Moore Haven, Fla., said being on his own in college has made him much more conscious of what he puts in his body.

However, not all African-American students have the same mindset. The American Heart Association found that in African-Americans age 20 and above, 44.4 percent of men and 48.9 percent of women suffer from cardiovascular disease.

“I always had my mom to make my meals, so I didn’t really think about the nutrition factor,” Bell said. “Now I know I have to eat right so my mind, body and soul will stay healthy.”

A poor diet can lead to obesity and increased risk of cancer and heart disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control, which also reported that heart disease is the leading cause of death in African-Americans. But eating right isn’t always the easiest thing to do.

Students take a trip down black history road | Fort Worth | News from Fort Worth, Dallas...

Students take a trip down black history road | Fort Worth | News from Fort Worth, Dallas...: FORT WORTH — A two-hour bus tour could be the city’s most appropriate Black History Month vehicle, said Dayon Harris.

“It may sound cliche, but the biggest thing I can think of is you don’t know where you’re going unless you know where you came from,” said Harris, a student development associate at Tarrant County College Trinity River Campus. “We had so many people doing great things during the time of segregation. We had great churches, great hospitals and great people doing things we can be proud of.”

The college, which sponsored the recent tour, found an excellent guide to help TCC students and others appreciate the origin and evolution of Fort Worth’s African-American communities: Sarah Walker, president of Tarrant County Black Historical and Genealogical Society.

Clarke needs more African-American teachers, says NAACP | Online Athens

Clarke needs more African-American teachers, says NAACP | Online Athens: African-American teachers are under-represented in the Clarke County School District, according to Clarke County’s chapter of the NAACP.

Members of the group have met more than once with Clarke County Superintendent Philip Lanoue and other administrators to press their case, and last year contacted each member of the Clarke County Board of Education asking for a meeting.

The group got a response from school board President Charles Worthy in November, but the board has not agreed to a meeting, said Tommie Farmer, a retired teacher who chairs the NAACP chapter’s education committee.

Last week, the group took their argument to the street. On Thursday, about a dozen NAACP members picketed at the Clarke County School District’s Mitchell Bridge Road offices.

African American Ole Miss Student Attacked in The Retreat Complex |

African American Ole Miss Student Attacked in The Retreat Complex |: An African American Ole Miss student and resident of the Retreat Cottage Community in Oxford was doused with an alcoholic beverage and called a “black nigger” by unidentified passengers in a black truck around 8 p.m. Monday.

Oxford Police think the incident might be linked to the defacement of the statue of James Meredith on campus early Sunday morning.

The incident occurred at the Retreat, which is a 668-bed community at 2405 Anderson Road, about a mile from the Ole Miss campus. It’s populated almost entirely by Ole Miss students.

Kiesha Reeves, a third-year senior and participant in the Honors College program, says her roommate returned to the residence describing a black truck full of drunken people yelling racial slurs.

Florida Considers In-state Tuition for Dreamers - Higher Education

Florida Considers In-state Tuition for Dreamers - Higher Education: MIAMI ― State lawmakers could approve a bill this session allowing qualified Florida students to pay in-state college tuition even if they are in the country illegally.

The tuition debate is a perennial one in Tallahassee. Similar bills passed the House and Senate but never in the same year. But this year the measure appears to be gaining broader support. House Speaker Bill Weatherford has staunchly backed the proposal, even penning a newspaper column in its favor. He reiterated his support recently after the House bill passed its first subcommittee. The State’s Hispanic Caucus also has made it a priority.

At least 15 other states have passed such laws, with another seven considering them this year. The trend reflects immigrant advocates’ increasing focus on state legislatures as Congress fails to make any headway on national immigration reform. It also highlights lawmakers’ growing recognition of the influence of Latino voters.

Leveraging Diversity a Winning Strategy - Higher Education

Leveraging Diversity a Winning Strategy - Higher Education: In honor of Black History Month, I have a question for you: Who is Mark Dean? You may not have heard of him, but if you’re reading this on a color computer monitor, you can thank him. You can thank him if you tap your keyboard to “Command P” this page to a printer or email it to a friend. You can thank him if you’re enjoying music piped from your laptop to speakers or headsets right now.

Dean, an electrical engineer who happens to be Black, is co-creator of the personal computer. He’s a major reason why computing entered our everyday lives.

When we talk about encouraging more Black men and women to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math, we should talk about Mark Dean. He is among the greatest examples of African-Americans who have succeeded in STEM.

Sadly, he is also a rarity.

Dr. Michael Drake Has the Foundation, Support to Succeed as Ohio State President - Higher Education

Dr. Michael Drake Has the Foundation, Support to Succeed as Ohio State President - Higher Education: When Ohio State University announced that it had tapped a seasoned college administrator to become president of its 64,000-student campus in Columbus last month, the news quickly spread across the country like a blazing wildfire.

