Freedom fighters Carl Dix (pictured above right) and Cornel West (pictured above center) held an intense dialogue about mass incarceration on the Upper West Side Monday evening. The event, “Mass Incarceration + Silence=Genocide,” served to challenge the sociopolitical forces herding a disproportionate number of Black and Hispanic men in to prisons. The Stop Mass Incarceration Network/ Revolution Books-sponsored event was tinged with revolutionary fire, which was-a testament to its keynote speakers.

SEE ALSO: Sinbad Is Broke As A Joke — Again!

Watch the promo video for Dix and West’s incarceration dialogue here:

Dix first set the tone by sharing a letter he got from a prisoner in California, describing his solitary confinement experience. “He’s held 22 and more hours each and every day in a small, windowless cell. Someday they let us [the prisoner] exercise, but all that means is he gets to go from that small cell to a small cage,” the Revolutionary Communist Party co-founder said.

“Visits from his family and his lawyers can be cut off at any time or denied for any reason or no reason at all. He’s denied human contact for weeks, months, and even years at a time. His cell is sound-proof, so he goes long periods of time without hearing any sound. In his rare visits, it hurts his ears to hear his mother’s voice.”

Dix noted a contradiction in America’s inmate treatment while chastising other countries. “These are the conditions forming solitary confinement, right here in the U.S.A. country whose rulers never tire of going around the world, lecturing other countries about human rights violations. We’re not talking about a few hard cases treated this way; we’re talking about more than 80,000 people held under these conditions.”

“Now studies have shown that long term denial of human contact and long-term soundlessness can drive people insane. Yet this government arrogantly rejects international calls to limit solitary confinement to no more than 15 days.”

Mass imprisonment is part of a  larger scheme for killing off people of color, Dix argued. “A slow genocide has been more at work here in this country for quite sometime,” he said. “Grinding away, breaking the bodies, and crushing the spirit. The slow genocide can easily become a fast one, unless we act to stop it. This oppression is built in to the very fabric of this society. There ain’t gon’ be no savior coming down from Heaven or from the White House who can and would do anything about it.”

Cornel West’s turn at the podium proved no less energetic. The beloved civil rights activist set the crowd ablaze with his vocal performance, repeatedly lowering his voice to a controlled state, before a crescendo into a passionate climax of political outrage. “How shall integrity face oppression?” he asked. West shot his arms out in a show of asked support, back hunched, questioning the audience. “How shall honesty face deception?!”

West then briefly spoke about W.E.B Dubois’ works about the African-American state. “Dubois was speaking on behalf of a great people, of a Black people who’d been terrorized, traumatized, and stigmatized for 400 years in a land that understands itself to be the moral example of liberty!”

“These days, anybody who musters the courage to tell the truth about the conditions: imperialism, capitalism, White suprema[cy], male suprema[cy] — the system under which we live — you better be ready to die! These folks will kill you!”

“But the important thing is what you’re up against — the criminality against poor people, the criminalizing of young people, disproportionately Black and brown,” West said, through his trademark southern gentleman twang mixed with hints of bombastic Black pastor.

According to West, true change can only come through Black struggle: “There will never be sentimental transformation in this country until Black rage is channeled through moral, political, and ideologically progressive venue. Because the fundamental threat to the status quo in this nation, it started with Black men. The way that this nation was founded [with] emergence and sustenance so tied to White supremacy that if you don’t hit it head on, you can have all the best ideas in the world, and you’ll never be able to have a truce in place.”

The two men shared their revolutionary visions for more than an hour, leaving many issues to ponder. This was the sixth such discourse between Dix and West, who both started the Stop Mass Incarceration Network in 2011.

SEE ALSO: President: ‘We Will Stand With Oklahoma’

A Detroit mother claims that four women attacked her in front of her children over a possible road incident, Fox 2 News Detroit reports.

Watch news video Kesha’s account of the attack at the bottom

The woman, Kiesha, told the TV station that she went out for food for the family on a recent late night at a nearby McDonalds when she noticed a Ford Taurus “driving down the street all crazy.” She waited to see if the Taurus would slow down, but she said she had the right-of-way and proceeded to turn in to restaurant’s parking lot.

SEE ALSO: 9-Year-Old Girl Among Children Missing After Oklahoma Tornado

“The people followed me into McDonald’s,” Kesha said. “They blocked me off. She got out of the car. She came to my car. She leaned in the car. She argued with me. I tried to reason with her.”

SEE ALSO: Daughters Sue Mandela Over Control Of His Artwork, Companies

It is not clear what exactly caused the argument. Maybe it was road rage or, perhaps, Kesha cut them off. Whatever the reason, the dispute only got worse.

SEE ALSO: Sinbad Is Broke As A Joke — Again!

“I kept saying, ‘Wait, wait, wait, calm down. Please just calm down. Wait a minute. Hold on,’” Kesha explained. “I was like, ‘I didn’t do anything wrong. Just wait a minute.’ And she just kept on saying, ‘You shut the [expletive] up.’”

Here is more from Fox 2 News:

We’re told the woman spit on her twice and threw a liquor bottle through the car window.

“My kids were in the car. They had kids in the car. I go to try to leave and drive around their car. The next thing you know there’s a bottle flying in the window, glass all in my mouth,” Kesha said.

She jumped out, but four young women from the other car got out, too.

“It was crazy. They literally [were] thumping me. The girl that came to my car, she sat on top of me,” Kesha said.

Cut, bruised and now left with two bloody eyes, she said she was not trying to fight, but rather trying to reason with them.

“For them to be as upset as they were over something so simple, they had to be either intoxicated or on drugs or something,” Kesha said.

“By her being epileptic, God was on her side because she ended up having bruises, but this could have killed her,” said her finance.

“Of course, we do want justice for both her and for our children,” he added. “For our children to witness something like this, it’s an atrocity.”

Janae Hornsby, 9, pictured left and right with her father, is among the missing children after a tornado destroyed the town of Moore, Okla.

 MOORE, Okla.  — Emergency crews searched the broken remnants of an Oklahoma City suburb Tuesday for survivors of a massive tornado that flattened homes and demolished an elementary school. At least 24 people were killed, including at least nine children, and those numbers were expected to climb.

As the sun rose over the shattered community of Moore, the state medical examiner’s office cut the estimated death toll by more than half but warned that the number was likely to climb again. Gov. Mary Fallin said an untold number of people were still missing.

“We will rebuild and we will regain our strength,” said Fallin, who went on a flyover of the area and described it as “hard to look at.”

Many houses, she said, have “just been taken away, they’re just sticks and bricks.”

Amy Elliott, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner, said she believes some victims were counted twice in the early chaos of the storm that struck Monday afternoon. Downed communication lines and problems sharing information with officers exacerbated the problem, she said.

“It was a very eventful night,” Elliott said. “I truly expect that they’ll find more today.”

Authorities initially said as many as 51 people were dead, including 20 children.

New search-and-rescue teams moved at dawn Tuesday, taking over from the 200 or so emergency responders who worked all night. A helicopter shined a spotlight from above to aid in the search.

Fire Chief Gary Bird said fresh teams would search the whole community at least two more times to ensure that no survivors – or any of the dead – were overlooked. Crews painted an `X’ on each structure to note it had been checked.

“That is to confirm we have done our due diligence for this city, for our citizens,” Bird said.

The community of 56,000 people, 10 miles south of Oklahoma City, braced for another long, harrowing day.

“As long as we are here … we are going to hold out hope that we will find survivors,” said Trooper Betsy Randolph, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

More than 200 people had been treated at area hospitals.

Other search-and-rescue teams focused their efforts at Plaza Towers Elementary, where the storm ripped off the roof, knocked down walls and turned the playground into a mass of twisted plastic and metal as students and teachers huddled in hallways and bathrooms.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin said she watched up close late Monday as rescuers tried to find people in the wreckage of the school.

“It was an incredible sight to see how big the debris field was and how much destruction there was,” Fallin said. “It would be remarkable for anyone to survive.”

Seven of the nine dead children were killed at the school, but several students were pulled alive from under a collapsed wall and other heaps of mangled debris. Rescue workers passed the survivors down a human chain of parents and neighborhood volunteers. Parents carried children in their arms to a triage center in the parking lot. Some students looked dazed, others terrified.

Officials were still trying to account for a handful of children not found at the school who may have gone home early with their parents, Bird said Tuesday.

Many parents of missing schoolchildren initially came to St. Andrews United Methodist Church, which had been set up as a meeting site. But only high school students were brought to the church, causing confusion and frustration among parents of students enrolled at Plaza Towers. They were redirected to a Baptist church several miles away.

“It was very emotional – some people just holding on to each other, crying because they couldn’t find a child; some people being angry and expressing it verbally” by shouting at one another, said D.A. Bennett, senior pastor at St. Andrews.

After hearing that the tornado was headed toward another school called Briarwood Elementary, David Wheeler left work and drove 100 mph through blinding rain and gusting wind to find his 8-year-old son, Gabriel. When he got to the school site, “it was like the earth was wiped clean, like the grass was just sheared off,” Wheeler said.

Eventually, he found Gabriel, sitting with the teacher who had protected him. His back was cut and bruised and gravel was embedded in his head – but he was alive. As the tornado approached, students at Briarwood were initially sent to the halls, but a third-grade teacher – whom Wheeler identified as Julie Simon – thought it didn’t look safe and so ushered the children into a closet, he said.

The teacher shielded Gabriel with her arms and held him down as the tornado collapsed the roof and starting lifting students upward with a pull so strong that it sucked the glasses off their faces, Wheeler said.

“She saved their lives by putting them in a closet and holding their heads down,” Wheeler said.

The tornado also grazed a theater, and leveled countless homes. Authorities were still trying to determine the full scope of the damage.

Roofs were torn off houses, exposing metal rods left twisted like pretzels. Cars sat in heaps, crumpled and sprayed with caked-on mud. Insulation and siding was smashed up against the sides of any walls that remained standing. Yards were littered with pieces of wood, nails and pieces of electric poles.

President Barack Obama declared a major disaster and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts.

