Albany State Generates $59 Million in Research Grants

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
ALBANY, Ga. – Albany State University continues to make its presence known with the millions of dollars that it pumps into the local and regional area. The university had more than $59 million in research grants flow into the Albany and Southwest Georgia economy over the last several years.

Additionally, almost three times as much — $141 million is the total economic impact that ASU has on the Albany region, according to a study released in 2014 by the University System of Georgia. The report also shows that Albany State created 1,816 jobs in the region, which includes Dougherty, Lee, Worth, Mitchell, Terrell, Colquitt, Baker, Sumter, Calhoun and Tift counties.

“At Albany State, we have outstanding, cutting-edge research and instruction taking place that reaches far beyond our laboratories and classrooms,” said Interim President Arthur N. Dunning. “We are proud that the research dollars we bring into this university are solving problems that will make life better for residents here in Southwest Georgia and far beyond our borders.”

Dunning said research dollars received by Albany State can be felt through public policy, economic development and the quality of life. He said that the university is continuously reviewing and where appropriate, revising its organizational infrastructure to ensure that ASU research and research dollars are having the highest possible impact on the service area. He cited a few examples of the way residents of Albany and Dougherty County benefit directly by having a university in their community. Read Full via ASU

Mount Zion AME – 7th Church To Burn in South Carolina Since Charleston Shooting

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
(USA TODAY) Fire destroyed Mount Zion AME church in Greeleyville, SC for the second time. The church first burned in 1995 when it was set ablaze by the KKK. This is the sixth predominantly black church to burn since the deadly church shooting in Charleston, SC. VPC

Fires at several predominantly black churches in Southern states the past two weeks — at least three of them attributed to arson — raise concerns about potential fallout from the recent South Carolina church shooting.

The fires have all taken place in the weeks since the attack June 17. A 21-year-old man with apparent white supremacist beliefs is accused of going on a shooting rampage inside the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., killing nine people.

The burned churches are in Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina. Federal investigators are looking into some of the cases to determine whether hate crimes were the cause, but so far the fires do not appear to be related.

And Tuesday night, a fire raged through a prominent African-American church, Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal, in Greeleyville, S.C. that was burned to the ground by the KKK in 1995. Authorities said it was too soon to tell what caused the fire, which took place during a night of frequent storms and lightning strikes.

The fire rekindled painful memories from the arson that destroyed the church 20 years ago, Williamsburg County Councilman Eddie Woods Jr. told the Associated Press.

“That was a tough thing to see,” Woods said. “It is hurting those people again. But we’re going to rebuild. If this was someone, they need to know that hate won’t stop us again,”

“This is a systematic attack against the black church,” said the Rev. Anthony Evans, president of the National Black Church Initiative, a coalition of 34,000 African-American churches. Evans said he’s had several conference calls with black church leaders across the USA about the fires. “We are on alert status.”

The fact that the recent fires occurred so close together in the wake of the Charleston shooting could be cause for concern, said Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center. The fires may be retaliation for the backlash against the Confederate flag that followed the shootings, he said. After photos surfaced of suspect Dylann Roof wearing Confederate flag patches, retailers such as Walmart and Amazon suspended sales of the flag because of its popularity with white supremacists. Four of the rebel flags were recently removed from the state Capitol grounds in Alabama, and South Carolina lawmakers will decide whether or not to do the same next month.

Websites popular with white supremacists, such as Stormfront.org, lit up with angry denouncements of the treatment of the Confederate flag, Potok said.

“The single most suspicious thing about these fires is that they came so close together and so hard on the heels of attacks on the Confederate battle flag,” Potok said. “That is a revered symbol for the radical right.”

Some of the church fires were severe, such as the one last week at Briar Creek Road Baptist Church in Charlotte, which gutted an entire church wing. The FBI is investigating.

