Last surviving Brown v. Board plaintiff dies at 88 – USATODAY.com

Last surviving Brown v. Board plaintiff dies at 88

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The last surviving plaintiff in Topeka’s Brown v. Board of Education case, which led to the historic 1954 Supreme Court ruling outlawing segregation in public schools, has died at 88.

Zelma Henderson died Tuesday in Topeka, six weeks after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Her son, Donald, said she wasn’t physically imposing, but when she was passionate about something, “She was just fire.”

HISTORY MADE: Read the Brown v. Board of Education opinion

In 1950, Henderson signed onto the litigation on behalf of her children challenging Topeka’s segregated schools. In all, 13 black parents in Topeka, including the Rev. Oliver Brown, took part in the federal case.

The plaintiffs lost in U.S. District Court, but the case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, along with similar cases from Virginia, South Carolina and Delaware.

The high court’s unanimous ruling overturning school segregation came on May 17, 1954.

As a child in the 1920s and ’30s, Henderson had attended desegregated schools in the western Kansas town of Oakley. She was disgusted when she learned her own children would be required to attend segregated schools in Topeka.

Her children were forced to attend a school that was 10 blocks farther away from their home than a whites-only school.

“I wanted my children to know all races like I did,” Zelma Henderson told The Associated Press in 2004. “It means a lot to a person’s outlook on life. No inferiority complex at all, that’s what I wanted for my children as far as race was concerned.”

The Brown v. Board National Historic Site is now operated by the National Park Service in a formerly segregated school building.

“Her passing is a rather large milestone in the history of the case and that period of our history,” said Dennis Vasquez, superintendent of the historic site. “It puts it in more of a historical perspective because there are no longer any living plaintiffs in the Topeka case.”

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Last surviving Brown v. Board plaintiff dies at 88 – USATODAY.com.

Bush signs bill outlawing genetic discrimination

Bush signs bill outlawing genetic discrimination

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush is backing legislation to prevent people from losing their jobs or health insurance based on genetic testing.

Bush on Wednesday signed into law an anti-discrimination measure that drew enormous support in Congress. It forbids employers and insurance companies from denying employment, promotions or health coverage to people when genetic tests show they are prone to cancer, heart disease or other ailments.

Sponsors of the legislation call it a groundbreaking protection of civil rights.

People today have far more information about their hereditary disposition to crippling afflictions. Bill sponsors said that has increased the likelihood that insurers or employers will deny people work or insurance to avoid costly risks.

Bush signs bill outlawing genetic discrimination – USATODAY.com.

Racial make-up of Democratic convention bloggers criticized

Racial make-up of Democratic convention bloggers criticized

07:12 PM CDT on Tuesday, May 20, 2008

By KAREN BROOKS / The Dallas Morning News
kmbrooks@dallasnews.com

AUSTIN — Democrats consider affirmative action a cornerstone of their national agenda, but some minority bloggers say the party isn’t practicing what it preaches.

Last week, the national Democratic Party announced that 55 online writers had been chosen for the “State Blogger Corps,” to cover the convention in Denver in September.

But some members of the self-titled “afrosphere” — blogs written or published by African Americans — are angry that the “State Blogger Corps” appears to be mostly white, particularly since the party appears poise to nominate a black candidate, Barack Obama, for president.

“OK, folks, black bloggers to the back of the bus,” read the headline on the African American Political Pundit blog.

Party leaders said the factors in determining state bloggers were readership, Internet ratings and focus on local and state politics, not race. The Texas representative, the Burnt Orange Report, has several writers, including at least one Hispanic contributor.

A second round of blog credentials will be announced before the end of the month, party leaders said, and minority bloggers will be purposely included in that selection.

It’s unclear exactly how many of the state bloggers are white and how many are minorities because the bloggers weren’t required to identify their race when they applied.

But the blogs don’t appear to be self-identified as written or owned by African Americans, as opposed to blogs like the African American Political Pundit or attorney Francis L. Holland’s numerous blogs, which feature his picture.

He called the list “tremendously embarrassing and harmful to the Democratic Party.” The delay in announcing the minority blogs, he said, is hurting their ability to raise money for travel expenses and get vacation time.