“Among the victims were young children trying to take shelter in the safest place they knew – their school,” he said Tuesday.

The town of Moore “needs to get everything it needs right away,” he added.

Obama spoke following a meeting with his disaster-response team, including Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and top White House officials.

The National Weather Service issued an initial finding that the tornado was an EF-4 on the enhanced Fujita scale, the second most powerful type of twister. It estimated that the twister was at least half a mile wide.

The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., forecast more stormy weather Tuesday in parts of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma, including the Moore area.

In video of the storm, the dark funnel cloud could be seen marching slowly across the green landscape. As it churned through the community, the twister scattered shards of wood, awnings and glass all over the streets.

Monday’s tornado loosely followed the path of a killer twister that slammed the region with 300 mph winds in May 1999. It was the fourth tornado to hit Moore since 1998.

The 1999 storm damaged 600 homes and about 100 businesses. Two or three schools were also hit, but “the kids were out of school, so there were no concerns,” recalled City Manager Steve Eddy.

At the time of Monday’s storm, the City Council was meeting. Local leaders watched the twister approaching on television before taking shelter in the bathroom.

“We blew our sirens probably five or six times,” Eddy said. “We knew it was going to be significant, and there were are a lot of curse words flying.”

Betty Snider, 81, scrambled inside with her son and husband. She put her husband, who recently had a stroke, in a bathroom, but there wasn’t room for both of them. So she and her son huddled in a hallway.

“That is the loudest roar I’ve ever heard in my life,” she said.

She said she didn’t have time to do anything. She couldn’t duck, couldn’t cover her ears, couldn’t find another place to hide.

Snider lived through the 1999 tornado, but said this was the closest a twister had ever come to her house, which was still standing.

Monday’s twister also came almost exactly two years after an enormous twister ripped through the city of Joplin, Mo., killing 158 people and injuring hundreds more.

That May 22, 2011, tornado was the deadliest in the United States since modern tornado record keeping began in 1950, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Before Joplin, the deadliest modern tornado was June 1953 in Flint, Mich., when 116 people died.

Christopher “Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace (pictured) was gunned down on March 9, 1997, just two months shy of his 25th birthday. With fame and all the perks that came along with his stellar rapping ability, he was destined to achieve so much more. On Tuesday, Biggie Smalls, as he also known, would have been 41 years of age. NewsOne takes a look back at the life and legacy of the heavyweight Brooklyn rap legend.

SEE ALSO: Haitian Revolution Leader Toussaint L’Ouverture Was Born On This Day In 1743

Hip-hop music was in a curious place, as many were still mourning the death of Wallace’s rival, Tupac “2Pac” Shakur, who was killed a mere six months prior on September 7, 1996, in Las Vegas via a drive-by shooting. Because of the tensions between East and West Coast rappers at the time, many fans thought 2Pac’s death was a fatal warning serving as a salvo for the escalating coastal war. Dying in a similar fashion, Biggie’s murder left a foreboding cloud over the industry as it suddenly became less about the music and more about the violence it inspired.

Born Christopher George Latore Wallace to Jamaican parents George Latore and Voletta Wallace, the future Bad Boy star was raised in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn.  According to his mother’s accounts, Wallace was a good student but succumbed to the trappings of the streets while in middle school. By the time he reached high school, his involvement in the drug trade increased and he was later jailed for his actions. Despite his life of crime, Wallace had a natural knack for rapping and made a demo tape using the alias Biggie Smalls.

The tape made its way to the hands of Mister Cee, a popular DJ who worked with another Brooklyn legend, rapper Big Daddy Kane.  Mister Cee played the tape for editors at hip-hop magazine The Source who were so wowed that they featured Biggie in its “Unsigned Hype” column in a March 1992 issue and reportedly invited him to record more music. The demo caught the ears of Uptown Records producer and A&R Sean “Diddy” Combs who rushed to sign the hefty MC.

Wallace still sold drugs as he joined Combs’ newly minted label, Bad Boy Records, later in 1992. After an appearance on a remix of Mary J. Blige’s smash “Real Love” single as the Notorious B.I.G., Wallace became a household name.

Watch Blige’s “Real Love” remix with B.I.G. here:

Combs developed his protégé along slowly, having Wallace appear on tracks with reggae star Super Cat, LL Cool J, and more, but it was with his debut album, “Ready To Die,” in September of 1994 that Wallace cemented himself as a force.

Marrying R&B singer Faith Evans a month prior, Wallace’s career arc was exceptional, considering West Coast hip-hop ruled heavily on the air waves and among consumers. Spawning huge hits in the singles “Juicy,” “Big Poppa,” and “One More Chance,” the LP went on to go platinum four times.

Between his debut and sophomore effort, Wallace helmed the creation of off-shoot music group Junior M.A.F.I.A., featuring childhood friends Lil’ Kim and Lil’ Cease. The crew had hits in the singles “Player’s Anthem” and “Get Money” — both staples of any old-school rap mix nationwide.

Surprisingly enough, Shakur and Wallace were once allies and had even performed live shows with each other. Things took a turn, however, when Shakur accused Uptown Records boss Andre Harrell, Combs, and Wallace of setting him up for a robbery and shooting in a New York studio in 1994.

Wallace denied all claims, and just last year it was revealed the beleaguered businessman and music mogul James “Jimmy Henchman” Rosemond was responsible for ordering a hit on Shakur.

The feud between the pair never went away and Shakur released his infamous and scathing diss record “Hit ‘Em Up” in the summer of 1996, squarely aimed in Wallace’s direction. Shakur also claimed to have slept with Wallace’s wife on the record, but it went largely ignored by the target.

As aforementioned, Shakur was killed later that fall and the rumors began to swirl. Was Wallace responsible for Shakur’s slaying? Did the diss record cut that deep to warrant the shooting?

While in California to promote his second album, Wallace was shot after attending the Soul Train Music Awards the evening prior, and as he was leaving an industry after-party in a SUV, Wallace was hit with four bullets by an African-American man who hopped out of a vehicle while Wallace’s entourage was stuck at a red light.

The murder remains unsolved, although it was initially rumored that Suge Knight, the owner of Death Row Records who counted 2Pac as a signee, ordered the shooting.

The “Life After Death” album was released posthumously on March 25, 1997. It was a double-disc album, marking the progression of Wallace’s style, and highlighted his amazing ability to adapt to the times. It has gone on to become one of hip-hop’s best-selling albums and was certified Diamond (10 million sold) in 2000.

Survived by his daughter Tynna, who is now 19 and in college at Penn State, she just released a clothing line. Tynna was featured in Wallace’s “Juicy” video when she was just a toddler and maintains her father’s legacy. Wallace’s son with Evans, also named Christopher, is a budding actor and rapper as well.

The tragic circumstances that led to the death of Wallace just as he was ready to become an even bigger star still boggle the mind. Yet, there is some comfort knowing that Wallace’s legacy remains untarnished despite one too many posthumous releases from Bad Boy’s vaults. Listeners worldwide have been robbed of witnessing what Wallace would have done next, and while he left us with plenty, it will never be enough.

Rest In Powerful Peace, Biggie. You Are The Illest.

SEE ALSO: Entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. Died On This Day In 1990

Three Chicago teens have been arrested and charged with the rape of a 12-year-old girl. The teens allegedly posted video of the attack on their Facebook pages, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Scandale Fritz, 16, Kenneth Brown, 15, and Justin Applewhite, 16, were all ordered held in lieu of $900,000 bail in a hearing Friday; all three were charged as adults. The alleged attacks took place in December at Fritz’s home in the 400 block of West 60th Place in the Englewood neighborhood on Dec. 15.

It is not clear why it took so long to for the teens to be charged.

The girl, whose identity has not been released because she is a minor and a sex assault victim, went to Fritz’s home to speak with him. But when she entered the residence, she reportedly saw Brown with a gun in his pocket. Fritz then allegedly took the girl into the basement where he raped and sodomized her. After his alleged sexual assault, Fritz had Brown and Applewhite enter the basement and asked her to have sex with both teens.

At first, she refused but eventually gave in to their demands because Brown had a gun and both boys are reported to be members of the Black Disciples gang faction “Tay-Town,” according to DNAinfo Chicago.

In the video of the alleged sex act, Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Bridget O’Brien said that the boys can he heard yelling gang slogans. One of the boys is seen waving a gun in the air while the girl performed sex acts.

All three boys were charged as adults with aggravated criminal sexual assault. While it appears that the charge was Applewhite’s first arrest, Fritz and Brown were both expected in juvenile court this week on pending robbery, aggravated battery and theft charges, according to DNAinfo Chicago. Brown was convicted of unauthorized use of a weapon in 2012. He was still on probation for that crime when the alleged rape took place in December.

The day after the assaults took place, the girl told someone about the attacks, and a police report was made. The girl was then treated and examined at a local hospital. On Dec. 17, the video was posted on Brown’s Facebook page. Eventually, all three boys posted the video on their Facebook pages. Prosecutors say Fritz admitted to making the tape.

All three boys are due back in court June 6.

SEE ALSO: Mary J. Blige Owes Uncle Sam $3.5 Million?

Last month, Sinbad, whose actual name is David Adkins, reportedly filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy.  The sometimes actor and former reality show star reportedly owes a whopping $10,991,715 in debt but only claims to have a mere $131,000 in assets.

According to the court document, which financially breaks down his debts, the 56-year-old Father of two owes American Express $374,979, Bank of America $32,199, and CA Franchise Tax Board $2.3 million.

In addition, Uncle Sam allegedly is demanding $8.3 million in back taxes for the years of 1998 to 2006 and claims that Sinbad is also in debt to the state.

The bottom line seems to be that Sinbad, , simply can’t afford to pay his bills, again!

In 2009, Sinbad, who reportedly brings in $16,000 a month, was placed on the top 10 list of the 250 worst tax debtors for the state of California. At the time, he owed the state $2.5 million in personal income tax. By the end of 2009, he filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

A few months later, he reportedly put up his 5,064-sq.-ft. mansion for sale with a $3 million asking price in order to help cut down on some of his tax debt. Sinbad originally paid $1.5 million for the house in 2007.

