Bellevue Community College's Black Student Union presents two acclaimed hip-hop artists, an internationally-noted hip-hop scholar and a Washington state legislator with expertise in civic responsibility and social change, in a series of four free, public Black History Month lectures.

• Mohammed Bilal,
• Boots Riley,
• State Rep. Eric Pettigrew,
• Prof. Tricia Rose

Freedom Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption to promote and protect individual freedom, announced that it has recently filed a complaint against the Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve for failing to turn over information under the Freedom of Information Act regarding the first half of the $700 billion dollar bailout.
Freedom Watch's initial FOIA request sought to provide an answer as to where, exactly, the money went and in what amounts specific various companies and parties received those funds. The group says it's concerned that the money, which cannot be accounted for by the government, was doled out based on political influence and graft. ...

OAKLAND (NNPA) - A judge has granted $3 million bail to the former BART officer who shot and killed Oscar Grant, III, on a station platform on New Year's Day. However, at press time Johannes Mehserle had not yet posted the $300,000 bail and was still in custody.
Dozens of Grant supporters packed the hallways of the Alameda County Superior Court, trying to gain entrance to the Jan. 30 hearing while others demonstrated outside. Some of them wore t-shirts displaying Mr. Grant's photograph and they also chanted, "We are Oscar Grant!" and waved signs that read, "No bail! Keep him in jail!" ...

In a formal and tradition-clad ceremony at the Martin Luther King Jr. Chapel, President Robert Franklin Michael Jr. '75 was inaugurated 10th president of Morehouse College on February 15. "I come to this moment in my life with a profound humility matched by my determination to see our great school rise to new heights of accomplishment, " Franklin said.
Photo credit: Morehouse.edu
Part of the mission of the nation's historically Black institutions is to provide a college education for a disproportionate number of students who can't afford to go to most traditionally White institutions. . . .

For years, the juvenile court system in Wilkes-Barre operated like a conveyor belt: Youngsters were brought before judges without a lawyer, given hearings that lasted only a minute or two, and then sent off to juvenile prison for months for minor offenses.
The explanation, prosecutors say, was corruption on the bench. . . .

U.S. Sen. Roland Burris insisted Monday he voluntarily sent state lawmakers an affidavit outlining contacts with ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich's brother prior to his Senate appointment and was not prompted by federal agents investigating the former governor.
"It was done because we promised the (impeachment) committee we would supplement information in case we missed anything,'' Burris said outside a South Side church before meeting with religious leaders.
Burris released an affidavit over the weekend in which he admitted Blagojevich's brother asked him for campaign fundraising help before Blagojevich appointed him to the Senate.
The disclosure is at odds with Burris' testimony in January . . .

The Oregon Progress Board's latest Benchmark Highlights Report shows that the state continues to do well in public safety and the "built environment," but aspects of education, civic engagement, social support and the natural environment show the same challenges seen in the 2007 report.  The economy received a negative grade for the first time in a benchmark report. . . .

President Barack Obama put his own indelible imprint on the nation's distressed economy Tuesday, preparing to sign the huge recovery package into law, readying a $50 billion proposal to help homeowners fend off foreclosure and awaiting emergency restructuring plans from flailing automakers. Obama was traveling to Denver to sign the stimulus bill, which congressional Democrats pushed to passage last week over near-unanimous opposition from Republicans. Obama's first major piece of legislation, it's a $787 billion mix of tax cuts and one of the biggest public spending programs since World War II. The setting for the signing was the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, underscoring the investments the new law will make in "green'' energy-related jobs. . . .

Despite voting down this same bill a week ago, Congress has now voted to approve a bill that will move the digital television transition deadline from Feb. 17 to June 12. President Obama is expected to sign the legislation.
Procrastinators beware: national deadlines don't matter -- many television stations may be switching over within the next few weeks no matter what Congress says, because delaying the switch to all-digital will cost stations money. Under the law, television stations will still be allowed to make the switch early, requiring televisions without digital receivers, cable or satellite service to attach a digital converter box to the analogue antennae....

Experience Hip Hop history in the making as supporters from around the country gather in Seattle to  celebrate and experience the 5th Anniversary of 206 Zulu, Feb. 13-16.
In only a few short years 206 Zulu, a Hip Hop-based community organization, has received nation-wide recognition for the precedence it has set in community building, education, media, outreach, activism, and artistic excellence. Since its inception in 2004, 206 Zulu and its 70+ membership has taken the UZN motto of "Peace, Love, Unity & Havin' Fun" to another level for the next generation.
206 Zulu will be celebrating it's 5th Anniversary and Black History Month ...