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Police were called to a church in St. Louis this morning for crowd control after an unexpectedly large crowd gathered on rumors of applying for $500 food vouchers. St. Louis police spokesman Dave Marzullo initially said police had responded to crowds at a blood drive but later corrected that statement. Howard Walker, an administrator at St. Louis Powerhouse Church, and also a representative for Advanced Marketing Promotions, LLC, said the hundreds of people gathered for the event at the church, were tempted by the chance at the vouchers...

LAGOS, Nigeria — Protesters furious over spiraling gas prices set fires on an expressway Tuesday and at least one person was killed in the violent unrest after Nigeria's government did away with a subsidy program that had kept fuel costs down for more than two decades. One union leader described the federal government's hugely unpopular move as "immoral and politically suicidal," and urged Nigerians to resist "with everything they have." But Tuesday's protest showed that, once unleashed, the pent-up anger of the masses could be hard to curtail. Angry crowds vandalized gas stations, intimidated owners into keeping their pumps unused...

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Thousands of people in Philadelphia are waiting in long lines for aid due to losses caused by Hurricane Irene; however, there is a lot of confusion over who exactly qualifies. At several locations throughout the city, thousands lined up to get a month’s worth of food stamps for food that was ruined by Hurricane Irene in late August. However, confusion of who is exactly qualified for the food stamps has lead to long lines and short tempers. Officials say the application deadline is 7 p.m. Tuesday for the Federal Emergency Management Agency program, which is administered by...

In an address to Members of Congress and participants attending a Congressional Black Caucus meeting, Robert L. Johnson, founder and chairman of The RLJ Companies, called for a national discussion about the growing wealth gap which he referred to as a "wealth gap Tsunami threatening African American families." He cited the recent Institute on Assets and Social Policy at Brandeis University study, among other studies, which conclude "the wealth gap between white and African American families has more than quadrupled over the course of a generation; the racial wealth gap increased by $75,000, from $20,000 to $95,000; and, at least...

This is weird. The NAACP and La Raza slammed Obama today over his historic unemployment rates. And, The New York Times reported the story. Weird. With unemployment among blacks at more than 15 percent, the N.A.A.C.P. will join several other groups on Tuesday to call on President Obama to do more to create jobs. The organizations — including the A.F.L.-C.I.O. and the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic advocacy group— will make clear that they believe the president’s $787 billion stimulus program has not gone far enough to fight unemployment. They will call for increased spending for schools and...

As the public debate over health care reform continues, many African-Americans are concerned that the minority of voices loudly denouncing a public option might sideline the real reform their community desperately needs. From the cradle to the grave, African-Americans have poorer health outcomes: African-American infant mortality is more than double that of whites; African-American women make up 70 percent of new HIV/AIDS infections; three times as many black Americans die from diabetes as white Americans; and the life expectancy for whites is 78 years, compared with 73 years for all African-Americans and less than 70 years for African-American males.

Scuffles erupted as several thousand Detroit residents jockeyed, pushed and shoved Wednesday to get free money being offered to only 3,500 of the city's recently or soon to be homeless. (Oct. 7)

SACRAMENTO — On the stump, as he tries to sell his deficit-cutting plan to voters, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has tried to show a softer side toward those who will get hit hardest, often returning to a variation of a line he rolled out in an address to the Legislature in May: "I see the pain in their eyes and hear the fear in their voice." But every once in a while, the megamillionaire and movie star reveals himself as somewhat detached from the struggles of the poor. Last weekend, in a New York Times Magazine article, he spoke of getting...

Unbelievable. Houston taxpayers could start footing the bill to help first-time homebuyers pay off debts and improve their credit scores, under a proposal before City Council this week.The “Credit Score Enhancement Program” will give up to $3,000 in grants to individuals who are trying to qualify for mortgages through the city’s homebuyers assistance program. City officials say some applicants fall short of eligibility by only 10 or 20 points on their credit scores, and paying off some debt balances can quickly improve their numbers. Want to know how dumb this is? The Chron.com article doesn’t mention the sponsor of this...

