by Richard B. Muhammad Special to the NNPA from The Final Call Jokes about niggras, pimps, hoes, Bebe’s kids, baby mammas and baby daddies are fine but any jokes that hint at Black suffering are strictly off limits. Chris Rock is the latest Black comedian to discover that denigrating your own people brings riches, critical acclaim and praise for cutting edge and no holds barred work. Jokes about race and Am ...

By Freddie Allen NNPA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Nearly 6 million former prisoners –1 million of them Black – will not be able to vote in the November presidential election because of state laws that continue to punish them even after they have completed their sentences, according to a recent report by the Sentencing Project. The report said 5.85 million citizens who were formerly incarcer ...

Spirit has many ways of expressing itself. One of those channels of expression occurs through music; the melodic, harmonic, rhythmic voice of our soul, reflecting years of feelings and experiences. From early times it has been known as a healing force. We used it to record family histories and communicate between communities. Work songs were used to lessen the harsh conditions of a prison chain gang. Chants ...

By Kimberly N. Alleyne Special to the NNPA News Service from America’s Wire WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Concerned about the plight of African-American men and boys, several philanthropic organizations have launched initiatives to improve opportunities for them to succeed. Some programs address the structural bias that leaves these men more likely to be incarcerated, jobless and disproportionately affected by other ...

By: Joshunda Sanders Special to the NNPA News Service From Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Mainstream media often portray African-American youths, especially Black men and boys, as criminals, crime victims and predators. These stereotypes, according to social justice advocates, can create a racially-charged atmosphere that results in violence such as the shooting dea ...

By Freddie Allen Washington Correspondent NNPA News Service WASHINGTON (NNPA) – On October 24, 1974 an unidentified man robbed and raped  a pregnant Wayne State University student in a bathroom on campus. The student later picked 19 year-old Edward George Carter, out of a photo lineup that contained multiple pictures of the Black teen. None of the physical evidence  –  fingerprints, semen and seminal fluid ...

Men In Black 3 By Dwight Brown
 NNPA Film Critic Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in Men In Black 3 It’s been ten years since Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones donned their black suits, cool sunglasses and glib hipness to play Agent J and Agent—the good guys who try to save the world from weird looking aliens. Should they have left well enough alone?  Have they harmed their legacy?  Yes and maybe. Boris the Anim ...

Walmart Executive Rosalind Brewer has been named as president and CEO of Sam’s Club, making her the first woman and the first African-American to hold a CEO position at one of the company’s business units. (Courtesy of McArthur Newell II)   BENTONVILLE, Ark. – Walmart Stores Inc., the world’s biggest retailer, has named Rosalind Brewer as president and CEO of Sam’s Club – the first woman and the first ...