The man who was a television fixture in the ’80s and ’90s and starred in classic shows, such as “A Different World,” does have some material possessions he can still hold on to — at least for now: A 2006 VW Beetle, 2010 Ford F150, 2010 Lincoln Navigator, $5,000 worth of office equipment, and 200 copies of his book, “Sinbad’s Guide to Life,” which Amazon is trying to unload for $6.25 per copy.

SEE ALSO: Jay-Z On Beyonce Pregnancy Rumors: ‘It’s Not True’

RELATED: Civil Disobedience Arrests Mount In N.C. In Protest Of Conservative Agenda

The arrests were part of the “Moral Monday” series of protests that include civil rights advocates, students, clergy, and other progressive types fighting a new legislative agenda put forward by statehouse Republicans that weakens access to health care, restricts voting rights, restores the death penalty, and takes away some funding for the state university system.

“This leadership wants to make our state a place of deeper stratification and inequality,” said Rev. William Barber II (pictured), president of the North Carolina NAACP. “Here in North Carolina we are seeing a fast march backward toward as much unequal treatment as people will allow.”

It seems the wide ranging nature of the conservative proposals at the statehouse are giving additional vigor to the protest: so many areas are under attack from the Republican lawmakers that many everyday citizens are finding something to get angry about.

Students opposed to drastic cuts to the state educational system are standing side-by-side with civil rights advocates upset with proposals designed to make it more difficult to vote by eliminating same-day voter registration and some early voting rules.

Rev. Jonathan Wilson-Hargrove, associate minister of St. John’s Missionary Baptist Church in Durham, said he got arrested Monday to protest the legislature’s move to end the Racial Justice Act of 2009, which allowed death row inmates to appeal their sentences on the grounds of racial bias in the court system.

“You have to always be careful when there are economic hardships because there are people who will play on the fears of regular folks in order to pass extremist legislation,” Wilson-Hargrove told NewsOne.

With the broad swath of laws ensuring fairness and equity that the Republican legislature is looking to dismantle, conservative lawmakers have effectively awakened, angered, and engaged a huge segment of the population to rally against their agenda.

Though it’s only been a month, it would be a surprise to see the North Carolina protests end anytime soon.

RELATED: N.C. NAACP Fights Conservative Agenda To Weaken Voter Rights And Cut Health Care, Student Aid

Makaziwe

SEE ALSO: We Must Get Justice For Ramarley Graham

The women are allegedly fighting a 2004 Johannesburg High Court order that gives Mandela the right to instruct his then-attorney Ismail Ayob to stop managing his financial, personal, and legal affairs. The order also prevented the lawyer from selling any of Nelson’s collection of art pieces.

Last week, Nelson’s current attorney, Bally Chuene, filed a court document in response to the lawsuit that was brought by Makaziwe and Zenani, whose legal counsel is now Ayob.

The suit is mandating that Chuene; George Bizos, a renowned human rights attorney; and Tokyo Sexwale, a cabinet minister, who are named as trustees and directors of the valuable artwork and trust, be removed from their positions and instead allow the daughters to be in control their father’s fortune. The two daughters claim that the three men were never appointed as shareholders or even directors.

The 94-year-old former president of South Africa, who has had more than his fair share of medical problems throughout the last few years, has reportedly informed his legal team in no uncertain terms that he does not want daughters Makaziwe and Zenani involved in his business dealings.

The Global Post states that as per Chuene, who manages Nelson’s investment funds, which are worth more than $1.7 million, “Mr. Mandela made it clear to Makaziwe and Zenani that he did not want them involved in his affairs…the only persons he wanted involved were myself, advocate Bizos…and his other various nominees.”

The attorney goes on to state that the women are only seeking their father’s fortune and their current legal actions are fueled by “greed.”

Chuene also contends that Nelson wanted his two daughters removed as trustees of the companies after they were appointed by his ex-attorney, Ayob, whom Nelson released from his duties after a disagreement.

Bizos, who has been friends with Nelson for years, says that he is ready to fight the lawsuit as he continues to assist his ailing confidant in managing his estate.

A court date for a hearing is still pending.

Sound off!

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama pledged urgent government help for Oklahoma Tuesday in the wake of “one of the most destructive” storms in the nation’s history.

RELATED: Huge Tornado Hits Oklahoma City Suburb, Kills 51

“In an instant neighborhoods were destroyed, dozens of people lost their lives, many more were injured,” Obama said from the White House State Dining Room. “Among the victims were young children trying to take shelter in the safest place they knew — their school.”

The President added that the town of Moore, Okla., “needs to get everything it needs right away.”

Obama spoke following a meeting with his disaster response team, including Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and top White House officials. On Monday, he spoke with Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin and Republican Rep. Tom Cole, whose home is in the heavily damaged town of Moore, a suburb of Oklahoma City.

The President has also declared a major disaster in Oklahoma, ordering federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts. Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Craig Fugate was due in Oklahoma later Tuesday to ensure that federal resources are being properly deployed.

The state medical examiner’s office has revised the death toll from the tornado to 24 people, including seven children. Authorities had said initially that as many as 51 people were dead, including 20 children.

Teams are continuing to search the rubble in Moore, 10 miles south of Oklahoma City, after the Monday afternoon’s more than half-mile-wide twister.

Watch the tornado here:

Precious Allen, 31, the Cincinnati mother facing misdemeanor charges for allegedly helping her daughter beat up a female classmate who was allegedly bullying her is suing the Cincinnati school district and police, reports WKRC Cincinnati.

As previously reported by NewsOne, Allen, her daughter, and her sister, Dawn Brunner, burst into a classroom and assaulted a 15-year-old student with their fists and a combination lock. The student suffered cuts and bruises, and a teacher ended up with a black eye in the scuffle.

Allen claims that the student she is accused of assaulting actually assaulted her and that the school purposely deleted video that would have proved her innocence.

Watch news coverage of this incident here:

Allen was previously charged with felonies, but a  Hamilton County Grand Jury indicted her on charges of misdemeanor assault and aggravated trespassing.

It appears as if the world will have to wait a little while longer for baby Green Lantern, or Purple Rain or Chartreuse Tumbleweed, because Jay-Z is denying that Beyonce is pregnant with a sibling for Blue Ivy, reports HipHollywood.com.

As previously reported by NewsOne, Page Six and E! Online both claimed that sources close to the couple confirmed they were expecting baby number two.

Factor in Beyonce’s Met Gala dress that conveniently camouflaged her mid-section and the unexpected cancellation of a concert stop due to “exhaustion and dehydration,” the rumors took on a life of their own.

But Hov has shut them down.

According to HipHollywood, Hot 97 Program Director, Ebro Darden, sent Jay and Beyonce a congratulatory email on Friday, and Jay replied, “It’s not true, the news is worse than blogs.”

And there you have it.

Of course, Jay-Z could be trying to gain control of the speculation so that King Bey can do another big reveal, but only time will tell.

As previously reported by NewsOne, Beyoncé kicked off her highly anticipated “Mrs. Carter Show Tour” in April at the Kombank Arena in Belgrade, Serbia.

“The Mrs. Carter Show’ is scheduled to stop in  many more exotic European locales before exploding stateside at the Los Angeles Staples Center on June 29, 2013.

For complete tour dates click here.

[NewsOne Editor's Note: If you or anyone you know is in need in the wake of this devastating tornado, please go to FreeOK.org by clicking here and here for continual updates on where food, clothes, shelter, healthcare and utility assistance can be found.]

UPDATE 05/20/13 — 11:24 PM EST:

“The biggest, most destructive tornado in the history of the world,” hit Oklahoma, and according to state officials, at least 24 students at Plaza Towers Elementary have been killed, including 7 who drowned, reports Jezebel.com.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students of Plaza Towers Elementary had been evacuated to a church about a quarter of a mile away, but Kindergarten through third grade had been sheltered at the school. When the tornado hit, some kids were allegedly in the bathrooms and hallways of the school.

—————————————————————————————————-

MOORE, Okla. (AP) — A monstrous tornado at least a half-mile wide roared through the Oklahoma City suburbs Monday, flattening entire neighborhoods and destroying an elementary school with a direct blow as children and teachers huddled against winds up to 200 mph. At least 51 people were killed, and officials said the death toll was expected to rise.

The storm laid waste to scores of buildings in Moore, south of the city. Block after block of the community lay in ruins. Homes were crushed into piles of broken wood. Cars and trucks were left crumpled on the roadside.

The National Weather Service issued an initial finding that the tornado was an EF-4 on the enhanced Fujita scale, the second most-powerful type of twister.

Authorities expected the death toll to rise as emergency crews moved deeper into the hardest-hit areas. More than 120 people were being treated at hospitals, including about 70 children.

Rescuers mounted a desperate rescue effort at the school, pulling children from heaps of debris and carrying them to a triage center.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin deployed 80 National Guard members to assist with search-and-rescue operations and activated extra highway patrol officers.

Fallin also spoke with President Barack Obama, who offered the nation’s help and gave Fallin a direct line to his office.

Many land lines to stricken areas were down and cellphone traffic was congested. The storm was so massive that it will take time to establish communications between rescuers and state officials, the governor said.

In video of the storm, the dark funnel cloud could be seen marching slowly across the green landscape. As it churned through the community, the twister scattered shards of wood, pieces of insulation, awnings, shingles and glass all over the streets.

Volunteers and first responders raced to search the debris for survivors.

At Plaza Towers Elementary School, the storm tore off the roof, knocked down walls and turned the playground into a mass of twisted plastic and metal.

Several children were pulled alive from the rubble. Rescue workers passed the survivors down a human chain to the triage center in the parking lot.

James Rushing, who lives across the street from the school, heard reports of the approaching tornado and ran to the school, where his 5-year-old foster son, Aiden, attends classes. Rushing believed he would be safer there.

“About two minutes after I got there, the school started coming apart,” he said.

The students were placed in the restroom.

Douglas Sherman drove two blocks from his home to help rescue survivors.

