Daily News Feed 12.07.07

The Audacity of Oprah
This Christmas, the film The Great Debaters will come to theaters nationwide. Starring Denzel Washington and produced by Oprah Winfrey, it tells the story of an award-winning team of debaters from Wiley College, a small, historically black institution founded in 1873 and located in Marshall, Texas. In the 1930s the debate team, coached by poet Melvin Tolson, surpassed nearly every other team in the country in contests against universities as far-flung as the University of Southern California and Oxford. (Continue Reading…)

Spain’s dire straits for immigrants
Spain is still the preferred route to Europe for many Africans seeking a better life through illegal immigration, but the number of those making the dangerous ocean crossing in flimsy boats has been sharply reduced this year. Fassara Keita, 26, considers himself among the fortunate. He says he was working as a security guard in his native Mali, but fled a death threat. He walked and rode buses to reach Morocco. (Continue Reading…)

President leaves behind a people left paralysed by their poverty
The road out of Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, is a survey of disrepair. Broken traffic lights, rusting lampposts, rubbish-strewn scrub planted with maize by hungry people, broken down vehicles, hawkers with pitiful offerings, the choking fumes of cheap fuel. The road itself leads to the poorer townships, the heartland of the opposition, and some possible answers to questions surrounding Zimbabwe: what has happened to this once-thriving country? And why have its people not risen up against its leaders? (Continue Reading…)

Source Claims Jay-Z’s Def Jam Negotiations Stalling
There may be a leak at Def Jam that has nothing to do with the upcoming schedule of new music. An unnamed source tells George Rush and Joanna Rush Molloy of the New York Daily News that negotiations between Jay-Z and Universal Music Group’s Doug Morris have turned sour. (Continue Reading…)

Birth Rates Study Says Number of Black Teens Having Babies Increased More Than Others
The number of black teens having babies increased more than any other group in a study released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a trend experts say reflects several socio-economic problems. “Poverty is part of the pathway to teen pregnancy. We’ve been battling this problem for 24 years,” says Dr. Michael Carrera, founder of one of the oldest teen pregnancy prevention programs in the country. (Continue Reading…)

Liberia: New Study Spotlights Sexual Violence
Preliminary findings of a new study by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Columbia University may have given relief workers the evidence they say they need to focus greater attention on the problem of sexual violence in Liberia. Violence against women and girls, they say, has potentially far-reaching consequences on education, health and development in Liberia as it struggles to recover from 14 years of civil war. (Continue Reading…)