Blacks

Like many black professionals during the dark days of apartheid, Diale and Malmsey Rangaka dreamed of leaving the crowded township of Soweto. But, unlike their neighbors, they didn't want to move to the gated white suburbs. They wanted to be farmers. For years Diale, an English literature professor, would chatter away about cattle ranching, quoting the latest issue of Farmer's Weekly. His wife was skeptical.

The NAACP sued subsidiaries of two major banks Friday for allegedly steering African American borrowers unfairly into costly subprime mortgages. The suits -- against Wells Fargo Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Inc., owned by Wells Fargo & Co., and against HSBC Mortgage Corp. (USA) and HSBC Bank USA, owned by HSBC Holdings -- arrive at a time when the housing crisis and soaring unemployment already are causing disproportionate harm in black neighborhoods, leaders of the rights group said.

Etta Cummings stood in the back of a small room filled with sympathetic faces. Her failing eyes were obscured by big, dark glasses. She leaned on her cane, clutched her bright caftan and prepared to take one very big step. "My name is Etta Cummings. I'm a diabetic. My diabetes is totally out of control. I didn't take it seriously for many, many years," she said by way of introduction. "By this time, my health started deteriorating, so I'm on the run to correct it." Heads nodded in support.

To those who know it only by reputation, the Nickerson Gardens housing project in Watts is a forbidding place, plagued by violence and poverty and ruled by African American gangs. So naturally, Father Peter Banks brought 200 Latino parishioners there in December for a posada, a Christmas ritual that re-creates Joseph and Mary's search for a place for Jesus to be born. Banks, pastor of St.

Seven Los Angeles buildings that experts say have played significant roles in the lives of local African Americans have been placed on the National Register of Historic Places, authorities have announced. The listing follows a yearlong study of some 4,000 parcels in South Los Angeles by consultants hired by the city's Community Redevelopment Agency.

California's unemployment rate rose for the 11th straight month in February, hitting 10.5% as a recession-racked economy shed a higher-than-expected 116,000 jobs, the state reported Friday. The rate is up from 10.1% in January and is the highest since April 1983. All but one of 11 industries surveyed lost jobs, with construction the hardest hit.

On his HBO show, "Real Time With Bill Maher," the comedian routinely makes vicious fun of celebrities, politicians, presidents and even God. But he's learned that, for much of his audience, Barack Obama is off limits. Not long after the historic presidential election, Maher joked that Republicans were feeling particularly superstitious: "They say the country is having bad luck because there's a black cat in the White House."

Before Barack Obama, there were Howard N. Lee, Blenda Wilson and Maurice Ashley. Lee became the first black mayor in modern times of a predominantly white Southern town. Wilson was the first black president of Cal State Northridge, Ashley the first black to attain the rank of grandmaster in chess. With Obama set to become the nation's 44th president, Lee, Wilson, Ashley and other pioneering African Americans were asked to reflect on the challenges and lessons of being a "first."

Negrohead Mountain is an unlikely memorial to a former slave who made a name for himself at the western end of Los Angeles County. More than 120 years ago, pioneers in the Santa Monica Mountains named the peak for John Ballard, the first black man to settle in the hills above Malibu. Today, authorities will take the first step toward what they consider a more fitting tribute by renaming the 2,031-foot volcanic peak Ballard Mountain. The name now used by the U.S.

Frank Sinatra's family purchased her portrait of President Kennedy. Rosa Parks asked her to design her congressional Gold Medal. And President Clinton bought her painting of Hillary. Artis Lane's sculptures and paintings are in the private collections of Oprah Winfrey, Maya Angelou and Nelson Mandela. She has also created works for Michael Jordan, Quincy Jones and Armand Hammer. But at 81, Lane is celebrating what may be her greatest commission.