Black OSU alums took to social media to hail the appointment of Dr. Michael V. Drake—the chancellor of the University of California, Irvine (UCI)—as “bold, audacious and historic.”

The national news media wanted to know more about the 63-year-old Black medical doctor who beat out other candidates to become the first African-American to lead the public land-grant university founded in 1870.

While Drake says that he was “very flattered and honored” to have been chosen by OSU’s Board of Trustees to preside over one of the nation’s largest universities, he doesn’t give much thought these days to the historical significance of being the school’s first Black president.

Charts: Hollywood's White Dude Problem | Mother Jones

Charts: Hollywood's White Dude Problem | Mother Jones: It's 2014, yet women and people of color still are vastly underrepresented in the United States media landscape. A report published Wednesday by the Women's Media Center found that, while some progress toward equality has been made, journalism and entertainment still lack a diversity of voices and a variety in representation. If the US media were a person, he'd be an old white guy.

F.B.I. Papers Yield Clues in Vanishing of Civil Rights Activist - NYTimes.com

F.B.I. Papers Yield Clues in Vanishing of Civil Rights Activist - NYTimes.com: Cheryl Robinson says she has waited more than four decades to find out what happened to her husband, an Alabama civil rights activist who disappeared, and now she thinks she has at least the beginning of an answer.

F.B.I. documents, released to her lawyer after years of repeated efforts, show that the agency believes her husband, Ray Robinson, was fatally shot by Native American activists during the 71-day siege of Wounded Knee, S.D., in 1973, she says.

“All I wanted was for the people who know what happened to come clean and tell the truth, so we can get his bones and put them in a decent grave,” she said.

That may take a while longer. The federal documents offer no clue to where Mr. Robinson was buried, she said.

Authorities Close To Bringing Charges Against Three Freshmen In Ole Miss Noose Case

Authorities Close To Bringing Charges Against Three Freshmen In Ole Miss Noose Case: Three 19-year-old freshmen at the University of Mississippi are wanted for questioning in the racially charged vandalism that took place last weekend at the school, according to University Police Chief Calvin Sellers.

According to a statement released Friday from the university, Sellers and investigators had gathered enough evidence by Wednesday night to bring charges against two of the students.

Sellers said the names of the three students, all white males, had figured prominently in the investigation into the defacement of a campus statue honoring James Meredith, the school's first black student. A noose and a flag showing the "stars and bars" of the Confederacy were draped over the statue early Sunday morning.

University police were stymied in their efforts to question the three students on Thursday night when attorneys representing the young men declined to make them available without a search warrant.

Prince George’s elementary school cancels immigration-themed skit amid objections - The Washington Post

Prince George’s elementary school cancels immigration-themed skit amid objections - The Washington Post: A classroom skit that third-graders were preparing to present in a Prince George’s County elementary school was canceled after a parent alerted school officials to material she thought was offensive to immigrants.

The short skit — titled “The Uninvited Guest” — tells a story about Uncle Sam and the people who are welcome at a party in his “Country Haven.” In a nod to the nation’s immigration debate, guests who have lived in the country all their lives and those who have visas are invited to attend, but the Uncle Sam character makes it clear that those who do not have visas — those who “sneak into” the party — are not welcome and must leave.

Judge Tosses Suit Alleging NYPD Illegally Spied On Muslims : The Two-Way : NPR

Judge Tosses Suit Alleging NYPD Illegally Spied On Muslims : The Two-Way : NPR: A federal judge has by putting New Jersey mosques under routine surveillance in an effort to prevent terrorism.

U.S. District Judge William Martini in Newark threw out a suit brought against the city's police department by eight Muslims living in the New Jersey community. They alleged that the surveillance program, which they said involved spying on mosques, restaurants and schools in the state since 2002, was unconstitutional because they were being targeted solely on the basis of their religion.

In his ruling, however, Martini wrote that: "The more likely explanation for the surveillance was to locate budding terrorist conspiracies."

All-white N.J. wrestling team says lynching photo of black dummy was meant ‘innocently’ | The Raw Story

All-white N.J. wrestling team says lynching photo of black dummy was meant ‘innocently’ | The Raw Story: Eight members of a Phillipsburgh, New Jersey high school wrestling team were banned from the state tournament and suspended for three days each after a photograph of them “lynching” a black wrestling dummy wearing a rival school’s t-shirt.

The students, who are white, surrounded the black wrestling dummy dressed in a Paulsboro High School t-shirt. According to the 2010 census, 36.7 percent of residents of Paulsboro, New Jersey are African-American, compared to only 7.5 percent of Phillipsburgh.

