Free Republic

ON THURSDAY afternoon, two couples sat stoically in a White House audience filled with those working to change the lives of black and Latino boys. That the parents of Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis, two boys whose shooting deaths outraged a nation, could reach through their grief to take in President Obama's vision for saving other sons speaks to their resilience. More importantly, it speaks volumes to all of us. It speaks to the fact that Obama's new initiative for boys of color, "My Brother's Keeper," will require much more than the $200 million-plus foundations will spend to effect change....

Northampton Community College students debating the merits of so-called stand-your-ground laws were so convincing, audience members seemed to forget the teams had flipped a coin to decide which position they'd take. Members of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society and the college's Student Senate tackled the thorny issue Thursday as part of the college's celebration of Black History Month. The three students on the honor society team were deemed the victors by a panel of three judges. But as the judges deliberated in the hallway, the teams took audience questions and also were corrected a few times. Professor Vertel Martin...

I imagine you taller now. I imagine you ready for college or the armed forces, or sulking because the world isn’t kind to those who are fresh out of high school. I imagine you annoyed that the economy sucks and that tuition is high and scholarship opportunities are limited and the paperwork is endless. I imagine you unsure of your next steps and grateful for the anonymity that hoodies provide when you don’t feel like talking or being seen. I imagine you unafraid. I imagine you fearless. I imagine you scared of everything and hiding behind a scowl because hip-hop...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Two years and a day after their son’s death, the parents of Trayvon Martin visited the White House on Thursday and were in the audience as President Obama announced a new initiative designed to keep young minority men on the right path. The president mentioned Trayvon’s parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, during his speech, drawing applause from a crowd gathered in the East Room of the White House. The man who shot and killed Trayvon, George Zimmerman, was found not guilty of murder in a Florida trial last year. The prosecution contended that Mr. Zimmerman singled out Trayvon because...

President Obama announced a $200 million philanthropic commitment Thursday to catapult the lives of young men of color. The program, dubbed "My Brother's Keeper," will look to coordinate businesses and government "to give more young Americans the support they need to make good choices and to be resilient and to overcome obstacles and achieve their dreams, the president said. During the White House ceremony, he empathized with black and Hispanic men who believed they were facing impossible odds and were angered by absentee parents and harsh consequences. "I made bad choices," Obama admitted. "I got high without always thinking about...

Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old whose fatal shooting by a neighborhood watch volunteer in Florida set off a racial firestorm, will speak at UConn on Feb. 28, at 6 p.m., in the Student Union Ballroom.

College to award annual Trayvon Martin Award for Social Justice Jordan-Zachery wants to make sure the award effectively serves as a “memory of victims of racism and other forms of oppression in the United States.” The Providence College Black Studies Program e-mailed students, faculty, and administrators Tuesday to renew an award called the Trayvon Martin Award for Social Justice.

<p>Declaring that “Florida cannot defend black life against white fear,” Brittney Cooper, a liberal, race-baiting, African American writer for Salon.com, has made the not-so-subtle suggestion that perhaps it’s time for black folks to react with violence when a court of law doesn’t rule to their satisfaction.</p>

One loopy, arrogant CNN host castigating the most loopy, arrogant CNN host, and using the American Revolution to do it? You know you gotta be bringing the quality ruckus when Van Jones and Ben Ferguson, the purported partisans in this fight, are just sitting back and chuckling at you. Oh, my. Why? Because you deserve it. And, it may be the only time you ever side with Nancy Grace.(VIDEO-AT-LINK)

Let’s play a game. It’s called: “Who’s the Thug?” It’s the day after Thanksgiving 2012, and four teenagers are sitting in a Dodge Durango outside a convenience store in Jacksonville, Fla. The Durango is red, which is unimportant. The teenagers are black, which is important. The teenagers are planning to try to pick up some girls later in the evening and have stopped for some gum — “so our breath would smell good,” one will later testify — and cigarettes. The teenagers are playing loud music in the Durango. A car pulls up next to the Durango, parking very close...

Independently verifiable justifiable use of deadly force versus an incredible unsupported story.The Zimmerman and Dunn cases have been lumped together by many commentators, but the cases had almost nothing in common. Based on the evidence presented in court, the Zimmerman jury got it right. Based on the evidence presented in court, the Dunn jury got the murder count wrong in deadlocking — although until they speak, we can’t know why. Zimmerman’s explanation for the use of deadly force was consistent with eyewitnesses, medical evidence, ballistics, and the forensic evidence. Dunn’s explanation for the use of deadly force lacked credibility, had...