“Just having those kids trapped in that school, that really turns the table on a lot of things,” he said.

Tiffany Thronesberry said she got an alarming call from her mother, Barbara Jarrell, after the tornado.

“I got a phone call from her screaming, `Help, help! I can’t breathe. My house is on top of me!’” Thronesberry said.

Thronesberry hurried to her mother’s house, where first responders had already pulled her out. Her mother was hospitalized for treatment for cuts and bruises.

Oklahoma City Police Capt. Dexter Nelson said downed power lines and open gas lines posed a risk in the aftermath of the system.

Monday’s powerful tornado loosely followed the path of a killer twister that slammed the region in May 1999.

The weather service estimated that the storm that Monday’s tornado was at least a half-mile wide. The 1999 storm had winds clocked at 300 mph.

Kelsey Angle, a weather service meteorologist in Kansas City, Mo., said it’s unusual for two such powerful tornadoes to track roughly the same path.

Monday’s devastation in Oklahoma came almost exactly two years after an enormous twister ripped through the city of Joplin, Mo., killing 158 people and injuring hundreds more.

That May 22, 2011, tornado was the deadliest in the United States since modern tornado record keeping began in 1950, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Before Joplin, the deadliest modern tornado was June 1953 in Flint, Mich., when 116 people died.

In this Sept. 29, 2011 photo, Dr. Christine Daniel gives a flu shot to patient Amparo Villaluazo at Daniel’s Sonrise Medical Clinic in Mission Hills. Daniel, 57, of Northridge, was found guilty on Friday May 17,2013 and sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for selling bogus cancer cures to dozens of victims across the country as part of a “treatment” program that prosecutors said was “despicable, cruel and heinous” and hastened the death of some patients. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Daily News, Hans Gutknecht)

LOS ANGELES  — A Los Angeles doctor was sentenced Friday to 14 years in federal prison for bilking patients out of more than $1 million by promising them that an herbal supplement she hawked could cure late-stage cancer and other diseases.

SEE ALSO: Should IRS Apologize To Tea Party Racists?

U.S. District Judge Robert Timilin also ordered Dr. Christine Daniel to forfeit $1,277,083.

Daniel, 58, was found guilty of 11 counts, including wire fraud, tax evasion and witness tampering in September 2011.

She enticed patients to take her herbal product and charged them as much as $100,000 for a six-month treatment program that she claimed could cure cancer, diabetes and multiple sclerosis, authorities said.

Some of her patients, however, died from complications of cancer within three to six months after taking the supplement. In one case, prosecutors contend a 22-year-old woman who had a highly curable form of neck lymphoma died because she relied on Daniel’s recommendation to avoid radiation or chemotherapy treatments.

“The scope of Daniel’s fraud was breathtaking,” U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. said in a statement after Daniel was sentenced. “Daniel robbed victims of more than money — she also stole their hopes and dreams for a cure. Daniel is responsible for a shockingly cold-hearted fraud that has brought her a richly deserved federal prison sentence.”

SEE ALSO: Zoe Saldana: ‘People Of Color’ Don’t Exist

Prosecutors sought a 27-year prison term, while Daniel’s attorney argued that nearly six years behind bars was more appropriate.

In all, authorities believe Daniel siphoned about $1.1 million from dozens of families between 2001 and 2004.

Some patients also endured additional pain and suffering because they took the herbal tonic provided by Daniel.

At trial, experts called by federal prosecutors said chemical tests of the product showed it contained beef extract flavoring and a sunscreen preservative, among other ingredients.

“I live with the guilt that I should have seen that none of what she was going through was helping her, but instead was hurting her,” Debra Harris wrote in a letter submitted to the court about her sister Barbara Davis, who was one of Daniel’s patients and who later died. Harris said Daniel’s patients were not only convinced they could be cured, but so were family members who “wanted to believe it just as bad.”

SEE ALSO: Which Slave Sailed Himself To Freedom?

Paula Middlebrooks also put her faith in Daniel, who billed her nearly $60,000 over a five-month period to help treat her terminal breast cancer. Eventually, Daniel pronounced Middlebrooks free of cancer and threw her a party. But in reality, the cancer was spreading and Middlebrooks died shortly after she returned to her home in Georgia.

Federal prosecutors said Daniel preyed upon people in their most vulnerable state.

Daniel “repeatedly demonstrated a merciless and callous indifference to the suffering of her patients and their family members,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Johns wrote in court documents. “It is unlikely that our federal criminal justice system will see the likes of defendant Christine Daniel again.”

Foreigners, who are looking to witness from a safe distance, what a “real ghetto” looks like are paying $45 a pop to take a bus tour through the Bronx, and borough politicos are up in arms, according to the New York Post.

Real Bronx Tours are taking mainly White Europeans and Australians on a tour of the Bronx with stops at for photo ops at a food-pantry line, “pickpocket” park, and housing projects.

According to an unnamed patron on the tour, one of the guides, Lynn Battaglia (pictured), from Pittsburgh, poked fun at impoverished areas, describing the South Bronx, in particular, as a crime-ridden borough infested with poverty and violence, which has plagued the area since the 1970s.

At one point during the tour, Battaglia allegedly told the tourists in front of pantry line, “I don’t know what that line’s about, but every Wednesday we see it,” Battaglia told the tourists. “We see them go in with empty carts, and we see them come out with carts full.”

The bus then reportedly stopped in front of St. Mary’s Park, where she reportedly told the foreigners, “If it were 1980, and you said to me, ‘Lynn, I want to die.’ My answer would be, ‘You’re in the right neighborhood,’” suggesting that the park is unsafe.

As the tour continued, Battaglia allegedly also blamed the borough for coming up with the term “pig” to describe police, “The policeman, his name is Patty, and he would walk up and down that street, and if he ran into an alcoholic, he’d beat them mercilessly. So they’d call him ‘Patty the Pig,’” she said.

“Pig” actually originated in London in 1811!

Borough President Ruben Diaz is incensed about the tour and referred to its guide as “the biggest fool on the planet.” Diaz added, “They should tell people about the Bronx that we all know, and that’s the Bronx that’s had the lowest crime rate since 1963 last year.”  Diaz contends, “To have foreigners come and gawk at a long line of people who are less fortunate than they are and to make money off of that and to view them as though they are some sort of entertainment is pretty disgusting.”

Meanwhile, Real Bronx Tours failed to provide a comment to the New York Post when contacted.

As an added note, I am from the Bronx and not only has crime gone down, but the borough has been significantly redeveloped since the ’80s. The Bronx is the birthplace of hip-hop, one of the centers of African-American culture, home to the legendary baseball team the Yankees, and has one of the world’s largest metropolitan zoos. 

The borough’s yesteryear image of being a lunar wasteland was perpetuated by those who are myopic and pessimistic. And today, the Bronx stands as a shining renaissance!

A manager of Chicago’s Navy Pier rode the tourist spot’s Ferris wheel for more than two days — 384 times, up and around — bringing the world record for the longest ride to the birthplace of the amusement park favorite.

SEE ALSO: Michelle Obama Has Retired Her Bangs


“I thought Chicago should have that title,” Clinton Shepherd said after finishing his record-breaking ride on Sunday. Shepherd, the park operations manager, spent 48 hours, 8 minutes and 25 seconds riding Navy Pier’s Ferris wheel over the weekend.

The first Ferris wheel was built in 1893 in Chicago for the World’s Columbian Exposition.

Guinness World Records allowed him to have one five-minute break each hour. He played hours of videogames to stay awake during the ride, and watched James Bond and Batman movies. His gondola on the wheel was specially outfitted with a big-screen TV, cushions and curtains.

SEE ALSO: Woman Gets Job Via Instagram

Supporters followed him on Twitter. A video camera recorded the feat while volunteer timekeepers documented Shepherd’s activities.

Fans could join Shepherd for a spin by making a donation to the USO. Shepherd’s girlfriend rode with him Saturday for a candlelight anniversary dinner with food from a Chicago restaurant owned by Michael Jordan.

SEE ALSO: Will The Media Apologize To The Central Park 5?

The 32-year-old Shepherd called his adventure “a very overwhelming experience” that was made easier by the support of friends, family and the city of Chicago.

“I was thrilled and honored to be able to have all the love and support I did,” Shepherd said.

The previous record was 30 hours and 35 seconds. Shepherd said he didn’t want to simply beat the record, “I wanted to shatter it.”

“It was little rough at about three in the morning, but the more I kept busy, the better,” Shepherd said.

He said his legs felt wobbly after the ride.

NewsOne has partnered with the Black and Missing Foundation and TV One to focus on the crisis of missing African Americans.

To be a part of the solution, NewsOne will profile a missing person weekly and provide tips about how to keep your loved ones safe and what to do if someone goes missing, while TV One‘s newest show, “Find Our Missing,” hosted by award-winning actress S. Epatha Merkerson, tells these stories in visual form.

                                                                                                —————————————
Ivanice Harris

Case Type: Endangered
Date of Birth: May 18, 1985
Missing Date: May 16, 2013
Age Now: 29
Missing City: Waikiki
Missing State: Hawaii
Gender: Female
Race: Black
Complexion: Medium
Height: 5’3″
Weight: 125
Hair Color: Black
Hair Length: Shoulder Length
Eye Color: Brown
Wear Glasses or Contacts: No

Location Last Seen: Harris was last seen at 2:15 a.m. on Thursday talking with a man outside a bar in Waikiki.

SEE ALSO: Family Suspects Foul Play In Case Of Missing Grandmother

Circumstances of Disappearance: Harris, 29, who is from Portland, was visiting Hawaii to celebrate her birthday. She was last seen by her friends talking to a man outside of a bar.

Friend Jillian Gibides said she pulled up to the area in a cap and saw Harris outside of the bar.

“When I had gotten out and came around the cab, I looked back over and didn’t see her, so I just figured, okay. She’ll just call me when she needs to,” said Gibidies who told HawaiiNewsNow that she considered Harris to be a sister.

Friends and family say it is unusual for Harris to go this long without contacting family.

