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‘I Can’t Breathe’: The 10th Anniversary Of Eric Garner  Death By Police Chokehold

NEW YORK (AP) - Wednesday marks 10 years since the death of Eric Garner at the hands of New York City police officers made "I can't breathe" a rallying cry. Bystander video showed Garner gasping the phrase while locked in a police chokehold and spurred Black Lives Matter protests in New York and across the country. More demonstrations followed weeks later when Michael Brown, an 18-year-old Black man, was fatally

Decades After Billie Holiday’s Death, ‘Strange Fruit’ Is Still a Searing Testament to Injustice

By: Tracy Fessenden Professor of Religious Studies, Arizona State University Sixty-five years ago, on July 17, 1959, Billie Holiday died at Metropolitan Hospital in New York. The 44-year-old singer arrived after being turned away from a nearby charity hospital on evidence of drug use, then lay for hours on a stretcher in the hallway, unrecognized and unattended. Her estate amounted to 70 cents in the bank and a roll of

Gene Therapy May Cure Rare Diseases. Drugmakers Have Few Incentives leaving families desperate

(AP)-Robin Alderman faces an agonizing reality: Gene therapy might cure her son Camden's rare, inherited immune deficiency. But it's not available to him. In 2022, London-based Orchard Therapeutics stopped investing in an experimental treatment for the condition, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome. And there are no gene therapy studies he can join. "We feel like we are the forgotten," said Alderman, who's advocated for her 21-year-old son since he was a baby. Collectively,

Soccer-Euro-Spain and Russia face UEFA racism charges

By Justin Palmer Reuters WARSAW, June 26 (Reuters) - UEFA has charged the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and Russian Football Union (RFS) for racist behaviour and racist chanting by their national teams' fans during Euro 2012 matches. "UEFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) for the improper conduct of their supporters (racist behaviour, racist chanting) at the UEFA Euro 2012 Group C match against Italy

Dozens of immigrant and US-born small business owners face eviction as Mebane continues to grow

[caption id="attachment_8033" align="alignnone" width="704"] Buckhorn Road Flea Market[/caption] MEBANE, NC - The Buckhorn Road Flea Market off of Interstate 85 near Mebane in Alamance County was mostly empty Tuesday morning, a day after the Mebane City Council approved annexation and rezoning requests to pave the way for a R+L Carriers truck terminal to be built on the site. A former security guard busied himself removing a large, wooden sign from

Rent inflation remains an issue for small businesses

NEW YORK (AP) - Cost pressures continue to hurt small businesses. In particular, rent inflation is a pressure point for small businesses, according to new data from the Bank of America Institute. The average monthly share of rent in total payments through May is 9.1%, up significantly from the 2019 average of 5.9%. Some parts of the country have higher rents. In Las Vegas, for example, the average share of

Shaw University Conducts “Emergency” Fundraising Drive To Help 45 Students

By Cash Michaels Contributing writer Shaw University in Raleigh has an emergency on its hands, but this time it's trying to prevent a tragedy, not recover from one. As of July 1st, 45 of the small, private,  Baptist-affiliated historically Black university's students were in danger of not being allowed to register to return for classes next academic school year because their university accounts were not cleared, meaning they could not

This City Wants to Raze Black Properties, at the Cost of Generational Wealth.

By: Dr. Joseph Askew On the east side of Kinston, North Carolina, historic buildings still bear the original architecture. Whether it's on Queen Street, where formerly enslaved people became entrepreneurs, or Gordon Street, the neighborhood's significance is clear. The town, which is the county seat of Lenoir County, is grappling with decades-long change: a loss of industry, population decline, and high poverty rates. East Kinston, mere miles from downtown, is one

Legacy of Lela Thompson: Sprouting Diversity in Wilmington’s Theater Scene

By: Jordan Meadows Staff Writer In July 1967, Lela Pierce Thompson made history as the first African American woman to graduate from Wilmington College, now known as UNC-Wilmington, following its integration. After graduating from the formerly all-Black Williston High School in the early 1950s, Lela Thompson initially worked at a local laundromat. Following a severe burn that left her hospitalized, she chose to pursue higher education instead of returning to

Cornel West Denied Ballot Access in North Carolina 

By: Jordan Meadows Staff Writer  On Tuesday morning, the North Carolina State Board of Elections decided that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 's We The People Party would be permitted to run for president. The board denied ballot access to another third-party candidate, Cornel West, and his newly established party, Justice For All. This decision, unlike Kennedy's, was made strictly along party lines. The Democratic majority cited concerns that, although Justice