National
D.C. Resident Began Battle More than a Decade Ago
Communicating with loved ones while incarcerated isn't easy for most prisoners jailed in the United States.
For many, even telephone calls are off limits because of the exorbitant cost.
"That's what I had to face for so long," said Ulandis Forte, a Northeast Washington, D.C., resident and former inmate who spent 18 years in various prisons throughout the country until his release in 2012.
Forte said what helped to keep him strong, focused and sane during his near two-decade incarceration were the phone calls he was able to make to his grandmother, Martha Wright.
"The calls were everything. It was what I looked forward to all of the time," he said. "My grandmother is a special woman, she was my support system and she gave me love," Forte said.
Wright, 87, often couldn't afford to accept the collect calls from prisons scattered throughout the U.S. Sometimes, she'd just pick up the phone to hear his voice before declining the charges.
Forte and Wright not only thought of themselves, but others as well. "There were inmates who never were able to call because they had no money and what I'd do is tell my grandmother to contact their family members to deliver messages," said Forte, 39.
That too proved a difficult task for Wright because she's legally blind, so she would have to memorize telephone numbers and messages for strangers. "It is unfair that people can't talk to their loved ones," Forte said.
Wright filed a class action lawsuit in 2000 against private prison telephone companies regarding their services and charges. The U.S District Court for the District of Columbia in Northwest Washington, D.C., dismissed her lawsuit and directed her to petition the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Three years later, she filed a petition with the FCC over the high telephone rates for inmates to call loved ones. She filed a second petition with the FCC in 2007.
Now, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) has joined Wright in her battle.
During a news conference in the Capitol Visitors Center on April 24, CBC officials asked the FCC to move quickly to slash the excessive costs.
CBC Chair Marcia Fudge, (D-Ohio), and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), said the rates are about $4 per phone call, with up to an additional 55 cents per minute for long distance calls. Most calls from jail are long distance, both congresswomen noted.
Holmes Norton said the high phone rates disproportionately affect African Americans and Hispanics who make up more than 60 percent of the prison population nationwide.
"The astronomical fees are predatory and are being perpetuated by the phone companies and prisons, creating a mini-monopoly," said Holmes Norton, 75.
The profits from the calls are sometimes shared with sheriffs' who say they use the money for security needs, Holmes Norton added.
The charges are outrageous and create monthly phone bills that sometimes exceed $300, said Rep. Hank Johnson, (D-Ga.).
"It's criminal. For more than 10 years, families of inmates have been fighting the high call rates, which often shut down communication with loved ones and increase the likelihood of recidivism," said Johnson, 58.
The FCC is also reviewing the practice of prisons awarding companies exclusive contracts and insisting that inmates make collect calls. Not only are those who accept the collect calls being charged but the inmates who have access to telephone privileges also take a monetary hit.
"Frequently, these kinds of fees force many families to make difficult decisions on whether to forgo contact with their family or loved ones because the cost becomes prohibitive," said Fudge, 60.
The costs of outgoing calls are charged to inmates, FCC officials said. Usually, a call comes with two charges that vary widely, according to agency officials.
Typically, the per call charge can range from 50 cents to $3.95, with any additional per minute charges ranging from 5 cents to 89 cents, FCC officials said.
Holmes Norton wants the FCC to regulate intrastate calls, but FCC officials said the agency only regulates interstate calling.
"If you cut off communications, most of that would have to be family communication between an inmate and family support," Holmes Norton said. "He's going to come out of jail with nothing and with no hope," she said.
Wright said she doesn't want anyone else to experience the hardship she's endured while her grandson was in prison.
"I wish the people would be able to fix it so that Christmas Day, Valentine's Day and Mother's Day, the boys and girls would be able to have a call, a free call, because a lot of them don't have money to call their parents," said Wright, who also lives in Northeast Washington, D.C.
Forte said Wright couldn't immediately reach him to inform him that his mother had died, while he served his time.
"There is no woman as strong as my grandmother," Forte said. "She's going to keep this fight up for everyone else because she knew I needed that support and she knows there are so many people in prison who need that family support but can't get it simply because they can't afford a telephone call," he said.
Forte, who now works in construction in the District, said the telephone calls were "everything" to him and he looked forward to speaking with his grandmother. "She was my support system. You can't rely on stuff in prison to help you cope, you have to rely on family and my grandmother was there for me every step of the way."
President Barack Obama has nominated Anthony Foxx, mayor of Charlotte, NC, to replace outgoing Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
Foxx, who was elected mayor of Charlotte in 2009 and re-elected in 2011, has continued to serve as deputy general counsel for DesignLine Corp., a Charlotte-based bus company. Prior to announcing earlier this month, his plans to step down to spend more time with his family, there had been rumors that Foxx, 42, would be tapped to replace LaHood.
