Publishers and editors from across the United States representing more than 200 Black community newspapers visited downtown Seattle June 20-24 for the National Newspaper Publishers Association's 67th annual convention at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel.
The convention celebrated 180 years of the Black Press, which has a combined readership of 15 million people. The Seattle Skanner co-hosted the event, which carried the theme "Building Coalitions for the Future."

Kathleen Brose never understood why the Seattle School Board wanted to use race in assigning students to public high schools, especially when students from so many backgrounds already attended each.
The Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling rejecting Seattle's assignment program and another in Louisville, Ky., vindicated her concerns, Brose said Thursday. ....

WASHINGTON  -- The Supreme Court agreed Friday to review whether Guantanamo Bay detainees can use federal courts to challenge their confinement, reversing an April decision not to hear arguments on the issue.
The unusual turnabout was announced without comment from justices who had twice before issued rulings critical of the way the Bush administration was handling detainees. Arguments are expected in the fall.
There was no indication why the justices changed course from three months ago, but lawyers for the prisoners pointed to intervening events as having changed the complexion of the long-running controversy.
A week ago, lawyers for the detainees filed a statement with the Supreme Court from a military officer who alleged U.S. military panels that classified detainees as enemy combatants for the past four years relied on....

It's hard for anyone to remember how long ago Jefferson High School held its last field day celebration.
In fact, amid all of Jefferson's recent changes, the annual field day almost faded away completely.

He was once hailed as a cure for Jefferson's ills, but one year after being appointed principal of Jefferson High School, Leon Dudley has resigned. The Jefferson administrator has been on medical leave since early April, but said Friday, June 15, he is retiring for personal reasons and will rejoin his family in Texas.

If Tammy Kennedy has her way, Northeast Portland could be home to this city's first free, public Montessori school.
Kennedy, the founder and director of the Montessori of Alameda school, has been trying to bring affordable Montessori instruction to this part of town for three years. "A lot of families want to continue their child's Montessori education," Kennedy, whose Alameda school offers pre-school and kindergarten instruction, said. "(But) most families can't afford another eight years.....

Colonel Grant is a man on a mission. A mission, he says, that takes a giant leap of faith.
"It won't be easy," Grant says. "But my heart is in this. This is a mission for God."
A Portland transplant by way of Memphis and Detroit, Grant has joined with on Oregon nonprofit, the Ghetto Risen Foundation, and a private promotions firm, Triple M Promotions, to help rebuild the Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church, which was decimated by fire in early February.

With leaves rustling in the trees, two children playing basketball on the street and a only the occasional dog bark to break the silence of this quiet neighborhood, it would be hard to guess that, just one week ago, this block of North Clarendon Avenue was the site of a shooting that sent five people to the hospital.

Bishop Emma Jones, left, and Rejoice Love sing during "Church Day," on Sunday, June 16, at the annual Juneteenth celebration at Pratt Park. The three-day event, which commemorates the end of slavery in America, featured a parade, music and food.

State Rep. Eric Pettigrew says Washington needs to do a better job reducing racial inequalities in the foster care system.
"We need to do a better job of protecting these kids," Pettigrew says.
The congressman recently helped pass House Bill 1472, which will form a state-level commission to answer two questions: Do racial inequities exist in the state welfare system? And, if so, what can we do about it?
The committee will include Washington senators, representatives, members of the state's Department of Social and Health Services as well as community members.
Paola Maranan, executive director of the Children's Alliance, says the state's foster system doesn't work for children of color.
"This state will not fix this child welfare system until it they fix it for kids of color," Maranan says. "Until it works for African American and Native American kids it's not going to work for anybody."
In King County, African American children make up 3 percent of the general population, but 11 percent of the children in the foster care system.