Attorney Scott Wilhelm, speaking on behalf of the students, said that “[w]hen we spontaneously set the scene and posed for the photograph, our sole purpose was to promote school spirit and portray our wrestling team as victor over two of our archrivals — Paulsboro High School and Kittatinny High School, and not for any other purpose.”

Georgia Clears The Road For Confederate-Themed License Plate : Code Switch : NPR

Georgia Clears The Road For Confederate-Themed License Plate : Code Switch : NPR: The Confederate battle flag is back in the news in the American South, as civil rights leaders in Georgia decry the state government's approval of a new specialty license plate.

The design is actually an updated version of what has been available for years. The original had one small flag in the corner. This new version adds a background image of the Confederate emblem across the entire width of the plate.

The design was submitted by the Georgia chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Spokesman Ray McBerry says they see the flag as a symbol of their roots.

"We believe that all people ought to be able to celebrate their history and their heritage, and that includes Southerners," says McBerry. "We did anticipate that there could be some folks who would not like that, but we encourage them to go and make application for their own specialty plates."

For Abused Native American Women, New Law Provides A 'Ray Of Hope' : Code Switch : NPR

For Abused Native American Women, New Law Provides A 'Ray Of Hope' : Code Switch : NPR: This Thursday, three Native American tribes are changing how they administer justice.

For almost four decades, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling has barred tribes from prosecuting non-American Indian defendants. But as part of last year's re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act, a new program now allows tribes to try some non-Indian defendants in domestic abuse cases.

It will be another year before the program expands to other eligible federally-recognized tribes around the country in March 2015. But the Department of Justice has selected three tribes to exercise this authority first, including the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon, and the Tulalip Tribes, located north of Seattle.

Women of Color in the Academy Home Page

Women of Color in the Academy Home Page: With nearly 300 attendees, 75 institutions, and 30 states represented, the inaugural Faculty Women of Color in the Academy (FWCA) National Conference was a great success! With the opportunity to listen and be heard, as the impetus of the event, we took a giant step forward in regards to identifying the concerns of faculty women of color in the Academy.

The Faculty Women of Color in the Academy National Conference is a unique educational and professional opportunity for women of color scholars. With a theme of "Taking it to the Next Level," the goal of the conference is to connect, empower, and support women as they pursue the next level of their career in the Academy.

We look forward to seeing you at the FWCA Conference March 28-29, 2014, as we explore the experiences and achievements of Faculty Women of Color in the Academy!

Racist Episodes Continue to Stir Ole Miss Campus - NYTimes.com

Racist Episodes Continue to Stir Ole Miss Campus - NYTimes.com: OXFORD, Miss. — On the campus of the University of Mississippi, a few hundred yards from a monument honoring Confederate soldiers, a statue of the university’s first black student, who enrolled in 1962 amid rioting that left two people dead, stands as what administrators call a powerful symbol of progress.

But when two unidentified men placed a noose around the bronze neck of James Meredith this week and left behind a flag with the Confederate battle emblem, it set into motion a new round of soul-searching in a place where past and present still restlessly coexist.

“These events continue to happen semester after semester and year after year,” the student newspaper, The Daily Mississippian, said in an editorial. “All of our actions seem fruitless and impotent, leaving us broken, scared, humiliated and with burning, difficult questions: What we do we do about it? How do we stop these events from transpiring?”

Rejecting Stereotypes, Photographing 'Real' Indians

Rejecting Stereotypes, Photographing 'Real' Indians: ...What started as a small project on her community’s elders has since morphed into an ambitious attempt to document citizens of each of the more than 560 federally recognized Native American tribes in the United States. She has driven more than 60,000 miles to meet with native people: doctors and tribal leaders, artists and entertainers. She wants the endeavor, called Project 562, to be an extensive and accurate visualization of Native Americans, offering a perspective often missing from American history lessons.

“People often ask me why I don’t photograph real Indians,” said Ms. Wilbur, who marked documenting her 180th tribe in Phoenix last week. “But the people that I photograph are real Indians. These are my people.”

‘Brothers’ Bound by Passion for Research on Black Male Experience - Higher Education

‘Brothers’ Bound by Passion for Research on Black Male Experience - Higher Education: On a snowy December evening, Drs. Lamont A. Flowers, Juan E. Gilbert, Jerlando F.L. Jackson, Chance W. Lewis and James L. Moore III were sipping tea at an Italian restaurant a few miles south of the U.S.’s capital, recalling the first time that they met.

For these five Black academicians, who burst onto the national scene with their scholarship focused on the myriad of issues that impact education, the frequent fraternal gatherings have undoubtedly helped to propel their rise.

“Tea time,” as they call it, first started off as an informal opportunity for these “brothers” to encourage each other as they navigated their way through graduate school and secured their first teaching jobs as assistant professors.

