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Congressional Black Caucus Urges Senate To Pass Jobs Bill
The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) hand delivered a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Wednesday, urging him to support job creation, especially for America’s youth.
The Senate recently rejected a provision put forth by the House to create summer employment for youths but CBC Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) said they were able to make headway in creating jobs for young Americans. Read more at talkradionews.com.
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Ex-Detroit mayor indicted on federal fraud charges
Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is in trouble with the law—again.
Kilpatrick was indicted Wednesday on federal fraud and tax charges. Federal prosecutors say the alleged scheme is related to the Kilpatrick Civic Fund, which is a tax-exempt fund that was supposed to pay for voter education. Read more at blackpoliticsontheweb.com.
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BET founder, Royal Caribbean form group to build Haiti homes
Businessman and Black Entertainment Television founder Robert L. “Bob” Johnson is behind the latest push to rebuild Haiti.
On Tuesday, Johnson said his Maryland-based RLJ Companies are joining forces with Global Building Solutions, cruise giant Royal Caribbean and Haiti-based WIN Group to build two factories in Haiti that could churn out some 800 homes per month. Read more at blackpoliticsontheweb.com.
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2nd Mass. man pleads guilty in black church fire
A second white man pleaded guilty to setting a fire that destroyed a predominantly black Massachusetts church hours after Barack Obama was elected president.
Thomas Gleason Jr. changed his plea in U.S. District Court in Springfield on Tuesday, two days before he was scheduled to go to trial. Gleason pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy against civil rights; damage or destruction to religious property; and the use of fire to commit a felony.
Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 1. Read more at blackpoliticsontheweb.com.
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New stamp honors pioneering black filmmaker
Pioneer filmmaker Oscar Micheaux was honored Tuesday on a new U.S. postage stamp.
The 44-cent stamp is the latest in the agency’s Black Heritage stamp series. It was released at ceremonies in New York and is on sale nationwide. Read more at blackpoliticsontheweb.com.
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SC Dems uphold US Senate primary shocker
South Carolina Democratic Party officials have upheld a surprising U.S. Senate primary win by an unemployed military veteran, nixing a protest lodged by their favored candidate that could have required a new vote.
The party’s executive committee decided Thursday there was not enough evidence of impropriety to nullify the June 8 election victory by Alvin Greene. The 32-year-old lives with his father and waged no visible campaign. Read more at blackpoliticsontheweb.com.
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Bill Clinton announces new $20M Haiti loan fund
Former President Bill Clinton announced a plan Thursday to help Haiti recover from the Jan. 12 earthquake with loans to small and medium-size businesses backed by aid from the world’s richest man.
Clinton said Mexico’s Carlos Slim would contribute half the seed money for the new $20 million fund. Read more at blackpoliticsontheweb.com.
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Foreclosures by Race and Ethnicity: The Demographics of a Man-Made Disaster
The ongoing foreclosure crisis has slashed hundreds of billions of dollars in wealth from communities of color, a new CRL research report shows, as an estimated 17% of Latino homeowners and 11% of African-American homeowners have already lost their home to foreclosure or are now at imminent risk. The wealth drain is the result of direct losses from foreclosures and also the decline in neighboring property values each foreclosure brings. Read more at blackpoliticsontheweb.com.
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Smithsonian leads recovery of Haiti’s art, culture
Haiti’s recovery from the devastating earthquake in January requires more than rebuilding structures, but also repairing tattered paintings and cultural objects still buried in the rubble, the Caribbean nation’s first lady Elisabeth Preval said Thursday.
She visited the Smithsonian Institution to open an exhibit of children’s artwork created after the earthquake, calling it a reminder that Haiti still needs help. Read more at blackpoliticsontheweb.com.
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AL CALLOWAY SAYS: It’s time for blacks to play offense
Watch political happenings in Florida very carefully.
Since Florida is a bellwether state, what happens here, in some fashion, sooner or later, will probably happen in your neck of the woods.
Currently, Florida’s ringleader status features Gov. Charlie Crist, a former Republican, running for the U. S. Senate as an independent. Read more at sfltimes.com.
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Tea Partiers Say Slavery Not Race-Related
For those who wonder about the religious dimensions of the Tea Party movement, an event earlier this month at Faith Baptist Church in Deltona, Florida, looked pretty much indistinguishable from the 1980s era church-based political organizing efforts of the religious right. As each local candidate spoke at the Deltona 912 Patriots event, it was clear how profoundly conservative, Republican, and Christian (in the exclusivist conservative sense of Christian) this gathering was.
But there was a twist, born of the Tea Party’s efforts to run from the racist and violent imagery and rhetoric in its ranks. The banner on the Florida Tea Party website read:
9-12 Project: not racist, not violent, just not silent anymore. Read more at blackpoliticsontheweb.com.