"When Anthony became mayor in 2009, Charlotte, like the rest of the country, was going through a bruising economic crisis. But the city's managed to turn things around. The economy is growing. There are more jobs, more opportunity," Obama said this week in remarks delivered from the East Room of the White House. "And if you ask Anthony how that happened, he'll tell you that one of the reasons is that Charlotte made one of the largest investments in transportation in the city's history."
Obama faced criticism early in his second term for a lack of diversity among his nominees, and Foxx the first black nominee among the president's newly-appointed Cabinet members.
Foxx's nomination is subject to confirmation by the Senate.
(Posted by Dorothy Rowley)
Civil rights leader Maxine Smith of Memphis, Tenn., has died. She was 83. Her passing was confirmed Friday by Memphis Mayor AC Wharton, who made the announcement via his Facebook page.
Smith, who reportedly suffered chronic heart problems, was the retired executive secretary of the Memphis branch of the NAACP and a former city school board member. Overall, she was a pivotal force in almost every important aspect of the civil rights era.
"Today we mourn the passing of civil rights icon, Maxine Smith," Wharton wrote on Facebook. "With her death, Memphis has lost a legendary leader for human rights and one of the brightest stars in the great expanse of our city's history."
Rep. Johnnie Turner said there was no one like Smith.
"She was an amazing woman with an ability to interact with all kinds of people, a brilliant strategist. ... Above all, she was my friend," said Turner, a former executive director of the local NAACP chapter.
Smith – who earned her master's degree from Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont, was born in Memphis during the Depression and when segregation flourished. But as a result, she sought to change the racial status quo.
It's been nearly 50 years since four young girls were killed after members of the Ku Klux Klan planted a bomb at their Sunday school in Birmingham, Ala., simply because of the color of their skin. But five decades later, lawmakers have moved one step closer to posthumously awarding the "four little girls," as they are known by some, with the Congressional Gold Medal, proving that their memory remains seared into our national consciousness.
"These children, unoffending, innocent, and beautiful were the victims of one of the most vicious and tragic crimes ever perpetrated against humanity," said the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in a eulogy for the four children–Addie Mae Collins, 14, Denise McNair, 11, Carole Robertson, 14, and Cynthia Wesley, 14. "They died nobly. They are the martyred heroines of a holy crusade for freedom and human dignity."
The girls were killed the morning of Sept. 15, 1963, in a bombing that also injured 22 other churchgoers. It wasn't until 2000 that the FBI announced the attack had been carried out by the Ku Klux Klan and arrested the remaining suspects, who were later convicted.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., tells a mass meeting in Birmingham, Alabama Sept. 17, 1963 that "words and actions" of Alabama Gov. George Wallace were to blame for the deaths of four African American girls in a church bombing. (AP Photo)
The House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to approve a bill honoring the four girls by posthumously awarding them the Congressional Gold Medal, one of the nation's highest civilian honors. The measure is co-sponsored by Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., a former classmate of President Obama's at Harvard Law School, and Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., who have both been pushing for the honor since earlier this year. Once the bill is approved by the House and Senate and signed by the president, the girls could receive the award by Sept. 15 of this year–50 years to the day they were killed in one of the defining moments of the civil rights movement.
"It's really a long overdue recognition," said Sewell on MSNBC Wednesday. "We thought it was very important and befitting that we acknowledge and honor the lives of [the girls]...This particular medal, I think, while it can't bring back the lives of those that were lost, it is an effort on our part to really acknowledge nationally the sacrifices that these families have made."
Dianne Braddock, the older sister of Carole Robertson, one of the Birmingham victims, watched the vote Wednesday from the House Gallery along with other family members of the victims. In an interview Tuesday with the Washington Post, Braddock called the measure a "meaningful recognition," one that will show the girls "didn't die in vain."
"I'm very elated. I'm happy," said Braddock on MSNBC Wednesday, prior to the vote. "I'm hoping that the whole world will rejoice if this congressional medal is awarded...It's a wonderful recognition."
CBCF Forum Focuses on the Need for More Black Male Instructors
Sixty years after the Supreme Court's decision in Brown vs. Board of Education – the unprecedented civil rights case that dramatically impacted the quality and character of the nation's educational system –black students attending public schools in large urban cities lack diversity when it comes to their teachers.
The panel of education experts who participated in a recent three-hour town hall meeting at Howard University (HU) in Northwest, also noted that inner-city classrooms remain largely segregated, students are being taught by white instructors who have little knowledge of how to reach out to their young charges – and more importantly, due to a shortage of black male teachers as role models, black boys are at risk for dropping out of school.
