Howard University

Commencement speakers: Conservatives need not apply

2013-05-19 00:00:00

We have once again entered the college commencement season, which means we'll soon be reading about uplifting graduation speeches delivered by prominent Americans. Or at least by prominent liberal Americans. It's becoming increasingly apparent that...

Nevada lawmaker surprised himself by coming out on Senate floor

2013-04-25 07:15:00

LAS VEGAS – Nevada state Sen. Kelvin Atkinson says he didn’t plan to come out of the closet as a gay man before the entire state Senate, and the nation, this week. It just worked out that way. The 44-year-old Democrat, who represents North...

Donald Byrd dies at 80; jazz trumpeter was a funk-fusion experimenter

2013-02-12 06:00:00

Jazz trumpeter and band leader Donald Byrd, whose clean, elegant phrasing made his reputation in the 1950s and '60s before he began experimenting in the '70s and '80s with jazz-funk-R&B fusions on discs such as "Black Byrd" and "Thank You ... for F.U.M.L....

Harry Truman, Lincoln's heir

2013-02-17 00:00:00

Presidents Day, which falls between the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, celebrates the contributions of those presidents. But here's a nomination for another president worth remembering on this long weekend: Harry Truman, the first...

Donald Byrd dies at 80; jazz musician and educator

2013-02-11 15:16:00

Jazz musician Donald Byrd, a leading hard-bop trumpeter of the 1950s who collaborated on dozens of albums with top artists of his time and later enjoyed commercial success with hit jazz-funk fusion records such as "Black Byrd," has died. He was 80. He...

Inauguration 2013: Rev. Jeremiah Wright calls on Obama to promote peace

2013-01-21 07:56:00

WASHINGTON — The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the president’s former pastor whose sermons touched off a firestorm in the 2008 political campaign, urged Monday that President Obama heed the words of the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and transform...

Catherine O'Neill dies at 70; political activist, women's advocate

2012-12-30 15:54:00

Catherine O'Neill, a social worker turned political activist and advocate for refugee women who co-founded the watchdog group now called the Women's Refugee Commission, died of cancer Wednesday at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. She was 70. Her death...

Hip-hop and pop music crowd D.C. for Obama inauguration

2013-01-19 08:00:00

All eyes will be on Beyonce, Kelly Clarkson and James Taylor when they take the stage at Monday's presidential inauguration. But they're far from the only major artists partaking in the festivities. A slew of performing artists will be taking the...

PASSINGS: Ron Palillo, Al Freeman Jr., James M. Naughton

2012-08-15 00:00:00

Ron Palillo Actor played Arnold Horshack on 'Kotter' Ron Palillo, 63, an actor whose signature role was Arnold Horshack in the 1970s TV sitcom "Welcome Back, Kotter," died Tuesday of a heart attack in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., said his agent, Jackie...

Wesley Brown dies at 85; first black graduate of Naval Academy

2012-05-25 00:00:00

Retired Lt. Cmdr. Wesley Brown, the first African American graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, died Tuesday in Silver Spring, Md., the Naval Academy's alumni association announced from Annapolis, Md. He was 85 and had cancer. A 1949 graduate, Brown was...

Raymond L. Johnson Sr. dies at 89; lawyer, civil rights activist

2012-01-09 00:00:00

Raymond L. Johnson Sr., an attorney, civil rights activist and former Tuskegee Airman, died Dec. 31 in Los Angeles of complications of pneumonia and heart failure, said his wife, Evelyn. He was 89. Johnson, who practiced law for nearly 50 years, was a...

Robert L. Carter dies at 94; NAACP attorney fought segregation

2012-01-06 11:04:00

Robert L. Carter, who as an NAACP civil rights attorney was an architect of the legal strategy used in the cases that led to Brown vs. Board of Education, the landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision that declared school segregation unconstitutional, has...

Olivia Allen, Ariel Phelps and Keiara Avant of Hampton University celebrate as the final seconds tick away on their 59-38 MEAC championship victory over Howard Saturday in Norfolk.

2013-03-16 00:00:00

Christine Jenkins, captain of the dance squad at Howard University and a graduate of Mt. Hebron High School, poses for a portrait with her parents, Herb and Edie.

2012-11-16 00:00:00

vice president/general counsel, and Scott Phillips, Baltimore-based attorney, pose for a photo during the Freedom Banquet's cocktail hour. Schmoke was one of the evening's honorees.

2012-10-22 00:00:00