(Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

In today’s news, Eric Holder’s plan for conducting meetings with reporters is troubled; American universities have shown uneven results in enrolling poor students; and the schools in Oklahoma destroyed by the recent tornado are to be rebuilt.

Eric Holder’s plan for meetings with reporters hits snag. [BET]

Universities show uneven efforts in enrolling poor. [NY Times]

Oklahoma schools destroyed by tornado to be rebuilt. [CBS]

Ghana set for oil production gains. [UPI]

McDonald’s CEO says he lost weight eating company’s food. [Free Press]

LeBron James explodes as Heat rout Pacers in Game 5. [USA Today]

Black candidate NY mayor would keep some of stop and frisk. [BET]

Oprah Winfrey receives honorary degree from Harvard.  [Boston.com]

Malcolm X’s grandson remembered at memorial service. [NY Times]

South African town accused of keeping apartheid alive. [CNN]

(Photo: AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

In today’s news, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing announced that he will not run for a second term; Nigeria’s president has declared a state of emergency in three of the nation’s states; and New York City’s mayor, Michael Bloomberg, issued a report saying that the judge in the stop and frisk trial is biased against police.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing will not run for reelection. [BET]

Nigeria’s president declares state of emergency in three states. [BBC]

NY Mayor Bloomberg says stop and frisk judge biased against cops. [NY Daily News]

O.J. Simpson will take stand in effort to win a new trial. [ABC]

Military sexual assault: Another prevention coordinator investigated. [MSNBC]

Suspect identified in New Orleans Mother’s Day shooting. [BET]

Ariel Castro’s lawyer says he loves his daughters. [USA Today]

Stars react to Angelina Jolie’s mastectomy news. [USA Today]

Congo builds a town to honor founder Patrice Lumumba.   [BBC]

Slave cabin in S.C. to be restored for Black History Museum. [Washington Post]

(Photo: AP Photo/Arlington County Police Department)

In today’s news, the head of the Air Force’s unit to combat sexual assault was arrested for sexual battery; Grammy Award-winning vocalist Lauryn Hill was sentenced to three months in jail for tax evasion; and New York State confirms the first Black woman to Court of Appeals.

The head of Air Force anti-sexual assault unit arrested for sexual battery. [Reuters]

Lauryn Hill sentenced to three months for tax evasion. [USA Today]

First African-American woman confirmed for New York Court of Appeals. [Syracuse.com]

Black farm workers claim race bias on farm work. [NY Times]

Black women at greater risk of MS than previously thought. [Medical Daily]

Obama plays golf with senators to promote his agenda. [Washington Post]

USC students complain that L.A. police overreacted in shutting down party. [BET]

Opponents of stop and frisk look to involve voters.  [BET]

Ghana’s cedi expected to be poor performing currency in 2013. [Bloomberg]

Somalia peace conference to be held in London. [BBC]

(Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

In today’s news, the nation’s unemployment rate dropped to 7.5 percent, a four-year low; the suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing said the explosions were initially planned for July 4; and the New York City Police commissioner says that African-Americans are “understopped” and defended stop and frisk.

U.S. jobless rate falls to 7.5 percent, four-year low. [NY Times]

Black unemployment dips again in April. [BET]

Boston suspect said bombing was initially planned for July 4. [Washington Post]

African-Americans are “understopped,” NY police chief says. [International Business Times]

Former Black Liberation Army member is first woman on list of most wanted terrorists. [ABC]

Roy Roberts steps down as emergency manager of Detroit Public Schools. [Crain's Detroit Business]

Black jockey Kevin Krigger looks to win Kentucky Derby. [Washington Post]

Clarence Thomas: Obama says what elites expect from a Black person. [Fox]

In Chicago, 20 shootings, three killed, in one day. [BET]

Mali court drops case against editor Boukary Daou. [BBC]

(Photo: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

In today’s news, President Obama is expected to nominate Congressman Mel Watt, the former head of the Congressional Black Caucus, to lead the federal housing agency; three more people were taken into custody in the Boston Marathon Bombing case; and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg offers a strong defense of the controversial stop and frisk police program.

Obama to nominate Mel Watt to head housing agency. [Los Angeles Times]

Three more taken into custody in Boston bombing case. [Boston Globe]

NYC mayor defends stop and frisk policy. [BET]

Trayvon Martin family lawyer files appeal paperwork. [Orlando Sentinel]

Report: Somalia famine killed 260,000 people. [BBC]

South Africa sees race swap in suburban population. [BET]

Arrests follow the failed coup in Chad. [BBC]

Two airplanes clip at Newark Airport before taking off. [NY Post]

Obama tells liberals not to push too hard on immigration. [Washington Post]

Nearly half of Americans say budget cuts will hurt economy. [NY Times]

(Photo: Joe Burbank - Pool/Getty Images)

In today’s news, George Zimmerman waived his right to immunity under Florida’s controversial stand your ground law; Jason Collins is praised for how he announced he is gay; and voters want one party running the White House and Congress.