"We need to know how to make teaching more appealing in order to attract more African-American males," said Amy Wilkins, one of the five panelists who weighed in during the April 18 Diversifying the Nation's Teacher Workforce forum. "And, white students need to see more African-American male teachers as active players in the education system," she said.
Wilkins aligned her comments with myths that black males aren't interested in going into the profession and that black male teachers are becoming extinct. According to a statement issued by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) which co-sponsored the event along with the American Federation of Teachers at HU's Blackburn Center, from among a workforce of six million teachers in this country, there is just one black male teacher for every 534 students.
In addition to Wilkins, a senior civil rights fellow for The College Board, a non-profit organization, headquartered in New York that administers the country's standardized tests, other panelists included Ivy Toldson, senior research analyst for the CBCF, David Johns, executive director, White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African-Americans; Marietta English, American Federation of Teachers (AFT) vice president; and Chance Lewis, executive director, University of North Carolina at Charlotte Urban Education Collaborative.
Lewis, the author of a book on black male teachers, titled "Black Male Teachers: Diversifying the United States' Teacher Workforce" has endeavored to dispel myths surrounding their presence in the education arena.
He agreed with Wilkins that the shortage of black male teachers is mainly because high schools aren't graduating enough black males who will go on to enroll in college and earn teaching degrees.
"Black men are not avoiding the profession because of lack of interest or finances," said Lewis. "If you look at the number with a bachelor's degree, their No. 1 profession is teaching." Next to that, black males are employed in school systems as administrators and counselors, he said.
Wilkins also condemned the waste of students' classroom time doing too much of "cutting out posters" as opposed to engaging in rigorous studies like reading and math.
"That's how we end up with a bunch of remediation in college," said Wilkins, who added that "there's a lot of cleaning up to be done" by all teachers regarding the manner in which they relate to students.
Toldson, an associate professor for the Counseling and Psychology program at HU, said that not only is there an immediate need to diversify the nation's teaching workforce, stress academic socialization and increase the parental presence in schools, but that teachers' evaluations should be based on their ability to effectively reach students.
"An educator's feelings toward their students and knowledge of their students' cultures have significant impact on the learning process and the overall effectiveness of the classroom environment," Toldson said.
English – who said her son and several of his male friends are teachers – added that in Baltimore City, where teachers can earn a top salary of $85,000, officials have negotiated an "innovative" contract that embraces a new method of paying teachers for being effective in their jobs.
"But our teachers have to produce and students have to [perform]," said English, who alluded to the city's diverse teacher workforce. She said teachers in Baltimore City are hired from all over, including the Philippines.
"We've got to move forward – it can't be like it's been in the past," said English. "Teachers' unions need to look beyond salaries and benefits for educators and [determine] how teachers can work together and collaborate," she said. "We need to negotiate salaries around those kinds of things."
Meanwhile, with attention turned to President Barack Obama's goals for ensuring a quality education for all students, Johns – who assumed his current position at the White House in February – said the president's 2014 budget earmarks a $70 billion investment for public education initiatives.
"And, that total exceeds any amount set aside by any other administration for educational programs," said Johns, a former New York City teacher.
Latest Report Shows Systemic Bias
The U.S. Marshals Service prohibited agent Matthew Fogg from conducting drug busts in predominately white sections of Washington, D.C.
Also, the crime-busting federal law enforcement agency frequently left Fogg alone on stakeouts while in search of some of the most notorious fugitives in the county, he said. He often expressed concerns about the constant surveillance of lower-level drug dealers, as opposed to wealthy, white suppliers.
"We were mainly targeting urban areas, and, even when I brought the issue up, I was told that [blacks] were the weakest link in the drug war and that's where we [could] get our numbers up," said Fogg, 61. "There were times after I complained to my supervisors, I was left by myself on stakeouts with armed and dangerous fugitives who we were supposed to be trying to apprehend. My life was in danger," he said.
Today, the retired chief deputy, who served more than 15 years at the U.S. Marshals Service, currently holds the position as the national 1st vice president for Blacks in Government (BIG) and the national vice president for the Federally Employed Women's Legal and Education Fund.
Fogg, a lifelong resident of Southeast Washington, D.C., sued the U.S. Marshals Service in 1998 for racial discrimination.
His lawsuit included allegations of illegal termination which occurred after he filed an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) complaint. It also alleged non annual performance ratings, non selection in two promotions, and allegations that his department maintained a racially charged and hostile working environment against all African Americans.
In 2008, a jury sided with Fogg and awarded the highly decorated agent $4 million in back pay and other damages.
