Free Republic

Who can – or will - teach young boys before they become criminals that all lives matter? I'm still waiting on the rallies. I'm still waiting on fed-up people who are down with the cause. I'm still waiting on social justice activists to lie in the streets, disrupt commerce and protest ad nauseam the killings of black men. I'm still waiting for a community willing to rise up and act as if it really gives a damn about six people shot - three fatally - in a barbershop massacre on the evening of Feb. 3rd. Where's the rage, folks? I'm...

Former Los Angeles governor Antonio Villaraigosa may be facing California Attorney General Kamala Harris for the senate seat that’s up for grabs in the state. (Photo Split: Getty Images) A historic Latino versus African American political confrontation is brewing in California over the first open U.S. Senate seat in a generation that some fear could threaten Democratic unity in the 2016 presidential election. In the the days since the senate seat became open, many California Latino political leaders have taken offense that national Democratic figures have rushed to support the candidacy of Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, who is today the...

The audience for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress on March 3 is shaping up to be largely Republican — and almost completely white. Many members of the Congressional Black Caucus say they’re planning to skip the speech, calling it a slight to President Barack Obama that they can’t and won’t support.

The Justice Department investigation into the Ferguson Police Department should conclude "within a few days," members of the Congressional Black Caucus said Tuesday after meeting with President Obama. "The DOJ investigation is ongoing and should be completed within a few days, and we can see the report and draw our own conclusions from that report," CBC chairman G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) said after the meeting. The federal government has been examining the police department in the aftermath of the police shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown, which sparked mass protests and accusations of racial profiling. The Justice Department is weighing allegations...

President Obama will meet Tuesday at the White House with members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), including freshman GOP Rep. Mia Love (Utah). The meeting comes as top black leaders — including CBC Chairman G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) and Reps. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) and John Lewis (D-Ga.) — are vowing to skip a March 3 speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to protest an invitation they see as a slight to the president in the midst of high-stakes nuclear talks with Iran. Love is currently the only Republican member of the CBC. Her office said Monday that she plans...

Insider says Obama administration 'sent a message' to black Democratic lawmakers that they should skip Netanyahu speech to Congress, as Biden says he'll be a no-show **SNIP** That disapproval apparently was orchestrated, or at least strongly encouraged, by the White House through comamunications with lawmakers connected to the Congressional Black Caucus. 'I'm not saying the president called anyone personally,' a current White House staffer told Daily Mail Online. 'But yeah, the White House sent a message to some at the CBC that they should suddenly be very upset about the speech.' The source said it was a 'back-channel' arrangement that...

A Berkeley, California man died last December after paramedics were delayed nearly an hour because of an unruly protest against police brutality, recently released records show. Berkleyside, a self-described “independent news site” serving the Berkeley area, reports that the 62-year-old Alvin Henry Jones Jr. would have normally received treatment in minutes. However, due to a nearby #BlackLivesMatters protest, paramedics were instead ordered to go to a local fire station and await a police escort before attempting to rescue Jones. It took 52 minutes to get Jones to a hospital, after which he died two days later. Paperwork filed by the...

Imagine a social-justice version of the Girl Scouts.In Oakland, California, one alternative scout troop is far more socially active than their counterparts across the globe—and they’re not affiliated with the Girl Scouts. They call themselves, “Radical Brownies.” Their mission? “The Radical Brownies empower young girls of color so that they step into their collective power, brilliance and leadership in order to make the world a more radical place.” There are no badges for stitching, taking care of pets or being a good neighbor. Radical Brownies “badges earned are custom-made,” and “reflect our social justice and culturally-inclusive values.” Badges include Radical...

People are seeing that shows with people of color can make money," Taraji P. Henson told reporters days after Empire's second episode solidified its status as the highest-rated new series of the 2014-15 TV season. "When things make money, people are interested." The actress might not be surprised that her Fox family soap, which climbed to nearly 15 million viewers in time-shifted ratings, is the success story of the winter. But few could have foreseen it would grow live ratings for its second and third episodes, an unheard-of feat during the DVR era. And Empire owes much of those early...

