Assata Shakur Added to FBI’s Most-Wanted Terrorist List

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May 3, 2013

The FBI placed Assata Shakur on their Most-Wanted Terrorist list for terror against the United States and continuing to advocate resistance. (Google Images)

RJ Cubarrubia of Rolling Stone is reporting that the FBI has placed Joanne Chesimard, known as Assata Shakur, godmother of Tupac Shakur, on their Most-Wanted Terrorist list. Shakur is the first woman, and only the second domestic terrorist, to be added to the list. The FBI cited “supreme terror against the government” as reasoning for this classification.

Cubarrubia writes:

[Shakur] was convicted in 1977 of the murder of 34-year-old state trooper Werner Foerster on the New Jersey Turnpike. After her conviction, she escaped prison in 1979 and fled to Cuba.

…

“She’s a danger to the American government,” said Aaron T. Ford, agent in charge of the F.B.I.’s Newark division, according to The New York Times. Chesimard was a member of the Black Panther Party, which was monitored by the FBI with both legal and illegal surveillance in the Sixties and Seventies.

Demands for Justice in Ruling of Kendrick Johnson's Death

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TheBurtonWire

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May 3, 2013

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Family, friends, and activists are demanding justice in the ruling of Kendrick Johnson’s death as an accident. (Google Images)

Lydia Jennings of WALB News is reporting that the death of Kendrick Johnson, a Georgia teen who was found dead in a rolled up cheerleading mat in the Lowndes High School gymnasium in January, was ruled an accident yesterday by investigators. The announcement resulted in a march for justice by Johnson’s family, friends, and other activists, who believe Johnson was murdered.

Jennings writes:

The family says they expected the autopsy report would rule the death as an accident. And they plan to keep rallying until federal investigators step in.

“When you have the body that’s been moved, when you have the Coroner’s Office being notified hours later, when you have the misplacement of his clothing, which could be a direct indicator of any evidence needed to move forward,” said Coleman.

Lowndes County Sheriff’s officials say the statements of his body being moved and his clothes being misplaced are untrue. But Coroner Bill Waston has voiced his anger that he wasn’t notified until hours after Johnson’s body was discovered. The Sheriff’s office says the investigation still remains open.

Demands for Justice in Ruling of Kendrick Johnson’s Death

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TheBurtonWire

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May 3, 2013

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Lydia Jennings of WALB News is reporting that the death of Kendrick Johnson, a Georgia teen who was found dead in a rolled up cheerleading mat in the Lowndes High School gymnasium in January, was ruled an accident yesterday by investigators. The announcement resulted in a march for justice by Johnson’s family, friends, and other activists, who believe Johnson was murdered.

Jennings writes:

The family says they expected the autopsy report would rule the death as an accident. And they plan to keep rallying until federal investigators step in.

“When you have the body that’s been moved, when you have the Coroner’s Office being notified hours later, when you have the misplacement of his clothing, which could be a direct indicator of any evidence needed to move forward,” said Coleman.

Lowndes County Sheriff’s officials say the statements of his body being moved and his clothes being misplaced are untrue. But Coroner Bill Waston has voiced his anger that he wasn’t notified until hours after Johnson’s body was discovered. The Sheriff’s office says the investigation still remains open.

Atlanta Negotiating With Historic Churches to Keep NFL Downtown

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TheBurtonWire

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May 2, 2013

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Atlanta’s Friendship Baptist Church is one of two historic churches currently in negotiations with the city, potentially resulting in the churches moving to make way for a new NFL stadium. (Google Images)

Ron Allen of NBC News is reporting that the city of Atlanta is negotiating with two historic churches in the city to move them in order to build a new NFL stadium downtown. Parishioners of the Friendship Baptist Church are divided in their support of and opposition to the proposal, while leaders at Mount Vernon Baptist have not yet commented.

Allen writes:

The first offer was about $10 million, or about 10 times the appraised market value of the church and its land.

“It is something that we are looking at very carefully and prayerfully because we understand that this, in a way, is a once-in-a-lifetime decision,” said Friendship Baptist board leader Lloyd Hawk, who has been a member for about five decades.

When asked about the odds of selling or staying, Hawk responded, “I think the congregation right now is very open to possibilities and opportunities in discussion.”

S.A.: Video of Frail Mandela Causes Outrage

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April 30, 2013

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A 'frame grab' of a video of former South African president Nelson Mandela and current President Jacob Zuma — A ‘frame grab’ of a video of former South African president Nelson Mandela and current President Jacob Zuma

Nick Thompson and Ken Norgaard of CNN are reporting that a video making the rounds featuring a frail and disconnected former president Nelson Mandela and current President Jacob Zuma is causing an uproar as critics label the video as political exploitation by Zuma and South African Broadcasting Company (SABC).

Thompson and Norgaard write:

“In the footage released by the South African Broadcasting Corp., the 94-year-old Mandela sits in a chair at his Johannesburg home, barely moving and never smiling as leaders from the governing African National Congress arrange themselves for a photo opportunity. At one point Mandela’s grandson takes a picture with flash, causing him to close his eyes and purse his lips. The former president is sensitive to flash photography from his years laboring in quarries during his imprisonment under the country’s apartheid government.

Zuma says Mandela is in “good shape,” but the footage seems to show him looking anything but — and the stunt provoked outrage from many in South Africa who accused the ANC and SABC of parading the country’s anti-apartheid hero on television for their own benefit.”

