When veterans returned home from Vietnam, some were treated well but many were treated poorly.


For many veterans, serving in the military meant pushing past their own physical and mental limits in order to defeat the enemy. Many African American veterans also had to contend with and break through the limits placed upon them by society. Whether they fought stateside or overseas, in integrated or segregated units, or during World War II, Korea, or Vietnam, the African American veterans profiled here persisted past prejudice to serve their country with honor.

Electronic ankle bracelets were supposed to be the answer to understaffed parole and probation departments and overcrowded prisons. But how effective are they? Steve Kroft reports.

LOS ANGELES -- The private funeral for soul singer Marvin Gaye today was expected to draw record-industry luminaries such as Michael Jackson and Diana Ross, but legions of his adoring fans will be barred.

More than 5,000 people -- some tearful, others listening to Gaye's music on tape players -- paraded past the singer's casket Wednesday at Hollywood Hills Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the largest memorial gathering for an entertainer in decades.

The predominantly black crowd formed a four-block line that stretched past the cemetery's gates.

Earlier in the day, Gaye's family and about 75 invited guests, including singers Smokey Robinson, Barry White, Jermaine Jackson and Motown Records founder Berry Gordy Jr., viewed the body in private.

As Gaye's music blared from cassette players in the crowd, his fans waited more than an hour to enter the cemetery's Church of the Hills, where the bearded singer lay, dressed in the Navy officer-styled suit he wore on stage during his last U.S. tour.

Gaye was fatally shot Sunday during an argument with his preacher father, Marvin Gaye Sr., at the family home over an 'immaterial' letter from an insurance company. The elder Gaye, a retired minister, has been charged with murder.

The circumstances surrounding the shooting mattered little to many in the crowd.

'He may be dead, but his spirit lives on through his music,' said Rita Scott while fighting back tears. 'He was a wonderful man who preached through his music that love could conquer hate.'

Among the mourners was Elgie Stover, a record producer who worked with Gaye for more than a dozen years.

'His goal when he sat at the piano was to reach people through his music,' Stover said. 'I don't think even he knew how many people he touched. All you have to do is to look at this crowd to see how much he was loved.'

Robert Wheeler, vice president of Forest Lawn, said the turnout was the largest he had seen for a memorial in his 25 years with the cemetery. Veteran Hollywood reporters also said they could not remember a bigger turnout for an entertainer.

'We've had services for people like Clark Gable, Will Rogers, Jeanette MacDonald, George Raft and Stan Laurel ... but never a crowd like this,' Wheeler said. 'The previous high was about 1,500 for Freddie Prinze.'

#marvingaye #motown #blackhistory

Produced by Bob Bailey Productions for Brooklyn Union Gas Company, this video concerns the partnership forged between residents, community organizations, and businesses in order to revitalize the neighborhood of Prospect Heights. Part of the Everett and Evelyn Ortner Papers and Photographs collection (ARC.306).

Everett H. and Evelyn G. Ortner galvanized the historic preservation movement in Brooklyn. They enlisted Brooklyn Union Gas to sponsor the renovation of dilapidated brownstones, spearheading what became known as the “Cinderella Project,” an advertising campaign used to draw new residents. Brooklyn Union Gas subsequently supported urban renewal throughout Brooklyn.

Chicago has a long history of political corruption, dating to the incorporation of the city in 1833. ... They found that a tabulation of federal public corruption convictions make Chicago "undoubtedly the most corrupt city in our nation", with the cost of corruption "at least" $500 million per year.

Let's Go Get Stoned" is a song originally recorded by The Coasters in May 1965.

It was written by Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson, and Josephine Armstead. Ronnie Milsap recorded it in October 1965 as a B-side to the single, "Never Had It So Good.

Gangsta rap's really got 'em roiled. Roiled enough to get arrested. A protest organized by the National Political Congress of Black Women yesterday targeted The Wiz record chain, claiming it was the area's largest purveyor of rap's "pornographic smut." The action ended with the leaders being taken away in handcuffs.

NPCBW's national chair, C. Delores Tucker, former D.C. Council member Nadine Winter, activist Dick Gregory and syndicated radio host Joe Madison stood arm in arm in front of the chain's downtown store, blocking its entrance, while perhaps a dozen fellow protesters circled the sidewalk with signs proclaiming "Dis Gangsta Rap," "New Year's Resolution: No Gangsta Rap" and "Gangsta Rap Is Rape."

"We want to bring attention to the fact this is an assault on black women," said Acie Byrd, who, like the majority of the protesters, is male. "We intend to take the profit out of musical pornography."


The violent attitudes and explicit lyrics of some rappers has earned them the "gangsta" title. "We want people to be educated," said Tucker, "Our slogan is: 'Is anyone listening? Your children are.' "

"Today is the winter solstice, the darkest day of the year," said Gregory. "I can't think of a better day to do this."

"We are trying to get every preacher to speak against this on Christmas," announced Winter. "This is not the thing for young people. ... We are tired of this, we are burying our young. And this is just the beginning of our protest."

Loudly competing with shouted slogans like "Our women are queens -- they're not 'hos, they're not bitches" were The Wiz's blaring outdoor speakers and construction noise from across F Street. Protesters took turns holding up a poster of the XXX-rated comic-book-style cover of gangsta rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg's new album, "Doggystyle."

