Lakema Bell performs as singer Bessie Smith, known as "Empress" and "Queen of the Blues" during her day, at a performance of the Nu Black Arts West's "Dark Divas" musical review on April 15 at the Columbia City Theatre. The event raised funds for local educational projects.

SEATTLE – Seattle's new schools superintendent attracted a lot of fans and plenty of detractors in her previous post in Charleston, S.C.
"Y'all are lucky," Mary Graham, senior vice president of public policy for the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, said of the woman who is leaving the top post at Charleston's school district to head Seattle Public Schools. "She's great."
But Larry Kobrovsky, a lawyer and former Charleston County School Board member, said of Maria Goodloe-Johnson's departure, "I think it's a good thing for Charleston. I think that there was too much emphasis in the minority community on protecting her."

WASHINGTON -- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has hurt the Department of Justice and the Bush administration with his poor handling of the firing of eight federal prosecutors, a leading Republican senator said Sunday. Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, stopped short of calling for Gonzales' resignation. But he said there was "no doubt" Gonzales was undermining the agency and the morale of its employees. "The attorney general's testimony was very, very damaging to his own credibility.

 LAGOS, Nigeria -- The top opposition candidate called Sunday for Nigeria's presidential vote to be annulled, branding the election as the worst ever conducted in Africa's most-populous nation and top oil producer.
While the government acknowledged there were widespread problems with Saturday's vote, it defended the election as free and fair. "The election has been largely successful: We've broken the jinx,"....

ASHBURN, Georgia – As parents and teachers watched, dozens of Turner County High School senior students circled a graying city auditorium that was transformed for a night into a tropical scene for the spring formal prom dance. And, for the first time, the faces of the students were White and Black. Prom had officially returned to Turner County High School..

WASHINGTON -- Democrats are considering their next step after President Bush's inevitable veto of their war spending proposal, including a possible short-term funding bill that would force Congress to revisit the issue this summer. Another alternative is providing the Pentagon the money it needs for the war but insisting that the Iraqi government live up to certain political promises. Or, sending Bush what he wants for now and setting their sights on 2008 spending legislation.

No murder takes place in a bubble. Those killed by the hand of another leave behind other victims – sons and daughters without a parent, parents without children, sisters without brothers.
For four years now, Perlia Bell has been trying to change the way the Black community treats these left-behind victims.
After her 23-year-old daughter Asia's murder in 2002, Bell was wracked with a sense of being overwhelmed. Her son-in-law, Asia's husband Tyrone James, was blinded in the attack, and the couple's four young children left without a mother. At first, right after the murder, Bell and her family received plenty of community support. But eventually people forget, they go on with their lives and the support dries up.

It has been exactly one year since the most recent the Oregon Progress Board released the Oregon Benchmarks report, which highlights the progress of Oregon's minority populations.
But what does this report really tell us about Oregon and how important is the data?
According to Sean Cruz, chief of staff for Oregon Sen. Avel Gordly, D-N/NE Portland, the local senator frequently uses the state benchmarks to guide her decision-making.

Roy Jay, president of the African American Chamber of Commerce, says the recent Freightliner layoffs will have huge economic impacts on the African American community.
"This is all about economics for (Freightliner)," he said. "But this impacts an entire community."

The number of Oregon teens dropping out of high school has hit its lowest point in more than 15 years, but the dropout rate for minority students continues to climb.
"It is clear from today's report that we need to focus our efforts on reducing dropout rates and increasing graduation rates for poor and minority students," said Oregon Superintendent of Schools Susan Castillo on Tuesday, the day the dropout report was released. "Graduating from high school is fundamental to success in the workforce or in college."