Salon Teaches White Parents To Care For Black Hair
Many white parents who adopt black children struggle with caring for their child's hair. Althea Reynolds, owner of the Spice Salon in Los Angeles, sees the parents' challenge as an opportunity to offer valuable lessons in black hair care. Reynolds talks about her new series of workshops. Click the link below to listen to interview:
First African American admiral honored with ship named in his honor
Samuel L. Gravely the first African American to reach the rank of admiral in the US Navy has been honored by having a ship named after him. The U.S.S. Gravely will be the most technology advanced warship in the seas. watch the video below of his wife christening the ship and later talking about it:
Forbes Magazine, The Wealthiest Black Americans
Top 10 and their estimated net worth
1. Oprah Winfrey 2.7 Billion
2. Tiger Woods 600 million
3. Robert Johnson ( BET founder ) 550 million
4. Micheal Jordan 525 Million
5. Earvin "Magic" Johnson 500 million
6. Bill Cosby 450 million
7. Sheila Johnson ( BET founders ex wife ) 400 million
8. Don Peebles 350 million
9. Berry Gordy ( Motown founder ) 350 million
10. Quinton Primo 300 million
Click the link below to read the rest of the top 20 and see how each of them made their fortunes:
Michelle Obama makes Maxims Hottest Women in the World List
WASHINGTON (AFP) – For the first time the US First Lady has made Maxim magazine's annual top 100 list of "hottest women in the world," with Michelle Obama making the grade at number 93.
Billed as the "stimulus package America really needs," the British-based international magazine known for revealing pictorials of models and actresses showcases Obama in her tasteful official White House portrait.
In the rare accolade for a political spouse, the magazine notes that her husband President Barack Obama "may be dealing with two wars, an economic meltdown, and a rapidly graying dome.
"But at least our Commander in Chief gets to come home to the hottest First Lady in the history of these United States."
Obama has been hailed as a style icon by fashionistas around the world since her husband was elected president.
Video of protest march for Omar Edwards
Dave Bing elected mayor of Detroit
It's a great time to be an NBA great seeking elected office. Recently Phoenix Suns star Kevin Johnson became mayor of Sacremento and now Dave Bing has won a special election to become mayor of Detroit. Watch the video below:
African-American women still have poorer breast cancer outcomes
New study in Journal of the American College of Surgeons finds large disparities in care, treatment compared with caucasian women
CHICAGO (May 4, 2009) – New research published in the May issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that dramatic disparities in breast cancer outcomes continue to exist for African-American women, regardless of the age at which they are diagnosed, extent of the cancer, type of treatment or socioeconomic status. The study represents the largest population-based analysis of breast cancer outcomes data to date, including more than 60,000 patients in the state of Florida.
Although government programs to improve access to breast cancer screening and treatment have been in place for nearly two decades, African-American women continue to suffer a high breast cancer mortality rate, even though the incidence of breast cancer in this population is lower than in Caucasian women.
The research indicates that breast cancer outcomes for African-American women might be improved by lowering the recommended age of initial screening from 40 years to 33 years, the age at which the percentage of African-American women who develop breast cancer is similar to the percentage of Caucasian women in whom the disease develops under 40 years of age.
"Current screening guidelines are not sufficient in detecting breast cancer in African-American patients because the disease has already developed in over 10 percent of these women by age 40," said Leonidas G. Koniaris, MD, FACS, Surgical Oncology DeWitt Daughtry Family Department of Surgery, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine. "However, even with earlier diagnosis, our analysis uncovered serious socioeconomic barriers that prevent many African-American women with breast cancer from receiving the latest, most specific treatments."
The analysis identified 63,472 patients with invasive breast cancer using the Florida Cancer Data System and data from the state's Agency for Health Care Administration. Overall, 90.5 percent of patients were Caucasian and 7.6 percent were African American. More than half of the study population (59.4 percent) lived at or below 10 percent of the federal poverty level, according to the 2007 United States Census Bureau report. Five-year survival was calculated from the time of initial diagnosis to the date of last contact or death.
African-American patients presented with breast cancer at a younger age and a more advanced stage, with approximately 72.1 percent of African-American women diagnosed before the age of 65, in comparison with 50.3 percent among Caucasian women (p<0.001). Whereas the majority (68 percent) of Caucasian women were diagnosed with disease that had not spread beyond the breast, only 52.4 percent of African-American women presented with localized disease. Metastatic disease was seen nearly twice as often in African-American women when compared with Caucasian women (5.9 percent versus 3.1 percent; p<0.001). Overall, African-American women had a significantly lower overall five-year survival rate compared with Caucasian women (68.6 versus 79.4 percent, p<0.001).
