Daily News Feed 7.28.2010/Vocab: Behemoth

Shirley Sherrod to Address Black Journalists at Annual Convention in San Diego
SAN DIEGO, July 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Newsmaker Shirley Sherrod is set to appear before thousands of journalists on Thursday, July 29 at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Annual Convention in San Diego, Calif.

Sherrod has made headlines over the past two weeks for her forced resignation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture after conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart posted video excerpts of Sherrod’s address at a March 2010 NAACP event on his website. The NAACP initially condemned her remarks and U.S. government officials called on her to resign. Upon review of the unedited video in context, the NAACP, White House officials, and Tom Vilsack, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, apologized soon after and Sherrod was offered a new position. Sherrod has not yet decided if she will accept the job offer. (Continue Reading…)

New York City settles for $7.15M in Sean Bell police shooting
The city agreed Tuesday to pay more than $7 million to settle a wrongful death civil suit lodged by the fiancée and pals of Sean Bell, the unarmed black groom gunned down by cops on his wedding day, sources said.

The settlement, approved by a Brooklyn federal magistrate, ends a four-year legal battle by tragic would-be bride Nicole Paultre Bell and two men wounded in a 50-shot barrage that claimed her lover’s life (Continue Reading…)

Republicans Push For New Black Panther Hearing
The seven Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee have sent a letter to Sen. Patrick Leahy, the committee chairman, calling for a hearing on potential “widespread politicization and possible corruption” in the Justice Department, The Hill reports.

The call for a hearing is tied to allegations that the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has been politicized, as evidenced by a decision to drop most of a federal lawsuit against members of the New Black Panther Party, who were videotaped allegedly intimidating voters at a Philadelphia polling place on Election Day in November 2008.

The incident took place in a predominantly African-American, Democrat-voting district. (Continue Reading…)

US hostage in Darfur says conditions desperate
Hard-hitting former Raider Jack Tatum dies at 61
We can build United States of Africa, Gaddafi says
Damon Dash’s Obscene Tribeca Loft Heads for Foreclosure Auction