“November’s voter turnout depends on August’s blogger outreach,” said Mr. Holland, a member of a national and international black bloggers’ coalition called “The AfroSpear.” “Blogs address constituencies, and it simply is not possible for blogs that are all-white to effectively reach diverse Democratic constituencies.”

Still to come is the list of bloggers to comprise the “General Blogger Pool,” which party officials say will, in fact, be weighted to represent minority communities, nationally written blogs, and niche issues.

Leaders also pointed out that very few of the African-American blogs — critics included — applied to the State Blogger Corps, opting instead for the national pool.

Natalie Wyeth, spokeswoman for the party’s convention committee, said she can’t argue with their concerns about the list, mainly there’s no way to tell what race the blogs are. The party has spoken with bloggers about those concerns and reassured them that the process isn’t done yet, she said.

The debate picked up steam over the weekend, on blogs written by both whites and African Americans, in posts and in comments.

The issues prompted Shawn Williams, who writes the DallasSouth.com blog, to write to U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dallas, to complain about the lack of diversity among the chosen bloggers

Pam Spaulding, an African-American blogger in North Carolina who has applied to the general pool, suggested on her blog — Pam’s House Blend — that minorities don’t blog about state and local politics as much as white people do, narrowing the pool.

A Hispanic blogger from New Mexico agreed and wrote that their blog was passed over in favor of a blog run by a white woman, but didn’t see any discrimination in a majority Hispanic state.

“I do think we should be looking at the quality of blogs,” said the blogger, who only identified his or her ethnicity. “Do we want to include certain blogs of poor quality to fill a sort of quota? No, that would be ridiculous.”

Linda Kellen Biegel, whose Celtic Diva’s Blue Oasis blog will represent Alaska at the convention, said the issue should encourage more minorities to blog locally while pushing for more diversity in the entire blogosphere.

“No one knows what anyone looks like in the blogosphere. It’s easy to get caught up in anger, to ignore the actual underlying issue,” she said. “The underlying issue is that bloggers need to reach out and try to find other voices from the community that are diverse.”

Source : Racial make-up of Democratic convention bloggers criticized | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | National Politics.

Subway toilets face late night locking

Subway toilets face late night locking
Subway Bathrooms

The women’s bathroom in the Chambers Street station of the A line. The door was locked but left ajar. The stench was overpowering. Photo taken on Tuesday, May 20, 2008 and published in the local section of amNewYork on May 21, 2008 (Jefferson Siegel / May 20, 2008)

By Matthew Sweeney | msweeney@am-ny.com
7:11 PM EDT, May 20, 2008

Subway toilets are the pit stop of last resort, but they’re no longer even an option in the late night hours, now that they’re all locked up after midnight.

“When people have to go they have to go,” said Gene Russianoff, senior attorney for NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign. “They should be shuttered as little as possible.”

In recent weeks, NYC Transit officials said, they have been shutting the 78 public bathrooms in the subways between the hours of midnight and 5 a.m. in order to guarantee cleaning crews access.

“We’re doing it so we can make the public more comfortable,” said Charles Seaton, a transit spokesman.

But in a city short of public facilities, locking the subway bathrooms is a service cut, riders and their advocates said. There are few options late at night, and the timing of the closures come just as people are leaving bars, clubs, or their work shift.

“Where do I go now? Wet my pants?” asked a distressed Herby Campbell, 56, an ironworker from Long Island who was among the half-dozen riders in need of the men’s room at the A/C Chambers Street station yesterday afternoon.

“If you grab a corner they would lock you up,” he said.

William Henderson, executive director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said that, “It’s a bad time to have them closed.”

And although some stations smell like toilets, there is no need to encourage the abuse, critics said.

“If the riders can’t use the public toilets, they’re going to use the train station as a toilet,” said John Mooney, a Brooklyn station agent.

Nigel Price, 32, yesterday ducked into the women’s room at Chambers Street after finding the men’s room locked.

“By the look of things, they’re not cleaning them now, so what’s the point,” Price, a researcher for J.P. Morgan, said upon exiting.