Upon diagnosis, African-American patients were less likely than Caucasian patients to undergo surgical therapy. Furthermore, among those patients who did undergo surgical therapy, survival rates for African-American women were still considerably lower than for Caucasian women. Similarly, African-American patients who received nonsurgical therapy (e.g., chemotherapy) had a lower rate of survival compared with Caucasian patients who received similar treatments.
A stepwise multivariate analysis revealed a significant decrease in the risk of death observed for African-American patients upon adjustment for stage of presentation, suggesting that disparities in breast cancer outcomes are, in part, a result of advanced stage at diagnosis.
Researchers also identified socioeconomic status as an independent predictor of poor breast cancer outcomes. Patients in the lowest socioeconomic status category (>15 percent living under the federal poverty level) were diagnosed with higher rates of metastatic disease (4.1 percent vs. 2.8 percent; p<0.001) than patients in the higher-income categories. Patients of low socioeconomic status were treated less frequently with surgical therapy. Five-year survival was statistically decreased as poverty level increased for all types of treatment, whether surgical or nonsurgical.
'Babyfaceness' may benefit black CEOs
Washington, May 2: Black CEO's having warmer physical appearances or 'babyfaceness' tend to be at the helm of more prestigious corporations, a new study has revealed.
Lead author Robert Livingston, Kellogg School of Management, and co-author Nicholas Pearce examined the link between physical characteristics and their role in obtaining and maintaining power in the corporate world.
Livingston, assistant professor of management and organizations, and other researchers found that babyface features clearly helped black CEOs in gathering leadership roles and further posed as disarming mechanisms.
The study, entitled "The Teddy Bear Effect: Does babyfaceness benefit Black CEOs?", observed that black CEOs rated as being babyfaced held a more powerful position than black CEOs with a more mature appearance.
They even had warmer personalities, than whites, the study found.
Livingston said: "Prior research has shown babyface-type traits are a liability for those striving for a leadership role because they undermine perceptions of competence, but these studies focused on white males.
"Because a babyface is disarming, we hypothesized that it would provide an advantage to black leaders who have a history of being stigmatized as too threatening to occupy positions of high power."
Livingston added: "Big ears or a simple smile can disarm one's appearance from suggested perceptions of threat that might otherwise be associated with black males. This could serve to increase the appeal of the president or even one of Hollywood's most successful actors-Will Smith."
The study will appear in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science.
Black Comic Book Creators Converge in Philadelphia to Encourage Youth Literacy
Click the flier below to learn about the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention ( ECBACC, Inc.) . A convention for black comic writers and artist that not only promotes black comics but that is trying to promote literacy among black youth.
Obama and Race Relations: Civil Rights Leaders Aren't Satisfied
By Justin Ewers Justin Ewers
It took a remarkably long time before someone finally popped the question. At a press conference in March, two months after he had moved into the White House, Barack Obama was asked for the first time to describe how his race has affected his presidency.
Much as he had immediately after the election, when the chattering classes were gripped by speculation that the first black president might herald in a new, post-racial future, Obama refused to give in to flights of fancy. "At the inauguration, I think there was justifiable pride on the part of the country that we had taken a step to move beyond some of the searing legacies of racial discrimination in this country," Obama said, acknowledging how much his historic move to Washington had seemed to elevate the political discussion. "But that lasted about a day."
For some, the thrill of seeing a black man in the White House has lasted a little longer. Benjamin Jealous, the recently elected president of the NAACP, says he still gets a jolt every time he walks through the security screening station in the lobby of the Department of Justice and sees photographs of Obama and the new attorney general, Eric Holder, hanging on the wall. "We're used to seeing black men's faces in the windows of post offices or on wanted posters, not in a photograph of the president and the attorney general," says Jealous. "It's all very bewildering."
A weekly community service night organized by Jesse Jackson's Rainbow PUSH Coalition in Chicago is just one of many black community gatherings throughout the country where morale went through the roof this winter. "There's been an emotional change in the group since Obama took office," says the Rev. Gregory Livingston, the coalition's national field secretary. As they have for years, a few hundred people continue to arrive every Monday looking for guidance on what to do about foreclosed homes or lost jobs. "Have their numbers changed? No," says Livingston. "But you can see it in their faces. There's a smile in their voices. They're just much more hopeful."