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White House summons US general to explain himself
The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan has been summoned to Washington to explain derogatory comments about President Barack Obama and his colleagues, administration officials said Tuesday.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who publicly apologized Tuesday for using “poor judgment” in an interview in Rolling Stone magazine, has been ordered to attend the monthly White House meeting on Afghanistan and Pakistan in person Wednesday rather than over a secure video teleconference, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Read more at blackpoliticsontheweb.com.
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White House releases ‘patients’ bill of rights’
Most health insurance plans will soon be barred from turning children down due to pre-existing medical problems, under an enforcement plan the White House announced Tuesday for the new patients’ bill of rights.
President Barack Obama is marking the first 90 days since he signed the landmark health care overhaul legislation by spelling out details of how the law’s short-term benefits will be implemented. The major expansion of coverage to some 32 million now uninsured doesn’t come until 2014, but other safeguards take effect for plans renewing on or after Sept. 23. Read more at blackpoliticsontheweb.com.
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Governor Crist Signs Legislation Supporting Florida’s Hispanic Community
Governor Charlie Crist today ceremonially signed House Bill 971, creating a Hispanic specialty license plate and requiring the establishment of a Hispanic Achievers Grant Council to recommend statewide grants to not-for-profit organizations for services, programs and scholarships to benefit Hispanic and minority Floridians.
“Florida’s Hispanic and minority communities are so important to our state’s economic diversity and landscape,” said Governor Crist. “The Sunshine State is known for its wide variety of cultures, and anytime we have an opportunity to recognize the contributions of an important community to Florida’s future, we should do so.”
The bill creates a Hispanic specialty license plate and requires the National Hispanic Corporate Achievers, a national not-for-profit organization that promotes the advancement of diversity and the inclusion of Hispanic talent in corporate America, to establish a council to promote the advancement of Hispanic and minority Floridians. The National Hispanic Corporate Achievers hosts job fairs and seminars and issues a quarterly publication, which serves as an outreach mechanism designed to educate corporate executives on major diversity issues.
Governor Crist was joined at today’s bill signing by Jay Rosario, president of National Hispanic Corporate Achievers, and Danny Ramos, founder of National Hispanic Corporate Achievers.
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Undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. Loses A Round in Court Over Rapper
Floyd Mayweather Jr. may be undefeated in the ring, but he suffered a loss to Just for You Entertainment yesterday (June 16th) in court. While the victory was extremely small, a judge awarded Just for You Entertainment $6,000 because Floyd's label Philthy Rich Records signed Freck Billionaire to a contract in violation of a previous agreement with Just for You. Just for You was seeking over $600,000 in damages, claiming that Mayweather’s Philthy Rich signed Freck in violation of a 2005 agreement the rapper signed with the company. That was quickly whittled down to a $6,000 judgment, because of a lack of evidence in court and because Just For You’s owner, Ahmed Fahmy, failed to provide enough written evidence to receive more damages. Mayweather never answered the suit and didn’t even send lawyers to yesterday’s court proceedings. In August of 2009, Floyd Mayweather Jr. publicly chastised Freck Billionaire over the matter during an interview with AllHipHop.com."We were working with an artist named Freck Billionaire. When he came aboard we asked if he had any contracts and he said no,” Floyd Mayweather Jr. told AllHipHop.com in an exclusive interview. “Come to find out he was signed with somebody.” Click here for full story.
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State Clears "Holy Water" Christian Teachers Of Abuse Accusations
An investigation into allegations that two teachers psychologically abused students has been closed.
The attorney representing the teachers said he was unaware the case had been closed until he was contacted by the South Florida Times. He is now seeking a criminal investigation into what he calls a “fabricated” abuse report. Read more at sfltimes.com.
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Pregnant Woman Gets $65,000 After Tackled By Police
A settlement has been reached in the case of a pregnant woman tackled by police inside St. Vincent’s Medical Center five years ago.
Surveillance video showed Melanie Williams running into the emergency room looking for help because she was in premature labor, bleeding and sick.
Police followed her inside and arrested her, as seen on the video.
Williams sued those officers, and both sides reached a deal outside of federal court Tuesday for Williams to receive $65,000.
Take a look at the video to see the attack. Courtesy of newsone.com.
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Failing our kids and the taxpayers with FCAT
Our state has failed our kids.
During the past couple of weeks, I personally watched the struggle of a family whose honor-roll student did not graduate from high school, and they are not sure why. Read more at ocala.com.
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Florida remains no. 1 state for mortgage fraud
The FBI released its yearly mortgage fraud report Thursday, along with the results of a federal sweep that saw nearly 500 arrests and some 1,215 people charged in cases involving costs of an estimated $2.3 billion.
The report finds that Florida keeps its top spot for reported mortgage fraud among U.S. states, a title it has held since 2006. Read entire story at floridaindependent.com.
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Obama steps up fatherhood advocacy with new mentoring initiative
In what is becoming a Father's Day ritual for the Obama administration, the president on Monday will bring together children, famous dads and nonprofit groups that promote fatherhood to highlight the importance of fathers. Read entire story at washingtonpost.com.
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