The News

Retired Black Police Officers Shortchanged; Hip Hop’s Birthplace Saved

Georgia’s Retired Black Officers Fighting for Equal Pensions
Though Georgia’s first Black police officers, some working as early as the 1940s, had to endure a segregated system while on the job, these men are still fighting racial inequality today. Blocked from joining an all-white supplemental retirement plan until 1976, these aging Black men do not receive the same pensions as the white officers with whom they worked. CNN.

Graphic Novel Investigates Race
Authored by Mat Johnson, Incognegro tells the story of a Black man who uses his ability to pass as white as a cover to investigate Jim Crow-era lynchings. New York Times.

Hip Hop’s Home Saved from New Developer
The sale of 1520 Sedgwick in the Bronx, where DJ Kool Herc began spinning records at parties in the basement, was rejected because current affordable housing rents could not be held if the sale had gone through. Newsday.

Fla. Teen Charged with Hate Crime for Hanging Noose
In Orlando, a fifteen year old has been charged with a hate crime for hanging a noose from a tree in the yard of a neighboring Black family. Orlando Sentinel.

White Woman Lies About Being Native American Gangmember in ‘Memoir’
Though “Margaret B. Jones” had received great reviews for her compelling memoir, the author of “Love and Consequences,” completely made up the story about growing up half Native American and half white, being a foster child, and living with a gang in South Los Angeles. Los Angeles Times.

Posted at 7:25 AM, Mar 04, 2008 in News | Permalink | View Comments