Noose Found Around The Neck Of Statue Honoring Civil Rights Icon At Ole Miss

Noose Found Around The Neck Of Statue Honoring Civil Rights Icon At Ole Miss: Police at the University of Mississippi are investigating a racially inflammatory incident involving a statue depicting a civil rights icon.

According to The Daily Mississippian, the student-run newspaper at Ole Miss, a noose was found on Sunday morning around the neck of the school's James Meredith statue. A pre-2003 Georgia state flag, which featured the "stars and bars" of the Confederacy, was also draped around the statue's shoulders.

Meredith became the school's first black student in 1962.

Authorities are investigating the incident and the Ole Miss Alumni Association has offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest, but University Police Chief Calvin Sellers told TPM they "don't have much" in the way of leads.

Mecanoo, Martinez Johnson to renovate MLK Library - The Washington Post

Mecanoo, Martinez Johnson to renovate MLK Library - The Washington Post: Ordinarily, one would cheer heartily for the decision that was announced Tuesday morning at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library: The architectural team of Mecanoo and Martinez Johnson has been chosen to renovate and perhaps enlarge the historic but troubled main branch of the city’s library. Mecanoo, a Dutch-based firm, will play the lead design role, and it will bring to a city of button-downed corporate and institutional architecture a stylish European aesthetic that could have a major impact on the city’s downtown core.

But the MLK library is no ordinary building, and this will be no ordinary project. Opened in 1972, the library was designed by Mies van der Rohe, in his signature austere and rectilinear style, a solemn dark box of steel and glass with one bold message: Transparency is essential to democracy, as books are essential to civilization.

Legacy of Civil Rights Leaders Source of Fights - Higher Education

Legacy of Civil Rights Leaders Source of Fights - Higher Education: WASHINGTON ― Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter recently walked up to the pulpit of the Atlanta church where her father preached and, in a painful public display, dissociated herself from her brothers.

She accused them of plotting to sell their father’s personal Bible and his Nobel Peace Prize — items she declared “sacred” and worth more than money.

When it comes to fights like this, the Kings are not alone.

Malcolm X’s daughters are suing to block a book deal, signed by one sister, to publish their father’s diary.

Rosa Parks’ valuable mementos, including her Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal of Honor, have sat in a New York City warehouse for years because of a protracted battle over her estate.

Diverse Conversations: School Diversity Program Mirrors Workplace - Higher Education

Diverse Conversations: School Diversity Program Mirrors Workplace - Higher Education: Business schools around the country are thinking about ways to implement programs that increase diversity on campus. Steve Reinemund, dean of the Wake Forest University School of Business, instituted the Corporate Fellowship program shortly after he arrived at the school in 2008, which helped the Master of Arts (MA) in Management program achieve the same kind of diversity found in today’s workplace.

Q: What prompted you and the university to institute the Corporate Fellowship program?

A: We had several objectives. We wanted to create a program that would attract liberal arts graduates, with no prior work experience, and offer both the educational background and the vocational discernment to prepare them for successful careers in business. It’s important to know how to lead in a multicultural environment. So, one priority of this program was to recruit a student body that mirrors the global marketplace in, as a start, its racial and gender makeup.

Harrison Ensuring African-American Stories Find Their Way into Oregon’s Textbooks - Higher Education

Harrison Ensuring African-American Stories Find Their Way into Oregon’s Textbooks - Higher Education: In Harlem, N.Y., during his sophomore year of high school, Dr. James Harrison spent his study period in the library, engrossed in novels by Black authors.

He began with two books by Langston Hughes: one about the first Negro scientists and another, The First Book of Negroes, about the accomplishments of African-Americans. Harrison realized that these stories were not a part of his public school curriculum and took it upon himself to do his own research into African-American studies.

Harrison continued to study African-Americans and other minorities in the U.S. for more than 30 years. He attended Hunter College in New York, graduating with his bachelor’s in 1967. He has read countless biographies and journal articles, and attended conferences across the country, exchanging knowledge with fellow historians.

Drive For Diversity, NASCAR's Commitment To Race : Code Switch : NPR

Drive For Diversity, NASCAR's Commitment To Race : Code Switch : NPR: On Sunday, the K&N Pro Series East begins down in New Smyrna Beach, Fla. And if the track and pit look a little more diverse than they have in the past, that's in part because of a NASCAR program designed to entice different communities to try out the sport.

Market research says NASCAR's bread-and-butter fan base is about 60 percent male and 80 percent white, mostly from the Southern and Midwestern states. But as the country continues to become even more diverse, the sport is working to make sure its fan base is, too.

That's a challenge.

Last year, Arsenio Hall captured NASCAR's dilemma while making it his punch line with references to racial profiling and NASCAR's traditional homogeneity. He joked that Darrell Wallace, the first black NASCAR driver to win a series in 50 years, "actually would've won by a wider margin, except the police pulled him over three times."

