Darren “Bo” Taylor gave up his life with the Crips to foster harmony
Darren “Bo” Taylor, a one-time gang-banger who survived the mean streets of Los Angeles to bring about peace between rival gangs following the 1992 L.A. riots, lost a battle with cancer on Monday. He was 42. The former Crips member was perhaps the most unlikely peace activist. “Through his UNITY One organization, Taylor worked painstakingly to reduce street violence and to teach life skills to inmates. You don’t find many in the gang-intervention world who can be effective in the street, effective in the courtroom, effective at City Hall and effective in the prisons,” civil rights attorney Connie Rice told The Associated Press. “He could calm everyone down and make us work together.” Survivors include his wife, Marlene Oglesby-Taylor, and mother, Charlene Taylor. (Photo/ Los Angeles Times).

Don’t count on Jesse or Colin in Denver.

Secretary of State Colin Powell downplayed reports that he’d be standing next to Sen. Barack Obama at the Democratic Convention in Denver later this month. During the primaries, Powell had kind words for Obama, stoking speculation that the first African-American secretary of State might throw his support behind potentially the first African-American president. Go to BET.com/News for more..

Second noose is found on Tennessee construction site. For the second time this month construction workers at the BlueCross BlueShield building site in Tennessee Thursday found a noose at the worksite in Cameron Hill. It was constructed of plastic building material, FBI Agent in Charge Ed Galloway told The Chattanooga Times Free Press. He said his office is investigating. Skanska, the company in charge of the construction project, is offering diversity and sensitivity training, the newspaper reports. “We’ve added a tremendous amount of security at the site,” John Reyhan, general manager for the project, Reyhan said. “And at our job-wide meeting every morning we are encouraging anyone to come forward with any reports of intimidation.” The first noose was found last week.

The project is less than $5 million from its $100 million goal
The seemingly insurmountable mound of money needed to complete the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial is just a hair off the mark now, and construction for the historic landmark featuring an African-American leader is expected to kick off soon, according to the foundation responsible for overseeing the project. After an intense feud over the design of the memorial – particularly disagreement over the statue of the slain civil rights leader – the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts is reportedly close to approving a new concept, and construction is slated to be complete within two years. In recent weeks, the Commission’s secretary blasted the proposal for the centerpiece statue, to be sculpted by Lei Yixin of China, saying that King looked angry and “confrontational.” The design shows King, with his arms crossed, rising from two large blocks, which represent the Mountain of Despair and the Stone of Hope. The statue is the centerpiece of the memorial, which will reside on the Tidal Basin near the Jefferson, Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt memorials. In a statement issued at a fundraiser last week, Harry Johnson, president and CEO of the memorial foundation, said, “The memorial foundation has had an ongoing and productive dialogue with the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, and we are proud that our collective hard work has led us to a design solution that will honor the ideals of democracy, justice, hope and love for which Dr. King stood.”