“The last message we have from her is a text message to our mom on Wednesday,” Harris’ sister Holley Watson told the Oregonian. “She was having a good time. She went to breakfast [on Wednesday]. She went to the beach in the afternoon and she seemed to be extremely happy and enjoying herself.”

Harris’ mother said they spoke regularly.

“Every single day. She and I talk every single day. And I hadn’t heard from her,” said Harris’ mother, Patricia Harris. “And I said okay, she didn’t text me back. That’s when I got the text from her boyfriend, but she was having a great time.”

“I know her, and I know her well enough that this is not normal,” said Gibides. “And on her birthday?”

Harris had recently enrolled at Mt. Hood Community College. Her family has launched a Facebook page to bring attention to the case. They are also trying to raise money to hire a private investigator.

“I’m just hoping that somebody can tell us anything, you know. I just want her to come home, call, give us something to go on at this point,” said her sister, Ivesha Harris.

Last Seen Wearing: A red-orange, long-sleeve sweater and long blue denim pants.

Identifying Marks or Characteristics: Unknown.

If anyone has information regarding the whereabouts of Ivanice Harris contact CrimeStoppers in Honolulu at (808) 955-8300 or the Black and Missing Foundation’s confidential Tip Line.

SEE ALSO: Ct. University Student Who Planned to Pursue Doctorate In Psychology Still Missing

It certainly seems as if there is no light at the end of the tunnel for songstress Mary J. Blige (pictured) with regards to her money troubles.  Now Uncle Sam has his hand out for a reported $3.4 million, accusing Blige of failing to pay federal taxes for the years 2009 through 2011, according to TMZ.

SEE ALSO: Chad ‘Ochocinco’ Johnson Arrested

The IRS, which has filed a federal tax lien against Blige, is claiming that she owes them $574,907.30 for 2009, $,203,743.53 for 2010, and 647,604.60 for 2011, bringing the grand total of the debt to $3,426,255.43.

Blige has been embroiled in quite a bit of money drama over the last few years. Last February, the state of New Jersey came a-calling and demanded that she pay the reported $900,000-plus she reportedly owed them.  During the same month, the 42-year-old actress discovered that a notice had been tacked on the door of her tony New York City apartment, stating that she had a “rent-paying problem.”  She had only lived in the luxury building for less than a year at the time.

Then last November, Blige was allegedly sued for neglecting to satisfy a $2.2 million personal loan that she and her husband, Kendu Issacs, defaulted on.

Blige’s charitable foundation, which she shares with partner Steve Stoute, was also in quite a bit of hot water last May, with TD Bank reportedly suing for not being paid back on a loan of $250,000.  The scholarships that were awarded to recipients of the Foundation for the Advancement of Women Now Inc. have reportedly gone unpaid.

The woman whose net worth is a reported $45 million and who has sold 50 million albums globally also had a series of copyright infringement lawsuits that she has been battling, which allegedly cost her upward of $1 million a year.

SEE ALSO: Zoe Saldana: ‘People Of Color’ Don’t Exist

An Ohio father may have meant well when he let his 9-year-old daughter get behind the wheel of their family car, but the father-daughter outing went terribly wrong.

SEE ALSO: Michelle Obama Has Retired Her Bangs

The Smoking Gun reports that 23-year-old Jaron McGee was sitting on the passenger side of his purple 1998 Honda while his child was behind the wheel Sunday night in the parking lot of Headlands State Park.

SEE ALSO: Will The Media Apologize To The Central Park 5?


“However the child lost control of the car after achieving excessive speed, and drove directly into the large tree,” according to law enforcement authorities.

SEE ALSO: Woman Gets Job Via Instagram


Neither McGee nor the child was injured. She was driven from the scene by other family members before the cops arrived. While the family claims the girl was not hurt, The Lake County Sheriff’s office is checking up on the girl anyway. The front end of the car, however, sustained significant front end damage.

McGee was arrested on child endangerment and wrongful entrustment charges; both counts are felonies. He was booked into Lake County jail, where he was also being held on one felony and one misdemeanor warrant out of other jurisdictions.

In terms of historic merit, the achievements of Haitian Revolution leader Toussaint L’Ouverture (pictured) are noteworthy but also highlight a complex and sweeping story. In many historic accounts, it has been written that L’Ouverture was a slave, but some writings prove he may have been born free. What historians across the board do agree on is that L’Ouverture led a rebellion to rid the country — now known as Haiti — of slavery. NewsOne celebrates the life of Toussaint L’Ouverture, who was born on this day in 1743.

SEE ALSO: Entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. Died On This Day In 1990

L’Ouverture was born Francois Dominique Toussaint on the plantation of Bréda at Haut de Cap in Saint-Domingue (now Haiti). It was thought that L’Ouverture was taught to read and write by his godfather, Pierre Baptiste, and later from Jesuit missionaries.

According to various documents, L’Ouverture was freed from slavery in 1776 and remained a worker on the Breda plantation as an employee.

Saint-Domingue was an especially volatile colony, considering White planters, free people of color, and slaves all had differing aims in regards to the abolishment of slavery in the French colony. Inspired by the French Revolution of 1789, citizens of Saint-Domingue wanted the same opportunity to impart their independence from Revolutionary France; plantation slaves wanted to be treated equal as well.

The tensions among the groups inspired France to become involved from afar, and the country sent officials to the colony to stave off the impending revolt.

Georges Biassou was an early leader and general of the slave rebels, and Toussaint joined his forces in 1791 as a doctor and junior commander. General Biassou, like many other slave rebel leaders, fought alongside the Spanish forces based in Santo-Domingo (now Dominican Republic) in beating back the French forces. The following year, Toussaint changed his named to L’Ouverture (French for “opening”), which some writers say originated from his ability to make openings in the French military’s front lines.

L’Ouverture first believed that the French government should gradually lesson slavery in the colony as a fair approach, but because of the French Revolution and its results, L’Ouverture ended up fighting for the immediate ending of the practice.

French politician Léger-Félicité Sonthonax traveled to the island nation in a bid to stave off the revolution in Saint-Domingue, but later inconspicuously ended slavery in the colony to get the ex-slaves to fight for him and extend his control of rich lands held there.

Under pressure by the masses and the loss of life on either side, France ended slavery in February 1794, mostly due to the leadership of L’Ouverture.

Months later, Spanish forces were wary of L’Ouverture’s control and allegiance with the French. Consequently, many began to break away from his leadership despite its effectiveness, and L’Ouverture switched his allegiance to the French largely because he believed France was ending slavery based on his fighting for the country. L’Ouverture began fighting against his former allies, namely Biassou, who fought exclusively for the Black Spanish forces and was soundly defeated.

By 1795, L’Ouverture was seen as the reason slavery ended on the island.

Even with British forces trying to maintain their small hold, L’Ouverture was able to also push back their forces as France defeated Spain that same year thus leading to a peace treaty.

Many political machinations were afoot during this war, and L’Ouverture’s focus remained on restoring order in Saint-Domingue, even though many ex-slaves feared a return to their former treatment and began small skirmishes that disrupted progress.

Between 1796 and 1797, British forces that held coastal towns and land began to attack, but their forces were largely depleted due to an outbreak of yellow fever. L’Ouverture’s forces easily overtook them as a result, and by 1798, he commanded all of French Saint-Domingue aside from one state held by mulatto general André Rigaud. L’Ouverture clashed with the general in 1799, although his lieutenant Jean-Jacques Dessalines carried out the brutal assault against Rigaud and oversaw the slaughter of mulatto captive soldiers and citizens.

Napoleon Bonaparte, a military leader who came to power in 1799, created new laws for the colonies. Many feared a return to slavery but Napoleon promised to uphold French law so long as L’Ouverture would not invade Santo Domingo.

L’Ouverture proceeded anyway, defeating the small Spanish forces there, gaining control of the entire island.

General Charles Leclerc, Napoleon’s brother-in-law, ordered Napoleon’s troops to the island to strike a diplomatic deal to rule the island, although a secret plot to deport Black officers was in place.

A clash broke out between Napoleon and L’Ouverture forces, which led to a peace talk and eventual treaty in On May 6, 1802. L’Ouverture negotiated amnesty for his generals and agreed to retire to his plantation home.  Shortly after, Leclerc betrayed the agreement and had L’Ouverture arrested and later deported. Leclerc originally asked Lieutenant General Dessalines to arrest L’Ouverture who later refused; the seizure of L’Ouverture was carried out by another general who pretended to be an ally.

Dessalines became the leader of L’Ouverture’s army and led the Haitian rebels to victory, beating Napoleon’s forces in 1803. That same year, L’Ouverture died in a mountain prison in France and warned his captors they would not be successful in silencing the revolution in Saint-Domingue.

Although Toussaint L’Ouverture’s life was often turbulent, he took necessary risks in seeking the emancipation of his people.

L’Ouverture’s fight for equal rights was instrumental in Haiti, with the island gaining its independence from France, proving that togetherness for a common cause is the only way change can truly be achieved.

SEE ALSO: Henry L. Johnson Fends Off German Captors During World War I On This Day In 1918

A 14-year-old girl was shot dead by a stray bullet as she sat on a New York City bus Saturday night, Fox 5 News New York reports.

SEE ALSO: Michelle Obama Has Retired Her Bangs

Authorities say D’Asia Robinson had just left a friend’s Sweet Sixteen party when she was shot around 8:50 p.m at Sutphin and Rockaway Boulevard in the Jamaica section of Queens. Robinson was sitting on the Q6 bus with another girl just before the bus began its route when gun fire erupted.

“She sits in the rear of the bus, just to the rear of the back door and all of a sudden – shots rang out,” said NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly. “We believe at least nine shots were fired, nine shell casings were found on the ground – 40 caliber shell casings.”

Of the shots fired, one bullet hit Robinson in the temple. She was pronounced dead at Jamaica Hospital.

SEE ALSO: Will The Media Apologize To The Central Park 5?

Robinson’s friends gathered on the street where she lived to mourn her loss . They made several memorials of Robinson, one near the bus stop where she was killed. One of her friends who was with her before her death was dismayed at the shooting.