Fogg's case counts among the many discrimination complaints and lawsuits throughout the nation that helped to underscore findings in the most recent U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) jobs report.
The report revealed that unconscious biases, insufficient training and mentoring, as well as outdated recruiting and hiring practices have stifled African Americans working in the federal government.
Those practices are also widespread in the private sector as well, said EEOC Chair, Jacqueline Berrien.
"I've seen a lot of cases and nothing surprises me anymore," said Berrien, 51.
Commission members noted that they've fielded and witnessed complaints which include finding nooses and KKK signs in various work places.
Berrien said the EEOC receives nearly 100,000 new allegations of discrimination annually from African Americans, Latinos and women of all races.
Despite legislative and other efforts, obstacles exist that continue to prevent equal employment opportunities for blacks in the workplace, EEOC Commissioner Victoria Lipnic said. "There is a question as to how do you get around unconscious biases. Unfortunately, there is a tendency by some to favor or look out for a person or a colleague who looks like [themselves]," said Lipnic, 52.
Both Berrien and Lipnic said a lack of adequate mentoring opportunities and insufficient training assignments continue to affect the hiring or advancement of black people.
Also, commission members have found that when a person files an official complaint, they are often subjected to retaliation, harassment and even termination.
"When you file an EEO complaint, that's basically the end of your career or the end of any chance you have of upward movement," Fogg said.
"But, sometimes you have to think of the big picture and carry the weight for everyone else," he said. "View it like the civil rights movement, if Martin Luther King didn't step forward, then where would we be?"
The current system of hiring, promoting and firing is flawed because it has few safeguards against racial, gender and other forms of discrimination, said Katherine Kimple, managing partner of the law firm, Sanford Wittels & Heisler, in Northwest Washington, D.C. "There are nasty, vindictive and hateful people out there and with these folks, you have to have a really good Human Resources Department as well as strong and zero tolerance mechanisms in place," said Kimpel, 44, whose firm represented Fogg and is currently the attorney for several U.S. Marshals, who in 2009 filed a class action suit against the agency.
In that suit, which is separate from Fogg's, one employee said he was hired at a lower pay grade than white employees even though he had a law enforcement background.
Another employee said, despite being the most senior person in his division, he was passed over for a promotion in favor of a white man who had never worked in the division.
"Each government agency needs to have a true game plan to combat this and not just lip service," said Shirley Jones, attorney and legal review committee counselor for BIG, which is located in downtown Washington, D.C.
"African Americans are in a catch-22 because we are not always given the opportunity to shine and when it's time for promotions and other advancement opportunities, our names don't come up," said Jones, 48.
The EEOC study, released in March, is a result of two years of discussions with groups that included BIG and the African American Federal Executives Association. The study list seven conditions commission members said were the most formidable obstacles to equal employment opportunities.
Those obstacles include unconscious biases and perceptions about African Americans that continue to play a significant role in employment decisions in the federal sector. Additionally, insufficient training and development assignments perpetuate inequalities in skills and opportunities for African Americans and educational requirements create obstacles for African Americans in the federal work force.
"This should be surprising to most Americans, but not to us," said Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, senior director of the economics department at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Northwest Washington, D.C.
"We've been in dialogue with the heads of different federal agencies and have been speaking about our concerns when it comes to diversity," said Asante-Muhammad, 39.
"Diversity is important and it must be accomplished," he said.
Defying Expectations.
These words – emblazoned on the front page of Africare's 2013 annual report – embody the organization's 40-year quest to present an African reality to the world that is fact not fiction.
On Saturday, April 20, more than 1,500 guests at the Bishop John T. Walker Memorial Dinner heard from speakers as varied as President Barack Obama, former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva, Africare President Darius Mans, corporate leaders and diplomats who lauded Africare for the work it has done on the continent.
"In this report, we aim to defy your expectations by sharing the Africa that we know. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 11 of the world's 25 fastest growing economies. It is where farmers are multiplying crop yields, where women are becoming leaders, where babies are born healthy – where development is taking hold. Africa ... demands that the world leave the perceptions of last century behind and take a fresh look," according to the annual report.
"Tonight, we celebrate the 43rd anniversary of Africare," said Mans during an interview prior to the gala. "We've invested $1 billion across the continent for food security and to develop active lives. The big challenge is how do you scale this up, replicate it into strong organizations, increase robust organizations ... and make investments in the infrastructure."
Africare has helped eradicate polio in Angola; developed a national malaria prevention plan in Benin; cooperates closely with the South African government to combat the AIDS epidemic in that country; helped a women's cooperate in Chad get into the global market to sell the Shea butter products they produced; and is deeply involved in bolstering food security for millions of people across Africa.
