13-Year-Old Morehouse Whiz Kid!

.Thanks to Jack and Jill Politics, I found out about this heart-warming story about a 13-year-old Black male college student:

At thirteen years of age, Stephen Stafford is causing quite a stir at Morehouse College. Stafford has a triple major in pre-med, math and computer science. Though he loves playing video games and playing his drum set, he is no typical teenager.

"I've never taught a student as young as Stephen, and it's been amazing," said computer science professor Sonya Dennis. "He's motivating other students to do better and makes them want to step up their game."

Stafford began his college career at the age of 11, after being home-schooled by his mother. Stafford's mother said that when Stafford began to teach her instead of being taught by her, she knew he needed to be in a college environment.

Isn't that a great story? In a perfect world, Stephen Stafford's name would be more well-known than Chris Brown. I'm jus' sayin'!

Atlanta Mayoral Candidates Fight for "Pink Vote"

Today is election day in Atlanta and the two candidates in today's Mayoral runoff election are Kasim Reed and Mary Norwood, who are both apparently fighting for the votes of the city's very large (and politically active) LGBT community.

"I cannot recall a mayor's race when there's been so much attention placed on the gay and lesbian vote," said Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality, the state's largest gay rights group.

"All of a sudden, overnight, it's like an unbelievable push [to prove] who's gayer," added Glen Paul Freedman, chief of staff for City Council President Lisa Borders.

Eleven days after the November vote, Norwood -- who would be the first white mayor of Atlanta since the 1970s -- was outside the state Capitol for a rally protesting Proposition 8, California's anti-gay-marriage measure. She told the crowd she had sent a donation to the forces fighting Prop. 8, and called herself "the only mayoral candidate who supports full marriage equality."

A rainbow flag icon is now featured prominently on Norwood's campaign website; it links to a page reminding viewers that "each person in a couple" can contribute $1,200 to a candidate in the runoff.

Her rival, Reed -- a favorite of Atlanta's civil rights establishment who favors gay civil unions, not marriage -- has touted his pro-gay-rights record in the Legislature, where he sponsored a hate crimes bill that extended protections to gays.

Reed, in a recent televised debate, attacked Norwood for missing a City Council vote on a measure to extend pension benefits to domestic partners of city employees.

[...]

The attention being lavished on gay voters has something to do with sheer numbers: It's estimated that Atlanta has the third-largest percentage of gay, lesbian and bisexual residents among large U.S. cities; they make up about 12.8% of the city population, according to a 2006 report by the UCLA law school's Williams Institute, which researches sexual-orientation issues.

Also, there is an openly gay candidate for city council, Alex Wan, and an openly lesbian (and African American) candidate for the State House of Representatives named Simone Bell, who if elected would become the first Black lesbian elected to a state legislative office in the United States.

Hat/tip Joe.My.God

Georgia Teen Imprisoned For Consensual Sex Act Freed

Genarlow Wilson, a now 21-year old African American man who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for aggravated child molestation for having oral sex at age 17 with a 15-year old girl at a 2003 New Year's Eve party has been freed by the Georgia Supreme Court which ruled in a 4-3 decision released Friday October 26th his sentence violated the U.S. Constitution's 8th Amendment prohibition of Cruel and Unusual Punishments.

Wilson, who was a star athlete (homecoming king) and college-bound senior with a GPA of 3.2 at the time of the videotaped incident had served nearly 3 years (32 months!) of his 10-year sentence and recently refused plea deals by the district attorney because they would have forced him to register as sex offender and prevented him from living at home with his 9-year old sister.


According to Georgia Law at the time of the 2005 jury trial and conviction, a 15-year old was below the age of consent of 16 and thus could not legally have consented to sexual relations with anyone. In response to the hue and cry over the Genarlow Wilson case, the Georgia Legislature in 2006 had included a "Romeo and Juliet" provision in the law which would prevent teenagers from being charged for having consensual sex with each other and changed the statute he was convicted under to a misdemeanor. However that new law could not be applied retroactively to Wilson so he would have to wait for either the courts or the District Attorney or Attorney General to act. Both legal officials acted to prolong Wilson's time in jail. The Attorney General of Georgia is Thurbert Baker, the highest African American elected official in the State.


Wilson said he felt no "negative energy" towards Douglas County District Attorney David McDade but instead is looking forward to going to college in majoring in sociology because he feels like he has been "living his major."