He hung nooses from his truck and drove past a crowd of “ Jena Six” protestors

Jeremiah Munsen, a 19-year-old from Colfax, La., thought he’d send a powerful message to the protestors who showed up in his state last September to march against the prosecution of the six Black teens from the town of Jena accused of beating a White classmate. So he slung two nooses from his pickup truck and made sure the protestors got a glimpse. A judge has now sent a powerful message to Munsen, sentencing him to four months in prison for that single act of ultra-insensitivity. He could’ve been slapped with a one-year term, but Munsen bargained for the lesser sentence in April by fessing up to a misdemeanor charge of interfering with the protestor’s federally protected right to travel, The Associated Press reports. A group of African-American protestors were in Alexandria, La., waiting for their bus back home to Tennessee when Munsen repeatedly drove past them, displaying the nooses.

Gov. Bobby Jindal shot down a plan to create another African-American judgeship
Two Louisiana state lawmakers are accusing Bobby Jindal, the nation’s first governor of east Indian descent, of an African-American problem. State Sen. Derrick Shepherd and state Rep. Girod Jackson, both African Americans and Democrats, are angry that Jindal has vetoed a plan that would have created another minority judgeship in Jefferson Parish, a jurisdiction with a history of racial strife. “We got knifed in the back,” Shepherd said Wednesday on the steps of the Jefferson Parish Courthouse. “It just begs the question, ‘What does the governor have against the African-American community – in particular, the African-American community in Jefferson Parish.’” Of the 16 judges in the 24th Judicial Court in Jefferson Parish, two of them are African Americans who were elected from a majority-Black district. The state legislature passed a bill, introduced by Shepherd, that would have created a third minority judgeship, but Jindal shot it down, saying, “I have received several veto requests from officials representing voters in the impacted area. For instance, Speaker Tucker, Representative Templet and Representative Wooten describe the bill as ‘patently unfair.’” The governor and lawmakers critical of the bill say the matter should be shelved until after the 2010 census. “This bill, in the form that it reached the governor, is an agreement that we made in between all legislators,” said Jackson. “Maybe some now feel that it was unfair, but that’s part of the process.” Shepherd now wants the NAACP and civil rights attorneys sue the state, forcing it to establish another minority judgeship. “We have 31-percent minority population (in Jefferson Parish) and it’s growing,” he told Louisiana station WWLTV. “In an attempt to get us all together to come in one accord, we tried to do the right thing, but it was blocked in the end.”

Parents of missing teen say Chicago Police don’t care
The parents of a 15-year-old Chicago girl say police are not putting energy into finding their daughter because she is Black. Yasmin Acree’s mom, Rose Starnes, dismisses the assumption by police that her daughter ran away, pointing to the locks on two gates that were cut and the door to the basement, where her room is located, that was forced open. Starnes also notes that Yasmin, who has been missing since Jan. 15, was excited about starting a new job. Starnes says she discovered Yasmin, an African-American honor student from the West Side, missing when she returned from visiting her grandchildren in Elgin. Joseph Salemme, the grand-central commander with the Chicago Police, says that the family’s charge of racism is ridiculous and insulting.

Louisiana cop arrested for robbing Hispanic motorists
A 25-year-old police officer in the small southeast Louisiana town of Slidell is being accused of stopping Hispanic drivers and stealing their money before sending them on their way, The Times Picayune reports. The officer, Jonathan M. Lutman, handed in his badge and gun Friday, after a short two-year stint, and was booked on one count of theft over $500, eight counts of theft under $300 and four counts of malfeasance in office, Slidell Police Chief Freddy Drennan told reporters. “Anytime we have to arrest one of our own, it’s a blemish on our department,” Drennan said. “It’s a blemish on everybody here. It’s a blemish on law enforcement as a whole. And it’s not something we relish at all. It’s a very sad day when I, as the chief of police, have to tell the citizens of this city and the people of this state that we arrested someone that we put our trust and faith into.” Drennan said it was difficult to know whether Lutman actually stole more than the $3,000 he’s accused of taking during at least four traffic stops between April and June, the Picayune reports. Drennan said that Lutman apparently believed that the language barrier would keep the victims – he targeted Hispanics – from speaking out about the thefts. His theory backfired when two Latinos went to police, who initiated an internal investigation, according to the Picayune. The department then combed Slidell’s Hispanic community and found more victims. “We have gone above and beyond to reach these people out there to determine if other people were victims,” Drennan said. They found four victims, who picked Lutman out of a lineup, he said.

