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Tawana Brawley is found covered with feces and wrapped in garbage bags outside the Pavilion Condominiums in Wappingers Falls, New York. Brawley appeared to have undergone an extremely traumatic experience: parts of her hair were cut off, her pants were slightly burned, and there was a racial slur scrawled on her body. Brawley told authorities that for four days she had been held against her will and repeatedly raped by a gang of white men, one of whom she claimed had a police badge. The Brawley case became a ’cause celebre’ when controversial attorney C. Vernon Mason, Alton Maddox, and...

Top Stories Photos - APDemocratic presidential hopeful Rev. Al Sharpton responds to President Bush's (news - web sites) State of the Union address during a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2003. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Black voters in South Carolina should stop settling for "sharing the booth and not sharing the power," the Rev. Al Sharpton said Friday. Sharpton, in Hopkins to speak to the annual banquet of the Lower Richland branch of the NAACP, said Democrats use black voters without sharing the benefits of power. "We've been treated like a political mistress," Sharpton said. "It's 'We want to have fun with you, we want to use you, but we can't take you home, we can't marry you and give you our name.' "And that kind of situation must stop." Sharpton is one of nine...

It strikes me that the Democrats seeking their party’s presidential nomination for next year’s election aren’t receiving the attention they warrant. Kobe’s making the headlines. Uday and Qusay. Now the distressing revelation of the breakup of Liza Minnelli and David Gest is dominating the news. How could a made-in-heaven marriage with Michael Jackson as the best man and Elizabeth Taylor Hilton Wilding Todd Fisher Burton Warner Burton Fortensky as the maid of honor have gone so wrong? The Democratic presidential contenders are having difficulty getting out their message and basic information about themselves. Being the strictly nonpartisan observer that your...

<p>Al Sharpton said Wednesday he's tired of the notion that there are two tiers of candidates in the Democratic presidential race.</p> <p>Sharpton questioned why Sens. John Edwards of North Carolina and Bob Graham of Florida are considered top-tier candidates and he is not, even though they are polling at about the same level.</p>

Al Sharpton said Wednesday he's tired of the notion that there are two tiers of candidates in the Democratic presidential race. Sharpton questioned why Sens. John Edwards of North Carolina and Bob Graham of Florida are considered top-tier candidates and he is not, even though they are polling at about the same level. Sharpton said they may have more money than he does, but he thinks it's dangerous for America if elections are determined by money. Edwards has raised $11.9 million, Graham $3.1 million and Sharpton $137,415, according to the latest campaign finance reports. "If we are going by polls...

<p>Berkeley -- The bank robbery suspect who was shot dead by Berkeley and Oakland police was a recent UC Berkeley graduate who ran a legal services business, campus officials and a relative said Monday.</p> <p>Glennel Givens Jr., 28, of Oakland, graduated from UC Berkeley this year, campus officials said. He also was a suspect in a series of takeover robberies of banks in Oakland and San Francisco, police said.</p>

<p>ST. LOUIS — A small but loud group of protesters on Thursday crashed the party celebrating the 10th anniversary of the MetroLink light rail system, voicing unhappiness over the lack of minority-owned firms involved in expanding the system. Activist and Democratic presidential candidate Al Sharpton was among 20 or so protesters who walked through the event outside Union Station, where a few hundred people gathered for cake and to hear speeches from civic leaders. Meanwhile, protesters chanted and carried signs reading, "Economic Racism" and "No Justice, No Peace."</p>