"Food security is absolutely essential," Mans said. "It's an issue that we've been working on for decades."
This year's honorees were Obama and billionaire businessman and telecommunications magnate Mohamed "Mo" Ibrahim. Dr. Johnnetta Cole, Ph.D., served as mistress of ceremonies.
Obama contributed $100,000 of his $1.4 million Nobel Peace Prize monetary award to Africare in 2010 which used it to create the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Health (WASHH) Project in Ghana. The project raises awareness of basic hygiene and hand washing and provides access to safe and clean water for four communities in the Wassa Amenfi District in Ghana's Western Region.
"Before Africare implemented the WASHH Project in Ghana, more than 90 percent of the population shared a latrine with up to 60 other people, and basic hygiene, was in some cases non-existent," said Mans. "With President Obama's donation, Africare was able to significantly improve water access in Ghana. In the two years that followed, the water quality remains very good and the school latrines that were built continue to help schools retains pupils who spend more time in class learning."
Obama received the Bishop John T. Walker Humanitarian Award. He wasn't present at the function because he was focused on the Boston Marathon bombing that occurred earlier in the week, but recorded a video which was played for the guests.
"I'm grateful for this honor and want to commend you for the work you're doing," Obama said. "You're bringing dignity and hope to African people and [you have implemented] an extraordinary program for more than 40 years. I see this as a moment of promise for Africa."
Obama's White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough spoke on the president's behalf.
"Africa is emerging as a new center of economic growth and people are enjoying new opportunities for prosperity," he said. "We're nurturing success where it's rooted, advancing peace and security in Africa, supporting freely elected governments, and working on the delivery of basic services."
McDonough cited countries such as Sierra Leone, Ghana, Cape Verde and Malawi as countries where fair and transparent elections have taken place, where the rule of law is respected and good governance is paramount.
"The U.S. is continuing to expand engagement with leaders who are willing to take steps to [build] governments in their countries," he explained. "Increased transparency makes them more capable."
Africare also honored Ibrahim, a billionaire businessman and philanthropist, with the Bishop John T. Walker Leadership Award for his work on promoting and rewarding good governance and stellar leadership on the continent.
Da Silva presented Ibrahim with his award.
"He is a brother I've met many times before," said da Silva, who received the first leadership award in 2011 for his countless contributions in trade, investment and diplomatic relations between Brazil and Africa. "I'm convinced that hunger in the world, and especially in Africa, is the most important struggle for those responsible for peacekeeping. It's inadmissible with all this wealth that so many people are hungry. Mothers are waking up with one meal to feed their children."
"You all know that the African continent is going through a great period. It is experiencing six percent of growth and the cycle is not interrupted by the global economic crisis."
Of the one billion people on the continent, da Silva said, about 300 million live in absolute poverty and food insecurity.
Da Silva, who is recovering from throat cancer, said budgets need to be allocated to development welfare programs, and he suggested that a coalition of business elites, non-governmental organizations and other civil society institutions would be the catalyst for meaningful change in Africa.
"There should be an obligation of rich countries to invest in the development of these African countries," he said. "They must act to raise financial resources and take food to those affected by hunger and starvation."
Ibrahim said he was speechless and humbled by the award.
"Africa is moving forward, there's no question about that," said Ibrahim, whose foundation launched the $5 million Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership for African heads of state who practiced good governance, transparency and who selflessly restructured their governments and transformed citizens' lives. " ... Now the landscape is changing in Africa and two forces, women and youth is what I think will change the continent."
The Republican National Committee (RNC) has named Amani Council as the organization's director of African-American Communications.
In making the announcement on April 23, RNC chair Reince Priebus expressed confidence that Council's presence will assist his goal of making it a priority to reach out to all Americans and their communities.
"[Council] brings a wealth of experience from her time on [Capitol] Hill, in public relations, business, and in issue advocacy," said Priebus."She will work with Deputy Press Secretary Raffi Williams, who joined our team earlier this year, to build relationships with African-American media as we work to earn the trust of more African-American voters."
Council, who has more than 10 years' experience in strategic communications, community engagement, public relations, and organizational development, first began her work in politics in the office of Florida Congressman Clay Shaw and then as a legislative assistant to Congressman Randy Forbes of Virginia.
Afterward, Council served as director of government affairs for the District of Columbia-based Family Research Council, where she coordinated lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill regarding a wide range of social and pro-family issues.
Most recently, Council served as director of New Media and Business Development at Bass Public Affairs in Alexandria, Va., where she also worked on ballot initiatives and created media strategies for businesses and non-profit organizations.
Law enforcement officials said that the surviving suspect in the April 15 Boston Marathon explosions who remains hospitalized after his capture, admitted on Sunday to playing a role in the attacks.