The protesters' cause was not meeting with much sympathy from a number of Wiz customers and passersby, several of whom waved copies of rap CDs in the picketers' faces. One woman, 18-year-old Kelli Adams, insisted that she did not find gangsta rap lyrics degrading to women. "I don't think there's anything wrong" with Snoop Doggy Dogg, she said. "He's just speaking what's on his mind."

The protesters were soon outnumbered by a police presence that included four motorcycles and eight squad cars. A police line was set up around the front of the store while the four protest leaders, their arms linked at the entrance, calmly accepted their plastic handcuffs and were led away to a waiting police van. A fifth protester was also arrested. They were charged with blocking the sidewalk, and, according to a police spokesman, three of the four leaders were released last night after paying a $50 fine. Dick Gregory and the fifth protester, whose name was not released by police, refused to pay the fine and will be held until his arraignment today. Representatives of The Wiz, an East Coast chain based in New Jersey, did not return a reporter's phone calls yesterday.

Guest Muhammed Kenyatta (also Muhammad Kenyatta) and his followers smashed in the door and occupied the Ecumenical Wellsprings Center one year after this recording. The cause they crusaded for was the same as the topic of this program – black reparations.

'Input' was a Philadelphia panel discussion program from the late 1960's and early 1970's, airing Sunday mornings on WCAU-TV10, produced by the Wellsprings Ecumenical Center.

#reparations
#slavery
#blackhistory

Willie Lewis Brown Jr. (born March 20, 1934) is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as mayor of San Francisco from 1996 to 2004, the first African American to hold that office.

Born in Mineola, Texas, where he graduated from high school, Brown moved to San Francisco in 1951. He graduated from San Francisco State University in 1955 and earned a J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1958, after which he worked as an attorney and was involved in the civil rights movement. He was elected to the California Assembly in 1964, during which he became popular in San Francisco and became known as one of the country's most powerful state legislators.

As a legislator, Brown earned a reputation as a supporter of civil rights of gays and lesbians and was able to manage colleagues and maintain party discipline. He served as the speaker of the California State Assembly from 1980 to 1995.

His long tenure and powerful position were used as a focal point of the California ballot proposition limiting the terms of state legislators that passed in 1990. During the last of his three allowed post-initiative terms, Brown maintained control of the Assembly despite a slim Republican majority. Near the end of his final term, he decided to run for mayor of San Francisco.

During Brown's tenure as mayor of San Francisco, the city's budget was expanded, and real estate development, public works, city beautification, and other city projects saw a significant increase. Brown presided over the "dot-com" era at a time when San Francisco's economy was rapidly expanding. His administration included more Asian-Americans, women, Latinos, gays and African Americans than the administrations of his predecessors.

Brown was reelected in 1999, but term limits prevented him from running for a third term, and he was succeeded by his political protégé Gavin Newsom. San Francisco Chronicle called Brown "one of San Francisco's most notable mayors", adding that he had "celebrity beyond the city's boundaries."

He retired from politics after leaving the office in 2004, published an autobiography, and continued to fundraise and advise politicians.

Early life, education, and early career
Brown was born on March 20, 1934, in Mineola, a small segregated town in East Texas marked by racial tensions, to Minnie Collins Boyd and Lewis Brown. He was the fourth of five children.

During Brown's childhood, mob violence periodically erupted in Mineola, keeping African-Americans from voting. His first job was as a shoeshine boy in a whites-only barber shop.

He later worked as a janitor, fry cook and field hand.

He learned his strong work ethic at a young age from his grandmother.

He graduated from Mineola Colored High School, which he later described as substandard, and left for San Francisco in August 1951 at the age of 17 to live with his uncle.


Although Brown did not meet the qualifications for San Francisco State College, a professor at the school facilitated his admission on probation.[6] Brown adjusted to college studies by working especially hard to catch up in his first semester.[9] He joined the Young Democrats and became friends with John L. Burton.[6] Brown originally wanted to be a math instructor but campus politics changed his ambitions. He became active in his church and the San Francisco NAACP. Brown worked as a doorman, janitor and shoe salesman to pay for college. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.[9] He also joined the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) but later quit the ROTC and joined the California Army National Guard's 126th Medical Battalion, where he was trained as a dental hygienist.[10][11] Brown earned a bachelor's degree in political science from San Francisco State in 1955.[12]

Brown attended University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where he also worked as a janitor. He later said that his decision to attend law school was primarily to avoid being drafted.[10] He befriended future San Francisco mayor George Moscone, for whom Brown later managed a campaign.[9]

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, Brown was one of a few African-Americans practicing law in San Francisco when he opened his own business.[6] He practiced criminal defense law, representing pimps, prostitutes and other clients that more prominent attorneys would not represent.[6] One early case was to defend Mario Savio on his first civil disobedience arrest. He quickly became involved in the Civil Rights Movement, leading a well-orchestrated sit-in to protest housing discrimination after a local real estate office refused to work with him because of his race.[7]

Brown began his first run for the California State Assembly in 1962 by having local African American ministers pass around a hat, collecting $700.[6] He lost the election by 600 votes before winning a second election in 1964