If there is any consensus among black leaders about the initial impact of the first black president, this seems to be it. Seeing the Obama family in the White House and watching Obama conduct himself on the world stage continue to give civil rights advocates, and many voters, a regular emotional boost. But as Obama's first hundred days came to an end, with little having changed in most people's daily lives, the first questions began to be asked about whether his presidency has had any substantive effect on lingering racial inequality.
One step back. As they have in the past, African-Americans are suffering more than most through the economic downturn: They are twice as likely as whites to be unemployed and three times as likely to live in poverty. Racial tensions, in spite of all the high-flown talk in the fall, have shown little sign of fading. Only a few weeks before Obama took office, the city of Oakland, Calif., was gripped by riots after a white transit officer killed an unarmed black man. Two months later, protesters took to the streets again when four Oakland police officers were murdered by a gun-wielding black parolee. "Obama's inauguration was a day of transformative possibility," says Jealous. "But people wake up, and Dad's still out of work and Mom's still not getting paid enough and the kids' school is still an embarrassment. There's a collective anxiety that everything can change and nothing has changed, and it's resulted in some frustration."
Among young black voters, in particular, researchers say there is a growing sense that, on matters of race, the country has taken two steps forward but may be poised to take a step back. Cathy Cohen, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, spent the first few months of the Obama administration talking to focus groups of African-Americans under 35 about their conflicted reactions to the new president. After the election, three times as many young blacks as whites said they thought elections could bring about real change. But as time has gone on, day-to-day life has begun to cloud that enthusiasm. "If you ask them, 'How do you feel about Obama?' they're effusive, very proud," says Cohen. "But you ask them if they think Obama's election will impact their interactions with the police, and to a person, they say, 'Absolutely not.' They understand it doesn't trickle down to their lives."
For all the symbolism of Obama's position in the White House, he has not yet used his bully pulpit to take on the issue of race. On several occasions, in fact, the president has seemed to deliberately shy away from the subject. When Attorney General Holder picked up the reins this winter, chiding Americans for being "a nation of cowards" on racial matters, Obama pushed back firmly. "I'm not somebody who believes that constantly talking about race somehow solves racial tensions," he said.
There is general agreement among civil rights leaders that Obama doesn't need to wade into the fray in the same way that, say, Al Sharpton has in the past. But some are beginning to worry that it is conservatives, not civil rights groups, who are seizing the political moment, using the promise of "post-racialism" to try to scale back protections for minorities in the legal system. Race is a central issue in at least four Supreme Court cases in the next term, and there has been a growing chorus on the right demanding the repeal of everything from affirmative action to the Voting Rights Act now that a black man is in the White House.
Some civil rights leaders are frustrated by Obama's refusal to point out how little has actually changed for the average black person--and how much minorities are struggling in the down economy. Black borrowers, for example, were more than twice as likely as whites to receive subprime loans and are losing their homes to foreclosure at much higher rates. But Obama's public pronouncements on the housing crisis have rarely reflected this disparity. "It's not clear the administration has figured out how to engage the public on race," says John Powell, director of the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at Ohio State University. "A lot of the people around Obama seem to think race is the third rail, and it's best to avoid it. Their major approach is 'We're going to do something for everybody.' But that's not really a solution."
In the weeks after Obama was elected, there was a wave of excitement over his selection of Holder to be the nation's first black attorney general, and civil rights groups cheered the number of African-Americans picked to join Obama's White House staff. But as the Obama administration has moved on to the business of governing, the first critics have emerged in the black community, some of whom point out that the first black president has made the same number of black cabinet appointments as Bill Clinton did--but without Clinton's intense focus on racial inequality.
After skimming over the issue of race in both his acceptance speech in November and his inaugural in January, Obama hasn't given a major speech on race since last year. Even then, for all his eloquence, Obama was forced to speak out, these critics say, because of the controversy over the inflammatory sermons of his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. "There's a whole lot of space between always talking about race and never talking about race," says Michael Fauntroy, an assistant professor of public policy at George Mason University. "The only time he's ever talked about race was when his campaign was in a sling. There's a reticence on his part that I think is worrisome."
