Unarmed or Shot in the Back

Howard U. Debunks Claim About Black Dollar Circulation

"The claim that a dollar circulates in the black community for only six hours cannot be substantiated,"Brookie Madison, a staff writer for TruthBeTold.news, a new fact-checking website from the Department of Media, Journalism and Film at Howard University, wrote this week.

"The federal government does not produce data that would allow such a comparison.

"In addition, economists contacted by TruthBeTold.news said some of the data cited [by those making the claim], such as information about dollars circulating in the Jewish community, is questionable because the federal government does not collect information by religion. And researchers would be unable to get the information accurately from a survey of consumers.

"The earliest source of the statistic appears to be a book that is nearly 20 years old. The book also never mentions the name of the study nor provides any information about the author. . . ."

Rhonda Swan, Fla. Opinion Writer, Dies of Breast Cancer

"Rhonda Swan, 51, a former Palm Beach [Fla.] Post editorial writer, author, life coach and loving mother and grandmother, died Wednesday morning in Springfield, Mass., of complications from breast cancer, friends said,"Tony Doris reported Wednesday for the Post.

"Friends and former colleagues described her as a determined, independent woman with a brilliant smile, one who chose her path in life and toward death, on her own terms.

"Around 2011, she went for a mammogram but forgot her prescription, so the hospital wouldn't perform the procedure. She ended up not getting one for another year, then undergoing a mastectomy soon after she did because cancer was detected.

"After her diagnosis with a return of breast cancer in 2014, she left The Post and moved to Costa Rica, where she pursued alternative treatments. She spent her last days in a hospice, near family in Springfield."

Doris also wrote, "An author and award-winning journalist, she worked as an editorial writer, editor and reporter for the Post from 2005 to 2014. Prior to that she served as deputy city editor for The News Journal in Wilmington, Del.; and Family/Community Team editor at The Daily Press, in [Newport News], Va. . . .

"Her book, 'Dancing to the Rhythm of My Soul: A Sister's Guide for Transforming Madness into Gladness,' was a memoir based on Swan's spiritual journey that also served as a self-help guide. Swan wrote two novels, 'I Saw Your Profile' and 'Exposed: The Consequences of Truth.' She also published a volume of poetry, 'Speaking My Mind … in Poetic Verse.' . . .”

She is a past president of the Palm Beach Association of Black Journalists.

Ozell Sutton Dies, Integrated Arkansas' White Newsrooms

"Ozell Sutton, an Arkansas native whose work with the civil-rights movement began as the first black journalist at the Arkansas Democrat and led him to state and national political appointments, died Saturday at the age of 90, his family said,"John Moritz reported Monday for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in Little Rock.

"When he was hired by the Democrat after graduating from Philander Smith College in 1950, it was the first time a black reporter was employed by a white-owned newspaper in the state, according to previous Democrat-Gazette coverage.

"In 1957, Sutton was involved with the desegregation crisis at Central High School, where he reported being beaten.

"Sutton accompanied Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil-rights leaders to the March on Washington in 1963 and to Selma, Ala., in 1965.

"He was staying with King when King was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis on April 4, 1968. . . . "