Police in Baltimore today made what is believed to be the first arrest in a civil disobedience program aimed at supporting homeowners who refuse to vacate their foreclosed homes. An activist with ACORN — the Association of Community Organization for Reform Now — faces criminal charges after breaking into a home in southeast Baltimore on Thursday to protest the foreclosure crisis sweeping the country.

NEW ORLEANS -- The scene outside New Orleans' City Hall boiled on the brink of a riot Thursday as protesters stormed the gate and were met with police spraying mace and firing Tasers. Protesters broke through the gates outside City Hall shortly after 11 a.m. Click Here: Council Chaos Livestream A woman identified by bystanders as Jamie Bork Laughner, was sprayed and dragged away from the gates. She was taken away on a stretcher by emergency officials on the scene. Before that, she was seen pouring water from a bottle into her eyes and weeping. The first brawl of the...

Robert Rector of The Heritage Foundation is a national authority on poverty and the U.S. welfare system. Specializing in welfare reform and family breakdown, Rector has done extensive research on the economic and social costs of welfare. Q: John Edwards and others lament that 37 million Americans struggle with incredible poverty every day. You say it is not so simple or accurate to think of them as truly poor. What do you mean? A: Well, when John Edwards says that one in eight Americans do not have enough money for food, shelter or clothing, that’s generally what the average citizen...

Last year, more than 7 million American people -- that’s about one in every 32 adults -- were behind bars, on probation or parole. The United States has, for years, imprisoned more people than any other country in the world. Yet, we don’t have the highest literacy rate.... (snip) Inner-city schools fail half of their students, and jobs are removed from communities, replaced with guns and drugs, resulting in incarceration, if you’re lucky; death if you’re not. Nonetheless, many U.S. states have cut their education budgets to compensate for rapid growth in prison populations and prison construction. The misguided priorities...

They look for all the world like internment camps. The long rows of identical white trailers sit on flat, grim, barren expanses of land that are enclosed by metal fences. Armed guards are stationed at the entrances around the clock. More than a year after the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina, thousands of the poorest victims from New Orleans are still living in these trailer parks run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. They have ironic names, like Mount Olive Gardens and Renaissance Village. A more accurate name would be Camp Depression, after the state of mind of most of the...

New Yorkers already have the 411 on 911 and 311 - and they could soon have 211 as well. The new easy-dialing system to access human and social services should be up and running in the city within about two years, the system's statewide coordinator said yesterday. Unlike 311, the new 211 system would include referrals to private groups and charities as well as municipal services. Susan Hager, president of United Way of New York State and co-chair of the 211 New York State Collaborative, called 211 "a broader brush" and "a system to help people access health and human...

A Rare Look Inside the Renaissance Village Trailer Park, Home to Over 2,000 Hurricane Katrina Evacuees: During Democracy Now's recent trip to New Orleans, we managed to get inside the largest FEMA trailer park set up after Hurricane Katrina. Shortly after we interviewed hurricane evacuee Donna Azeez, we were kicked out of the park by security guards working for Corporate Security Solutions, the private company hired by FEMA to police Renaissance Village. Earlier this month, Democracy Now went down to Louisiana and had a chance to take a rare look inside Renaissance Village - a trailer park on the outskirts...

Cessation of meal services, propane delivery spurs charges: The NAACP collected affidavits Friday from residents at the FEMA Renaisssance Village in Baker that contain complaints alleging lack of services, harassment and intimidation. Kwame Asanté, director of the Louisiana chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said NAACP representatives have been going to the village council meetings. “There are a lot of people who feel that their rights have been violated,” Asanté said Friday afternoon. About 1,650 hurricane evacuees have been living at the 572-unit trailer park on Groom Road since it opened in October. Most residents...

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Angry residents vented frustration Wednesday at the debut of rebuilding proposals for this devastated city, with some vowing to defend their land from possible government buyouts and others saying the city needs to get out of their way and let them rebuild. The proposed rebuilding plan caused so much anger in part because it suggests a moratorium on new building permits in areas heavily flooded by Hurricane Katrina on Aug. 29, such as parts of the Ninth Ward, Lakeview and East New Orleans. "Our neighborhood is ready to come home," said Jeb Bruneau of the Lakeview...