Read Full at USA TODAY 

7 Classic Revolutionary Reads for Black Millennials

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
(The Root)  – Some of us have had that experience of awakening to what’s going on in the world. Whether it’s from watching a movie documenting the civil rights movement or reading about the life of Malcolm X, there comes a point in time when young black Americans “wake up” and start reading and researching about the issues of institutional and systemic racism. For some, that moment happens when they’re about to start college. The seven classic revolutionary reads listed here will give you a head start on that path;

The Autobiography of Malcolm X, as told to Alex Haley (1965)

malcolmxv2.jpg.CROP.rtstoryvar-mediumA book about revolution, awareness and character, The Autobiography of Malcolm X remains a landmark read for curious, young black minds to this day. A great analysis of racial hate, as well as systemic and political racism, this classic is often the first true introduction that members of the millennial generation get to Malcolm X and how he went from the incarcerated “Detroit Red” to a national leader of black people. “Why am I as I am? To understand that of any person, his whole life, from birth must be reviewed. All of our experiences fuse into our personality. Everything that ever happened to us is an ingredient,” he writes.

Women, Race & Class, by Angela Y. Davis (1983)

womanraceclass.jpg.CROP.rtstoryvar-medium
“One of the most closely guarded secrets of advanced capitalist societies involves the possibility—the real possibility—of radically transforming the nature of housework.” So writes Angela Y. Davis, who delves into an introspective examination of the state of womanhood in America. Davis discusses the development of “the housewife” and how she and “the mother” were used as “universal models of womanhood.” With her historical approach, Davis pushes for the creation of “black feminism” and increasing the respect of womanhood.

Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? by Martin Luther King Jr. (1967)

wheredowegofromhere.jpg.CROP.rtstoryvar-medium

In Martin Luther King Jr.’s final book before his assassination, he reflects on the civil rights movement from the 1950s to the end of the 1960s as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee begins aggressively pursuing the formation of black rights. King spent much of his time writing this book in an isolated residence in Jamaica. In it he expresses his thoughts on the Vietnam War, proclaims that blacks and whites must unify, and gets down into the soil of poverty and the welfare state pushed by the U.S. government, addressing the economic disparities between classes and races.

Assata: An Autobiography, by Assata Shakur (1987)

assata.jpg.CROP.rtstoryvar-medium

Activist Assata Shakur, a former member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army, wrote her autobiography while exiled in Cuba. The book serves as a look inside the U.S. prison-industrial complex and the state of race relations in America. Shakur also shares her insights into the black power and black liberation movements while she was in the U.S. The book raises awareness of the continual, ongoing battles between law enforcement and blacks while also noting the many leaders in the black power movement who are still incarcerated. “These people can lock us up, but they can’t stop life, just like they can’t stop freedom,” Shakur writes.

[td_smart_list_end]

Read full list via The Root

President Obama Plans To Extend Overtime For Nearly 5 Million Workers

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
Obama OvertimePresident Barack Obama is on a roll.

A bankroll, that is. In a proposal that could cover nearly 5 million workers, the president said Monday that he wants to require overtime pay for employees who make up to $50,400 a year, reports The Washington Post.

The changes would go into effect next year and would replace current rules that require overtime pay for salaried workers making less than $23,660 a year, the report says.

Via The Washington Post:

“Right now too many Americans are working long days for less pay than they deserve,” Obama wrote in a Huffington Post op-ed announcing the proposal. “That’s partly because we’ve failed to update overtime regulations for years.”

The overtime exemption was initially intended for white-collar workers, Obama wrote. Under the current rules, salaried employees — even those with few supervisory duties — can be declared managers and denied overtime if they earn more than the $23,660-a-year threshold.

The new rules will peg the threshold for paying overtime wages to the 40th percentile of income going forward, according to the Associated Press.

The proposed changes, aimed at shrinking the growing income gap between the wealthiest Americans and the middle class, will be open for public comment and will not be finalized until next year, notes the report.

The announcement comes after several key Obama administration measures were upheld last week by the Supreme Court for Obamacare and same-sex marriage.

SOURCE: The Washington Post 

Diddy Announces Bad Boy Family Tour After Reunion At BET Awards

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
Bad Boy fans are still going wild over the fact that Diddy, 45, brought out Faith Evans, Mase, Jadakiss, Pharrell, French Montana and Lil Kim, 40, for a surprise reunion performance at the 2015 BET Awards on June 28. After the Bad Boy Family celebrated 20 years of their hits, fans immediately took to Twitter and started begging for a tour. And now, their wish has come true — Diddy confirmed a tour on social media.

