Renowned internationally for her provocative performance art and writings about race, damali ayo made a radical career change this month.
The author of "How to Rent a Negro," who was chronicled by The New York Times and National Public Radio as she traveled coast to coast panhandling for reparations for the trans-Atlantic slave trade, is now a clothing designer.
Her new fashion line, Crow Clothing, is available exclusively on her website. What made ayo decide to switch from social justice activism to designing clothes? ...

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HOUSTON (AP) -- The day Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church dissolved into shards of bricks and a pile of rubble, tears filled the eyes of the people who had tried to save the historic structure.
But their grief was not just for this 68-year-old building in the heart of Houston's Fourth Ward. On this recent Friday, the solemn and stricken group was also crying for all the other now-vanished fragments of Freedmen's Town, the nation's only remaining post-Civil War historic district built by freed slaves.
They mourned for Bethel Baptist Church, a majestic century-old structure reduced to a scorched hull by a fire four years ago, and for the shotgun-style houses on Victor Street, where Houston's first African-American teachers, lawyers, and brick-masons once lived and which now seem abdicated to neglect.
They lamented the loss of dozens of historic homes and churches that have been demolished to make room for markers of a new Houston -- a modern metropolis of glass-walled skyscrapers, newly built urban lofts and chic cafes and restaurants...

NEW YORK (AP) _ Seventeen years after race riots left the streets of Crown Heights bloodied, tensions are rising again in the neighborhood restlessly shared by Orthodox Jews and Blacks. First, a Black man was badly beaten on a Brooklyn street. Weeks later, a Jewish teenager said he was attacked by two young Blacks while riding his bicycle, and angry Jewish residents took to the streets with signs saying "Jewish blood is not cheap!" and "Every Jew a .22"....

The number of people registered to vote is up – way up. Eric Sample, a spokesman for Multnomah County Elections says his office has also seen a huge up tick in the number of voters switching party affiliations.
"The big issue is the presidential primary," Sample says.
Most of those people changing parties have gone Democrat. Unaffiliated voters, Pacific Greens, Libertarians, Independents and a few Republicans have mostly switched their party affiliation to engage in the tug of war of the Democratic primary.
But there's more. Promise King, director of the Oregon League of Minority Voters, says he's never seen so many minorities registered.
"Change begins in Portland," he says....

The competition was fierce at the Connect Four Tournament held last Thursday at Berbati's Pan in honor of local hip hop artist Cool Nutz's birthday, which was a 3-day celebration. Seated next to Cool Nutz is Josonja Watson, formerly of Jammin' 95.5 FM's "The Playhouse," who watches her competitor's every move.

Organizers with Oregon Action plan a march on Portland Police Chief Rosie Sizer on Monday morning, armed with petitions calling for a comprehensive plan to address racial profiling.
"On May 18, 2006, was the first of the community listening session we held to allow a discussion about racial profiling in Portland, and in October of 2006 the Portland City Council accepted the listening session report," said Geri Washington of Oregon Action.

If you are a jobseeker of color who is ready to make that first impression "Jobtini" has you in mind. ... Wednesday, May 21, from 5:30 to 9 p.m. at Olea Restaurant, 1338 N.W. Hoyt Ave... More intimate than a career fair, more effective than a mass resume email ...

Members of the 1968 Black Student Union celebrate after being presented the Charles E. Odegaard Award at the 38th annual Friends of Educational Opportunity Celebration on May 7 at the HUB Ballroom at the University of Washington. The 1968 Black Student Union was instrumental in helping create the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity at the University.

On May 20, 1968, a protest with far-reaching consequences occurred. Members of the Black Student Union staged a sit-in in the offices of University of Washington President Charles Odegaard. The sit-in did not result in arrests. Instead, the students left the office four hours and 15 minutes later with a series of agreements from the administration, including aggressive recruitment of minority and disadvantaged White students, the hiring of more staff and faculty of color, creation of a center on campus for the academic and cultural development of students of color, and the creation of a Black Studies department.
UW will commemorate 40 years of diversity efforts on the anniversary of the sit-in with an alumni and community celebration from noon to 5 p.m. in Red Square. The celebration is expected to draw representatives of 50 academic departments, as well as student organizations, which will talk about their own history of diversity. Ethnic food will be available and there will be music....