Gwen’s Take: Exposing stereotypes and reflecting reality

Gwen’s Take: Exposing stereotypes and reflecting reality: t’s easy to get outraged about the obvious. Barbie on the cover of Sports Illustrated? Really? Darkening O.J. Simpson’s features to make him seem more sinister? Ridiculous. But they both happened.

I once worked for a newspaper where editors thought nothing of slapping a feature photo on Page One that depicted young black children (in the back of a wagon, as I recall it) happily munching on watermelon. They were baffled at my objection.

But day after day, we are exposed to sneakier outrages – images that reinforce stereotypes and suppress ambition, especially in young women.

I had the chance to talk to Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg about that this week at the Makers Conference in California.

Sandberg, whose book about women’s empowerment, “Lean In: Women, Work and the Will To Lead,” has sold 1.5 million copies, noticed the image problem too. “Leadership looks white and looks male to most people, because that’s what history has taught us,” she told me.

Love In Technicolor: Interracial Families On Television : Code Switch : NPR

Love In Technicolor: Interracial Families On Television : Code Switch : NPR: I Love Lucy was one of the most popular shows in the history of television. Its stars, redheaded Lucille Ball and her Cuban-American husband Desi Arnaz, became TV icons — but they almost didn't get on TV.

Kathleen Brady is the author of Lucille: the Life of Lucille Ball. She says the network that wanted Ball to star in her own sitcom was not interested in her husband.

"CBS and its sponsor, Phillip Morris cigarettes, were adamantly opposed to this." says Brady. "They said that the American public would not accept Desi as the husband of a red-blooded American girl."

The Ebony Fashion Fair: Changing History On The Catwalk : NPR

The Ebony Fashion Fair: Changing History On The Catwalk : NPR: The Johnson Publishing Company, and its flagship publication, Ebony Magazine, helped to fashion the black middle-class in America for five decades. For 50 years, from 1958 until 2009, the Ebony Fashion Fair traversed the country.

The coast-to-coast show was a pageant of haute couture that created aspirations wherever it went. It was a rite of passage for black women, who flocked to it. The show also raised $55 million for African-American charities, like the United Negro College Fund or sickle-cell anemia research.

Over its history, the Ebony Fashion Fair changed the lives of those on both sides of the catwalk, and it changed America.

Walking Down The Widening Aisle Of Interracial Marriages : Code Switch : NPR

Walking Down The Widening Aisle Of Interracial Marriages : Code Switch : NPR: The numbers are small but growing.

marriages in the U.S. are between husbands and wives of different races or ethnicities. According to the 2010 Census, they make up between opposite-sex couples, marking a 28-percent increase since 2000.

Newlyweds Louie Okamoto, 28, and Kelly Mottershead, 27, joined the group last October in a decidedly untraditional way.

Family and friends gathered on a northern California beach to see Mottershead's father walk her down the aisle to Van Morrison's "Into The Mystic," as Okamoto waited along the shores of Carmel Bay in sandals.

"[The wedding wasn't] formal except for maybe a white dress. Even that wasn't very formal!" Mottershead says.

Redefining Hollywood: 'Diversity Makes More Money' : Code Switch : NPR

Redefining Hollywood: 'Diversity Makes More Money' : Code Switch : NPR: If you spend much time talking about diversity in Hollywood, it's an argument you'll hear often: that ethnic and gender diversity is nice, but it doesn't make a movie profitable or bring ratings to a TV show.

But researchers at the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA have produced a study that just might stick a pin in that defense, sorting through over 1,200 films and TV shows to reach a provocative conclusion:

Diversity makes more money and brings bigger audiences.

It's Great To Be A Woman In California, Unless You're Hispanic : Planet Money : NPR

It's Great To Be A Woman In California, Unless You're Hispanic : Planet Money : NPR: Here's a conundrum.

The Golden State ranks as the second best place for a woman to achieve economic security, according to 14 key measures. That's according to a study from the Center for American Progress.

Paid family leave? Check!
Great early childhood education? Check!
Paid sick leave? Check!

However Hispanic women in the state only make 44 cents to every dollar a white man makes. That makes the 6.6 million women, or 17 percent of the entire state of California, the lowest paid population, of any race, in any state.

Colleges Step Up Efforts to Aid Growing Number of Disabled Students - Higher Education

Colleges Step Up Efforts to Aid Growing Number of Disabled Students - Higher Education: Endowed with a newfound freshman’s hunger for independence, Alix Generous thought she could conquer college without seeking help for the learning disabilities she had dealt with since she was 11.

She was wrong.

In her first year at the College of Charleston, Generous decided against using the school’s assistance programs for students with dyslexia and other disorders, even though she had relied on such help throughout her childhood.