As a result, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev,19, has been charged with using a weapon of mass destruction that left three people dead and more than 170 injured.
Tsarnaev, who laid grievously wounded in a hospital bed on Monday recovering from gunshots sustained to his "head, neck, legs and hand," was captured late last week. He uttered the word "no" once, but mostly nodding his responses, while being questioned by FBI agents.
Tsarnaev made his admission to agents who had been waiting outside his hospital room for him to regain consciousness.
After he woke up, they questioned him, invoking what is known as the public safety exception to the Miranda Rule, a procedure authorized by a 1984 U.S. Supreme Court decision which in certain circumstances allows interrogation after an arrest without notifying a prisoner of the right to remain silent.
Tsarnaev said that he knew of no other plots and that he and his 26-year-old brother – who was shot to death last week by authorities -- had acted alone, and that he knew of no more bombs that had not been detonated.
The White House said that Tsarnaev, who is a naturalized American citizen, would not be placed in military detention.
"We will prosecute this terrorist through our civilian system of justice," said Jay Carney, the White House press secretary.
(Source: The New York Times)
42 Film Honors Barrier-Breaking Ballplayer, Portrayed by HU Graduate
As Major League Baseball celebrates Jackie Robinson's career and legacy, a new film about the legendary Brooklyn Dodger who broke the sport's color line in 1947, is being hailed as a home run by moviegoers, critics, baseball fans and the late second baseman's family members.
The film, "42," released nationwide April 11, grossed a whopping $27.3 million in its first weekend of release, a grand slam for the national pastime. Industry observers expect the film to soon reach the magical $100 million mark, far surpassing the $40 million it took to produce the movie.
"Notably, '42,' earned a rare A+ CinemaScore grade from polled audiences, thereby joining the ranks of [movies] like 'The Help,' 'The Blind Side,' and 'Titanic,'" said Entertainment Weekly's film critic Grady Smith.
Most importantly, it's as authentic as any previously told biography, Robinson's daughter, Sharon Robinson said. "My family and I are excited about the movie. It does a good job of highlighting the resistance and prejudice that my father faced," said Robinson, 63.
"The movie also could help people discuss the lack of equal opportunity as well," she said.
The film brilliantly captures an era in Major League Baseball and in American history.
Dodgers' general manager Branch Rickey cut an eyebrow-raising, race-defining deal that brought Robinson to the majors, making the Georgia native the first black player in the game's history.
The 120-minute movie features Howard University graduate Chadwick Boseman as the defiant Robinson and Harrison Ford as Rickey, the Dodgers' general manager who signed the would-be Hall of Famer. Boseman, 31, received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2004 from Howard, and went on to study at the British American Dramatic Academy at Oxford in Regents Park in London.
The story focuses primarily on the Dodgers' 1947 season, but also explores the 1946 season that Robinson spent with Brooklyn's minor league affiliate, the Montreal Royals.
The stinging discrimination experienced by Robinson and depicted in the film included a stop with the Royals at a gas station in which he was refused entry into the "washroom."
Some of his teammates protest and threaten to travel to another station, but the owner relents and allows the black player to use the facilities.
As Robinson walks out of the "washroom," a Dodgers' team official greets him with a contract worth $4,100 to play in the majors. "On one condition," the official said to Robinson. "If you can control that temper," he said. Following a pregnant pause, Robinson agrees.
The following season, Robinson is subjected to taunts, blows to the head by opposing pitchers and rule-breaking slides into second base by other players, causing the Dodger injuries but still, he was game enough to continue.
In that pre-civil rights era, Robinson was forced to endure harsh and cruel discrimination and threats from both inside and outside of his own clubhouse.
"The ugliness of the time and its language are not pink-painted over in the film," celebrity writer Roger Friedman said.
The movie takes a complex story of race, history and sports and places a microscopic eye on the most important moments of the mid-20th century.
"If you're a baseball fan, you know the story of Jackie Robinson," said Mike Oz, a Yahoo! Sports columnist, who covers several baseball teams including the Washington Nationals.
"But, let's consider, for a second, the people who aren't really baseball fans, the moviegoers, for example, there's a good chance this will be a popular movie, one that extends beyond baseball fans. This is the kind of movie that could get younger audiences more interested in the game," Oz said.
Robinson was born in Cairo, Ga., in 1919 to a family of sharecroppers.
As the only black family residing in their neighborhood, Robinson and his four siblings encountered discrimination on a daily basis.
However, adversity failed to prevent him from excelling in sports and earning a scholarship to the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).
Robinson became the first athlete to win varsity letters in four sports – baseball, basketball, football and track.
