By Karen Stokes Even though Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 86th birthday was on Jan. 15, his birthday is observed as a national holiday on the third Monday in January. Milwaukee has celebrated the King Holiday since 1984. The holiday is widely known as a day of service. The city offered a variety of events [...]

By Julianne Malveaux NNPA Columnist As he labored for social, civil and economic justice, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was extremely concerned both about the educational inequities that were a function of segregation, and about the purpose and quality of education. As early as 1947, as a Morehouse College student, he wrote an article, The [...]

By Karen Stokes Hundreds of Milwaukee area residents and protesters gathered on a cold, wintry, Friday afternoon in downtown Milwaukee to rally in support of a fight for justice lead by the family of Dontre Hamilton, and to hear inspiring words from the family and civil rights leader, Reverend Jesse Jackson. “We are the leaders [...]

By Karen Stokes On December 29, 2014, protest organizers, supporters and representatives from the City of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin gathered outside of the Milwaukee Police Department District 5 for a press conference to discuss and deliver solutions to issues many feel are not being properly handled by the police and city and state [...]

By Karen Stokes Former Milwaukee Police Officer Christopher Manney will not be charged for fatally shooting Dontre Hamilton. Hamilton 31, a mentally ill, Black man, was shot 14 times this past April in Red Arrow Park. The announcement was made Monday morning by Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm who stated Manney was justified in [...]

By JILL COLVIN, Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday she’s proud to have been part of an administration that “banned illegal renditions and brutal interrogations” and said the U.S. should never be involved in torture anywhere in the world. Clinton spoke about the importance of the nation acting in accordance [...]

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is prescribing time and vigilance to tackle problems as entrenched in American society as racism and bias. He also is urging patience, saying progress usually comes in small steps. In an interview with BET (Black Entertainment Television), a cable TV channel, the president described his conversation with a group [...]

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City grand jury cleared a white police officer Wednesday in the videotaped chokehold death of an unarmed black man who had been stopped on suspicion of selling loose, untaxed cigarettes, a lawyer for the victim’s family said. The decision in Staten Island not to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo [...]

By Karen Stokes Tensions were high late Monday night in Ferguson, Missouri as residents awaited the decision from the Grand Jury on the fate of Police Officer Darren Wilson, 28, on the shooting of Michael Brown. St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch announced that the Grand Jury made the decision to not indict Wilson in [...]

By Brad Heath, USA Today (via BlackPressUSA) When it comes to racially lopsided arrests, the most remarkable thing about Ferguson, Mo., might be just how ordinary it is. Police in Ferguson — which erupted into days of racially charged unrest after a white officer killed an unarmed black teen — arrest black people at a [...]