“I was like, ‘Now I’m 18 and can do what I want.’ I definitely had that attitude. But a lot of it also was ignorance,” said Generous, who grew up in Maryland.

“It totally screwed me up,” she said. “In the easiest classes, like Intro to Theater, I got a C.”

Generous finally started accepting extra help, and her grades improved. She later transferred to the University of Vermont, where she is now a junior. She gives talks about her experiences to audiences across the country.

John Lewis Takes Readers on a ‘March’ through Civil Rights - Higher Education

John Lewis Takes Readers on a ‘March’ through Civil Rights - Higher Education: From the view of his office across from the nation’s Capitol building in Washington, it is hard to believe the man dressed in a suit with an official government lapel pen affixed to his coat was the same man who, as a college student, had been spat on, beaten and cursed by racist thugs, and arrested and jailed more times than he’d like to remember while crusading to end racial segregation in America.

Looking around his office, one wouldn’t have to wonder if U.S. Congressman John Lewis’s story is true. It’s filled with pictures documenting his college days as a civil rights activist and history books that recount his story. Now, one can hear Lewis’s story straight from the man himself in his new non-fiction paperback graphic novel, “March: Book One”, the first part of a trilogy that vividly recounts, in action-packed comic strip format, the heroic and oft-times frightening chapter in American history.

Police Investigate Racist, Sexist Fliers Found at USC, UCLA - Higher Education

Police Investigate Racist, Sexist Fliers Found at USC, UCLA - Higher Education: LOS ANGELES—Campus police are investigating fliers with profane, racist and sexist language that have been distributed at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Times reports Tuesday that the leaflets were mailed anonymously to both schools and contain language about Asian women dating White men.

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block asked campus police to investigate Monday after a flier was received at the Asian American Studies Center on the Westwood campus.

One was also sent to Asian Pacific American Student Services at USC.

The director of UCLA’s Asian Pacific Coalition says a sign with similar language was posted in 2012 outside the Vietnamese Student Union office.

The Times says about 50 students participated in a protest rally at UCLA on Monday that was triggered by the flier.

Maryland Leads Nation in High-Scoring on AP exams - Higher Education

Maryland Leads Nation in High-Scoring on AP exams - Higher Education: The College Board announced Tuesday that the Maryland class of 2013 led the nation in high scoring on Advanced Placement tests.

The New York-based organization said in a report that 29.1 percent of last year’s Maryland public high school graduates scored a 3 or higher on an AP exam. That compares with a national rate of 20.1 percent. A score of 3 or higher is considered a successful test result.

Maryland also made progress toward eliminating the gap in AP program participation between white and black students, the most underrepresented group in AP classrooms, the report said.

In AP programs, college faculty members work with secondary school teachers to help students demonstrate that they are ready for the challenge of higher education.

Gov. Martin O’Malley noted it was the eighth straight year the state led the nation in success on the Advanced Placement exam.

Hearings Begin to Consider if College Players are Employees - Higher Education

Hearings Begin to Consider if College Players are Employees - Higher Education: CHICAGO—A federal agency kicked off the first in a series of hearings Wednesday on whether to approve a bid by Northwestern University football players to unionize, and both sides acknowledged the key question was whether college athletes can be considered employees.

During a National Labor Relations Board hearing in Chicago, lawyers for the proposed union and the university agreed that if college football players qualify as employees, they can legally form the first-of-its-kind union and if not, they can’t.

“That is the key threshold issue,” university attorney Alex Barbour said.

If the union, called the College Athletes Players Association, or CAPA, eventually gets the green light, advocates say it will provide athletes a vehicle to lobby for financial security and improved safety on the field.

MIT’s Craig Wilder Explores Connection Between Ivy Schools and Slave Trade - Higher Education

MIT’s Craig Wilder Explores Connection Between Ivy Schools and Slave Trade - Higher Education: he regret expressed by several top universities in recent years for their connection to slavery has led to a number of institutions probing to uncover how deeply linked they were to the slave enterprise.

Schools like Harvard and Brown have acknowledged that they benefitted from slavery. Many others have acknowledged buying or renting out slaves, using slave labor for construction and accepting funds for endowed chairs or start-up seed money from wealthy merchants who were profiting from the slave trade.

These revelations and a growing body of research suggest that prior to the Civil War, universities with no ties to slavery were the exception and not the norm. The academia connection to slavery has gained more attention recently with the publication of Ebony and Ivy: Race, Slavery and the Troubled History of America’s Universities, by Dr. Craig Steven Wilder, a professor of history at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Geoffrey Canada resigns as Harlem Children’s Zone leader after two decades of service - NY Daily News

Geoffrey Canada resigns as Harlem Children’s Zone leader after two decades of service - NY Daily News: A prominent Harlem charter school advocate who gained national fame in a documentary that examined the country’s educational system is stepping down from his top post.

