Singer Erykah Badu is facing criticism for performing in Swaziland recently. Human rights activists have called out Badu for singing “Happy Birthday” to King Mswati III. Amnesty International and other activists have documented numerous human rights violations occurring in Swaziland.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has  decided to suspended Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life for racist comments heard during a conversation with his then-girlfriend Vanessa Stiviano. Sterling will also be forced to pay a $2.5 million fine.
Five students at Kenwood Academy in Chicago earned a Gates Millennium Scholarship this year. The award pays full tuition plus room and board to a college of the students’ choice.Â
DJ E-Z Rock, one half of the rap duo Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock, whose song “It Takes Two” is a classic has passed away. He was 46.
Southland College Prep Charter High School’s first graduating class will see a 100 percent graduation rate. Every single student is going to college.Â
As part of a new initiative, President Obama plans to dramatically increase the number of drug offenders he considers for clemency. According to White House spokesman Jay Carney, the president has requested that the Justice Department set up a process to ensure that anyone who has a good case for commutation has their application evaluated.
Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, the boxer whose wrongful conviction became an international symbol of racial inequity, has died at 76. Carter, who suffered from prostate cancer, passed away in his sleep Sunday.Â
A 17-year-old high school senior has staged a protest after getting rejected from the University of Michigan. Brooke Kimbrough says she always dreamed of attending the school, believes she was rejected due to racial inequity.Â
A top player for a school basketball team has been banned from playing an an upcoming game because she is a female. Jaelyn Bates, a fourth grader at Frey Basketball Academy, says she was told she can no longer compete with her teammates.Â
According to a new report, Florida charges juveniles as adults more that any other state. The report, released by Human Rights Watch reveals that more than 12,000 children have been moved from the juvenile to adult court system in the past five years.Â
 The mother of a New York teen who was left quadriplegic after an encounter with New York City police says that excessive force led to her son’s condition. Karen Fludd’s 17-year-old Deion Fludd eventually succumbed to injuries sustained from the incident.Â
Karyn Washington, student at Morgan State University and founder and creator of the website For Brown Girls, has died of an apparent suicide. She was 22.Â