By Pharoh Martin
NNPA
Every year, an estimated 100,000 people pour into Washington, D.C. and make their way to see the striking “Spirit of Freedom” sculpture and the etched names of over 209,000 African-Americans who served in the U.S. Colored Troops during the Civil War. And yet, the associated museum where tourists learn about the story of how these heroic souls turned the tide of the war is the size of a very small one bedroom apartment. 
“It’s not so much that we don’t have much on display,” said Dr. Frank Smith, founder and director of the African American Civil War Memorial at 1200 U Street. “It’s that we have such a small space that they can’t enjoy it the way they would like it.”

NNPA
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals last week held that Washington State's law denying the vote to people with felony convictions is racially discriminatory and violates the Voting Rights Act (VRA).    
"This landmark ruling recognizes that racial discrimination in Washington's criminal justice system has infected the State's political process," said John Payton, LDF director-counsel in a statement "The result is that Black, Latino and Native America persons convicted of felonies in Washington are disproportionately denied the right to vote."