Geoffrey Canada announced Monday he will resign as chief executive officer of Harlem Children’s Zone, ending more than two decades as leader of a charter school network and non-profit that currently serves more than 12,300 children.

The school system, which prides itself on turning around the lives of disadvantaged students, boasts that 95% of its high school seniors are accepted into college.

“After 31 years, I am taking a new position in the organization, and I am no longer going to be CEO,” Canada told students, staff and community leaders inside the HCZ Promise Academy, a $100-million school that opened last year in the middle of the St. Nicholas Houses on W. 129th St. He had been the CEO since 1990.

George Washington Carver, The Black History Monthiest Of Them All : Code Switch : NPR

George Washington Carver, The Black History Monthiest Of Them All : Code Switch : NPR: Peanuts.

He did something, probably a lot of somethings, with peanuts.

That's basically the response I got when I asked people — my friends, folks on Twitter — what they knew about about George Washington Carver.

The details were hazy, but folks remembered that Carver was really important.

Oh, and something about Tuskegee! Wait, did he invent the peanut?

They half-remembered writing book reports about him in elementary school. And then a lot of them sheepishly acknowledged their ignorance.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should say here that I shared the same vague grasp about Carver's accomplishments, despite the fact that . To me, he was the peanut dude.

President Obama to launch major new effort on young men of color - The Washington Post

President Obama to launch major new effort on young men of color - The Washington Post: President Obama will launch a significant new effort this week to bolster the lives of young men of color, seeking to use the power of the presidency to help a group of Americans whose lives are disproportionately affected by poverty and prison.

Obama on Thursday will announce a new White House initiative called “My Brother’s Keeper,” which will bring foundations and companies together to test a range of strategies across the country to support young male minorities, taking steps to keep them in school and out of the criminal justice system, a White House official said. He will also announce that his administration will launch a more vigorous evaluation of what policies work best and publicize results to school systems and others across the country.

Education Reform Atop Agenda for Morehouse Summit - Higher Education

Education Reform Atop Agenda for Morehouse Summit - Higher Education: The White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans is teaming up this week with the Morehouse Research Institute to sponsor the Black Male Summit, which will coincide with the inauguration of Morehouse President Dr. John Silvanus Wilson Jr.

The summit will focus on education reform, according to Dr. Bryant Marks, executive director of the Morehouse Research Institute and an associate professor of psychology.

“We want to raise awareness about the factors of Black male achievement from Pre-K through college by shining a specific light on education reform,” says Marks, who is also an alumnus of the historically Black college headquartered in Atlanta. “We are taking a pipeline approach.”

NFL faces pressure from Congress to change Redskins’ name

NFL faces pressure from Congress to change Redskins’ name: Two members of Congress have written a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell urging Goodell and the league “to take a formal position in support of a name change” by the Washington Redskins.
The letter by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) is to be sent Monday to Goodell.
“The NFL can no longer ignore this and perpetuate the use of this name as anything but what it is: a racial slur,” Cantwell and Cole write in the letter. “It is clear that you haven’t heard the leading voices of this country —and not just Indian Country. Virtually every major civil rights organization in America has spoken out in opposition to this name including the NAACP, the Anti-Defamation League, the Rainbow Coalition and the League of United Latin American Citizens.”

In meetings with young black men, Obama tries to leave a mark - The Washington Post

In meetings with young black men, Obama tries to leave a mark - The Washington Post: CHICAGO – Kerron Turner sat with a more than a dozen other teenagers in a classroom at Hyde Park Academy High School on this city’s troubled South Side, nervously settling in for an unusual meeting with the president of the United States.

They told their stories: Turner worried about the gangs he passes on his way home from school. Robert Scates had dropped out of high school and was working to catch up in time to graduate. Lazarus Daniels feared what would happen to his anger if he couldn’t play football anymore.

Eventually, it was President Obama’s turn to check in — to say how hewas feeling emotionally, physically, intellectually and spiritually.

Obama’s quiet visit a year agoto the “Becoming a Man” program for inner-city youth in Chicago, along with a follow-up meeting several months later, would test whether Obama could transform the symbolism of his presidency into something more personal, one young man at a time.

The meetings left a mark on the president, who has used them as
motivation for a forthcoming White House initiative on young men of color that he promised to launch in this year’s State of the Union address.

Black History Month teaching resources | PBS NewsHour Extra

Black History Month teaching resources | PBS NewsHour Extra:
Black History Month teaching resources

Celebrate Black History Month in your classroom this February with 17 lesson plans and resources that cover topics ranging from important civil rights anniversaries to discussions about race in current events. These resources provide authentic student-driven learning experiences that will help all kids understand and honor Black History Month.

