Naacp

Children's book author Jerdine Nolen remembers the first time she saw her name in print. As a second-grader, she wrote a Thanksgiving poem that was published in the school newspaper, and she kept her eyes glued to the pink publication while walking home. "It was really a moment to behold to see my name in print," said the special-education teacher at Mount Hebron High School, who has published about a dozen books and picture books. Her latest work, a novel titled "Eliza's Freedom Road: An Underground Railroad Diary," is one of five books nominated for an NAACP Image Award in the category of Outstanding Literary Work — Youth/Teens.

Ben Jealous, the national NAACP president, came to Annapolis Tuesday to call on Maryland legislators to make this the year the state does away with the death penalty. Flanked by several legislators, Jealous said he intends to return to Annapolis repeatedly through the 90-day legislative session that starts Wednesday to work for repeal. Death penalty opponents have come close in recent years to securing the votes needed to remove capital punishment from the books, but each time have fallen a few votes short.

WESTMINSTER - The Carroll County NAACP branch will host its 2012 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast on Saturday, Jan. 14, at 8 a.m. at Martin's Caterers of Westminster, located at Route 140 and Route 97, Westminster. WESTMINSTER - The Carroll County NAACP branch will host its 2012 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast on Saturday, Jan. 14, at 8 a.m. at Martin's Caterers of Westminster, located at Route 140 and Route 97, Westminster. The guest speaker will be Joshua Parker, winner of the 2011-12 Maryland Teacher of the Year award.

Black lawmakers sharply criticized the governor's proposed General Assembly redistricting plan Thursday, saying his committee has drawn a map that will likely produce a legislature that looks whiter than the actual population of Maryland. "I consider this map to be a slap to the face of black Democrats," Del. Tiffany T. Alston, a Prince George's County Democrat, said during a three-hour public hearing on the plan in Annapolis. Leaders of the legislature's black caucus and the state chapter of the NAACP both said that a map with districts that reflected Maryland's population would have 14 Senate and 41 delegate seats from majority-black districts.

Students from the Southeast Horizon Council attended the Howard County NAACP Youth Council Community Health Fair Nov. 19, at the Ridgeley Run Community Center, in Jessup. The event targeted the needs of children and teens by providing valuable information on nutrition and exercise. The Horizon Foundation's current initiatives include implementing strategies to improve healthful eating, physical activity and other positive lifestyle changes. Attending the Health Fair to learn more about what is being done locally to improve health and wellness of teens were, from left, Candace Johnson, of Reservoir High School; Betsy Maltez, of Hammond High School; and Marcos Miranda, of Reservoir High School.

WESTMINSTER - The Carroll County Chapter of the NAACP will be hosting its ninth annual Freedom Fund banquet Oct. 14 at Martin's Caterers of Westminster, 140 West Shopping Center, at 6:30 p.m. A cash bar will precede the dinner at 7 p.m. The guest speaker will be Dr. Miles Harrison Jr. He is a practicing surgeon and co-author of the book, "Ten Bears," recounting the story of the Morgan State College lacrosse team of the 1970s. The emcee for the evening will be Gigi Barnett, a reporter for Baltimore'sWJZ-TV.

Kevin Cobb of Nottingham, a rising 12th grader at Carver Center, won a bronze medal at the NAACP national Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics Competition, held in Los Angeles from July 22-24, 2011. He competed in the painting category. As a bronze medalist, Cobb received a laptop computer and a $2,000 award.

Speaking as a retired police detective and member of LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition), I heartily concur with the NAACP that it is past time to terminate our failed war on drugs also known as the war on people - mostly of color ("The NAACP is calling for an end to the drug war; what about you?" July 31). My profession, which is shrinking all over America, must return to its true mission of public safety. If you have a drug problem, see an addiction clinic. Howard Wooldridge,Washington, D.C. The writer is a drug policy specialist with Citizens Opposing Prohibition.

There was a quake last week, but you likely didn't feel it. See, this particular quake was not of the Earth, involved no shifting of the planetary crust. No, what shifted was a paradigm, and the implications are hopeful and profound. On Tuesday, you see, the NAACP passed a resolution calling for an end to the war on drugs. Said NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous in a written statement, "These flawed drug policies that have been mostly enforced in African-American communities must be stopped and replaced with evidence-based practices that address the root causes of drug use and abuse in America.

After almost a week of speculation, it looks as if the Rev. Al Sharpton is going to be a new weeknight host on cable channel MSNBC. Sharpton, who has been filling in recent weeks on MSNBC, will reportedly be taking over the 6 p.m. timeslot that has been in play since Keith Olbermann  left the channel and Ed Schultz's "The Ed Show" was moved from 6 to 10 p.m. Cenk Uygur had been serving as host of the 6 p.m. hour. The speculation that Sharpton, a civil rights leader and radio talk show  host, would get the job was first reported in TVNewser on July 16. Read that here . Citing anonymous sources, The New York Times is now reporting it as "imminent.