News

President Obama extends Gulf Coast Rebuilding Office, pushes for improved long-term recovery following catastrophic disasters

Wednesday, 30 September 2009 15:06

Washington, D.C. – Signaling his continued commitment to Katrina-Rita recovery, President Barack Obama announced he will visit the Gulf Coast in mid-October and see first-hand the progress in the region. President Obama also today signed an Executive Order extending the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Recovery and Rebuilding for six months. The Office of the Gulf Coordinator was first established November 1, 2005.

President Obama announces Recovery Act Funding for groundbreaking medical research

Wednesday, 30 September 2009 15:01

Bethesda, MD - In a visit to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) campus, President Barack Obama announced $5 billion in grant awards under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) to fund cutting-edge medical research in every state across America. The more than 12,000 grant awards are expected to create tens of thousands of jobs over the next two years and are part of an overall $100 billion Recovery Act investment in science and technology to lay the foundation for the innovation economy of the future.

Gap co-founder Don Fisher dies at 81

Monday, 28 September 2009 16:10

Don Fisher, who co-founded Gap, Inc. with his wife Doris in 1969, died Sunday of cancer in his San Francisco home at the age of 81. Along with founding the Gap, Don Fisher was one of the country’s most visionary education philanthropists. As a product of California’s public schools, Don believed deeply that all students were entitled to the same high quality public education that he was fortunate to receive.

Booming sale of diamonds hard hit by falling economy

Monday, 21 September 2009 14:48 GIN

From sales that topped $3-billion a year, diamond trading that fueled astounding rates of growth has taken a turn downward in the southern African country of Botswana. Wracked by the contraction in the global economy, diamond mines were shuttered in February for the first time in the country’s 40-year history of gemstone mining.

Luda, by word of mouf

Monday, 14 September 2009 15:59 Kam Williams

Christopher Brian Bridges was born on September 11, 1977 in Champaign, Illinois where he began rapping at the age of 9 and formed his first musical group a few years later. While in his teens, his family moved to Atlanta where he attended Banneker High School before majoring in music management at Georgia State University.

NAACP continues support of Van Jones

Thursday, 10 September 2009 16:07

The NAACP is calling for civility in the national discourse on safe, clean communities and sustainable sources of domestic energy. It is time to end the personal attacks on administration officials as a distraction to crucial discussion on our nation and our world's environmental conditions.

Dr. Julianne Malveaux says President Obama is doing the right thing by encouraging students to stay in school

Wednesday, 09 September 2009 17:11

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Applauding President Obama for his leadership in education, Dr. Julianne Malveaux, one of the nation’s foremost educators and economists, said today that President Barack Obama should be lauded, not attacked, for his decision to address the nation’s students . The president, she added, should not have to post his address in advance in an effort to appease critics who are using children as their “political hobby horse.”

Black Caucus convenes in DC

Wednesday, 09 September 2009 17:09 William Reed

Each year the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. (CBCF) presents the Annual Legislative Conference (ALC), a four-day event held each September in Washington, D.C. The ALC is the premier political gathering of African Americans. Over 15,000 African American: elected officials, business, union and industry leaders, and media are expected to attend ALC’09 and its policy forums, general sessions, Exhibit Hall, job fair, book signings and networking.

Pain of Nigerian bank collapse could reach U.S.

Wednesday, 02 September 2009 15:43 GIN

(GIN) - Five banks that supply 40 percent of Nigeria's bank credit, but were used as a private candy store, doling out loans without sufficient collatoral, collapsed under the weight of unsecured debt and had to be bailed out by government last week. Regulators said bad loans came to a total of 1.14 trillion naira ($7.6 billion).

Message Kennedy leaves for America: ‘Never give up’

Wednesday, 02 September 2009 15:41 Hazel Trice Edney, NNPA Editor-in-Chief

WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Despite the fact that he is now gone, honored by America after dying of brain cancer August 25, Sen. Edward M. “Ted” Kennedy leaves a message that will continue to resound. That’s the one that says, ‘Never give up’ the fight on behalf of the oppressed.

Report says youth detentions on the decrease

Tuesday, 01 September 2009 16:39 Brian Stimson, Special to the NNPA from the Portland Skanner

OREGON (NNPA) - From the mid-’80s to the late ’90s, the number of youths in detention nationwide skyrocketed, with average daily populations ballooning from 13,000 to 28,000 in about a decade.