(Akiit.com) WASHINGTON — When gang violence in Chicago exploded in 1992, Jawanza Kunjufu, an education consultant and author, found a church on Chicago’s south side and began a mentoring program for troubled black boys. One of the early program volunteers was a tall, lanky community organizer named Barack Obama. “He ...
(Akiit.com) For decades, the face of the criminal justice system in this country has been black and male: hundreds of thousands locked behind bars, arrested in disproportionate numbers and facing execution at rates far greater than those for the general population. Last week, Eric H. Holder Jr.’s swearing-in as the ...
(Akiit.com) Soul singing icon Etta James has never been one to bite her tongue over a real or perceived insult. But Etta outdid herself this go round with her name call at a part of the president’s anatomy (his ears), and then cavalierly blew him off with the he’s not ...
(Akiit.com) CHICAGO, IL – A new large study challenges the idea that mental illness alone is a leading cause of violence. Researchers instead blame a combination of factors, specifically substance abuse and a history of violent acts, that drives up the danger when combined with mental illness in what they ...
(Akiit.com) Should Black History Month itself fade into history? Many have long argued that African-American history should be incorporated into year-round education. Now, claims that Black History Month is outdated are gaining a new potency, as schools diversify their curricula and President Barack Obama’s election opens a new chapter in ...
(Akiit.com) If you read “Freakonomics,” the popular 2005 book that applied economic theories to non-economic issues, you probably remember the mention of African American twins named OrangeJello and LemonJello (pronounced a-RON-zhello and le-MON-zhello). As it turns out, the pair and their names are pure urban legend, but they still suffice ...
(Akiit.com) With the swearing in of Barack Obama on Jan. 21, 2008-the swearing in on Jan. 20 didn’t count-America has done away with racism and has become a country of only three colors: red, white and blue. That is what some people in the media would have you believe, but ...
(Akiit.com) Two weeks ago this writer wrote that an African-American was the last and best hope for the GOP. That meant picking an African-American to head the Republican National Committee. And I said that that African-American had to be former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele. For its sake, someone in ...
(Akiit.com) For Black History Month this year, African descendants all over the world have something to celebrate—the actual making of history. An historic event many of us thought we’d never see has actually come to be. Barack Obama was sworn in as the forty-fourth President of the United States. The ...
(Akiit.com) Throughout the recent and historic presidential campaign, scholars, academicians and theologians alike contended that the ascension of Barack Obama towards the presidency would have a lasting ripple effect. One that would be specifically and especially important to African-American men. I’m still waiting… Don’t get me wrong, I’m patient; but ...