africa

A group of students on a tour of South Africa led by Stevenson University was robbed on Sunday while traveling in Pretoria, a school spokeswoman said. No one was injured in the incident, which occurred at about 1 p.m. local time in the South African capital.

The acting city manager for Annapolis submitted her resignation to Mayor Mike Pantelides Monday night -- the latest high-profile departure for the new administration.

Louis G. Hecht, an owner of the Triangle Sign Co. and antiques appraiser who immersed himself in Baltimore's classic jazz scene, died of congestive heart failure Saturday, his 92nd birthday, at Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Hospital. He lived in Pikesville.

I do not believe keeping the Stanley name on the new library is a problem, unless I'm missing something. The deed that accompanied the land transfer did stipulate that it be named for the Stanley family but it did not indicate that it should be Charles's name specifically.

Sun's Lexington Market coverage borders on being racist

Baltimore officials are laying the groundwork for a major overhaul of the city-owned Lexington Market that could cost as much as $25 million. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and market managers believe a redesigned building and better vendor mix — less fast food, more fresh, gourmet and ethnic fare — could lure back the middle-income shoppers who abandoned it long ago. But officials acknowledge that managing what happens outside, including open-air drug sales, is vital to achieving

The controversy surrounding the renaming of the Laurel library has taken a turn as the Confederate past of Charles H. Stanley, for whom the library is currently named, has some city residents in conflict with a campaign to keep Stanley's name on the building.

A national black firefighters association and African-American leaders in Anne Arundel County are criticizing state officials for allowing an all-white class of firefighter recruits at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport.

It's time to change Maryland's marijuana laws, which are costly, ineffective, racially biased and the cause of a permanent blot on the records of too many of our young adults.

If I were advising either Hillary Clinton or any of the at least 10 Republicans giving thought to running for president in 2016, I would tell them to pay especially close attention to Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley of Maryland. Should they not, he may be viewing them all in his rear view mirror as he cruises toward the White House.

Magic Johnson may have survived for more than 20 years with HIV and is in apparent good health, but don't let the basketball legend's success story fool you.

Three white 20-somethings in a college championship round on Jeopardy last week avoided the "African American History" category until the very end. They instead opted first to tackle esoteric entries such as "Kiwi Fauna" and "Weather Verbs" over their own country's past, leaving the black category untouched until it was the only option left.

A. Dwight Pettit's 'Under Color of Law' details his case to gain admission to Aberdeen High School in 1960

Culminating each year during Black History Month, the Black Saga Competition challenges students to learn about African Americans by studying both historical and current events and figures.

Columbia Pierians create quilt showcasing African-American history in Howard County

February is Black History Month, and the Harford County Human Relations Commissions encourages county residents to learn more by participating in local events.

A Perry Hall Middle School student received honors in a recent Black History Month essay competition, according to a news release from Baltimore County Public Schools.

The attorney general is right to call for repealing state laws that bar ex-felons from voting.

Monsignor Roland Pierre Bordelon, a retired career Catholic Relief Services director, died of dementia Dec. 18 at the Charlestown Retirement Community. The former Mount Vernon resident was 87.

Baltimore writer takes look inside the influential variety show

A broad coalition of government agencies and non-profit organizations will be offering free HIV/AIDS testing in Baltimore on Friday -- which is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.

Doris Ligon may be Baltimore born and bred, but she can't seem to get her mind off Africa. "I was in my 30s before I heard anything positive about Africa," recalls Ligon, 77, who, along with her late husband, Claude, opened the African Art Museum of Maryland in Columbia in 1980. Since 2011, the museum has held forth closer to Laurel, in cozy space in Maple Lawn, just off the lobby of the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church

Esteemed historian Philip J. Merrill offers a lecture on the history of slavery in Howard County Maryland Feb. 16, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., at the Miller Library in Ellicott City.

Ellicott City briefs

Two of those DOTAs, one support staffer and one pilot, visited Harford County Thursday afternoon to speak to an audience of about 100 people gathered at the Richlin Ballroom in Edgewood

City, county and neighborhood groups are coalescing around efforts to change the Route 1 strip, once known for its car dealerships and now a hodgepodge of pizza places, convenience stores and takeout Chinese, poorly-lit and lined by old sidewalks.

Calling all polar bears! Joe Kochenderfer will lead Havre de Grace's polar team to brave frigid temperatures on Saturday at 10 a.m. for a "Frost Bite Walk of the North Park Trail

The legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will be celebrated in Anne Arundel County with an awards dinner, an awards breakfast, a concert and a day of service.

Imagine a Baltimore where key figures such as Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake and Secretary of the Department of Juvenile Services Sam Abed made it their resolution in this new year to think more creatively about community peace-building initiatives, starting with a significant increase in funding for youth development programs. Such a resolution would be a proactive investment in the social capital of our city's youth, an untapped asset that would bring boundless returns.

The Eastern Shore-born activist who created Kwanzaa told a standing-room-only crowd the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African-American History Saturday that the post-Christmas holiday is a celebration of "all that is good in life."

Three years before the next presidential election, Republican also-rans are making noises about trying again. The most conspicuous is former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who won the Iowa caucuses in 2008 but quickly faded and pivoted to his own television show to lick his wounds and contemplate his future.

Chances are, unless you have a particular interest in the continent of Africa, you may have never heard of the Central African Republic. But you should be paying attention because there is a humanitarian crisis of immense proportions occurring there.

The Anne Arundel County Council will consider a resolution to honor Nelson Mandela on Monday night.

As a player in the Black Power and civil rights movements of the 1960s, even at only 25 years old, Maulana Karenga was concerned about legacy. He wanted to leave behind something that would both celebrate the accomplishments of his people and challenge them to go even further.

Although hospice care has dramatically increased in popularity over the past decade, of the 1.6 million Americans who used such services last year, about 82 percent were Caucasian and fewer than 9 percent African-American. And in Maryland, predominantly white localities finish near the top in terms of hospice use.

Wine Find | 2012 Fairview Goats do Roam Red Wine

The fake interpreter at Nelson Mandela's memorial service merely highlighted what has become the norm for deaf people all over the world. Fake and incompetent interpreters act everyday to isolate and segregate deaf people from their community at large. And our own government and our own school systems tacitly approve such despicable actions.

Africa is a continent, not a country. However, most of the world refers to Africa as one collective, with little attention paid toward borders; a practice most Africans resent. And it has never been quite as prevalent as in the last few days since Nelson Mandela's passing.

Nelson Mandela stood apart; his was of an epic struggle on the right side of history. As someone said, "we now know from him that we can make the world a better place" and we can do it as one.