The jazz world loses another giant
Bobby Durham, one of the jazz world’s most recognized drummers, died of lung cancer and emphysema July 7 at a hospital in Genoa, Italy. He was 71. Durham spent many years backing such notables as pianist Oscar Peterson and vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, and appeared on a number of television shows, including The Tonight Show, the Merv Griffin Show and the Mike Douglas Show. He lived in Philadelphia for many years and also resided off and on in Europe, most notably in Italy. Durham, known for virtuosity as a percussionist, was also an accomplished vocalist. His last recording, Domani’s Blues, featured his lush voice on the standard “I should Care.” Following a 1968 concert with Peterson, the late New York Times jazz critic John S. Wilson once referred to Durham’s embellishments on drums as “remarkable displays of technical virtuosity.”

Looks like Barbie decided to pledge AKA. As BET.com reported earlier this year, Mattel created a limited-edition Barbie doll in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the nation’s oldest Black sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha. Now, she’s ready to make her debut. The doll, dressed in her salmon pink and apple green evening gown (the sorority’s official colors) and adorned with gold jewelry, will sell for $50 and will be introduced to the 35,000 members going to the sorority’s convention in Washington, D.C. starting this weekend, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. It will also be available through BarbieCollector.com, the Barbie Collector catalog and other outlets and partnerships with the sorority. The group will receive a portion of the proceeds. Since being founded on the campus of Howard University in 1908, 200,000 women have been inducted including poet Maya Angelou, author Toni Morrison and TV host Star Jones.

Judge rejects Black union members’ discrimination suit
A federal judge threw out a discrimination suit against a Kansas City construction union, ruling that the five Black union members didn’t prove their case. Robert G. Franklin, Steve Bailey, Edward W. Lewis, Glenn E. Steele and Leon Booker, active and retired members of Sheet Metal Workers Local 2 had argued that they had been discriminated against by the union’s jobs-referral list in January 2006, The Kansas City Star reports. “My only regrets in this matter are that the reputation of Local 2 has been challenged and that the resources of the hard-working men and women of all racial groups that make up the union have been used to defend allegations that were unfounded,” Ken Alexander, Local 2 business manager, said in a statement. “In my opinion, this case should never have been filed.”

Louisiana lawmaker is in another battle
Rep. William Jefferson, who has spent a good chunk of the past couple years fighting allegations that he has used his position as a national politician to swing fat-cat money deals for his wife and kids, is facing a barrage of challengers for his Louisiana congressional seat. Included in the suddenly crowded field of Democrats is Helena Moreno, a former TV news reporter; Troy Carter, a former New Orleans City Council member; Byron Lee, a member of the Jefferson Parish Council; and state Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, who see a chance to unseat the reeling lawmaker. “Obviously, the congressman has issues that he has to deal with,” Carter said, according to The Times Picayune newspaper. Jefferson, who is seeking his 10th term in the U.S. House of Representatives, has seen his power on the Hill evaporate in the wake of federal criminal investigations into alleged bribery and influence-peddling. He is accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars from representatives of a Nigerian telecommunications firm and promises of jobs for his wife and children in exchange for his support of favorable legislation.