Diddy made the announcement in a series of Instagram posts — with the hashtags #ComingtoaCityNearYou and #BadBoyFAMILYtour — following the epic performance. See them below.

https://twitter.com/iamdiddy/status/615590192372654080

https://twitter.com/iamdiddy/status/615467812241416192

Diddy-stumbles-during-surprise-Bad-Boy-performance-at-BET-awards-hints-at-family-tour

It’s not an official announcement, but it’s enough to get us excited. And earlier that day, the tour was confirmed by a source close to the Bad Boy Family. “Diddy’s squad will be taking the reunion beyond [the] award show,” a source told Swagger, before adding, “Mary J. Blige, 112, Lil Kim and a bulk of the artist from the original ’90s Bad Boy roster will be touring this year.”

Read Full via Hollywood Life

Billy Joe Former HBCU Coach Talks About His Experience With The Confederate Flag

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
flag-750x400The Confederate flag has been a hot button topic in recent weeks since a white man killed nine black people during Bible study inside a South Carolina church.

Former HBCU head coach Billy Joe recently provided an account of an experience he had with an athlete and the Confederate flag.

“While we were in route to the campus police station, I asked the campus policeman, “what’s this all about.” He said your white freshman football kicker parked his motorcycle in front of the campus police station (for safekeeping) and the motorcycle has a CONFEDERATE FLAG on it,”Joe wrote on his Facebook page.

After discovering the flag, which he described as the size of a postage stamp, Joe said what the flag symbolized was far more important than its size.

“It still portrayed the same message to African Americans and other United States citizens: It implied racism, bigotry, prejudice, injustice, enslavement, hangings, rape, Jim Crow laws, segregation, treason and etc.,” he wrote.”

Joe said he didn’t believe his kicker was racist, however.

“After all, he was just a freshman and a nerdy 18-year-old white kid attending a black college in the South. He had adopted the black hip-hop genre: He had the black hair (tight curls/dreads), the language (ebonics), the mannerisms and black friends,” wrote Joe.

“(The flag) was similar to a person wearing a jacket with swastika emblems and nazi flags on it to a Jewish synagogue; it was similar to a black person attending a Ku Klux Klan cross burning rally with his white wife.”

Joe also chided who he called “Confederate flag lovers” about their reverence for the divisive symbol.

“Why did you allow racist people and hate groups to hijack your confederate flag, without so much as a whimper or a whisper from you, until now,” Joe said. “Removing the flag is just a gesture and a symbol. It will not solve any of the United States woes, or save lives. But it will bring the south into congruency with the rest of the country and the world.”

Read Full Story via Facebook

UMES Names Chairwoman of Human Ecology Department

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
The Associated Press

PRINCESS ANNE, Md. –– Dr. Grace Wasike Namwamba is the new chairwoman of the Department of Human Ecology at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

Namwamba previously taught in Baton Rouge, La. at Southern University and Agriculture and Mechanical College, where she was a professor and led the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences. She also served between 2012 and 2013 as Southern’s interim Dean of the College of Agricultural, Family and Consumer Sciences.

“UMES is one of the leading (historically black institutions) in the country,” she said. “It’s a very attractive place. The Department of Human Ecology has a long history of very outstanding leaders, and I’m honored to have this opportunity.”

Namwamba will lead a department within UMES’ School of Agriculture and Natural Sciences (SANS) that attracts about 200 undergraduates who study child development, dietetics, nutrition, family and consumer sciences, family and consumer sciences education and fashion merchandising.

Fashion merchandising is Namwamba’s field, where her focus has been on digital textile printing and 3D virtual prototyping for apparel products. Digital textile printing, she said, provides professionals who are trained in the field with wider latitude in printing unique and intricate designs directly on fabric through use of specialized technology. read more

Teens Invent Condom that Changes Color Based on STI Status

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
The teenage inventors talk to Dr Christian Jessen from the British TV series Embarrassing Bodies.CNN

Sexually transmitted infection– it’s a sensitive topic that many people find difficult to discuss, but a group of teenage boys think they may have found an eye-catching solution.