George Zimmerman says his problems continue. He told a Spanish language television station he is now homeless, battling post-traumatic stress disorder, more than $2 million in debt and lives in fear for his life. Zimmerman opened up on the Univision television show "Aquí y Ahora" (Here and Now) that will air Sunday on the Spanish language station at 7 p.m. Zimmerman also discussed his well-known struggle with 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, an African-American teen who was walking in Zimmerman's neighborhood in Sanford, Fla., on Feb. 26, 2012. After he called the cops, the two got into a fight that ended with...

An unlikely celebrity will make a television appearance at the NBA All-Star Game this weekend: President Barack Obama. The commander-in-chief sat for an interview Thursday with NBA legend Charles Barkley, Politico reports. The interview with Obama, a noted basketball fan and longtime Chicago Bulls devotee, will air at half-time Sunday evening on TNT. The cable network tweeted a brief teaser of the president plugging the game and TNT. ---snip--- The substance of Obama's interview has not been made public but there's speculation that Barkley — known for making provocative political commentary on air — may have veered into politics. While...

Last week, I was one of the many students who crowded the Alumni Memorial Building to hear the amazing Angela Davis speak. She spoke about our country's history of slavery and slavery's modern incarnation: our nation's prison industrial complex. "We should seriously question the fact that punishment can be profitable," Davis challenged. She was referring to the multi-billion dollar industry of privatized correctional facilities, one of our economy's fastest growing sectors. The thing about capitalism is that in the right conditions, a profit can be made from just about anything — including the suffering of other people. Why do we...

In case you missed it, celebrity fight promoter Damon Feldman recently set up another of these pay per view boxing events between George Zimmerman and DMX (who is apparently a musician fallen on hard times). These celebrity boxing events are not a new thing. TheyÂ’ve been held before, featuring various B list actors, failed childhood stars and other media figures. Danny Bonaduce went through a lot of this as an adult when his career fizzled after the Partridge Family years. But back to ZimmermanÂ… The proceeds from the show were slated to go to charity. But there is still a...

The Center for Applied Theatre and Active Culture and the New World Performance Laboratory, in collaboration with Ma’Sue Productions, will present, “Facing Our Truth: 10-minute Plays on Trayvon, Race and Privilege” at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 5 at The Balch Street Theatre, 220 South Balch St. in Akron. The staged readings of plays and a folk opera will address the subject of race in the United States. The event is presented as part of The University of Akron's “Rethinking Race: Black, White and Beyond” activities. The event is free and open to the public. A post-show discussion will follow the...

George Zimmerman continues to be an attention starved horrible human being. Zimmerman has continued to keep himself in the public eye since being acquitted of the murder of Trayvon Martin–and now he wants us to know that even he thinks the justice system is a joke. Just a month ago, in between run ins with the police, Zimmerman decided he fancied himself a painter and sold a painting on eBay. It was an American flag, with the words “God One Nation with Liberty and Justice For All.” It sold for $100,099.99. His follow up painting is even more appalling, classless,...

George Zimmerman, who sold his first painting on eBay for a whopping $100,000, is at it again. And this time his subject is the woman who charged him with second-degree murder: Special Prosecutor Angela Corey. The painting, a swirl of bright red and yellow, shows Corey with her fingers pinched. The caption, in all caps, says, "I have this much respect for the American judicial system - Angie C."

Making a rare Ocala visit on the eve of the holiday recognizing black America’s greatest civil rights leader, U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown exhorted members of a predominantly black church on Sunday to remain politically vigilant, lest the gains made by minorities over the past 50 years be reversed. Appearing at the St. Paul African Methodist Episcopalian Church, the Jacksonville Democrat warned that inertia and indifference by black voters, especially young people, could lead to setbacks on voting rights, health care, education and other issues. Yet it also mattered at the lowest levels of government, and in elections farther down...

Sybrina Fulton, who's 17-year-old son Trayvon Martin was shot by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman in 2012, visited the University of Utah on Thursday to discuss racial profiling. Hundreds attended the Martin Luther King Week event, in which Fulton said that an "upside" to her son's death was the "opportunity to save someone else's child." "Don’t think for one second racial profiling doesn’t happen. Don’t think for one minute even in your community of Salt Lake City it doesn’t happen," she said. "Racism is still alive. Racial profiling is still alive. Injustice is still alive." Fulton said that the circumstances of...