Stateside

The State Department has fallen short in its efforts to promote African Americans to key frontline diplomatic posts, department officials and diplomats said, despite efforts to increase diversity under two black secretaries of State and a black president.

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A former Detroit city councilwoman was sentenced to more than three years in prison last Wednesday for bribery after a federal judge refused to set aside her guilty plea during a stormy court hearing dominated by a dispute over evidence of other payoffs.

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The 28-year-old’s honorable discharge under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy came only after police officers in Rapid City, S.D., saw an Iowa marriage certificate in her home and told the nearby Ellsworth Air Force Base.

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One bride wore a knee-length lace dress and pearls. The other bride wore a yellow shirt and white suit. And when a pastor pronounced them “partners in life this day and for always” last Tuesday, they hugged and smiled in front of wedding guests and nearly a dozen TV cameras and reporters.

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Several board members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference are calling for the resignation of the group’s embattled chairman and treasurer, who are being investigated over allegations of financial mismanagement.

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The National Organization for Women last Tuesday urged New York Gov. David Paterson to resign because of a report he directed two staffers to contact a woman about a domestic violence case involving one of his top aides.

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White House social secretary Desiree Rogers is stepping down three months after an uninvited couple crashed the Obama administration’s first state dinner and she was heavily criticized for her role in allowing the embarrassing episode to happen.

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Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan, boasting his divine stature, on last Sunday predicted trouble ahead for President Barack Obama and urged him to do more to improve the lives of blacks and the downtrodden.

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The NAACP elected a health care executive as its youngest board chairman last Saturday, continuing a youth movement for the nation’s oldest civil rights organization. Roslyn M. Brock, 44, was chosen to succeed Julian Bond. She had been vice chairman since 2001 and a member of the NAACP for 25 years.

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Tiger Woods apologized for cheating on his wife and says he is unsure when he will return to competitive golf. “I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated. What I did was not acceptable,” said Woods, looking composed and speaking in a steady voice.

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