The so-called “S.T.EYE” condom is a conceptual design that changes color when it comes into contact with an STI such as chlamydia or syphilis.

The idea is the brainchild of Muaz Nawaz, 13, Daanyaal Ali, 14, and Chirag Shah, 14, who attend the Isaac Newton Academy in east London.

The team got the idea to create S.T.EYE when they found out what a big problem STIs were in the United Kingdom. “This kind of inspired us to make a condom, as it could save hundreds of thousands of lives,”

he condom could, in theory, detect an infection both in the wearer and his partner. “People find it embarrassing to go to the clinic so this makes sure that their privacy is maintained,” although they would still have to go to the clinic for treatment, Ali said.

Once in contact with an STI, antibodies in the condom would recognize the virus or bacteria and cause the condom to change color. The exact shade would depend on the STI, because reaction times vary. The condom could also have an intermediate layer that includes reactants to test for syphilis, chlamydia, herpes and genital warts.

According to the World Health Organization, more than 1 million people acquire a sexually transmitted infection every day. The National Health Service in the United Kingdom says chlamydia is the most common STI and is easily passed on during sex.

The idea won an award in the future of health category at the TeenTech Awards, which encourage teenagers to explore science, engineering and technology. The boys won £1,000 ($1,568) and have been invited to Buckingham Palace along with the other category winners by the awards’ patron, Prince Andrew, the Duke of York. read more

Florida A&M University Makes History With First Black Woman Florida Student Association Chair

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
The Famuan

Tampa, Fla.– FAMU Student Body President Tonnette S. Graham has been elected as Chairwoman of the Florida Student Association (FSA). Saturday morning, the FSA convened at the University of South Florida in Tampa to host its leadership elections for the upcoming academic year.

The Florida Student Association was formed in 1976 as a non-partisan statewide organization for students within the State University System of Florida. Within the association, 12 student body presidents and their staffs work together to represent the interests of students from participating state universities.

Tonnette Graham (right) pictured. (Photo: The Famuan)

For almost 40 years, FSA has laid the foundation for each student government represented to provide unified student representation before the Florida Government. The association also holds monthly meetings in which student leaders can interact with their colleagues from member institutions.

With an 8-3 vote, newly elected FSA Chairwoman Graham is now granted a seat on the Florida Board of Governors, the governing board of all public universities in the state of Florida. She is the second FAMU student body president and the first African American woman to be elected as Chair of FSA.

“It feels surreal. I’m so humbled and thankful for the opportunity to be the voice for over 300,000 students within the state university system,” said Graham. ”I’m forever grateful to be able to exercise all that FAMU has invested in my leadership development within this powerful role.”

The FSA Board of Directors, comprised of the 12 student body presidents, is looking forward to all that Graham is prepared to do in her new position.

“I’m really excited to see what she’s going to do,” said Florida State University Student Body President Jean Tabares. ”Tonnette is already a strong leader, and I look forward to assisting her in her efforts while we’re both in Tallahassee.”

The FAMU Student Government Association is also enthusiastic about what the next year holds for Graham and the student body.

“It’s always refreshing to have a student leader that is innovative and a catalyst for change; but most importantly, a Rattler,” said Senior Advisor to the Graham-Bruno Administration, Michael Davis.

“Wherever she has gone, FAMU has always gone with her. Now 300,000 more students will go with her.”

Chairwoman Graham returned to Tallahassee on Sunday afternoon, having made FAMU history, FSA history and African American History.

More on HBCUBuzz.com: FAMU Grad Student Named Outstanding Gubernatorial Leadership Fellow

105 Historic Objects on Display at NCCU’s 105th Anniversary Celebration

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
Durham, N.C. – A collection of 105 artifacts dating back to the early years of North Carolina Central University will be exhibited on campus July 1 in celebration of the university’s 105th anniversary on July 5, 2015.

The pop-up exhibit will be in Room 110 of the James E. Shepard Memorial Library from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will remain on display afterward on the university website at nccu.edu/105years.

Celebrating 105 Years - #NCCU105

Special guests for the celebration include Ms. Maggie P. Bryant, a member of the Class of 1938 who will be 100 years old on July 2, 2015 – born just five years after the campus was founded as the National Religious Training School and Chautauqua for the Colored Race. Family members of founder Dr. James E. Shepard also will attend and be recognized.

Among items to be displayed are the 1929 campus yearbook, a 1947 report from the U.S. President’s Committee on Civil Rights, a 1975 vinyl recording by the University Choir, and photographs of visits to campus by former Presidents Gerald Ford and Bill Clinton, as well as President Barack Obama.

The 105th Anniversary Collection is curated by the University Archives, Records and History Center with assistance from Alicia Melton, a student in the School of Library and Information Science. For more information, contact Andre’ D. Vann, coordinator of University Archives, at 919-530-6254 oravann@nccu.edu.

North Carolina Central University prepares students to succeed in the global marketplace. Flagship programs include science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines, nursing, education, law, business and the arts. Founded in 1910 as a liberal arts college for African-Americans, NCCU remains committed to diversity in higher education. Our alumni are among the nation’s most successful scientists, researchers, educators, attorneys, artists and entrepreneurs.  Visit www.nccu.edu.  

More on HBCUBuzz.com: North Carolina Central Improvement Project Receives $50,000 Award From Home Depot

NSU’s William “Dick” Price Stadium Site for the 2015 AAU Junior Olympics

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
(NSU Newsroom—July 15, 2015)— Norfolk State University’s William “Dick” Price Stadium will be the host site for the 2015 AAU Junior Olympics games August 1 – 8. This event is considered the largest national multi-sport competition for youth in the world. About 15,000 youth athletes, ages 7-17, from around the country and Puerto Rico will compete in 20 sporting events throughout the region.

A first-class facility, Dick Prince Football Stadium at Norfolk State University pictured. (Photo: Hampton Roads Sports)

The AAU is one of the largest, non-profit, volunteer sports organizations in the country. As a multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. The AAU philosophy of “Sports for All, Forever” is shared by over 670,000 members and 60,000 volunteers nationwide. More than 34 sports are offered in the 57 AAU Districts. Programs offered by the AAU include: AAU Sports Program, AAU Junior Olympic Games, AAU James E. Sullivan Memorial Award and the AAU Complete Athlete Program.

The public is invited to watch the AAU 2015 track and field competition and participate in a “Celebration of Athletes” that will take place on Monday, August 3, at 7 p.m. Daily admission for the event is $12 and free for children six years old and under. On campus parking will be available. Patrons may also use satellite parking at Harbor Park and take the NSU Shuttle Bus to the campus.

For more information or for a complete schedule of events, visit the AAU Junior Olympics website at www.aaujrogames.org.

More on HBCUBuzz.com: Norfolk State University Recognized by Federal Agencies

Grambling State Student Newspaper Spotlights NY Giants’ Larry Donnell

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
The Gramblinite

Larry Donnell was signed by the Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2012. He wears the number 84 jersey for the New York Giants.

As a quarterback at Grambling State Donnell threw for two passes his freshman in 2007, and completing one of them for a 51-yard touchdown. Late that season he had switched to the tight end position putting his basketball skills from high school to work, on the football field.

He caught a combined 32 passes in his sophomore and junior seasons, eight of them for touchdowns. He was on the Giants practice squad during the 2012 season and played primarily special teams during the 2013 season. He became the starting Giants tight end during the 2014 season.

Donnell played football for four seasons at Grambling State University. He switched from quarterback to tight end during his freshman year. He finished his college career with 38 receptions for 432 yards and 11 touchdowns as a tight end. After his senior season at Grambling State, Donnell was not invited to the NFL Scouting Combine Donnell, but later he signed with the Giants as an undrafted free agent on March 13, 2012.

He was waived by the Giants on August 31, 2012 and signed to the Giants practice squad on September 1, 2012. He was signed to a reserve/future contract by the Giants on September 2, 2013. He played on special teams for the entire regular season and started one game as a tight end. He finished the season with 3 receptions for 31 yards. On September 25, 2014, in a nationally televised game on Thursday Night Football, Donnell scored 3 touchdowns on 7 receptions for 54 yards. It was the first time a Giants tight end had scored three touchdowns since 1962.

Throughout the 2014 season Donnell emerged as one of Eli Manning’s favorite targets. On March 4, the Giants tendered Donnell, which yield him three-year veteran minimum salary of $585,000 over one-year.

More on HBCUBuzz.com: Here’s A Look At Grambling State’s 2015 Football Schedule

 

What’s Up With Bowie State’s Radio Station?

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
The biggest names in the country have graced the campus of historically black Bowie State University including, President Barak Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and Minister Louis Farrakhan. During homecoming season Bowie State often draws some of music’s biggest stars like Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Big Sean, and Meek Mill. Unfortunately, and like any other college in the nation, sometimes Bowie State faces negative attention for example, the 2011 fatal stabbing, or the $3 Million lawsuit against Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity at Bowie State by a student, of course, news that has all gone unrecorded by students and Bowie State University.

There is no logical reason why in 2015 Bowie State students unheard and unrecorded, while the world around tells the story for us.

Bowie State students

For more than a decade, Bowie State’s radio station has been inoperative, and the university’s website falsely promotes its services. This leads prospective students to believe that they will get a fair opportunity to explore broadcast media as much as any other surrounding universities, such as Howard University, Morgan State University, University of Maryland: College Park, and American University—all schools with excellent broadcast media laboratories, by the way. With the Communications department being the largest populated college at the university, there’s a large concern for administration’s accountability and integrity.

[quote_box_right]Enough is enough, and generations of students are graduating without proper hands-on experience with professional equipment. It’s embarrassing.[/quote_box_right]

Every semester Bowie State’s Communication department provides Radio 101, an entry level course into the education of radio broadcast. Radio 101 scratches the surface of radio knowledge and allows students to record miniature radio segments on rundown equipment that seems it might have been purchased in the 90s. Each student pays a lab fee in regard to these types of classes, and Radio 101 is no different with a $35 price tag for each student enrolled in the class for the semester. A large question accompanying the fee is: where is that money going towards if the students and professors have seen no progression towards the Communication department?

Mind you, there are more than 15 students for each radio class, with no less than 2 classes a semester. Is there money being uncirculated?

Numerous attempts of awareness have been expressed towards the unresponsive Department Chairman. Conversations with the Provost and University President have also been discouraging. The core values of Bowie State are “accountability, integrity, and excellence,” but the Bowie State administration have been upsetting all of its students who wish to have a broadcasting radio station in which they’ve promoted for longer than a decade. Enough is enough, and generations of students are graduating without proper hands-on experience with professional equipment. It’s embarrassing.

It is rumored from a student government source that the Bowie State 2014-2015 Student Government Association has taken the initiative to replace the duties of “BSU Radio.” By creating a completely separate station located in the New Student Center at the college, the SGA will fully fund and operate a brand new radio station.

There’s hope that the rumors develop into immediate action, but I think we all have an understanding of how slow HBCUs have the capacity of moving.

—Freeman McGaw is a graduate of Bowie State University.

Like HBCU Buzz on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.

Tuskegee’s Marilyn Mosby Profiled In Vogue

Posted by Tommy G. Meade Jr.
Posted on
In her recent interview with Vogue, Marilyn J. Mosby offered what we have come to expect since she leaped onto the national stage overnight—speaking truth to power. She give us some insight on both her professional and private life, which “Selma director Ava DuVernay tweeted that,” and something that would be intriguing indeed, “she wanted to make a documentary about Mosby”.

More on HBCUBuzz.com: Meet Marilyn Mosby, Tuskegee Grad Overseeing the Freddie Gray Investigation

“The unrest had nothing to do with my decision to charge,” Mosby told Vogue’s Heidi Mitchell, commenting on critics who claim she acted too swiftly in the case. “I just followed where the facts led. This is not something that was fast, or in a hurry. From the time that this incident occurred, we were out there conducting our own investigation and working with the police department. There is nothing that we’ve done differently in this case.”

(Photo: Vogue)

Mosby couldn’t discuss details of the Freddie Gray case, the 25-year-old black man who died after suffering a severe spinal injury while in police custody. On the incident that has drew the attention of the national news media, Mosby doesn’t back down: “I’m not conflicted about charging these police officers,” says Mosby. I believe in applying justice fairly and equally, and that is what our system is built upon. That is why I do what I do.”

More on HBCUBuzz.com: Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby Won Her Case on Judge Judy While A Tuskegee Student

Baltimore’s young prosecutor and also a graduate of historically black Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Alabama is oftentimes described as a “heroine” and “a lightning rod” to many because, for lots of people, Mosby is championed for doing what she does best, for doing what she loves, and what seems right.

“I was on CNN, and we were all assured that it would be a routine press conference,” said professor at historically black Morehouse College Marc Lamont Hill. “Instead, Mosby came out swinging for the fences. I was in shock.”

“It was a powerful act that allowed the city to begin healing,” Hill said. “Within an hour of that announcement, the entire black community was laying claim to her—ready to saint her because she did her job.”

Head over to Vogue to read the entire interview.

Tommy G. Meade Jr. is the Editor-in-Chief at HBCU Buzz. Follow him on Twitter.

Like HBCU Buzz on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.

Sean “Diddy” Combs, Defending Himself During UCLA Incident

Posted by HBCU Editors
Posted on
LOS ANGELES —  Diddy was arrested Monday for an alleged assault involving a weight-room kettlebell at the athletic facilities of UCLA, where his son plays football, a university statement said.

Sean “Diddy” Combs was defending himself in an incident at UCLA that led to his arrest, a representative from the hip-hop mogul’s company said Tuesday.

[quote_box_center]”The various accounts of the event and charges that are being reported are wholly inaccurate,” Nathalie Moar, a rep for Combs Enterprises, said in a statement to The Associated Press. “What we can say now is that any actions taken by Mr. Combs were solely defensive in nature to protect himself and his son.”[/quote_box_center]

imageDiddy, 45, was freed late Monday after posting bail, several hours after his afternoon arrest, jail records showed.

The district attorney’s office doesn’t expect Diddy’s case to be presented to them until next week.

University police allege three counts of assault with a deadly weapon, one count of making terrorist threats and one count of battery, according to a UCLA statement.

“We are confident that once the true facts are revealed, the case will be dismissed,” Combs Enterprises said.

Officials did not say who was allegedly assaulted or what led to it. No one was seriously injured, police said.

The jail records show that Combs’ bail was $160,000, but sheriff’s officials reached by phone said he posted $50,000. The reason for the discrepancy wasn’t clear.

Combs’ son Justin Combs is a redshirt junior defensive back on the UCLA football team, which has been working out on campus. He has played in just a handful of games in his three years with the team.

The son of another major rap star also plays football for the Bruins. Snoop Dogg’s son Cordell Broadus is a wide receiver who signed with the team this year.

Football coach Jim Mora thanked his staff for their professionalism in handling the situation.

“This is an unfortunate incident for all parties involved,” Mora said in the statement from campus police. “While UCPD continues to review this matter, we will let the legal process run its course and refrain from further comment at this time.”

The arrest, first reported by TMZ, is the latest of several allegations of violence by Combs.

He was acquitted of bribery and weapons-related charges in connection with a 1999 shooting at a New York nightclub. A jury cleared Combs of firing a weapon during the dispute that wounded three bystanders, as well as bribing his chauffeur to take the rap.

Combs was arrested in 1999 for his involvement in the beating of former Interscope executive Steve Stoute in New York. Combs apologized, the charges were reduced, and he was ordered to attend an anger management class.

Combs and Stoute have since mended their relationship, appearing on stage together at Cannes in 2013.

Earlier this year, an Arizona man accused Combs of punching him in the face at a Super Bowl party. Combs was not arrested.

Information from ESPN Los Angeles.com’s Arash Markazi and The Associated Press was used in this report.