The Obama administration has taken some steps to allay these concerns, pushing legislation on workers' rights and opening a new office for urban affairs inside the White House. Still, some black leaders are beginning to grumble that the list of things Obama has not done is much longer. "If he can immediately say, 'I'm sending 30,000 troops to Afghanistan,' he can immediately do some other things, too," says Kevin Alexander Gray, a civil rights veteran who was Jesse Jackson's South Carolina campaign organizer in 1988. "Black folks are afraid to go after Barack Obama because there's such a love fest, but where's the urban plan? You haven't seen it. A white person who was in office would have to talk about disproportionate poverty. It's not his fault, but it's starting to be his fault."
Obama has been in office only a few months, of course, and even the most impatient civil rights leaders agree on at least one thing: They want him to succeed. But as the first black president moves on to his next hundred days, there seems to be an increased willingness to hold him to his own high standards. "People are still coming up to me and saying they've been inspired by Obama. But they want the change to be real. That's what people are most eager for," says Jealous. "Life hasn't changed that much, but expectations are higher."
As time goes by, they seem likely to get higher still.
Student, 11, steps up to lead school band when budget constraints leave PS 37 without band teacher
For more than a year, the Queens elementary school went without a music program after its band teacher left and the school couldn't afford a replacement.
Now, the school has a thriving band that plays Ben E. King, Bow Wow and Bob Marley. And it's directed by one of its students, an 11-year-old pianist and saxophone player who knew his classmates needed music in their lives. Read entire story by clicking the link below:
More blacks die from causes that are preventable or treatable.
Black-white differences in avoidable mortality in the United States, 1980-2005
Two-thirds of the difference between death rates among African Americans and Caucasians are now due to causes that could be prevented or cured, according to a new study appearing in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
The study, "Black-White Differences in Avoidable Mortality in the United States, 1980-2005," found that death from preventable or treatable conditions represented half of all deaths for individuals under age 65 and accounted for nearly 70 percent of the black-white mortality difference.
"People should not be dying prematurely from stroke, hypertension, diabetes, colon cancer, appendicitis or the flu. Our study shows that while much progress has been made, our health care system is still failing to meet the very basic needs of some Americans. Many disparities can be conquered by focusing more on public policies that promote prevention and by ensuring that all Americans have access to good quality health care," said James Macinko, who conducted the research as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the lead author of the study.
The major reason for the black-white mortality gap-representing about 30 percent of the gap for men and 42 percent for women-is due to conditions that have effective treatments, the study found. Disparities were most pronounced for conditions or diseases for which deaths can be prevented, such as diabetes, stroke, infectious and respiratory diseases, preventable cancers, and circulatory diseases like hypertension.
The conditions analyzed included premature deaths from common infectious diseases, cervical cancers, appendicitis, maternal deaths, hypertension, stroke, diabetes, peptic ulcers and traffic accidents, all of which could be avoided through medical care or health policy changes. The study suggests that the reinforcement of policies that improve access to quality medical care will be important to reducing death disparities.
"As the nation turns its attention to health care reform, we now know that much can be done to reduce racial and ethnic health care disparities and to improve the health care for all Americans," said Macinko. "We also have a lot to learn from other health care systems that measure performance based on preventable deaths."
To analyze the death disparity among African Americans and Caucasians, the scholar used "avoidable mortality," a commonly used measure of health system performance in Europe. It is defined as premature death under age 65 from conditions responsive to medical care, changes in public policy, or behaviors. Over the last decade, avoidable mortality has declined less rapidly in the United States than in other industrialized nations.
"Avoidable mortality gives us one way to assess the shortcomings of our health care system, particularly in the area of prevention," said Irma T. Elo, Ph.D., co-author on the report and an associate professor of sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. "It can help to identify where preventable disparities are greatest and aid in directing resources to where they can improve the health of vulnerable populations."
BET to Offer New Channel for Adults
Viacom, the owner of BET, is forming a new cable television channel for middle-aged African-Americans, heightening the competition for the minority viewing audience
The channel, to be named Centric and scheduled to make its debut in October, will be formally announced at an event for advertisers Thursday night. Centric will complement BET, executives say, by appealing to an older and more affluent audience. Read the entire story by clicking the link below
What adopting a white child taught one black family
An African American family adopted a white child about five years ago. They quickly learned that while many have accepted white parents adopting black children the opposite is not true. In some cases people for some reason assume the child is in trouble or in danger when she is in public with her black parents. Read the article by clicking the link below:
Annette Gordon Reed won for a distinguished and appropriately documented book on the history of the United States, Ten thousand dollars ($10,000).