In 1941, Robinson was named as an All-American football player, but because of financial problems, he was forced to leave UCLA and enlist in the U.S. Army, where he ultimately progressed to the rank of second lieutenant – which wasn't an easy feat.
Robinson was court-martialed after objecting to incidents of racial discrimination within the Army, but eventually received an honorable discharge.
He played in the Negro Leagues in 1945 before Rickey approached him with an unprecedented opportunity to play for the Dodgers in the majors.
In his first season with the Dodgers, Robinson won the National League's Rookie of the Year after belting 12 home runs, swiping a league-leading 29 bases and hitting .297.
Two years later, he won the league's Most Valuable Player award and a batting title after he hit .342. Over the course of his career, Robinson hit .311 with 1,518 hits, 137 homers, 734 RBI's and 197 stolen bases.
Robinson, who married the former Rachel Isum, was elected to the baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. He died of an apparent heart attack in 1972, leaving behind his wife and two children, Sharon and David Robinson.
Another son, Jackie Robinson Jr., died in an automobile accident a year prior to his father's death.
Robinson's life and legacy continues to be celebrated by athletes in various sports, especially baseball. The sport honors the late baseball icon by celebrating Jackie Robinson Day on April 15 each year.
Robinson broke baseball's color barrier on April 15, 1947 when he strode onto Ebbets Field in Brooklyn to take on the Boston Braves – the team threatened to strike if Robinson played ball. Interestingly enough, 14,000 African Americans showed up to witness history in the making and support the first black ballplayer ever to step on a major league diamond.
Fifty years later, baseball retired Robinson's jersey number, 42, prohibiting any player from ever wearing the number again. Many who already had the number gave it up, despite baseball officials providing the option for some to keep it until they either left their current team or retired.
Only Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, universally recognized as the greatest relief pitcher in baseball history, choose to continue wearing 42.
The career saves leader, who hails from Panama, plans to retire at the end of this season and said he only elected to keep 42 because of his reverence for Robinson.
To honor his legacy, every player in baseball wears No. 42 on April 15 and ceremonies are held at ballparks throughout the nation to commemorate Robinson's first game in the majors.
The Nationals played in Florida on Monday and the team joined the Miami Marlins in celebrating the historic occasion.
"Watching the movie about Jackie Robinson and seeing the number emphasized was pretty cool," said Washington Capitals right-winger Joel Ward, who is one of a handful of blacks to play in the National Hockey League (NHL).
Ward was asked to speak before an advanced screening of, "42," on April 10 at a movie theater in the District of Columbia.
Ward wears No. 42 in honor of Robinson and said he draws a lot of his strength from the famed baseball star. "I knew coming to Washington it would be a new chapter for me and having the number actually means a lot to me," Ward said. "It [gives] me a chance to pay tribute to Robinson."
Ward, 32, said there are similarities to Robinson and what he and other black NHL players have to endure. For instance, he received a flood of racist messages on social media after scoring the winning goal in a playoff series last year.
"Obviously, Robinson was playing in a sport that was [all] white at the time, and I feel the same connection by playing hockey, which is predominately white," Ward said. "Robinson had to overcome so many obstacles."
Parents and education and community advocates bemoan the low graduation rates in D.C., saying that like the city's burgeoning truancy issue, the situation will only get worse until the necessary steps are taken to rein in the problem and preserve the value of public education.
"Trust me, D.C. schools are a mess and it seems like nobody cares enough to say when enough is enough," said Jocelyn Johnson, 37, a former District resident who pulled her two children out of the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) system two years ago and moved to Seat Pleasant, Md., in Prince George's County.
"My children have adjusted very well to their new system," Johnson said. "My son was in the eighth grade when we moved and had started skipping school. My daughter was turning 16 and on the verge of not graduating on time," she said. "I had talked to everybody that I thought could help – teachers, preachers, principals – but then I realized that I had to take control ... I'm not blaming D.C. for my children's troubles, but it was like [the officials] in charge weren't that concerned that I was concerned."
A report released late last year by the U.S. Department of Education stated that at the end of academic year 2010-11, only 59 percent of students in the DCPS system had graduated on time. However, the Office of the State Superintendent for Education (OSSE) reported a 2 percent increase last year in DCPS graduation rates.
But that hardly elevated the District to any significant standing, as its graduation rates still remain among the lowest in the country.
"A 2 percent increase might be a big deal for OSSE, but it's still a very low number to be [boasting] about, and we as parents, school officials and community leaders need to show our discontent with this," said Dorothy Douglas, a former Ward 7 school board representative. "A lot of situations like truancy and the [mandated] school closings are what's contributing to low graduation rates, and nobody's really looking at that."
