Free Republic

Former Miss New Jersey USA Janaye Ingram has been appointed acting national executive director of the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network. Ingram, 33, has been in charge of the NAN’s Washington bureau and spearheaded the group’s historic 50th anniversary March on Washington. “I am deeply impressed with the leadership shown by Janaye Ingram,” Sharpton said Thursday Ingram, who was Miss New Jersey USA in 2004, said she was “honored” by the appointment. She’s taking the place of Tamika Mallory.

“I’m heartened by the signals that Majority Leader Cantor has sent that he might be willing to support [altering the Voting Rights Act], and I’m hopeful that Mr. Boehner will look into his heart, and more importantly, look into the eyes of John Lewis, and recognize that on this one, any sort of recent tradition of we don’t put anything forward unless the majority of the party is in alignment, that in this case it might be worth to let that be the exception,” Jealous said, responding to an audience question about the Republican Party’s political future. . . ....

As this week marks the 50th anniversary of the “I Have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., we should take note of race relations in America. Personally, I think black Americans are unfettered to choose their destiny and have the opportunity to reach out and seize their dreams if they dare to do so. I think racism is on the decline and every succeeding generation cares less about race and ethnicity. However, I do admit that racism still exists but you’ll never be able to stamp it out. As long as human nature exists, there will be racism,...

A group of 25 African-Americans were thrown out of a South Carolina restaurant after a white woman complained to staff that she "felt threatened," it's claimed. Michael Brown alleges that his party, which was celebrating his cousin's last day in Charleston last month, waited for two hours to be seated at the Wild Wing Cafe. But when their time came to order, staff reportedly refused them service and asked them to leave. . . . "The manager looked me dead in the face and said she was refusing us service because she had a right to and simply she...

President Obama met with MSNBC host Al Sharpton and an array of African American pastors today, urging them to convince black Americans to enroll in Obamacare exchanges when they come online.

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — NAACP President Ben Jealous says he plans to turn over petitions with more than 1.7 million signatures calling on the Department of Justice to pursue charges against George Zimmerman for violating Trayvon Martin's civil rights.</p> <p>Zimmerman was acquitted by a Florida court for the February 2012 shooting death of 17-year-old Martin, who was unarmed.</p>

Tens of thousands of people gathered on the National Mall Saturday to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 March on Washington, listening as political and civil rights leaders reflected on the legacy of racial progress over the last half-century and urged Americans to press forward in pursuit of King's dream of equality. The event, which was sponsored by the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network, Martin Luther King III and the NAACP, featured a roster of speakers, including King, Sharpton, Attorney General Eric Holder, Newark Mayor Cory Booker and Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga. They spoke...

Rev. Al Sharpton responded Thursday to calls for him to address the Oklahoma murder of Australian student athlete Chris Lane, saying he is not protesting because the killing was not racial and “the system worked.”

The boys looked terribly young and more stunned than scared when they were led individually into a packed courtroom in rural Oklahoma to face charges over the murder of Christopher Lane, an Australian they had never met. The prosecutor, Jason Hicks, repeated the terrible details already shared by police - that Mr Lane, who was visiting his girlfriend, Sarah Harper had jogged past the boys as they sat around outside a house on Friday afternoon; that they selected him as a target, followed him in a car and shot him about four minutes later. For people trying to understand what...

<p>A couple, who drives daily through their Huntington community on Southwest 148th Avenue, isn't happy with the commission’s decision to rename that street “Alcee Hastings Way.”</p> <p>Frank and Iris Scarfone sent out hundreds of emails and fliers asking residents to show up at Wednesday’s Miramar commission meeting to protest the street renaming. They say their community was never asked about the renaming and that Hastings’ controversial political history will have a negative impact on the community.</p>

Black patients who worry or think frequently about race have higher blood pressure than those who don’t, according to new study by a research group based at Johns Hopkins University. . . That study concluded: “…racism may increase risk for [high blood pressure]; these effects emerge more clearly for institutional racism than for individual level racism. All levels of racism may influence the prevalence of [high blood pressure] via stress exposure and reactivity and by fostering conditions that undermine health behaviors, raising the barriers to lifestyle change.”