SEE ALSO: Woman Gets Job Via Instagram


“She was happy, she was having fun. We were all dancing with each other – that’s why it’s so shocking,” Tamia McDaniels, friend of Robinson, said. “I was just with her and an hour later, after I left the party, I hear she’s killed – it’s just so unexpected.”

One community leader called on residents to come together and fight for an end to the senseless violence.

“We have to take immediate action and call for the community’s participation in providing law enforcement officials with what information they may have that will lead to the arrest and conviction of the shooter or shooters,” said Community Advocate Tony Herbert.

The NYPD is pursuing all leads. Anyone with information about the shooting should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).

Former NFL star Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson (pictured) was taken in to custody early Monday morning by Florida’s Broward County sheriffs for allegedly violating his probation order that stemmed from his domestic violence bust last year involving his former reality star wife, Evelyn Lozada, reports TMZ.

SEE ALSO: Zoe Saldana: ‘People Of Color’ Don’t Exist

A judge reportedly issued a warrant for Johnson’s arrest earlier this month, when Johnson failed to show up on two separate occasions to his probation appointments. The 35-year-old former “Dancing With the Stars” contestant also did not show proof to a judge that he enrolled in a court-mandated domestic violence education class.

Consequently, Johnson appeared before a Broward County judge on Monday to hear the charges being weighed against him. The judge deemed the probation violation charges valid, so Johnson was put behind bars.

Johnson is currently waiting for the set $1,000 bail to be paid.

The reported domestic violence charge was from a much-publicized physical altercation between Johnson and Lozada.  The couple had been arguing about a condom receipt that Lozada had stumbled upon in Johnson’s vehicle. The argument took a nasty turn and Johnson wound up head butting his then-wife, resulting in a forehead gash. Lozada was taken to the hospital and Johnson was taken in to custody.

The couple, who was only married 41 days, wound up divorced soon after, with Lozada spearheading the motion to end the union.  Johnson has certainly led a hard knock life since his failed marriage.  The young man, who once had a stellar NFL career, was fired from the Miami Dolphins, had primo endorsement deals cancelled, lost a lucrative reality show deal, became embroiled in child care support issues, and has suffered through immense money problems.

A hearing for Johnson is all set for June 3.

SEE ALSO: Michelle Obama Has Retired Her Bangs

In February of 2000, four N.Y.C. police officers were acquitted of all charges in the death of Amadou Diallo, an immigrant from Guinea who was shot 41 times after police thought his wallet was somehow a gun. In January of 2004, 19-year-old Timothy Stansbury was shot and killed by an NYPD officer patrolling the rooftop near his building who said he fired his gun by mistake because he was “startled” when Stansbury opened the rooftop door.

A grand jury decided not to indict the officer, ruling the incident an accident.

Watch Stansbury’s dad discuss the murder of his son here:

RELATED: Bronx Judge Throws Out Ramarley Graham Case, Family Vows To Keep Fighting For Slain Son

In April 2012, 27-year-old Tamon Robinson was struck and killed by an NYPD cruiser near his home. While in a coma, Tamon was even handcuffed to his hospital bed for days until his death.

A year later, there is still no grand jury hearing on the case.

Watch news coverage of Robinson’s murder here:

That same year, 23-year-old Shantel Davis was shot in the chest by a Brooklyn cop after some sort of alleged chase. She died, and no gun was ever found on her.

On Oct. 4, 2012, after unarmed 22-year-old National Guardsman Noel Polanco was pulled over on the Grand Central Parkway in Queens, an officer shot and killed him because “he felt threatened.”

In February of this year, a grand jury failed to indict the officer.

Watch news coverage of Polanco’s murder:

And who can forget the tragic case of 23-year-old Sean Bell, who died from a hail of 50 bullets from the NYPD the morning of his wedding in 2006.

Three detectives were later found not guilty on all charges in his death.

Watch Bell’s unfortunate demise here:

I was there that day when justice failed Bell’s family and his fiancé, Nicole Paultre Bell.  I was there as she came to the realization that she would have to raise their two young daughters without their father and no one would be held accountable. I was there as the courts poured salt in to the wounds of his parents by failing them.

Those same emotions of disbelief, anger, sadness, frustration, and outright disrespect hit me again last Wednesday – this time in a Bronx courtroom.

Ramarley Graham (pictured), 18 years old, was shot to death by a police officer in his mother’s Bronx apartment in front of his elderly grandmother and 6-year-old brother in February of last year. In the courtroom, a Bronx judge threw out the indictment against the officer because of a minor technicality on the part of the assistant DA.

Watch Graham’s murder here:

As soon as the judge said his first word, I knew it was going to be some nonsense because we’ve been there before.

Year after year, we hear the excuses, justifications, and sometimes outright lies that let these cops off the hook, failing to change the brutal culture of the NYPD.  While I’m not saying it’s all cops, or that I’m anti-police, I’m anti-police brutality and against the tactics and sick mentality that cause devastating blows to families year after year.

And when police officers that kill unarmed kids walk away with just a slap on the wrist (or not even), why bother changing?

If they aren’t held accountable for their actions, then what’s going to stop the next Diallo, the next Bell, the next Graham, or any other unjustified shooting from happening?  If we do not demand immediate change, then the NYPD and the state will continue treating young Black and Latino men and women like second-class citizens.

I was in that courtroom when Ramarley Graham’s mother, Constance Malcolm, screamed in anguish as her son’s killer walked away because of a “technicality,” “They killed my child! What more could you take from me?” she yelled as tears poured down her face. Watching her shout, cry, and almost lose her mind hurt; young Black men continuing to be disregarded hurts;  our lives being devalued hurts; watching justice fail hurts.

There is something seriously wrong with a system that allows this to happen.

I only named a few cases here, but the list of all those killed and brutalized by police goes on and on and on, as does the list of cases where the officers are acquitted to continue their lives as if nothing happened.

New York City and New York State are just not capable of delivering justice when people of color are abused by the NYPD.  Just last month, the NY Times did a cover story on the delays and disorder of Bronx courts entitled “Faltering Courts, Mired in Delays.”  One line from the piece said it best, “The Bronx courts are failing.”

They sure failed the Graham family this week.

Constance Malcolm could be me; she could be you. This dismissal is one hurdle, but it ain’t over.  We will go back for another indictment, and if we can’t get it done in the Bronx, then we will take it to the federal government. We will not stop until justice for Ramarley is served. People stood up for the first round, and now they must stand again for the second round.

Community outrage and activism led to the first indictment; a second indictment will only come if we’re just as engaged.  Some may try to sweep things under the rug, but we will not — and cannot — allow it, because if people think that we do not value the lives of our kids, then why should they?

I’ve been with Ramarley Graham’s family since the tragedy took place, trying my best to console them, but nothing will give them more peace then finally getting some justice.

Let’s rise up!

Though Nicki Minaj gave Lil Wayne a lap dance, Justin Bieber beat out Bruno Mars for the fan voted milestone award, J-Lo’s crotch got a camera close-up and Prince didn’t press his hair, the 2013 Billboards Awards will be remembered by many as the night singer Miguel took a flying leap off stage and drop-kicked two fans like it was WWE amateur night.

RELATED: Billboard Awards 2013: The Absolute eBest (& Worst) Dressed (PHOTOS)

The singer was in the middle of performing his classic hit, “Adorn,” when the jaw-dropping accident occurred.

See below:

The hilarity quickly ensued on Twitter!

Did Miguel think he could fly ? cdn2.mocksession.com/wp-content/upl…—
Khleo Thomas (@Khleo_T) May 20, 2013

Miguel did a Sonya Blade on the poor girl in the crowd …—
Clay (@claycane) May 20, 2013

did miguel just kill someone on national TV? twitpic.com/crtz0z—
Nick Johnson (@NickBesTMaN) May 20, 2013

Jdjksbakap RT @rustymk2: RT @Future5ive: Imagine if Rick Ross did what Miguel just did. http://t.co/aEfYoTQ7JP—
Corey (@_ThatGuyCorey) May 20, 2013

Did #Miguel almost behead to girls w/a mistimed jump on the music awards?!? LMAO. We gonna act like that didn't happen?!? ROTFL—
Jumaane D. Williams (@JumaaneWilliams) May 20, 2013

He did a skybomb tea bag on a woman in mid performance RT @Stamp_Denise: What did my baby Miguel do?—
iBustOnBellyButtons (@LanezWorld24) May 20, 2013

Hold up! Did Miguel really just hit the crowd with a Billy Gunn top turnbuckle fame asser tho?—
Jamaal Johnson (@schoolsmyhustle) May 20, 2013

Jus Seen That Hulk Hogan Leg Drop Miguel Did On Ol Girl For The First Time…….Haaaaaaaaaaaaa LMMFAO—
RocTiMus PRiME (@Sir_CharlieRoc) May 20, 2013

No word on if charges will be filed, but, allegedly, one of the women Miguel drop-kicked was spotted backstage with him holding an ice-pack.

That’s one way to leave an impression, Miguel!

PHOTO CREDIT: RawStory.com

Virginia Republican E.W. Jackson secured the nomination to run for Lt. Governor on Saturday, and, today RawStory.com unearthed a YouTube video in which he says that Planned Parenthood is more “lethal” to the Black community than the KKK, civil rights leaders are guilty of genocide and Christians must decide if they want to follow Jesus or be in the Democratic Party.

Read more from Raw Story:

E.W. Jackson, a pastor and Harvard graduate who previous sought Virginia’s senate seat, is the party’s first African-American candidate for statewide office since the 1980s. He’s also part of a trio of fringe conservatives leading the Virginia Republican Party’s statewide ticket, joined by state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli running for governor and state Sen. Mark Obenshain running for attorney general.

“The Democrat Party has created an unholy alliance between certain so-called civil rights leaders and Planned Parenthood, which has killed unborn black babies by the tens of millions,” he said in a video published to his official YouTube page. “Planned Parenthood has been far more lethal to black lives than the KKK ever was.