Amid the outrage from media pundits and politicians, the ANC released a statement, “The African National Congress has noted the determined efforts by some sections of our society to degrade the visit of the National Office Bearers to Comrade Nelson Mandela,” party spokesman Jackson Mthembu said in a statement. Mthembu stated that the visit “was in line with the accepted norms of Ubuntu that we value our elderly,” and the party “stands by its statements that President Mandela is in good health and in good spirits.”

Uganda: Conference Addresses Role of Media in Climate Change

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TheBurtonWire

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April 30, 2013

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The first Eastern and Southern African Climate Change Media Conference acknowledged the need for the media to inform the public, especially those who rely on the land, about global climate change. (Google Images)

Kizito Sikuka, in a Southern African News Feature on AllAfrica.com, is reporting that the first Eastern and Southern African Climate Change Media Conference, held in Kampala, Uganda, revealed an urgency for the media to educate people in making an effort toward combatting global climate change. According to those at the conference and to Sikuka, the media must take particular care to access the poor, who rely the most on the land, and keep them in formed.

Sikuka writes:

“We count on you the media to assist the policy makers, non-governmental agencies and other stakeholders to reach these vulnerable people. Your pen, your script, your microphone, your voice will make a big difference.”

Chebet Maikut, one of the lead negotiators for Africa at the global climate change talks, concurred, saying that climate change is a complex, broad and crosscutting issue that requires cooperation from all stakeholders.

He said the media has a crucial role to play as a channel for information dissemination, education and communication to provide necessary services that help to sharpen and inform decision-making at various levels.

Haiti: Airport to be Renamed in Honor of Hugo Chavez

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TheBurtonWire

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April 30, 2013

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Haiti will rename an airport in the north, currently known as Cap-Haitien International Airport, to Hugo Chavez International Airport in honor of the late leader of Venezuela. (Google Images)

Caribbean 360 is reporting that Haiti will rename Cap-Haitien International Airport in the north to Hugo Chavez International Airport after the late leader of Venezuela, one of Haiti’s prominent supporters. This airport in particular received a loan from Venezuela in October to repave its 17,500-foot runway.

Caribbean 360 writes:

Following the earthquake that killed an estimated 300,000 people and left more than a million others homeless, Caracas pledged US$1.2 billion in aid to Haiti.

President Michel Martelly left here on Thursday to attend the inauguration of Venezuelan President-elect Nicolas Maduro, who was handpicked by Chavez to be his successor.

Akosua Report: Richard Wright

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April 29, 2013

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“I would hurl words into this darkness and wait for an echo, and if an echo sounded, no matter how faintly, I would send other words to tell, to march, to fight, to create a sense of hunger for life that gnaws in us all.” — Black Boy

Richard Wright

On April 29, 1945, Richard Wright’s Black Boy reached first place on the National Best Seller Book List.

Richard Nathaniel Wright (September 4, 1908 – November 28, 1960) was an African-American author of sometimes controversial novels, short stories, poems, and non-fiction. Much of his literature concerns racial themes, especially those involving the plight of African Americans during the late 19th to mid-20th centuries. His work helped the change of race relations in the United States in the mid-20th century.

The Akosua Report: Facts on The African Diaspora, is written by Akosua Lowery. Follow her on Twitter @AkosuaLowery.

Like The Burton Wire on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @TheBurtonWire.

Akosua Report: William Dawson

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April 26, 2013

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“Politics with me is a full- time business, it is not a hobby to be worked on in leisure hours, it’s a job – a full-time job that pays off only if a man is willing to apply the energy, start from scratch and profit from his experience.”

William Dawson

William Levi Dawson was born on this date in 1886 in Albany, Georgia. He was the first African American to chair a regular House of Representatives committee. Three years after he graduated magna cum laude from Fisk University in Tennessee (1912), Dawson moved to Chicago to study law at Northwestern University; once finished, he entered into local politics.

In 1942, after serving as alderman on the Chicago City Council, Dawson successfully ran for Congress, holding his seat until retiring in 1970.

The Akosua Report: Facts on The African Diaspora, is written by Akosua Lowery. Follow her on Twitter @AkosuaLowery.

Like The Burton Wire on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @TheBurtonWire.

Fourth Journalist Killed in Somalia This Year

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April 26, 2013

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Somalis mourned the death of journalist Mohamed Ibrahim Rageh, the fourth journalist to be killed in the country this year. (Google Images)

Reuters is reporting that Somali journalist Mohamed Ibrahim Rageh was shot and killed outside his home in Mogadishu on Sunday. The fourth journalist to be killed in Somalia this year, Rageh was a reporter for the state broadcaster Somali National Television and Radio Mogadishu.

According to Reuters:

[Rageh] was killed by unknown assailants as he returned home after work, according to Abdirahim Isse Addow, director of Radio Mogadishu, who was quoted by the National Union of Somali Journalists.

Rageh’s murder came a week after at least 30 people were killed by a car bomb, suicide bombers and gunmen at Mogadishu’s law courts and a car bomb explosion near the airport.

The Burton Wire

Assata Shakur Added to FBI’s Most-Wanted Terrorist List

Demands for Justice in Ruling of Kendrick Johnson's Death

Demands for Justice in Ruling of Kendrick Johnson’s Death

Atlanta Negotiating With Historic Churches to Keep NFL Downtown

S.A.: Video of Frail Mandela Causes Outrage

Uganda: Conference Addresses Role of Media in Climate Change

Haiti: Airport to be Renamed in Honor of Hugo Chavez

Akosua Report: Richard Wright

Akosua Report: William Dawson

Fourth Journalist Killed in Somalia This Year

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