LOCAL NEWS

Obama pushes for education turnaround

BOSTON - Arguing that good public education can thrive even in troubled neighborhoods, President Barack Obama showcased a school in a working-class Boston neighborhood Tuesday that turned around its graduation rate thanks to new flexibility for its leaders and plenty of help from private foundations. More »

Mayor's Ferdinand plan stirs hope for Dudley revitalization

Mayor Thomas Menino has announced major plans for long-awaited redevelopment of the old Ferdinand Building in the heart of Dudley Square. More »

Anti-apartheid efforts felt home and abroad

One hot summer morning, thousands of black students left their classrooms to protest what they thought was a racist curriculum. The high school students marched peacefully, but soon found police armed with deadly weapons, blocking their path. More »

Raising the bar for minority-owned businesses

Securing capital and building capacity were the key challenges explored recently at a minority business summit, which drew nearly 200 people to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. More »

MA House nixes independent redistricting panel

BOSTON - The Massachusetts House easily defeated a Republican-backed proposal to create an independent commission to redraw the state's congressional and legislative district lines. More »

Setti Warren weighing 2012 challenge to Sen. Brown

He's been in office a little more than a year, but already Republican Sen. Scott Brown is beginning to attract would-be Democratic challengers. More »

Two candidates, two visions for District 7

The candidates running in next week's District 7 special election have staked out distinct positions: inside player with connections downtown, or independent voice, fighting to put the community's needs first. More »

Influential Harvard minister Gomes dies at 68

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The Rev. Peter J. Gomes, a nationally influential Baptist minister and advocate for tolerance who oversaw Harvard University's Memorial Church for more than 30 years, has died. He was 68. More »

Journalist chronicles blacks' 'Great Migration'

Between 1915 and 1970, some six million African American citizens left the South and its oppressive Jim Crow laws and became immigrants in their own country, seeking greater freedom in the cities of the Northeast, the Midwest and the West. More »

Honoring Derek Walcott

Boston Playwrights Theatre (BPT), now beginning its 30th anniversary season, is honoring its black Caribbean founder and former artistic director Derek Walcott in the most fitting way possible - by putting on one of his plays. More »

'Rebuilding Haiti' town hall provides vital answers

The local Haitian community got their chance to grill key players in the Haiti earthquake recovery effort at a recent town hall meeting held last Friday, March 4. More »

Exhibit focuses on fighting foreclosure in Boston

Dorrett Martin refinanced her Blue Hill Avenue home of 25 years while caring for her ill mother. She lost her job, could no longer make the higher mortgage payments and went into foreclosure. Her foreclosure also threatened her longtime tenant Sandra Douglas, with whom Martin developed a deep friendship over 24 years in the three-family house. More »

Morehouse making a joyful noise for a good cause

In what has become an annual two-day celebration of music and distinction, Boston will host the 7th Morehouse MoreJazz Weekend, a scholarship fundraiser supporting Boston youth and sponsored by the Greater Boston Morehouse College Alumni Association (GBMCAA). More »

Mass. Gov. Patrick touts support of union rights

With public employee unions coming under increasing pressure nationwide, few governors have been as outspoken in their support of labor rights as Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick. More »

Mass. unions offer health care overhaul proposal

Unions representing state and municipal workers are offering their own proposal to help cut the soaring cost of health care spending, which threatens the budgets of Massachusetts cities and towns. More »

NATIONAL NEWS

Breaking down black America

On the cold November night when President-elect Barack Obama declared victory, black America appeared perfectly unified. The vast majority of African Americans had supported Obama throughout his presidential bid, and in his election, the dreams of the Civil Rights Movement had finally been fulfilled. More »

GOP: Illegal immigrants taking minorities' jobs

WASHINGTON - Black lawmakers accused Republicans last week of trying to "manufacture tension" between African Americans and immigrants as Republican members of the House of Representatives argued in a hearing that more minorities would be working were it not for illegal immigration. More »

Rare anti-slavery booklet acquired by U.Va.

RICHMOND, Va. - The University of Virginia has acquired a rare first edition of an 1829 anti-slavery manifesto that was considered a rallying cry for black Americans and a major threat to Southern leaders, who worked vigorously to ban it. More »

WORLD NEWS

Haiti's Carnival resumes amid capital?s ruins

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Raucous crowds danced in the streets of the Haitian capital Sunday as the city celebrated its first Carnival since last year's devastating earthquake forced the cancellation of the annual festivities. More »

Against Libyas rebels, Gadhafi controls the skies

RAS LANOUF, Libya - Repeated airstrikes by Libyan warplanes on Monday illustrated the edge Moammar Gadhafi holds in his fight against rebel forces marching toward the capital: He controls the air. After pleading from the uprising's leaders, Britain and France began drafting a U.N. resolution for a no-fly zone in Libya that could balance the scales. More »


HEALTH

Eating disorders hit more than half million teens

CHICAGO - More than half a million U.S. teens have had an eating disorder but few have sought treatment for the problem, government research shows. The study is billed as the largest and most comprehensive analysis of eating disorders. It involved nationally representative data on more than 10,000 teens aged 13 to 18. More »