“They can keep their homosexuality private,” he said. “You and I cannot hide being black. I need not recount to you the painful history of slavery, Jim Crow, lynchings and sterilizations, all because of skin color. Anyone who dares equate the so-called gay rights movement to the history of black Americans is exploiting the black community.”

Weigh in!

US President Barack Obama is presented with and honorary doctor of law degree after delivering the commencement address during a ceremony at Morehouse College on May 19, 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia. AFP PHOTO/Mandel NGAN (Photo credit: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

President Barack Obama, in a soaring commencement address on work, sacrifice and opportunity, told graduates of Morehouse College Sunday to seize the power of their example as black men graduating from college and use it to improve people’s lives.

Noting the Atlanta school’s mission to cultivate, not just educate, good men, Obama said graduates should not be so eager to join the chase for wealth and material things, but instead should remember where they came from and not “take your degree and get a fancy job and nice house and nice car and never look back.”

“So yes, go get that law degree. But if you do, ask yourself if the only option is to defend the rich and powerful, or if you can also find time to defend the powerless,” Obama declared. “Sure, go get your MBA, or start that business, we need black businesses out there. But ask yourself what broader purpose your business might serve, in putting people to work, or transforming a neighborhood.”

President Obama’s Morehouse College Commencement Speech – Part I:

“The most successful CEOs I know didn’t start out intent on making money – rather, they had a vision of how their product or service would change things, and the money followed,” he said.

For those headed to medical school, Obama said “make sure you heal folks in underserved communities who really need it, too.” He asked those headed to law school to think about defending the poor.

Rain drenched the audience gathered in Atlanta for the outdoor ceremony before Obama arrived, forcing many guests to wear clear plastic ponchos over what amounted to Sunday-best clothes. Rain began to fall again, and thunder clapped, minutes after Obama began his address.

“I also have to say you all are going to get wet,” he said. “I would be out there with you if I could. But Secret Service gets nervous, so I’m going to have to stay here, dry. But know that I’m with you in spirit.”

The speech was Obama’s second commencement address of the season, following remarks last Sunday at Ohio State University in Columbus. His third and final graduation address will come Friday at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

At Morehouse, Obama also urged graduates to “inspire those who look up to you to expect more of themselves.” As America’s first black president addressing a predominantly black audience, Obama also talked about his personal story, growing up without a father he wished had been around and involved, and his desire to a better father to daughters Malia and Sasha than his father was to him.

“We know that too many young men in our community continue to make bad choices,” he said. “Growing up, I made quite a few myself. Sometimes I wrote off my own failings as just another example of the world trying to keep a black man down. I had a tendency sometimes to make excuses for me not doing the right thing. But one of the things that all of you have learned over the last four years, is there’s no longer any room for excuses.”

President Obama’s Morehouse College Commencement Speech – Part II:

“I understand there’s a common fraternity creed here at Morehouse: excuses are tools of the incompetent, used to build bridges to nowhere and monuments of nothingness,” he said. “Well, we’ve got no time for excuses – not because the bitter legacies of slavery and segregation have vanished entirely; they haven’t.

“Not because racism and discrimination no longer exist; we know those are still out there,” he added. “It’s just that in today’s hyper-connected, hyper-competitive world, with millions of young people from China and India and Brazil, many of whom started with a whole lot less than all of you did, all of them entering the global workforce alongside you, nobody is going to give you anything that you haven’t earned.”

“And moreover,” the president said, “you have to remember that whatever you’ve gone through pales in comparison to the hardships previous generations endured – and they overcame, and if they overcame them, you can overcome them too.”

About 500 students received undergraduate degrees from the historically black, all-male institution in Atlanta, becoming “Morehouse Men.”

After the speech, Obama was to attend a Democratic Senate fundraiser, also in Atlanta.

MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — A Hofstra University student being held in a headlock at gunpoint by an intruder was accidentally shot and killed by a police officer who had responded to the home invasion at an off-campus home, police said Saturday.

Junior public relations major Andrea Rebello was shot once in the head early Friday morning by an officer who opened fire after the masked intruder pointed a gun at the officer while holding the 21-year-old student, Nassau County homicide squad Lt. John Azzata said.

In a tense confrontation with the officer, gunman Dalton Smith “menaces our police officer, points his gun at the police officer,” Azzata said. The officer opened fire, killing Smith and his hostage.

Azzata said the Nassau County police officer fired eight shots at Smith, who police described as having an “extensive” criminal background. Smith was hit seven times and died. Rebello was shot once in the head.

“He kept saying, `I’m going to kill her,’ and then he pointed the gun at the police officer,” Azzata said.

A loaded 9 mm handgun with a serial number scratched off was found at the scene, police said.

Nassau County Police Commissioner Thomas Dale said he had traveled to Rebello’s Tarrytown, N.Y., home to explain to Rebello’s parents what happened.

“I felt obligated as a police commissioner and as a parent to inform them as soon as all the forensic results were completed,” Dale said.

The veteran police officer, who was not identified, has about 12 years of experience on the Nassau County police force and previously spent several years as a New York City police officer, Dale said.

The officer is currently out on sick leave. He will be the focus of an internal police investigation once the criminal investigation is completed, which is standard police procedure in any officer-involved shooting, the commissioner said.

Earlier Saturday, police announced that Smith, 30 (pictured right), had been wanted on a parole violation related to a first-degree robbery conviction and had an arrest history dating back nearly 15 years.

The shooting came just days before the school’s commencement ceremonies, which are scheduled to take place Sunday.

A university spokeswoman said students will be handed white ribbons to wear in memory of Rebello. The shooting, which took place just steps from campus, has cast a pall over the university community as it geared up for commencement on Sunday.

“Today is the last day of finals and this should be a happy day on campus; but it’s not,” Hofstra freshman Scott Aharoni of Great Neck, said Friday as he passed through the area rife with yellow crime-scene tape. “It’s really sad.”

Rebello was in the two-story home with her twin sister Jessica, a third woman and a man when Smith, wearing a ski mask, walked into the house through an open front door, Azzata said. Smith demanded valuables and was told they were upstairs, Azzata said.

Smith, apparently unsatisfied with the valuables upstairs, asked if any of the four had a bank account and could withdraw money, Azzata said. The intruder then allowed the unidentified woman to leave and collect money from an ATM, telling her she had only eight minutes to come back with cash before he killed one of her friends, Azzata said.

The woman left for the bank and called 911, according to Azzata.

Minutes later, two police officers arrived at the home and found Rebello’s twin sister Jessica running out of the front door and the male guest hiding behind a couch on the first floor, Azzata said.

One of the officers entered the home and encountered Smith holding onto Rebello in a headlock, coming down the stairs, Azzata said. Smith pulled Rebello closer and started moving backward toward a rear door of the house, pointing the gun at her head before eventually threatening the officer, Azzata said.

Rebello’s family declined comment Saturday.

The Rev. Osvaldo Franklin, who gave Rebello and her sister Jessica their first communions, on Saturday night told The Associated Press their mother, Nella, couldn’t even speak to him earlier in the day.

“She was so devastated,” said Franklin. “She’s just crying. We have to pray for Andrea, to pray for Jessica because she needs help.”

Franklin said a funeral is scheduled for Wednesday at Teresa of Avila Church in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., and will be in Portuguese.

“The family’s a very good family, they have very good values,” he said. “I gave them first communion to Andrea and Jessica and they started to help me in the mass for many years. They are a very good, very devoted family.”

As he evolved away from his past as Detroit Red, he transformed himself first, into a loyal protégé of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, then, into a world renowned human rights activist. He never hid behind his legend to avoid speaking of his time as a petty criminal, instead using his story to bolster the confidence of everyday men facing his same struggles. He let them know, in no uncertain terms, that they didn’t have to have a pristine past to make a difference in the present and the future.

Want to Keep Up With NewsOne.com? LIKE Us On Facebook!

The seismic shift that occurred in our culture, politics and philosophy as Black Americans in the ’50s and ’60s will forever be linked to brother Malcolm and his strength in the face of adversity, his unwillingness to bow to the hypocrisy that he had grown to see within the Nation of Islam, and his refusal to dilute his power for a country that feared his influence.

RELATED:

Malcolm Shabazz, Grandson Of Malcolm X, Dead At 28

Top 5 Malcolm X Speeches

When looking back at the often tumultuous days of Malcolm’s life, one can not help but wonder what was on his mind. As he began to separate from the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the man he credited with saving his life, as he broke ranks with the Nation of Islam, the brothers he had molded into the image of Black manhood that was deemed necessary for the separation of Black and White Americans to be successful, as his philosophy began to shift away from merging race and religion, to his belief that matters of human rights can not be confined by such a flimsy institution, as he begin to realize that he was living a lie and all White Americans were no more our enemies than all Black Americans were our friends, what was on his mind?

Many of us forget that he was only 39-years-old when he was gunned down in the Audubon Ballroom just north of Harlem, New York on February 21, 1965. In his short life he went through three pivotal transformations that culminated with the founding of Organization of Afro-America Unity and Muslim Mosque, Inc. Though the two convergent movements never gained the traction and power of the NOI, it spoke to Malcolm’s influence that he was able to step out on purpose and take people with him that were ready to die for him.

Where are those leaders today?

As we celebrate the birth of Malcolm, I’m reminded of the day that I had the honor of meeting his eldest daughter, Ambassador Attallah Shabazz in Los Angeles. I was able to look into her eyes and see her father’s spirit, intelligence, resilience and passion — and to also tell her that he shaped my philosophy on religion, politics and race. I shared with her that he gave me strength to stand on principal when it seemed that no one was standing by my side. She smiled when I told her that when I was first introduced to his focus on human rights, rather than civil rights — because how can we expect civility until we are first considered human? — it changed my life.