Awarded to “The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family,” by Annette Gordon-Reed (W.W. Norton & Company), a painstaking exploration of a sprawling multi-generation slave family that casts provocative new light on the relationship between Sally Hemings and her master, Thomas Jefferson. Read more by clicking the link below
Black Journalists Slashed from Newsrooms at Alarming Rate
To: NATIONAL EDITORS
Contact: Abraham Mahshie, Communications/Production Manager of the National Association of Black Journalists, +1-866-479-NABJ
Newspapers lose relevance to African-American communities
WASHINGTON, April 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Newsroom jobs held by black journalists were cut by an alarming 13.5 percent in 2008, making African-Americans the single most targeted group for job losses in newsrooms across the country according to a study released by ASNE, the American Society of News Editors.
"While NABJ recognizes the current economic downturn, newspapers must stop the bloodletting of black journalists now," said NABJ President Barbara Ciara. "It is unconscionable that this industry is willing to jeopardize the accuracy, integrity and bottom line of its publications."
In all, nearly 400 black journalists lost their jobs in 2008, representing the largest drop in all minority employment and scaling back progress toward diversity in newsrooms to 1998 census levels.
Furthermore, 458 newspapers still have no minorities in their newsrooms and only 111 out of 633 newspapers surveyed have achieved parity with the minority population in their communities.
"Newsrooms without black journalists are unacceptable," Ciara said. "NABJ calls on industry leaders to re-commit to making diversity a priority - even in this difficult climate."
The decrease in minority representation in newsrooms runs counter to general population trends, which project the United States will become a "majority minority" country by mid-century.
In 1999, ASNE defined as its goal to deliver parity in newsroom representation by 2025. NABJ stands ready to work with ASNE and media companies to reach this goal and promote diversity in the nation's newsrooms.
"As minority communities grow in number and influence, newspapers must prepare for the future by preserving the jobs of black journalists and grooming them for the leadership positions of tomorrow," Ciara said. "The most innovative and profitable newspapers are those with diverse perspectives and minorities in their upper ranks."
An advocacy group established in 1975 in Washington, D.C., NABJ is the largest organization of journalists of color in the nation, with more than 4,100 members, and provides educational, career development and support to black journalists worldwide.
SOURCE National Association of Black Journalists
First Look: National Museum of African American History & Culture
The picture above is the winning design for the National Museum of African American History and Culture designed by Freelon Adjaye Bond. The selection signals that the Smithsonian hopes to get a building whose design is compelled by its content. In that regard, the museum planners will not be disappointed. As well regarded African American architects whose careers include so many black historical and cultural institutions, Freelon and Bond have the experience, personally and professionally, for the project.
Wesley Snipes to Introduce New Sci-Fi Franchise Zulu Mech 1
Zulu Mech 1, a breakthrough African sci-fi adventure series co-produced by Wesley Snipes, will be unveiled on May 30th at The African American Pavilion at BookExpo America. The press conference is scheduled for 12:00 noon in the African American Pavilion Meeting Room 1C01-1C02 at the Jacob Javit Convention Center, New York City. Read the entire article by clicking the link below:
A program in California called Project Best has sent several hundred young black men to college and since it's inception in 1996 200 of the program participants have gotten four year degrees. BEST stands for Black Excellence in Scholarship and Teaching program. Read more about Project Best by using the link below:
Number of Black Americans in State Prisons for Drug Offenses Declines
Number of Black Americans in State Prisons for Drug Offenses Declines
By Darryl Fears Washington Post Staff Writer
For the first time since crack cocaine sparked a war on drugs 20 years ago, the number of black Americans in state prisons for drug offenses has fallen sharply, while the number of white prisoners convicted for drug crimes has increased, according to a report released today.
The D.C.-based Sentencing Project reported that the number of black inmates in state prisons for drug offenses had fallen from 145,000 in 1999 to 113,500 in 2005, a 21.6 percent decline. Over the same period, the number of white drug offenders rose steadily, from 50,700 to more than 72,300, a 42.6 percent increase. The number of Latino drug offenders was virtually unchanged at about 51,000.