According to a 2012 statistical chart provided by OSSE, Cardozo Senior High School in Northwest had a 40 percent graduation rate and Anacostia Senior High School in Southeast had a rate of 42 percent, while Benjamin Banneker Academic High School in Northwest reported a 100 percent rate. Ballou Senior High in Southeast had a 48 percent rate, and Dunbar and Coolidge high schools in Northwest, each had 60 percent rates.
Nevertheless, Hosanna Mahaley Jones, D.C. state superintendent, insisted in a statement that last year's graduation results were proof of school officials' efforts to reach the District's students regardless of income or disability. Her sentiments are shared by DCPS Chancellor Kaya Henderson who said that for years, the rates have not reflected the system's successes or challenges with high school students.
"However, with the new calculations, we have a clearer understanding of the work we still need to do, and the public has a more reliable way to hold us accountable," said Henderson, 43.
Jones further noted that in 2012, District high school seniors reached five-year highs in composite scores and improved in ACT college-readiness benchmarks in English, reading, math and science over the previous year. "While we certainly have a steep road ahead, our investments in public education are moving in the right direction," she said.
Mark Jones, Ward 5 school board representative, agreed somewhat. But he echoed Douglas' sentiments, saying that truancy as a deterrent to graduation and a basis for high unemployment in the District, needs to be seriously addressed.
"We're still behind and I'm not happy about it. Right now, I believe we're below 60 percent [in accordance with national graduation rates]," Jones said. "The school board is reviewing the graduation requirements, which are [among the most stringent] in the nation," he said, adding that at one point the board was considering increasing students' credit hours.
"But I think that might be a mistake," he said. "It could end up being a bigger problem because increasing requirements could negatively impact graduation rates even more."
National Newspaper Publishers Association Chairman Cloves Campbell, Jr. has instructed Attorney James Belt of Dallas to "take whatever steps necessary" to collect a $418,180.12 judgment against Robert Bush, a former independent contractor responsible for advertising sales.
"I have asked Attorney Belt, who heads a special committee I appointed to bring a close to this matter, to take whatever steps necessary to collect on the order issued by U.S. District Court Judge Robert L. Wilkins," said Campbell, publisher of the Arizona Informant. "The order was issued a year ago and Mr. Bush has yet to voluntarily comply with it. Under the circumstances, we will take whatever steps needed to make sure he complies with the judge's lawful order."
Bush, who is believed to be living in Glendale, Calif., filed a suit against the NNPA in federal court in the District of Columbia.
According to the complaint filed on behalf of Bush on June 4, 2010, he was has hired to serve as NNPA's chief advertising salesperson, with an annual base salary of $120,000, plus up to 5 percent in commissions. Bush alleged that he was on target to secure at least $15 million in advertising over the first three years. However, nine months into the 5-year NNPA contract, Bush said he "was being suspended for alleged wrongdoing which [the NNPA] declined to specify."
Bush sought unspecified compensatory damages, attorney fees and costs and a jury trial.
In its response to Bush's complaint, the NNPA stated that in February 2009 Bush notified NNPA that, among other things, "he was not devoting his full time and attention" to his NNPA work "and that he was using time and resources which were to have been devoted to [the NNPA] for other matters."
When then-NNPA Chairman John B. Smith requested an accounting of his activities on April 26, 2009, Bush "stated that he would not provide the requested information." Consequently, the NNPA's executive committee voted to again request the pertinent information from Bush. After he failed to comply with a second request, the executive committee voted to suspend Bush.
According to the NNPA's counterclaim, Bush has refused to turn over company records and documents.
The case was heard by a jury in Washington, D.C., which dismissed one of the claims NNPA had made against Bush and one of Bush's claims against the NNPA. Judge Wilkins issued a partial summary judgment on April 12, 2012 authorizing the NNPA to recover $32,706.06 from Bush that had gone to him as overpaid commissions.
Judge Wilkins noted that Bush's failure to oppose NNPA's motion for attorneys' fees constituted a concession.
Wilkins wrote that it was "Further ordered that, based upon Bush's concession and the Court's thorough review of the Independent Contractor Agreement and the documentation submitted in support of NNPA's motion for attorney's fees and costs, NNPA recover from Bush the amount of $385,474.06 for attorneys' fees and costs."
James Belt, who chairs the NNPA committee set up to resolve the matter, said: "Chairman Cloves Campbell has asked me to take any and all necessary steps to recover nearly a half million dollars that we have spent defending ourselves against baseless allegations. The court's judgment was issued a year ago and we will aggressively try to make sure that another year doesn't pass without the judge's order being fully enforced."
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