Zimmerman waives right to immunity under stand your ground. [BET]

Jason Collins is lauded for the way he came out. [NY Daily News]

Voters in poll want one party running White House, Congress. [Bloomberg]

Obama marks first 100 days in second term with press conference. [BET]

Bloomberg strongly defends police department and stop and frisk. [AP]

Central Park Five prosecutor is at center of controversy. [BET]

Paul Ryan now supports gay adoptions. [Washington Times]

Satellite images show Nigeria army abuse. [BBC]

Majority want death penalty for Tsarnaev if convicted of Boston bombing. [Washington Post]

An Asian-American fraternity is under fire for blackface video. [Jet]

(Photo: AP Photo, File)

In today’s top news, Nelson Mandela is hospitalized again, George Zimmerman’s lawyer Mark O’Mara believes Robert Zimmerman’s controversial tweets will harm defense and two Georgia teens have been indicted for the murder of a 1-year-old.

Nelson Mandela was hospitalized again for a lung infection. [BET]

George Zimmerman’s lawyer Mark O’ Mara believes Robert Zimmerman’s tweets about Trayvon Martin will harm the defense. [CNN]

Two Georgia teens have been indicted for the murder of a 1-year-old. [CNN]

A rally will be held in D.C. on Good Friday to increase national awareness of racial disparities in incarceration. [Afro American]

In the stop-and-frisk trial, a NYPD officer testified that he detained and taunted an innocent 13-year-old. [Wall Street Journal]

Search warrants say Adam Lanza killed 26 people and himself in five minutes in the Newtown, Connecticut, massacre. [USA Today]

Miami Heat’s winning streak ends with loss to the Chicago Bulls, 101-97. [ESPN]

Jamie Foxx will play the president in the upcoming action film White House Down. [The Grio]

(Photo: MPI/Getty Images)

In today’s top news, President Obama will declare a new national monument for Harriet Tubman, Obama has arrived in Jordan to meet with King Abdullah and Nigerian author Chinua Achebe is dead at 82.

President Obama will declare five new national monuments on Monday, including one for Harriet Tubman. [Washington Post]

Obama arrived in Jordan today where he will meet with King Abdullah. [Voice of America]

Chinua Achebe, Nigerian author and one of Africa’s most widely-known novelists, is dead at 82. [NYTimes]

Gen. Lloyd Austin became the first African-American to lead the U.S. Central Command. [BET]

The stop-and-frisk trial in New York City revealed a new tape recording of an officer demanding racially biased stop-and-frisk searches. [Village Voice]

Chicago parents are slamming 13-year-old rapper Lil Mouse’s appearance at a club that was recently shot up. [TheGrio]

The Sapphires, a Dreamgirls-like film about an Australian Aboriginal singing group, hits U.S. theaters. [LA Times]

A Marine shot and killed two of his fellow service members at a Virginia base Thursday night and then killed himself. [CNN]

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Julius Genachowski, is stepping down. [AP]

President Bashar al-Assad vowed on Friday to purge Syria of “extremist forces.” [Reuters]

(Photo: Courtesy Watkins Family via CBS News)

In today’s top news, Jonylah Watkins will be laid to rest, Lil Wayne was released from the hospital and graduation rates have improved for Black NCAA tournament players.

The funeral for Jonylah Watkins, the 6-month-old who was killed in a drive-by shooting in Chicago, will be held today. [Chicago Tribune]

Lil Wayne has been released from a Los Angeles hospital where he was taken in after having seizures. [BET]

On the 10-year anniversary of the Iraq war, 57 people were killed in bombings throughout Baghdad.  [AP]

Graduation rates have improved for NCAA tournament players, especially African-Americans. [TheGrio]

Bobbie Smith, the former lead singer of the group the Spinners, has died. He was 76. [Billboard]

Officers involved in the shooting of Kimani Gray have previously been sued for civil rights violations. [WNYC]

At least seven U.S. Marines were killed and several others were injured at a Nevada training site. [USA Today]

The housing market has shown signs of improvement in February as the number of new permits for construction climbed to the highest level since 2008. [Reuters]

Two teenage girls were charged with menacing for allegedly threatening the victim in the Steubenville, Ohio, rape case via Twitter and Facebook. [ABC]

Two suicide bombers killed at least 22 people in an attack on a bus station in the Northern Nigerian city of Kano yesterday. [Bloomberg]

Pope Francis set the tone for a new, humbler papacy on Tuesday with a call for the defense of the weak and the environment. [Reuters]

In today’s top news, President Obama nominates Tom Perez as next labor secretary; hundreds of New Yorkers will testify in trial challenging NYPD’s stop and frisk procedures; and Black farmers have still not been paid $1.2 billion from a 2010 settlement.

President Obama nominated Tom Perez to be his next labor secretary. [Politico]

Hundreds of New Yorkers will testify in a trial beginning Monday that will challenge the NYPD’s stop and frisk procedures. [AP]

Black farmers have still not been paid their $1.2 billion discrimination settlement from the USDA. [Monroe News Star]

Prosecutors are considering murder charges against Winnie Mandela following the exhumation of bodies of two young activists last seen at her home 24 years ago. [AP]

CNN is under fire for coverage of the Steubenville rape trial that was biased towards the convicted rapists and not the victim. [Huffington Post]

Dr. Conrad Murray, who was Michael Jackson’s personal physician, is refusing to testify in trial for a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Jackson’s mother. [CNN]

An ex-Oklahoma QB was killed in a plane crash Sunday that claimed the life of one other person. [Chicago Tribune]