Unemployment rates are higher for young people, minorities | Video | PBS NewsHour | PBS

Unemployment rates are higher for young people, minorities | Video | PBS NewsHour | PBS: HARI SREENIVASAN: We wanted to follow up tonight on yesterday’s monthly unemployment report. Our focus this evening, a persistent problem; how unemployment affects young people and people of color disproportionately. Here to help unpack it is Nela Richardson, a Senior Economist from Bloomberg. So everyone pays attention to that top line 6.6 percent, when you kind of look under the hood though, it’s worse depending on where you look. So let’s look at race, for example. White Americans have an unemployment rate of about 5.7 percent and African Americans are more than twice that figure at 12.1 percent. Any primary causes?

NELA RICHARDSON: Well, you see that doubling of the unemployment rate between blacks and whites at every educational level and it’s particularly dramatic when you look at the youth population. There’s several reasons, Hari. One, it’s the fact that you know, blacks graduate at lower levels than white students do. So we know that college education is a huge factor in determining the level of unemployment, so that employment disparity is a big driver. Secondly, youth and African American youth tend to be employed in sectors that are very business cycle sensitive. So when the general economy is doing bad, that sector gets worse and it’s worse for this particular population.

Indian Groups Question Public Child-Welfare Practices - NYTimes.com

Indian Groups Question Public Child-Welfare Practices - NYTimes.com: DENVER — Several prominent Native American groups on Monday called for the Justice Department to investigate the treatment of Indian children in public child-welfare systems and private adoptions.

In a letter presented to government officials in Portland, Ore., the groups said that a federal law intended to keep Indian children from being removed from their families was being routinely sidestepped.

In their letter, the groups wrote that a lack of federal oversight had led to Indian children being improperly placed with non-Indian families by child welfare workers and that tribal representatives were too often left out of custody proceedings. They also accused adoption agencies of sometimes ignoring the tribal membership of children in their care.

Russian Figure Skater Who Lit Olympic Cauldron Sent Racist Tweet - ICTMN.com

Russian Figure Skater Who Lit Olympic Cauldron Sent Racist Tweet - ICTMN.com: Russian Figure Skater Who Lit Olympic Cauldron Sent Racist Tweet

Irina Rodnina, a former figure skater from Russia, may now go down in Olympic history as a pretty racist lady.

Rodnina, who is also a current member of Russia’s public chamber, had the honor of lighting the Olympic flame during today's opening ceremonies, sent a racist tweet of a picture of President Obama and the First Lady with a banana being held out in front of them last September, according to Deadspin.com.

The tweet was quickly deleted by Rodnina, who has not apologized for posting the image.

The Guardian added this from Rodnina to the mix:

Rodnina insisted that there was nothing wrong with the photograph, and said she had been sent it by friends in America. "Freedom of speech is freedom of speech, and you should answer for your own hang-ups," she wrote.

Rodnina, who lived in the US for many years, deleted the photograph but has not apologised and remains unfazed by accusations of racism. Instead, she suggested that the wave of criticism she prompted from liberal journalists and other Russians was a conspiracy.

STUDY: Hair relaxers raise black women's risk of fibroids - Atlanta News, Weather, Traffic, and Sports | FOX 5

STUDY: Hair relaxers raise black women's risk of fibroids - Atlanta News, Weather, Traffic, and Sports | FOX 5: ATLANTA, Ga. -

At Hair Rox Salon in College Park, owner Dana Roxette has witnessed a kind of hair "revolution." Ten years ago, she says, 95% of her African-American clients chemically-relaxed their hair.

Today, only a quarter do.

The rest are going "natural." Roxette says, "So, they can wear their hair curly like mine, wavy like mine, and go to the gym. And on the weekend, if they want to go out, they can go out and press their hair like it's relaxed."

But stylist Maya Cooper tried "natural" hair, and found it hard to keep up. Cooper explains, "I sweat easily, and because it was longer, it was just a little more work than I wanted it to do."

Cooper has been chemically-straightening her hair for 25 years.

So, she was intrigued, and a little alarmed by a 2012 Boston University study that found Black women who use hair relaxers are at slightly higher risk of developing uterine fibroids:

They're non-cancerous tumors that grow in the wall of the uterus, causing heavy bleeding, painful periods and are a leading cause of hysterectomies.

The Next Generation - Higher Education

The Next Generation - Higher Education: My “day” job is to train the next generation at Howard University and students who hopefully can fulfill the legacy of the likes of David Dinkins, Elijah Cummings and Kamala Harris. February is normally a month to look back at because it is Black History Month. But I like to think of it as a time to look ahead, especially to the next generation of Black leadership.

Last week, during his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama said it was time to give America a raise. He announced he was doing his part, requiring new federal contractors to pay workers a minimum of $10.10 an hour. He called on Congress to follow the lead of local communities like SeaTac, Wash., and states like California that took big steps last year to raise the wages of America’s workers.