LDF News and Media Today:
A sampling of Race, Justice, Equality and Democracy in the news.
By Mel Gagarin
Afternoon Blog Wrap-Up by Kasha Dragon:

Multiracial People Are Fastest Growing US Demo

Sharpton calls for probe into officer shooting

Supreme Court Nomination in Black and Brown

White House urged to address ‘racist’ charge

North Korea Test-Fires Short-Range Missile

‘The Mormons Are Coming!’: Supporters of [...]

By Martha Southgate
Uhura was the one of the first African-American women on a series who was not a servant of some sort, predating Diahann Carroll’s ‘Julia’ in the independent-black-women-on-TV race by two years. When Nichols considered quitting the show after the 1967 season, Martin Luther King, Jr. asked her to stay, saying that Uhura was an important role model.

LDF News and Media Today:
A sampling of Race, Justice, Equality and Democracy in the news.
By Mel Gagarin

Mark Anthony Neal thinks black radio has failed black communities

Bush v. Gore rivals team up to appeal gay marriage ban

Coates: Putting Gay Marriage up to a vote in DC

Black, Gay, and Reclaiming ‘Civil Rights’ via HuffPo

Documentary on the music [...]

By The Editors
The California Supreme Court’s ruling this week upholding the proposition that bans gay marriage in the state sets “a dangerous precedent” because it places “the rights of minority groups at the whim of the majority,” the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund said in a statement released today.

LDF News and Media Today:
A sampling of Race, Justice, Equality and Democracy in the news.
By Mel Gagarin
Afternoon Blog Wrap-Up by Kasha Dragon:

Michael Vick, hip hop, and the politics of punishment
Mike Tyson’s daughter dies
Guantánamo, Democrats and Roosting Chickens
Segregated Proms for Black and White Students in the Deep South
North Korea Restarts Nuke Plant
Race Row at Harvard
Ursula Burns: [...]

By The Editors
The current federal law mandates far more severe sentences for low-level offenses involving crack cocaine than powder cocaine, even though the former is no more addictive or dangerous than the latter.

By The Editors
Today President Obama, who made history by becoming the first African-American President of the United States, nominated Federal Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor to a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. If confirmed, Sotomayor would be the third woman and the first Latino American on the nation’s highest court.

LDF News and Media Today:
A sampling of Race, Justice, Equality and Democracy in the news.
By Mel Gagarin
Afternoon Blog Wrap-Up by Kasha Dragon

Common Ground in Obama, Sotomayor Life Stories

Mississippi mayor brings ‘atomic bomb of change’

Tyson’s Daughter in ‘Tragic Accident’

Racism’s Role in LA Gang Case Rekindles Debate

Michael Steele’s missed opportunity to empower blacks

Why Cheney Remains Relevant

California Supreme [...]

An auto shop ran a want ad for a mechanic in the Alburquerque Journal that included “no chile peelers” among the qualifications listed. James Sanistevan, the owner of the auto shop said there is nothing racist about “chile peelers,” saying that he considers it to mean “being lazy.”

By Jay Mathews
This year, David Levin and his friend Mike Feinberg are close to becoming the most famous teachers in the country. They have founded the nation’s most successful network of public charter schools, the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP).