News 
- Created on 15 May 2013
Justice Dept. Investigates IRS Targeting Of Tea Party
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is opening a criminal investigation of the Internal Revenue Service just as another probe concludes that lax management enabled agents to improperly target Tea Party groups for extra scrutiny when they applied for tax exempt status.
Attorney General Eric Holder (pictured) said he ordered the FBI to investigate Friday – the day the IRS publicly acknowledged that it had singled out conservative groups.
“Those [actions] were, I think, as everyone can agree, if not criminal, they were certainly outrageous and unacceptable,” Holder said. “But we are examining the facts to see if there were criminal violations.”
Holder is scheduled to testify Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee.
Three congressional committees already are investigating the IRS for singling out Tea Party and other conservative groups during the 2010 congressional elections and the 2012
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- Created on 14 May 2013
Cops ID 19-Year-Old Man In New Orleans Mother’s Day Shooting
A photo provided by New Orleans Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas shows 19-year-old Akien Scott, who is wanted in the Mother’s Day shootings, during a news conference in front of police headquarters in New Orleans, Monday, May 13, 2013. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)
A photo provided by New Orleans Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas shows 19-year-old Akien Scott, who is wanted in the Mother’s Day shootings, during a news conference in front of police headquarters in New Orleans, Monday, May 13, 2013. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)
NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans police and federal authorities were searching early Tuesday for a young man who is suspected of opening fire at a Mother’s Day parade in New Orleans, wounding 19.
Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas identified the suspect late Monday as Akein Scott, 19, of New Orleans. Referring to blurry surveillance camera images of the mass shooting, Serpas said police have “multiple identifications of Akein Scott as the shooter” seen in the film.
Serpas said officers would be searching all night and into Tuesday for Scott, whom he called “no stranger to the criminal justice system.” He urged the teen, who has previous arrests on firearms and drug charges, to give himself
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- Created on 10 May 2013
Funeral for A.M.E. prelate Roy A. Holmes to be held in Chicago
The faith community nationwide is mourning the loss of Bishop Roy Anderson Holmes, the prelate of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.
The native Greenwood, Miss. bishop died Saturday in Farmington, Conn. He was 62.
Though he moved to the East Coast where he served as pastor of churches in South Carolina, North Carolina and Pittsburgh, Holmes is also a former pastor of Chicago’s Greater Walters A.M.E. Church, 84th Street and Damen Avenue, from 1988 to 2004.
“Bishop Holmes was a dynamic leader having led many of our denominational churches. He led the Greater Walters A.M.E. Zion Church for 16-years in a tremendous fashion including leading his members and building additions to the current locations. He continued the progressive leadership after he became a bishop in 2004,” said Rev. Joel D. Miles, current pastor of Greater Walters.
“Bishop Holmes led us in a direction to understand that stewardship is a way of life. It was embraced by all those who followed his leadership and it has made a dramatic change in the way that many approach living now.”
His service extended into the civic community, including membership in the NAACP where he was national board member and sat on the civil rights organization’s Religious Affairs Committee.
“Bishop Holmes was an inspired steward of the long-standing bond between the AME Zion denomination and the NAACP,” said NAACP CEO Benjamin Jealous.
NAACP Board Chairman Roslyn M. Brock remembered Holmes.
“Bishop Holmes was a true man of service,” said NAACP Brock. “He was always ready to answer the call to duty, whether in the NAACP or in the A.M.E. Zion Church, where his leadership extended over two continents. He was devoted to his family and to educating the next generation of leaders. His passing is a terrible loss for the NAACP and the faith community.”
Holmes was born April 13, 1951 to the late Tommy and Ruby Holmes. He was consecrated the 92nd Bishop of the A.M.E. Zion Church on August 3, 2004 and has served in several Episcopal Districts. In 2012, he was assigned to serve the Northeastern Episcopal District which includes: New York, New England, Western New York, Bahamas Islands and London-Midland.
A memorial service was held Wednesday at Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion Church in Hartford, Conn. for the bishop, and his funeral will be held in Chicago Monday at Greater Walters. The service begins at 11 a.m. and will stream live on ShineproductionsLLC.com, according to Londa McDaniel, chairman of the A.M.E. board of trustees.
The Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity will hold a tribute at 9 a.m. Monday before the wake and funeral.
He is survived by his wife, Lovetta; two daughters, Krista M. Holmes (St. Louis) and Kimberly M. Holmes (Grand Rapids, Mich.); and two granddaughters.
Bishop Holmes will be interred at Mt. Hope Cemetery on Chicago’s South Side.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations in Bishop Holmes’ memory may be made to The Hood Theological Seminary, 1810 Lutheran Synod Dr., Salisbury, NC 28144. For online condolences please click here.
- Created on 14 May 2013
BlackStartup: The African American Solution To Crowdfunding
In the past five years, crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter[1] and Indiegogo[2] have revolutionized the way entrepreneurs go about raising capital for new business ventures. Although these sites have helped turn countless of startup pipe-dreams into a reality, a significant number of entrepreneurs, Blacks in particular, aren’t necessarily feeling the same love…until now.
BlackStartup[3] recently made its debut with a crowdfunding platform that focuses on funding projects and ideas benefiting African Americans.
SEE ALSO: N.C. Protests On Voter Rights, Health Care, Student Aid Goes On The Road[4]
Founders Nathan Bennett-Fleming, Olugbolahan Adewumi, Aaron O. Brien, Kyle Yeldell, and Christopher Hollins are determined to close the “Black startup gap,” as they call it, by attempting to fix the root cause: lack of capital.
“I think it is important that we encourage non-profits and social enterprises to raise resources on our platform to address social problems facing the African-American c
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- Created on 10 May 2013
City Colleges celebrates its largest commencement in years
Students participated in the City Colleges of Chicago commencement ceremony Friday, May 3, 20193 at the University of Illinois-Chicago Pavilion. Defender/Worsom Robinson
Recently, the City College of Chicago, one of the largest community college systems in the country, celebrated commencement of its largest graduating class in more than two decades. Nearly 4,000 students are expected to earn an associate’s degree in 2013 from one of the seven schools that make up the City Colleges system – an 80 percent increase since the launch of the Reinvention initiative in 2010 and the highest in more than two decades, according to CCC officials.
Scores of students participated in the April 3, 2013 graduation ceremony, held at the University of Illinois-Chicago Pavilion.
