Special to the NNPA from the St. Louis American NEW ORLEANS — During his remarks at the National Urban League conference in New Orleans, LA, July 25, President Obama announced he would sign an Executive Order to improve outcomes and advance educational opportunities for African Americans. The President has made providing a complete and competitive education for all Americans – from cradle to career – a top ...

By George E. Curry NNPA WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced July 16 the new Let’s Stop HIV Together campaign to remove the stigma associated with HIV and AIDS and to end complacency about the epidemic. “In the fight against HIV, stigma and complacency are among our most insidious opponents,” said Dr. Kevin Fenton, director of CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral ...

By Hazel Trice Edney Trice Edney News Wire The NAACP, in its 103rd year, has consistently grown over the past three years and continues to be relentless in its quest for equality and fulfillment of America’s promises of freedom. That is the NAACP described by its President/CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous, who upon the birth of his first son on July 4, indicated that he has intensified his commitment to racial jus ...

Shooter had planned to flee country By George E. Curry Editor-in-Chief NNPA News Service WASHINGTON — Although the judge said he had been “manipulating the system to his own benefit,” George Zimmerman, the killer of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, was released on bond in Sanford, Fla. on Friday for a second time and driven to an undisclosed location. Zimmerman, whose bond was initially set at $150,000, was rele ...

By Hazel Trice Edney Trice Edney News Wire Now that the Affordable Health Care Act has been upheld by the U. S. Supreme Court — a major win for President Barack Obama — other key issues of importance to Black voters must also be espoused by the Obama campaign say members of the Congressional Black Caucus. In some national polls, President Obama is slightly ahead of Republican candidate Mitt Romney. In other ...

MIDLAND — Supporters of a ballot proposal that would enshrine the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) dues skim in the state constitution reportedly submitted enough signatures to the Michigan Department of State today to get the measure before voters in November. The SEIE, since November 2006, has skimmed more than $30 million in the form of “union dues” from Medicaid checks that are meant to help ...

Grant application deadline extended to July 27 LANSING — The Michigan Department of Treasury is reopening the second round of the Economic Vitality Incentive Program (EVIP) grant award process for the 2012 fiscal year, after Gov. Rick Snyder’s signing of a supplemental appropriation, which includes an additional $10 million for the popular grant program. The deadline for municipalities to apply for EVIP Gra ...

By Cash Michaels Special to the NNPA News Service from the Wilmington Journal Most of the defendants were young, some barely in their 20s, when they were convicted in 1972 of crimes they didn’t commit. Some were still in high school, and living with their parents. At least one, Anne Shepard, was rearing three young children. Most of them had dreams of a bright, hope-filled future. Their only “crime,” they s ...

News Analysis By Brian Smedley, Ph.D. Trice Edney News Wire The U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) represents a significant advancement in the effort to repair the deeply broken U.S. healthcare system and promote equitable opportunities for good health for all. As long as its provisions are fully funded by Congress, the law wil ...

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Afro American Newspaper Furious over a House vote June 28 finding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt, the Congressional Black Caucus and other Democrats walked out of the vote in protest. In all, 108 Democrats — including minority leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Civil Rights Era icon John Lewis, D-Ga. — joined the protest of an action they called “silly ...