Ebony magazine has created controversy with the preview of its special September issue, which features bold cover photos related to the Trayvon Martin murder case. As part of its attempt to keep alive the conversation of race and Stand Your Ground laws, which became national issues following the slaying of African-American teen Travyon Martin last year, the publication is rolling out a special issue with four separate covers bearing the headline “We Are Travyon” and featuring Black celebrities and their sons. Appearing on the covers are the slain teenager’s own parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin with their son Jahvaris...

LEE COUNTY, FL - The local branch of the NAACP is asking the Justice Department to investigate Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott. The request comes after a controversial letter sent by the sheriff calls out the civil rights group for not doing enough to stop black-on-black crime. In the letter, the Sheriff uses the "N" word, prompting the organization's president James Muwakkil to call the Sheriff a racist. He later retracted the comment. Now voicemail messages Muwakkil left for the Sheriff contradicting the NAACP's agenda have been released. Sheriff Scott responded to the inquiry by saying he thinks "federal involvement...

The NAACP has come forward in staunch opposition and anger about a heritage group’s plans to fly a 10-by-15-foot Confederate flag on a 50-foot pole south of Richmond, Va. — large enough to be seen from the corridor’s main highway, Interstate 95. The Virginia Flaggers say it’s to show respect for those on the South’s side who fought and died during the Civil War . . . But the NAACP sees differently. Virginia chapter executive director King Salim Khalfani told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that the flag would show Richmond as a “backwater, trailer park, hick town.”

Oprah Winfrey on Monday said the killings of Trayvon Martin and Emmett Till are the "same thing." OPRAH WINFREY: "It's so easy during this time: Trayvon Martin, Trayvon Martin parallel to Emmett Till, let me just tell you. In my mind, same thing. But you can, you can get stuck in that and not allow yourself to move forward and to see how far we've come." Really? Martin and Till are the same thing? As race baiters in the media have been dishonestly making this claim since the George Zimmerman verdict was announced, let's take a look at what happened...

How would he respond to the heated racial debate in the land stemming from the death of Trayvon Martin and the not guilty verdict in the George Zimmerman trial? . .King applauded the constant streams of African-mericans who were completing college. But today, he would be concerned about the rising trend towards illiteracy in the black community. "On February 6, 1960, four black students from North Carolina A&T College go to a segregated lunch counter at Woolworths in Greensboro and demand to be served. Today in 2013, four black students who are now welcome at the lunch counter sit down...

Acquiring any object for our museum involves rigorous consultation with a team of museum historians and curators. Any items connected to the Trayvon Martin case – should they even become available – would have to go through that lengthy process." Curators can't plan for specific evidence from the case to be included yet because it was all transported to the FBI for the U.S. Department of Justice's investigation into whether Zimmerman violated Trayvon's civil rights. "Trayvon will probably be a bigger history maker than the men before him, because President Obama addressed the situation," said Francis Oliver, curator of the...

The Congressional Black Caucus is recommending that Jackson Lee replace Janet Napolitano as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. . . Then the CBC adds that she would be a “voice of reason” at DHS. . . She even complained that devastating natural disasters are used to promote racism, telling The Hill in 2003 that hurricane names are too “lily white” and that “all racial groups should be represented.” She suggested more hurricanes named “Keisha, Jamal, and Deshawn.” Beyond arguing that America should be directing its drone strikes at remaining grand wizards, Jackson Lee’s homeland-security expertise is scant,...

Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson isn't backing down from comments he made comparing Florida's struggle with the Trayvon Martin case to the civil rights clashes with police during the 1960s in Selma, Ala. Florida Gov. Rick Scott on Wednesday demanded that Jackson apologize for his comments calling the state the "Selma of our time." He also said Florida has been an "apartheid" state. But Jackson, in an interview with The Associated Press, defended his remarks. He cited the state's voter laws and incarceration rates of blacks versus the general population as examples of "apartheid like conditions."

Folks looking for work in the Des Moines metro will have a chance to meet up with potential employers Wednesday. The Des Moines NAACP is holding a job fair from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. at Wellmark at 1331 Grand Avenue. Forty employers will be represented at the fair including Wellmark, Wells Fargo, Iowa DOT, Mercy, DART and many others. Help will also be on hand for job seekers to write cover letters and resumes, to set up mock interviews and more.