digg this | mixx! | reddit | del.icio.us | Newsvine | |  e-mail article |  print | post comments | NEWSLETTER ©DiversityInc. Reproduction in any format is absolutely prohibited.

What Does Your DNA Say About You?

It's amazing what your own DNA can tell you about your history. Last year, Oprah Winfrey learned that many of her ancestors opened up schools and that she wasn't from the African tribe she originally thought as part of her appearance with three other guests on Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s "African-American Lives" series on PBS. Now it's time for Part II. On Wednesday night, PBS will air Gates' "African-American Lives 2," featuring actor Morgan Freeman, poet Maya Angelou, comedian Chris Rock, entertainer Tina Turner, and others in two-hour-long episodes. Two more will air on Feb. 13, reports The New York Times.

What have the stars found out already? Freeman learned his white great-grandfather and Black great-grandmother had eight children together and his great-grandfather later sold land to his biracial sons. Maya Angelou found out that her Black great-grandmother was impregnated at age 17 by her 50-year-old white former slave master who forced her to identify someone else as the father, reports the Times. And remember James Watson? Find out why the Nobel Prize winner and co-discoverer of DNA is "blacker than he thought."

Stay tuned for the upcoming April issue of DiversityInc magazine to learn all about the pros and cons of genetic testing. Subscribe now.

Wikipedia Slammed for Islam Entry

The user-generated online encyclopedia Wikipedia.org is taking major flak from Muslim organizations for displaying images of the Prophet Muhammed on its site. Protestors submitted e-mails and an online petition with 80,000 signatures because of an Islamic tenet that bans most images of people, especially the Prophet Muhammed, reports The New York Times. Wikipedia will not take down the images because it's supposed to be a "neutral site" and won't censor itself to placate certain groups, according to a post on its FAQ page, but many Muslims say it's culturally insensitive and offensive.

A Victory for LGBT Rights: N.Y. Honors Out-of-State Same-Sex Marriages

Same-sex couples who get married in Massachusetts, the only state where they can currently do so legally, will have their vows recognized in New York, reports The New York Times. A New York appellate court determined Friday that same-sex marriages that take place legally elsewhere must be legally recognized in the state, the same way it recognizes opposite-sex marriages from other states. This move, which applies to all public and private employers in the state, makes New York one of five states in the country to have some type of law (or no explicit prohibition against) honoring same-sex marriages in other states. Check out our national map of same-sex marriage legislation.

What's Driving Latinos to the Polls? Self-Defense

Angered and disheartened by the harsh immigration debate that has divided the nation, Latinos are seeking U.S. citizenship in record numbers so they can exercise their right to vote, reports The New York Times. More than 1 million Latino immigrants applied for citizenship last year, and many newly naturalized Latino citizens are pressing their friends and family to do the same. For these people, "the immigration debate has not been about policy; it has been about whether Hispanics belong in America," pollster Sergio Bendixen told the Times, and they're voting in the name of self-defense. Fueled by national voter-registration campaigns led by Spanish-language media and local Latino organizations, Latinos turned out in record numbers for the Florida primaries. On Tuesday, 60 percent of the Latino electorate is up for grabs in 24 primary elections across the country, including seven of the 10 states with the highest representation of Latino registered voters, reports the Times. What are the immigration laws in your state?

Lessons from early primaries tell us that being tough on immigration hasn't paid off for the GOP, according to commentary in The Wall Street Journal. Despite GOP candidate Mitt Romney's harsh stance on undocumented immigration, voters picked John McCain, author of a comprehensive immigration-reform bill, as their candidate. That's because most of them support a path to citizenship for undocumented workers and their families. Read about Latinos and President Huckabee.

Find out more about Latinos' warning to Democrats. Can Obama win Latino Tuesday?

Vick to Keep $20M Signing Bonus

Former NFL quarterback Michael Vick may have been stripped of his job, his dignity and his freedom after pleading guilty to running a dog-fighting ring last year, but he gets to keep his $20-million signing bonus, reports CBS. A federal judge ruled Monday that Vick could retain his bonus money for signing up with the Falcons, despite claims from the franchise that he should have to return the money he got in 2004, which could have been used to support his illegal gambling ring. The judge said giving the money back to the team would violate the league's collective-bargaining agreement. Vick, who received a 23-month jail sentence for his crimes, entered a minimum-security prison in Kansas in January and is hoping to shave up to five months off his sentence with good behavior. Read more about race and sports.

More Tribal Gaming? Calif. Asks the Question

More News Digest >>

digg this | mixx! | reddit | del.icio.us | Newsvine | |  e-mail article |  print | post comments | NEWSLETTER

Send Your Comments About This Article Now