News By State
South Carolina marks ex-slave’s daring sail to freedom
Descendants of Civil War hero Robert Smalls are celebrating the ex-slave who 150 years ago this weekend commandeered a Confederate steamship and evaded batteries overlooking Charleston harbor to reach a Union blockade and freedom. Calling themselves the “family of cousins” and ranging in age from 3 months to 94 years old, Smalls’ descendants came to [...]
Michelle Obama urges North Carolina A&T grads to seek change
The historic action that four North Carolina college students took that led to desegregation at lunch counters more than half a century ago shows what young people can do to change their world for the better, first lady Michelle Obama said during a commencement speech Saturday. Mrs. Obama addressed a crowd of about 15,000, including [...]
Jacksonville woman sentenced to 20 years in controversial warning shot case
Saying he had no discretion under state law, a judge sentenced a Jacksonville, Florida, woman to 20 years in prison Friday for firing a warning shot in an effort to scare off her abusive husband. Marissa Alexander unsuccessfully tried to use Florida’s controversial “stand your ground” law to derail the prosecution, but a jury in [...]
Pressure mounting to keep FAMU band suspended
Florida A&M University’s famed marching band – tarnished by the beating death of one of its drum majors – appears unlikely to take the field once again anytime soon. A new set of revelations this week that more than 100 band members weren’t even FAMU students at the time of Robert Champion’s death may have [...]
NAACP launches voter registration push in Georgia
Saying it won’t let recently enacted voter ID laws suppress turnout, the NAACP on Wednesday launched a nationwide drive to register thousands of mostly minority, student and elderly voters before the Nov. 6 elections. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People says these groups could be the ones most affected by laws requiring [...]