The findings represent a significant shift in the racial makeup of those incarcerated for drugs and could signal a gradual change in the demographics of the nation's prison population 2 million, which has been disproportionately black for decades. Drug offenders make up about a quarter of the overall prison population.
The Sentencing Project report and other experts said the numbers could reflect two factors: an increased reliance by prosecutors and judges on prison alternatives such as drug courts, and a shift in police focus to methamphetamines, which are used and distributed mostly by white Americans. In addition, the report said, crack cocaine use has declined steadily since the 1990s, and so have police arrests.
The report relied heavily on data compiled by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics and covered six years ending in 2005, the last year the bureau broke down the state prison population by race and drug offense.
African American drug offenders, who have been convicted most often for dealing and possessing crack cocaine, still made up a disproportionate share of the total, 44 percent in 2005. That was down from nearly 58 percent six years earlier, but still represented a disproportionate share, because black Americans make up only about 12 percent of the U.S. population.
The number of white state drug offenders rose from 20 percent to 29 percent, and Latino prisoners made up 20 percent of inmates.
"I have no doubt that crystal meth explains some of the white increase, but I'm not ready to say it's the reason for all of the white increase," said Marc Mauer, executive director of the Sentencing Project, which opposes stiff penalties for nonviolent drug crimes. "It's also hard to imagine that [drug courts] are not having some effect. Most drug courts are in urban areas where African Americans live."
Twenty percent of white inmates used methamphetamines in the month before they were arrested, compared with 1 percent of black inmates, according to interviews conducted in the nation's 14,500 state prisons and 3,700 federal prisons.
Drug courts offer nonviolent offenders the option of undergoing rigorous substance abuse treatment and criminal rehabilitation or going to jail. There are more than 2,000 such courts in operation, mostly in cities with large black communities that were ravaged by violence associated with crack cocaine. White suspects are also increasingly winding up in drug courts for abusing methamphetamines.
Mauer also hypothesized that drug dealers might have shifted from open air crack cocaine markets to dealing indoors, making them harder for police to bust. And he speculated that because so many African American men have been incarcerated, there are fewer on the street to be arrested.
But James E. Felman, co-chairman of the Sentencing Committee for the American Bar Association, said that in Tampa, where he practices law, police are still arresting black suspects for crack possession and distribution, and handing out long sentences.
"I can't second-guess their study, but I haven't seen a change," Felman said. "Maybe we're getting smarter on crime in some states. That could be part of it."
David Muhlhausen, a senior policy analyst for the conservative Heritage Foundation, said stronger police enforcement of methamphetamine trafficking and use, coupled with treatment options mostly for urban crack cocaine offenders, probably caused the shift. "There is some data out there that suggests that drug courts and drug treatments reduce recidivism," he said. "If you take the less serious offenders and put them into programs other than prison it would be a benefit to society."
The war on drugs began in 1986, when Congress passed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act to combat violence associated with the crack cocaine trade. Lawmakers were prompted by the death of University of Maryland basketball player Len Bias, who they mistakenly believed had died from ingesting crack. Bias overdosed on powder cocaine.
Last year, then-Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) joined several of his colleagues in saying his support of the legislation was a mistake. As a result of the law, more than a half-million people have been incarcerated for drug offenses in state and federal prison, a massive increase from the 40,000 who were jailed for the same offenses in 1980.
According to a report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics last year, 7.2 million people are under prison supervision, as inmates, parolees and probationers, at a cost of about $45 billion per year.
California, which has one of the nation's largest prison populations, farmed out 170,000 inmates to private prisons as far away as Tennessee in 2006 to relieve costs, and has relaxed its penal code to relieve prison overcrowding.
Jeffrey L. Sedgwick, a former director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics, said the record incarceration might be worth the cost. "As the number of people under correctional supervision goes up, crime goes down," he said. Conservative estimates put the cost of violent crime at about $17 billion, Sedgwick said.
Jada Pinkett Smith opens school
Jada Pinkett Smith is adding another title to her resume: schoolmaster.
The 37-year-old actress-producer-musician and her husband, Will Smith, opened the New Village Leadership Academy last fall. The private school, for pre-kindergarten through sixth grade, has 60 students, according to the website.
Pinkett Smith said the school stresses "100 per cent mastery," encouraging students to retake exams until they score 100 per cent. The student body is ethnically and economically diverse, she said, "which is a very difficult thing to find in Los Angeles, Calif."
