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Volume 122 No. 49
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July 5, 2014 - July 5, 2014, The Afro-American
JULY 12, 2014 - JULY 18, 2014
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Limbaugh Attacks D.C.’s Busboys and Poets By Valencia Mohammed Special to the Afro Radio personality Rush Limbaugh, known for his racist tirades, attacked popular D.C. bookstore, Busboys and Poets, because “it dissed his two children’s books.� The ultraconservative talk show host was upset that the executive director of Teaching for Change remarked on a C-Span network that it specialized in children’s books written by and about people of color and many times ignored best sellers, like that of Rush Limbaugh. Teaching for Change, a nonprofit organization,
operates the bookstore located at 14th and V. It provides teachers and parents with the tools to create schools where students learn to read, write and change the world.
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Supporters for legalizing marijuana in the Nation’s Capital submitted over 57,000 signatures to the D.C. Board of Elections on July 7, to place Initiative 71 on the November ballot. Representatives from the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics (DCBOEE) counted 3,338 pages of petition signatures to legalize the personal growth and
recreational use of marijuana. The initiative required more than 22,000 valid signatures to qualify. “It was hard work,� said Elliot Mathis, 32, who has been arrested for possession of a small amount of marijuana. “Some people were afraid their jobs – Adam Eidinger would search for their names on the petition, especially government workers. I heard some of the most ridiculous reasons why people who smoke pot didn’t Continued on A4
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“Getting this far has taken us over a year of hard work by hundreds of cannabis crusaders.�
Fans Flock From All Over
By Zenitha Prince Senior AFRO Correspondent
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Part 8 in a series detailing states’ efforts to keep citizens from voting. Georgia has long been the center of resistance to advances in voting rights for Blacks and other minorities. “The history of voting rights in Georgia can best be categorized as promises made, promises broken; promises remade, promises broken; promises made and now only partially realized,� said Francys Johnson, president, Georgia NAACP, in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the need to amend and renew the Voting Rights Act. Continued on A3
Thousands of fans came out to see Jay-Z and BeyoncÊ’s first-ever combined tour. By Ashley D. Diggs Special to the AFRO (Baltimore) On July 7, thousands of fans made their way through traffic and long M&T Bank Stadium lines to witness the highly-anticipated summer concert, “On The Run,â€? starring the dynamic duo Shawn “Jay Zâ€? Carter and his wife BeyoncĂŠ Continued on A8
Dr. Abdulalim A. Shabazz, Noted Math Scholar and Educator, Dies at 87
Georgia Continues Longstanding Voter Suppression Efforts
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Jay and Bey ‘On the Run’
Marijuana Initiative Moves Forward, Despite Congressional Bullying By Valencia Mohammed Special to the AFRO
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Deborah Menkart, executive director of Teaching for Change, explained its concept. “Only one out of 10 children’s books being published currently is by or about people of color. These are also not the books that are on the best-seller lists. In fact, one of the books on the best-seller list for children right now is by Rush Limbaugh. You will not find that book in our bookstore,� Menkart said. “It’s also getting lots of awards. To flip the trend, flip the script, 90 percent of the children’s books that we sell at the bookstore – the independent, progressive, nonprofit bookstore here [at Busboys and Poets] – are by Continued on A8
Trained More Than Half Nation’s Black Mathematician Doctorate Holders By AFRO Staff Abdulalim Abdullah Shabazz, noted math scholar who trained more than half of the nation’s Black mathematician doctorate holders, and former minister of Masjid Muhammad, once known as Nation of Islam D.C. mosque Temple #4, died June 25 in Grambling, La. where he was professor of mathematics at Grambling State University. He was 87. Born Lonnie Cross in Bessemer, Ala., Shabazz graduated with honors from Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C. in 1945 and earned undergraduate degrees in math and chemistry from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, a Masters degree in mathematics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1951 and a doctorate in mathematics from Cornell University in 1955.
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