In a poem I penned in 2011, I recount how I was also able to share my unyielding love and respect for the great El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz with my now 8-year-old son:

Today  my son went to school like any other day
He took his shower, brushed his hair, ate his breakfast and
Kissed me goodbye
But not before I told him about a man
Not before I explained to him that, though this man’s time was brief
His impact on the world is one that shook the buildings in Washington
And the hoods from Detroit to Harlem
Not before I told him that here stood a Prince who stood for something
A King who struggled in the trenches each and every day
To shed light in darkness
To weld the power burning in our collective psyches
Into Weapons of Mass Instruction
Not before I told him that because of one Warrior
Freedom will forever be a word in his mother’s vocabulary

Because I’m ready to die for it

Not before I told him that there once was a man
Whose body was defiled by bullets and lies
His death certificate signed by traitors and bureaucrats
A man who could not contain brilliance so bright it lit minds
From the ghettos of this stolen nation to the deserts of Africa
Reminding us that the shackles of slavery have been broken
Yet we still have to escape the plantation
I told him about a Soldier who refused to withdraw from a battle with a country
That refused to define him as man and in that defiance of oppression
Taught an entire generation that equality  — on our terms — will be had

By Any Means Necessary

Before my son walked out of the door
I told him about his brother, his teacher, his elder, his ancestor
Who refused to live a lie even if it assured his death
Who refused to kowtow or step and fetch it
Or be a diluted version of the man he was destined to be
Just so he could later be deemed acceptable enough
To warrant a holiday on the day of his birth
Yes, my son went to school today…

But not before I told him about brother Malcolm.

Today, I hope we all take a moment to honor the life of a man who died for us all — and continue to walk in his legacy.

Happy Birthday, brother Malcolm.

SEE ALSO:

Official Family Statement On Death Of Malcolm Shabazz

Where Have All The Leaders Gone? New Poll Suggests Black America No Longer Looking For Heroes

At approximately 3:15 a.m. Friday morning, a tow truck came upon an intoxicated Goodson,who was in the passenger seat of a GMC Yukon stopped on Interstate 80 West outside of Denville, New Jersey.

According to the New Jersey State Police, the driver of the tow truck called 911. When police arrived on the scene a .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun was found inside of the the vehicle.

Read more from the NY Daily News:

The driver, Garant Evans, was given the same charges as well as a DWI charge, possession of a weapon with a prior felony conviction and multiple traffic summonses.

Initially, a team spokesman said the Jets “are aware of the report and are gathering information.” Later, the spokesman added, “This is a pending legal matter.

There will be no further comment until the legal process has run its course.”

Every team holds an annual meeting to review the league’s firearm policies and local regulations, usually in training camp, according to NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy. Under the discipline section, the policy reads, “If you violate a public law covering weapons . . . you are not only subject to discipline, including suspension from playing, but also subject to criminal prosecution.”

After being evaluated at Saint Clare’s Hospital, Goodson was transported to Morris County Jail where his bail was set at $50,000.

Goodson was selected in the fourth round of the 2009 NFL draft by the Carolina Panthers and was traded to the Oakland Raiders last year. He signed a three-year, $6.9 million contract with the Jets in March.

]]> http://newsone.com/2461331/mike-goodson-ny-jets-arrested/feed/ 0 mike-goodson kirstenwestsavali Mike Goodson http://newsone.com/2461369/glenn-beck-tea-party-would-have-been-lynched-for-marching-with-mlk/ http://newsone.com/2461369/glenn-beck-tea-party-would-have-been-lynched-for-marching-with-mlk/#comments Sat, 18 May 2013 23:31:15 +0000 Kirsten West Savali http://newsone.com/?p=2461369 ]]> In true GOP revisionist fashion, right-wing extremist Glenn Beck called the NAACP a “joke” and claims that the organization is an “affront” to civil rights leaders Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Booker T. Washington, and Frederick Douglass, reports Mediate.com.

Beck was responding to the NAACP’s chairman emeritus, Julian Bond, who said that when the IRS targeted the civil rights organization in 2006 it was harassment. Conversely, Bond believes that the IRS was justified to target Tea-Party groups in what has become a mild scandal for President Barack Obama.

At issue for both groups was the legality of extra scrutiny for political reasons that would determine whether or not their tax exempt statuses would be revoked.

Bond told MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts, “I don’t think there’s a double standard at all. I think it’s entirely legitimate to look at the Tea Party.

“I mean, here are a group of people who are admittedly racist, who are overtly political, who tried as best they can to harm President Obama in every way they can,” Bond explained.

“[The Tea Party] is the Taliban wing of American politics and we all ought to be a little worried about them.”

Watch Bond’s comments here:

In  one of the most delusional statements in modern politics, Beck had this to say about the Tea-Party:

[Dr.] Martin Luther King marched with an awful lot of white people…20 percent of the lynchings in the south, 20 percent of the lynchings by the KKK, where of white people. And you know what? I contend, the white people that were lynched are exactly the type of people that would be in the Tea Party today.

Firstly, his numbers are questionable and to even make that comparison is a transparent attempt at false equivalency.

Secondly, the Tea Party has made a name for itself by being a purposely inflammatory, racially derogatory and bigoted group of people who want the government to take their hands off of their guns and medicare — at the same time. How that translates into being a group of peace-loving White people is anyone’s guess.

But if anyone is able to attempt the comparison with a straight face, it’s Glenn Beck.

Watch Beck’s comments here:

]]> http://newsone.com/2461369/glenn-beck-tea-party-would-have-been-lynched-for-marching-with-mlk/feed/ 2 Is Glenn Beck's Rally Defacing The Legacy Of Martin Luther King Jr? (thumbnail) kirstenwestsavali glenn-beck http://newsone.com/2461023/obamas-morehouse-visit-shines-spotlight-on-hbcus/ http://newsone.com/2461023/obamas-morehouse-visit-shines-spotlight-on-hbcus/#comments Sat, 18 May 2013 21:52:00 +0000 Associated Press http://newsone.com/?p=2461023 ]]> ATLANTA (AP) — When President Barack Obama addresses graduates at Morehouse College on Sunday, he’ll also be speaking to the broader community of historically black colleges and universities — a proud corner of higher education that has struggled more than most during the last few years of economic distress.

The so-called HBCUs educate a hugely disproportionate share of low-income students, and both students and schools have been hit hard by a double punch. First, unemployment for blacks remains nearly double that of whites, making it harder for many students to keep up with tuition. Secondly, tougher credit standards have made it harder to secure a federal PLUS loan used by about one-third of HBCU students.

The result shows graduation rates have worsened at HBCUs, which were already facing scrutiny under a national push to improve outcomes in higher education, according to U.S. Education Department data analyzed by The Associated Press.

The AP found graduation rates declined at 57 of the 80 four-year HBCUs that have complete data between 2006 and 2011. While total HBCU enrollment increased about 3 percent overall, the aggregate graduation rate for HBCU students fell from 37.7 percent in 2006 to 33.7 percent in 2011, the AP found.

That means of the 47,139 students who entered HBCUs six years before, just 15,885 had completed their degree by 2011, though the figures do not include transfers or part-time students.

“Particularly after this recession, I’m looking at an African-American unemployment rate of 16 percent, that’s touching my students,” said Walter Kimbrough, president of Dillard University in New Orleans, who has been critical in the past of some HBCUs. He believes recent criticism of their low graduation rates is unfair.

“They all know somebody who’s lost their job, and if it’s somebody who’s helping them pay for their schooling, we may not see them next semester,” he said.

Morehouse’s 2011 graduation rate, however, was 55 percent, among the very highest of HBCUs.

The HBCU rates compare to a national average of about 58 percent, and 39 percent for blacks at all four-year institutions. However, while the most selective colleges have much higher graduation rates, their enrollments are also heavily tilted toward high-income students. One recent study found two-thirds of students at the 193 most selective colleges came from the top 25 percent of income, and just 15 percent from the bottom half.

At HBCUs, by contrast, about two-thirds of students receive Pell Grants, which are almost always awarded to families earning less than $40,000. Such students are not only more likely to need to start college with remedial work — which makes for a longer path to graduation — but they are much more vulnerable to financial problems that could drive them from school.

Only 83 institutions nationwide have as many at 60 percent of their students receiving Pell Grants, Kimbrough said. Fifty of them are HBCUs.

“It’s simple economics,” Kimbrough said. “If you get rid of poor kids, your graduation rates can go up.”

The struggles of students have translated into trouble for HBCUs themselves. About 40 percent have seen enrollment declines, and 20 schools saw enrollment fall more than 10 percent between 2006 and 2011, according to AP’s analysis.

Financial struggles pushed Morehouse student Remy Sylvan to tap into his entrepreneurial side to finance part of his education. As the economy worsened, business suffered at his family’s restaurant in Seattle, and his parents were unable to pay as much of his tuition as before, he said.

So Sylvan, who is set to graduate with a marketing degree, began doing independent software technician and coding work to make ends meet.

“It hurt the family at first because of the economic struggle, but it helped because it actually gave me the spirit to do something myself,” Sylvan said. “You just got to find other intuitive ways to make ends meet. And I think that’s what America overall is going through right now.”

Marybeth Gasman, a leading historian of HBCUs at the University of Pennsylvania, said HBCUs typically have small endowments so they can’t offer students the aid they need during tough times.

“It’s been difficult but I do think that HBCUs tend to be fairly resilient,” she said. “They tend to be creative about how to do things they know how to do on a small budget.”

Gasman said retention rates are rising for all students, including non-traditional ones.

“You can’t hold them to the same standard to institutions that are not willing to take any of those risks,” she said. “There are lots of things to be optimistic about. If you look at individual HBCUs, there are a lot of people doing really good things.”

Obama spoke to graduates of historically black Hampton University in 2010. One of Obama’s connections to Morehouse is its current president, John Silvanus Wilson, who previously served under the president as executive director of a program designed to help HBCUs. Wilson, himself a Morehouse graduate, took the helm at the school earlier this year.

Kimbrough said funding increases in Obama’s first-term had been helpful, but the most important thing was heading off cuts to the Pell Grant program. Funding rose substantially in Obama’s first term but has been flat recently.

“We’d just like to see a little more forcefulness to make sure our students are protected,” he said.

]]> http://newsone.com/2461023/obamas-morehouse-visit-shines-spotlight-on-hbcus/feed/ 1 morehouse-college-students-graduation kirstenwestsavali