The ranks of Ebony and Jet magazines have been shaken up, with cuts that include the elimination of the publications' editorial director.
According to a report published Monday on the Web site for the Maynard Institute, an organization dedicated to diversity training in the news media, employees who were cut may be able to apply for new positions.
The company is ”executing a multi-phase reorganization," according to a statement, of which employees were notified last week.
The company, Johnson Publishing, ranked No. 1 on Crain’s 2008 list of Chicago’s largest minority-owned companies. With $453.3 million in revenue in 2007, the company beat out Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Inc.
But Ebony and Jet, which target the African-American community, have struggled amid a turbulent economy and declining print advertising sales throughout the media industry. Ebony’s ad sales dropped almost 19% to $14.9 million in 2008, according to Magazine Publishers of America data. Advertising revenue for Jet sank 41% to $5.7 million in 2008.
Michelle Obama discusses life in the White House
Disney adds black princess to toy line
Move over Snow White. Make room for Princess Tiana. For the first time, Disney is creating a film with an African-American princess whose doll will make its debut Monday at the American International Toy Fair in New York City. READ ENTIRE ARTICLE
Barack Obama's open letter to his daughters
Dear Malia and Sasha,
I know that you've both had a lot of fun these last two years on the campaign trail, going to picnics and parades and state fairs, eating all sorts of junk food your mother and I probably shouldn't have let you have. But I also know that it hasn't always been easy for you and Mom, and that as excited as you both are about that new puppy, it doesn't make up for all the time we've been apart. I know how much I've missed these past two years, and today I want to tell you a little more about why I decided to take our family on this journey.
When I was a young man, I thought life was all about me -- about how I'd make my way in the world, become successful, and get the things I want. But then the two of you came into my world with all your curiosity and mischief and those smiles that never fail to fill my heart and light up my day. And suddenly, all my big plans for myself didn't seem so important anymore. I soon found that the greatest joy in my life was the joy I saw in yours. And I realized that my own life wouldn't count for much unless I was able to ensure that you had every opportunity for happiness and fulfillment in yours. In the end, girls, that's why I ran for president: because of what I want for you and for every child in this nation.
I want all our children to go to schools worthy of their potential -- schools that challenge them, inspire them, and instill in them a sense of wonder about the world around them. I want them to have the chance to go to college -- even if their parents aren't rich. And I want them to get good jobs: jobs that pay well and give them benefits like health care, jobs that let them spend time with their own kids and retire with dignity.
I want us to push the boundaries of discovery so that you'll live to see new technologies and inventions that improve our lives and make our planet cleaner and safer. And I want us to push our own human boundaries to reach beyond the divides of race and region, gender and religion that keep us from seeing the best in each other.
Sometimes we have to send our young men and women into war and other dangerous situations to protect our country -- but when we do, I want to make sure that it is only for a very good reason, that we try our best to settle our differences with others peacefully, and that we do everything possible to keep our servicemen and women safe. And I want every child to understand that the blessings these brave Americans fight for are not free -- that with the great privilege of being a citizen of this nation comes great responsibility.
That was the lesson your grandmother tried to teach me when I was your age, reading me the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence and telling me about the men and women who marched for equality because they believed those words put to paper two centuries ago should mean something.
She helped me understand that America is great not because it is perfect but because it can always be made better -- and that the unfinished work of perfecting our union falls to each of us. It's a charge we pass on to our children, coming closer with each new generation to what we know America should be.
I hope both of you will take up that work, righting the wrongs that you see and working to give others the chances you've had. Not just because you have an obligation to give something back to this country that has given our family so much -- although you do have that obligation. But because you have an obligation to yourself. Because it is only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you will realize your true potential.
These are the things I want for you -- to grow up in a world with no limits on your dreams and no achievements beyond your reach, and to grow into compassionate, committed women who will help build that world. And I want every child to have the same chances to learn and dream and grow and thrive that you girls have. That's why I've taken our family on this great adventure.
I am so proud of both of you. I love you more than you can ever know. And I am grateful every day for your patience, poise, grace and humor as we prepare to start our new life together in the White House.
Love, Dad
Michelle Obama Vogue Cover
The very beautiful, intelligent, and fashionable Michelle Obama is featured on the March Cover of Vogue Magazine. Believe it or not Hillary Clinton not Jackie "O" is the only other first lady to have been featured on the cover of Vogue. See the picture below:
