Roland S. Martin's Blog, page 137

Teen ‘Lucky’ To Be Alive After Stowing Away On Flight

Source: ABC News A 16-year-old boy from California hopped a fence at the San Jose, Calif., Airport and sneaked into the wheel well of a Hawaiian Airlines jetliner, stowing away for a five-hour flight, FBI spokesman Tom Simon told ABC News. Simon said the boy, who had run away from home, passed out inside the […]

Not Everyone’s Happy Michelle Obama Will Deliver A Graduation Address; School District Responds

Source: Chris Good / ABC News WASHINGTON — First lady Michelle Obama plans to speak at a high school graduation next month in Topeka, Kansas, but not everyone’s happy about it, as some families have voiced concerns that her presence could limit seating and take attention away from the graduates themselves. The school district responded to some of that criticism […]

Chris Brown Bodyguard Convicted Of Assault

Source:  Jessica Gresko / theGrio WASHINGTON  — A judge convicted singer Chris Brown’s bodyguard of assault Monday after a two-day trial that provided a preview of a similar case against Brown. Superior Court Judge Patricia Wynn convicted Brown’s bodyguard, Christopher Hollosy, of a single count of misdemeanor assault. Hollosy’s sentencing is set for June 25. Brown’s […]

9 Dead, At Least 35 Wounded In Weekend Chicago Violence

Source: NBC Chicago At least nine people were killed and more than 35 others wounded in shootings around Chicago from Friday afternoon through early Monday morning. Among the wounded were five children who were shot in a drive-by while leaving a park on a warm Easter evening. The weekend’s latest fatal shooting occurred at about […]

New Prince Album Coming Under Warner Bros. Partnership

Source: Brian Mansfield / USA Today A new album, a deluxe reissue of Purple Rain and more unheard music: That’s what Prince fans can expect from his new global licensing deal with Warner Bros. Records. “A brand-new studio album is on the way and both Warner Bros. Records and Eye are quite pleased with the results of the […]

Ohio Teacher Fired After Telling Student ‘We Don’t Need Another Black President’

Source: Michael D. Clark / Cincinnati.com The Fairfield, Ohio teacher accused of slurring an African -American student lost his job Thursday in the wake of a labor hearing that concluded with that recommendation. Freshman science teacher Gil Voigt has been on unpaid leave since December. After the Fairfield Board of Education received a state referee’s decision […]

Nigeria Preacher: Healer Or Controversial Leader?

Source: AP / St. Louis Post-Dispatch LAGOS, Nigeria — It’s Sunday, and 15,000 people are seated in the enormous arena-like church, fanning themselves against the dusty humid air in Nigeria. The preacher in a blue flowered shirt taps his microphone to announce “prophecy time.” He places his hands on worshippers, who spin in circles, wave […]

Josephine Baker: A Diva Who Embraced The World

Source: Jane Henderson / St. Louis Post-Dispatch  Josephine Baker, the world’s first black superstar, was a master of image and reinvention. In the 1920s, she twerked for Paris audiences before there was such word as “twerking.” Later, the mesmerizing woman who danced in a skirt of plastic bananas (breasts bare and bum jutting), would change into […]

Nolan Richardson Never Blinked All The Way To The Hall Of Fame

Source: Ron Higgins / NOLA.com Hop in my time machine. Dial it back to February 1994. Set the destination for the brand-new Bud Walton Arena on the University of Arkansas campus. Let’s get there about 4 in the afternoon, primetime for a Razorbacks’ basketball practice that can be as entertaining as games. But in games, Arkansas coach […]

Phillip Hayes Dean, Who Wrote The One-Man Play Paul Robeson, Dies

Source: Philly.com Phillip Hayes Dean, 83, a playwright, director, and theater actor who wrote the one-man play Paul Robeson starring James Earl Jones on Broadway in 1978, died Monday in Los Angeles from a heart condition, according to a family spokesman. His plays include The Last American Dixieland Band, Moloch Blues, Freeman, The Owl Killer and Dink’s Blues, […]