Virginia Fields, president of the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS, was giving a speech in Rocky Mount, N.C. last week before a group of social service providers when she made a surprising revelation about the AIDS epidemic.
"One of the things I talked about were the numbers for heterosexual Black women," Fields recounted. "When people heard that, they were very surprised. It's something that they did not know, it's something they had not focused on.". . .

This is the text of President Barack Obama's controversial commencement address Sunday as delivered, as transcribed by the White House. ...The president called for a return to civility in the abortion debate. Meanwhile, hecklers . . . .

In his Friday address to the City Club of Portland, Gov. Ted Kulongoski announced an emergency jobs program to help put at least 12,000 unemployed Oregonians back to work this summer.... "President Roosevelt gave hope to millions of unemployed Americans when he created the Civilian Conservation Corps and other jobs programs. We need to take the same kind of immediate action in Oregon," Kulongoski said. . . .

The Community Coalition for Contracts and Jobs will meet tonight, Tuesday, May 19, at 6 p.m. at the Central Area Motivation Program (CAMP). . . . CCCJ advocates specifically on behalf of local African American workers and businesses and small businesses in general in pursuit of equity in employment and contracting opportunities created by our tax and consumer dollars. . . .

The White House reaffirmed its commitment to historically Black colleges and universities last week in response to criticisms that arose when the proposed education budget revealed the loss of an $85 million allotment to Black institutions. "The Administration strongly supports the critical work being done by the nation's Historically Black Colleges and Universities and understands that the system offers students from disadvantaged backgrounds the chance to continue their education," . . .

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Up-and-coming rapper Dolla was killed in a shooting at an upscale shopping mall, and a man was arrested for investigation of murder, police said Tuesday. Los Angeles County Coroner's spokesman Ed Winter said the man killed Monday afternoon at the Beverly Center was 21-year-old Roderick Anthony Burton II, the birth name of rapper Dolla.

OAKLAND, California (AP) -- A former San Francisco Bay Area transit officer charged with killing an unarmed Black man is back in court for a hearing expected to shed more light on the shooting.

A new survey conducted by the American Red Cross shows the importance of water safety skills, with half of those surveyed saying they have had a near-drowning experience in their lifetime. The survey found that 48 percent reported a near-drowning experience, and nearly 1 in 3 said they had a near-drowning scare between the ages of 5 and 15.

Alcena Boozer greets Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who delivered the 40th Annual Collins Lecture at the University of Portland Chiles Center. The sold-out talk was on the topic of "The Transformational Power of reconciliation in Society."
Sponsored by Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, the speech was preceded by an invocation by Rev. Alcena Boozer, and a musical production organized by PSU Professor of Music Darrell Grant, which included Obo Addy, Michelle Fujii, Bobby Torres, Willie Grant, the Al-Andalus Ensemble, and readings by Lawson Inada, Horace Silver, Mark Mathabane and Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach.

The Small Business Administration has approved the Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs (OAME) as a micro lender for Oregon and Southwest Washington businesses, to the tune of $1.1 million and possibly as much as $3.5 million.
Part of President Barack Obama's stimulus package, the 10-year, interest-free loan is designed to help small businesses in need of capital and laid-off workers who are starting their own businesses. . . .