Amid a tumultuous past year for McDonald's, the world's biggest restaurant chain's CEO Don Thompson is retiring after two years on the job, effective March 1. The fast food is also getting a new CFO. The restaurant's Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Brand Officer Steve Easterbrook will replace Thompson, who is a 25-year veteran of the company, the company announced on Wednesday. Previously, Easterbrook served as president of McDonald's Europe and led the chain's "efforts to elevate its marketing, advance menu innovation, and create an infrastructure for its digital initiatives," it said in a release. The company's CFO Pete...

British actor Benedict Cumberbatch has apologized after describing black people as 'colored' on US television, saying he is 'an idiot' and is 'devastated to have caused offense'. ...Sherlock star ... racial term ... diversity ... British screens ... Tavis Smiley.... ... hundreds took to social media to condemn.... ...Cumberbatch ... issuing an apology... 'incorrect'... 'offensive' ... ... 'I'm devastated ... ... sincere apologies. ... idiot ...

A black Marianne has adorned city hall in Frémainville, France since 1999. The small town of Frémainville is one of the few in France where a black-skinned Marianne statue adorns city hall. But the city’s new mayor is replacing the minority Marianne, claiming she does not represent the French republic. Mayor Marcel Allègre, who won local elections in March, has removed the city’s emblematic black Marianne from the main hall where civil marriages are performed, and has placed an order for a new statue. “That black sculpture was a Marianne of liberty, but not a Marianne of the French...

New York Times op-ed columnist Charles M. Blow says he’s “fuming” after his son was allegedly stopped by a Yale University police officer at gunpoint Saturday night because he apparently fit the description of a possible burglary suspect. “So, my son, a 3rd year chem major at Yale was just accosted — at GUN POINT — by a Yale policeman bc he ‘fit the description’ of a suspect,’” Blow tweeted on Saturday. “He was let go when they realized he was a college student and not a criminal.”

MISSISSIPPI - Two men are in custody and a third is wanted in the death of Carolyn Temple, a Jackson woman who was shot last week and died Monday night. Antreal Jones and Jerome Moore, both 17, were arrested after a standoff with police at McDowell Road and Woodside Drive. They were initially suspected in at least one carjacking, but police suspected they were involved in the January 7 incident on Euclid Street when Temple was robbed and shot. She died of her injuries Monday night.

Intel has taken a big if incomplete step toward rectifying the lack of diversity among its employees. Google, Apple, Facebook and other big companies in Silicon Valley -- now it's your turn.

On a warm fall day in South Dallas, ten revolutionaries dressed in kaffiyehs and ski masks jog the perimeter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park bellowing "No more pigs in our community!" Military discipline is in full effect as the joggers respond to two former Army Rangers in desert-camo brimmed hats with cries of "Sir, yes, sir!" The Huey P. Newton Gun Club is holding its regular Saturday fitness-training and self-defense class. Men in Che fatigues run with weight bags and roll around on the grass, knife-fighting one another with dull machetes. "I used to salute the [expletive] flag!"...

Brown Deer police are investigating after a woman was carjacked and personal items were taken from her on Sunday afternoon, December 28th. It happened in the parking lot of a shopping mall in the 9000 block of North Green Bay Road. Police say the woman was parking her vehicle just before 3:00 p.m. when she was approached by two black males. One of those suspects entered the woman’s vehicle via its passenger side after the woman unlocked her doors to exit her car.

What follows is an object lesson in why year-end best, worst and other lists shouldn't be published until the year actually ends. A Kwanzaa "parade" was held in Los Angeles yesterday. In reporting on the event, CBS Los Angeles published a work of fiction which absolutely belongs on any 2014 list of most embarrassing moments in journalism (HT Twitchy; bolds are mine):

Did you know that "Kwanzaa," that made-up holiday celebrated from December 26 through January 1, was invented by Ron N. Everett, known today as Dr. Maulana (Swahili for "master teacher") Karenga? About Kwanzaa, Karenga said: People think it’s African. But it’s not. I wanted to give black people a holiday of their own. So I came up with Kwanzaa. I said it was African because you know black people in this country wouldn’t celebrate it if they knew it was American. Also, I put it around Christmas because I knew that’s when a lot of bloods [blacks] would be partying!...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PafsIomt7Q