The restroom didn’t appear that dirty but smelled to high heaven.

Several riders said they suspected that the homeless, rider safety or liability might have motivated the transit’s decision.

“They need five hours to clean a bathroom?” said a disbelieving Henry Perdomo, 27, of Harlem, who also used the Chambers Street facilities.

One cleaner said that sometimes a homeless person will refuse her request to leave bathroom, so she has to clean around them. And if subway riders have a low opinion of the station bathrooms, she suggested said they look at themselves.

“The public is just nasty,”she said, describing some foul situations she has to clean up. “But we still do our job and clean it.”

There are 78 public bathrooms in the subway located at transfer points and terminals. Here are a few.

Chambers Street on the A/C line: The men’s room is closed because the broken mirror is a public safety hazard. It’s unclear when the the bathroom will reopen.

Coney Island/Stillwell Avenue: A recently reconstructed station with a new bathroom, it is particularly busy in the summer months.

Times Square Station: Maintained by a private company, its stalls have electric locks and timers. The bathroom is monitored from a control room.

Canarsie/Rockaway Parkway: Last year, The Daily News found evidence of MRSA, a dangerous bacteria, on a faucet handle in the men’s room.

Subway toilets face late night locking — – amNY.com.

NYPD CHARGES 7 BELL COPS

NYPD CHARGES 7 BELL COPS
VIOLATED POLICE RULES IN 50-SHOT TRAGEDY
By LARRY CELONA, MURRY WEISS and CHUCK BENNETT

May 21, 2008 — Seven police officers involved in the Sean Bell shooting – including three just cleared at a criminal trial – were slapped with fresh NYPD disciplinary charges yesterday.

The departmental charges are the first public admission by the NYPD that the men responsible for the 50-shot fusillade that left Bell dead on his wedding day outside a Jamaica, Queens, strip club did not follow police guidelines.

The seven cops include four officers who were never criminally charged, along with the three detectives – Michael Oliver, Gescard Isnora and Marc Cooper – who were acquitted April 25.

The charges – first reported on The Post’s Web site yesterday afternoon – could lead to possible suspension or firing, which would mean loss of pension. If found guilty, the officers also could lose their legal representation by the city in an ongoing civil suit and be forced to pay any personal judgments out of pocket.

“The Detectives Endowment Association will vigorously defend them in the department trial room as we did in the Queens Supreme Court,” said Michael Palladino, president of the union.

No immediate action will be taken in light of the ongoing federal probe into possible civil rights violations of Bell and his two wounded companions, Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman, the NYPD said. Oliver fired 31 shots; Isnora, 11 shots; Cooper, four shots; and Officer Michael Carey, three shots. All were cited for discharging their weapons “outside departmental guidelines” in the predawn hours of Nov. 26, 2006, outside Kalua Cabaret.

Police Officer Paul Headley, who fired once, was not charged.

In addition, Isnora was charged with taking police action while undercover. Dressed like a club patron, Isnora had followed Bell and his friends to their parked car outside the strip club.

Carey, a witness at the criminal trial, admitted that his police shield was hidden under his shirt.

“It is regrettable that charges have been brought against P.O. Carey, who was not criminally indicted in this incident,” said Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association president Patrick Lynch.

Lt. Gary Napoli, the commanding officer in charge of the prostitution sting that sent undercover officers into the club, was cited with three counts of “failure to supervise.”

Two crime scene detectives, Robin Knapp and Sgt. Huey McNeal, were charged with “failing to ensure a thorough crime scene investigation.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton called on Mayor Bloomberg to immediately fire the charged officers.

“This is the kind of aggressive and no-nonsense attitude we must have with policing in other parts of the country. There must be no tolerance for crime, but also no tolerance for police misconduct,” he said.

Departmental regulations give an 18-month time frame after an incident for internal charges to be filed. Isnora, Cooper and Oliver also have internal charges of manslaughter and reckless endangerment to be resolved.

“This is only because the statute was running out,” said Phil Karasyk, Isnora’s attorney.

“After the investigation is completed, charges are often dismissed or modified.”

larry.celona@nypost.com

NYPD CHARGES 7 BELL COPS – New York Post.