AFRO Washington 01/18/2014

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Volume 122 No. 24

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JANUARY 18, 2014 - JANUARY 24, 2014

Proposed Tobacco Settlement Excludes Black Media

By George E. Curry NNPA Editor-in-Chief

The U.S. Justice Department and the TobaccoFree Kids Action Fund have reached an agreement with the four major tobacco companies requiring them to spend millions across major media as part of a settlement

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for their misrepresentation of the hazards of smoking—but the companies will not have to make a single purchase from a Black print or broadcast media company. As part of a 24page proposed consent agreement reached Friday, the companies will have to spend more than $30 million

“We are shocked and deeply disappointed that the Justice Department, the Tobacco-Free Action Fund and the tobacco industry would all agree to sign off on an advertising plan that totally disrespects the Black community.” advertising with the three major television networks and run full-page ads in 35 White and Hispanic newspapers as well as purchasing space on their respective websites. Black publications and media companies were not among those included in the agreement. The agreement is scheduled to go before U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Wednesday for final approval. “We are shocked and deeply disappointed that the Justice Department, the Tobacco-Free Action Fund and the tobacco industry would all agree to sign off on an advertising plan that totally disrespects the Black community,” said Cloves C. Campbell, chairman of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, a federation of nearly 200 Black newspapers. “The industry’s past efforts to target AfricanAmerican consumers have been thoroughly documented,” Campbell added. “It is sad that an industry that sought to exploit our community with a product that is harmful to our health now seeks to further devalue African-Americans by ignoring the Black media when it is being forced to atone what a federal judge determined was a deliberate effort to deceive the American public.” Peter S. Hamm, director of communications for the Tobacco-Free Kids Action, said on Monday that the Continued on A3

Judge Robert Wilkins-Approved

AP File Photo

By Henry C. Jackson The Associated Press The Senate confirmed one of President Barack Obama’s key judicial nominees on Jan. 14, completing an overhaul of the country’s second most powerful court into one dominated by Democratic-appointed judges. The Senate voted 55-43 to confirm Robert Wilkins to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. That gives Democratic appointees a 7-4 majority on the politically influential bench. The D.C. Circuit, second in clout only to the Supreme Court, hears appeals of White House actions and federal rules and regulations.

Senate Approves Wilkins for D.C. Circuit Ct. Wilkins’ confirmation is a fresh demonstration of Senate Democrats’ ability to push through most presidential nominations by a simple majority, thanks to a weakening of filibusters that they muscled through the chamber in November. It came on the same day the Supreme Court heard arguments about a constitutional provision relating to temporary presidential appointments. At issue is Obama’s use of the provision to make so-called recess appointments, which presidents can make without Senate approval. Obama applauded the confirmation of Wilkins, who was previously approved unanimously by the Senate for a district judgeship. Obama said Wilkins would bring important Continued on A3

Objections Raised to Disrespectful MLK Day Ads By Zachary Lester AFRO Staff Writer “It should be a great event, And the whole day should be spent, In full remembrance Of those who lived and died For the oneness of all people…” From Stevie Wonder’s “Happy Birthday” In honor of the MLK Holiday

Loved ones of martyred civil rights leader Martin Ad using MLK image to advertise twerking party was shown on Fox 5 News in D.C. Luther King Jr. are reacting to an ad that surfaced in recent Teen Parties. The ad features a photo of King in a black sweater days using unauthorized wearing an oversized gold medallion and appearing to throw images of his likeness to advertise a teen dance party in a gang sign. A second picture of King is visible in the top left Michigan over the King holiday weekend. corner. A teenage girl in a letterman’s jacket smiles from the “Freedom 2 Twerk Martin Luther King Day Weekend Party” reads a flyer from an organization called Mid-Michigan Continued on A5

AKAs Celebrate 106 Years of Service By Mia Alexander-Davis Special to the AFRO Nearly 1,000 women, dressed in white and adorned with pearls, gathered at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center to celebrate the 106th Founders Day of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. The AKAs spent the day reflecting on their rich history and the brave young women who gathered at Howard University under the guidance of Ethel Hedgeman Lyle on January 15, 1908 to start the sorority whose mission is to be a voice for the voiceless and a beacon of light in their

communities. Linda H. Gilliam, the AKA’s mid-Atlantic regional director, noted that only 50 years had passed between the end of slavery and the time a group of Black collegeeducated women set out to change the world, one service project at a time. During Metropolitan Founders’ Day, many of the women spoke of the urgent need for services in their communities and their commitment to educate, empower and inform a generation of young women blessed with access despite having limited historical grounding. As the Rev. Adriane Lara Blair Wise, the keynote speaker, took the podium, she gently guided her audience into a moment of reflection. She started by questioning the audacity of their founders to think that they could change the world around them, but noted that others often Continued on A5

Inductee-AFRO news icon Moses Newson

NABJ Inducts New Hall of Fame Members By AFRO Staff The National Association of Black Journalists is scheduled to honor a host of preeminent figures in the industry at the organization’s 2014 Hall of Fame Induction and Reception. The annual event, scheduled for Jan. 16 at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. spotlights renowned African-American Continued on A5

Copyright © 2014 by the Afro-American Company


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