First Black judge on Louisiana high court dies

Justice Revius O. Ortique, a seminal civil rights figure and the first African American elected to the Louisiana Supreme Court, died Sunday following a stroke a week earlier. He was 84 years old. The New Orleans native and World War II veteran earned his bachelor’s degree from Dillard University, a master’s from the University of Indiana and his law degree from Southern University in 1956, according to HistoryMakers.com. Ortique began his own private law practice in 1956, working on any type of case but focusing primarily on estate cases. His practice became one of the largest estate practices in the State of Louisiana. As the President of the Community Relations Council, Ortique served as “chief negotiator” for the peaceful desegregation of lunch counters, hotels and other public facilities in New Orleans. Between 1965 and 1967, Ortique served as the president of the National Bar Association. In 1970, after the National Guard shot to death four students and wounded four others who were protesting the war in Southeast Asia, then-President Richard Nixon appointed Ortique to the President’s Commission on Campus Unrest. Four years later, Nixon named Ortique to the newly created Legal Services Corporation, designed to guarantee equal access to the criminal justice system by providing legal assistance to poor defendants. In 1992, Ortique was elected to the Louisiana Supreme Court; he retired two years later. He was named an alternate to the United Nations General Assembly by President Clinton in 1999, HistoryMakers.com says.

Program aims to give minorities money help
The Federal Reserve System is hoping that a new project will give minority-owned banks a much-needed leg up in providing access to credit and financial services, particularly in poor communities. The Partnership for Progress program will give innovative outreach and technical assistance at minority institutions. “The program’s overarching mission is to preserve and promote minority-owned institutions and to enhance their vital role in providing access to credit and financial services in communities that have been historically underserved,” said Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben S. Bernanke. “The Federal Reserve is committed to helping minority-owned and de novo banks achieve long-term success.” The Partnership for Progress provides insight on key issues in three distinct stages of a bank’s life cycle: “Start a Bank,” “Manage Transition,” and “Grow Shareholder Value.” Topics covered include credit and interest-rate risk, capital and liquidity, and banking regulations. To ensure broad access to the program, all aspects of the training will be available through workshops, online courses, and the program’s interactive Web site. “This cutting-edge program, which draws on insights from economics, accounting, finance, and regulatory compliance, will become a valuable resource for institutions at different stages of their development,” said Federal Reserve Board Governor Randall S. Kroszner.

Two of the infamous “Angola 3” spent 36 years in solitary confinement.

A Louisiana judge says that a former Black Panther, convicted of killing a prison guard more than 35 years ago, deserves a third trial. Sixty-one-year-old Albert Woodfox, who got a second trial in 1998, got a raw deal when his court-appointed lawyer neglected to lodge an objection or hire expert witnesses to testify on his behalf, according to federal Magistrate Judge Christine Nolan. Those omissions, she said, warrants a third trial. Woodfox, who was one of the inmates known as the “Angola Three,” spent 36 years in solitary confinement at the notorious Angola farm prison near the Mississippi border. Woodfox was convicted in 1972 of killing officer Brent Miller during a prison riot, along with Robert King Wilkerson and Herman Wallace. Wilkerson was freed seven years ago, after his 1973 conviction of murdering a fellow inmate was overturned and he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder; Wallace was released from solitary with Woodfox in March and sent to a maximum-security dormitory. Nolan said Tuesday that in the 1998 trial, Woodfox’s attorney should have objected to testimony from witnesses who had died since the original trial. Her nonbinding recommendation now goes to U.S. District Judge James Brady, who will rule later. Among the witnesses who had died in the quarter-century since the first trial were an inmate who was the prosecution’s main witness and an expert who talked about blood spatters on clothing that state officials said had been lost, Noland wrote. The attorney also should have asked for money to hire experts to challenge the blood, DNA and fingerprints, the magistrate wrote. Nicholas Trenticosta, an attorney representing both Woodfox and Wallace, said the magistrate’s decision was beneficial for both inmates. Just last month, a state court rejected Wallace’s motion for a new trial.