When Michelle Obama started the “Let’s Move” campaign seven months ago to combat childhood obesity, she knew it would be a daunting task. But armed with an “ambitious” plan, she traveled Wednesday to a place where bacon grease might be considered its own food group.

Michelle Obama is in the thick of things at Woldenberg Park alongside former linebacker Derrick Brooks, right, as NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell plays deep during a scrimmage at the NFL's 'Play 60' event that encourages kids to exercise.

In the spotlight on the eve of the NFL’s regular-season opener in the Superdome and along with league Commissioner Roger Goodell, Obama explained to a crowd of about 100 students at Woldenberg Park the importance of a healthy diet and daily exercise. Her initiative has teamed with the NFL’s “Play 60” campaign, which asks children to exercise at least an hour per day, and Obama and a star-studded cast of ex-football players were out in 90-degree heat on Wednesday, working with youngsters from across the metro area.

After a morning visit to Brock Elementary School in Slidell, Obama ran drills with the former athletes on the New Orleans riverfront and pledged to take part in “Play 60” by exercising for at least 60 minutes per day for six weeks. She said she could no longer stand by and watch the nation’s childhood obesity levels continue to rise, as they have tripled in the past 30 years, according to the Let’s Move website.

Teaching children fundamental nutritional values can allow “kids born today (to) reach adulthood at a healthy weight,” Obama said. “I think it’s fair to say this goal is ambitious, but when we’re talking about the health and well-being of our children, when we’re talking about our children’s future, that’s something I think we should be ambitious about.

“We’re beginning to better understand the magnitude of this crisis and the threat it poses to our children, and it simply is not enough to solve it halfway. This is a national problem affecting children in every single community, and that’s why … we’ve been reaching out to folks all across the country to be part of the solution.”

She began her day in Slidell to honor students, teachers and administrators of the St. Tammany Parish school system for having 25 of the nation’s 59 schools that are currently gold-award winners in the HealthierUS Schools Challenge program.

In 2005, Cypress Cove Elementary in Slidell was the first to win the award, given by the Department of Agriculture to recognize schools that “provide outstanding educational efforts in nutritional information.”

Brock Elementary, which sustained severe damage from Hurricane Katrina five years ago, is one of the 25 gold-award winnning schools in St. Tammany Parish, and is a model of “determination and resilience” and a school that teaches “our children healthy habits right from the beginning,” Obama said.

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu attended both events and said he hopes the city’s children can get on board with healthy lifestyles.

“We’re here for the first lady and her representatives, because childhood obesity definitely is a problem in this country,” he said. “We just came from St. Tammany this morning, and … there’s no reason why we can’t do the same thing in Orleans Parish. We’re going to work with them and find out how they did it, and hopefully, we’ll be able to implement some of their same initiatives.”

Landrieu said there “was no grander stage” to grab attention with these programs than in New Orleans, with national media in town this week to cover the Saints hosting the Minnesota Vikings tonight in a rematch of last season’s NFC championship game.

Some of the largest applause came for a local hero, as ex-Saints running back Deuce McAllister was on hand with other former NFL All-Pro players such as running back Eddie George, safety Rodney Harrison and linebacker Derrick Brooks.

“You look at what’s going on, not only here in Louisiana, but across the nation, it’s important to get kids moving,” McAllister said. “We need to get them off the video games and out of the house. Nutrition is definitely important. A lot of times we get caught up in this fast-food age, the quick meal and that’s not the best thing for us. So we need to make a big push to get kids to eat better and get going.

“Any time you can get the first lady teamed up with the most popular sport in the world, it’s pretty big. I think this is a win-win for everyone.”

And before she ran drills with students and caught passes from former NFL players, she summed up her message in a language kids could understand.

“You can’t live on soda and candy,” she said. “If you could, I’ll tell you, I would. But you can’t.”

Rodney King, whose senseless beating by the Los Angeles police became fodder for news outlets worldwide, became engaged to one of the jurors who awarded him a $3.8 million settlement in a civil suit against the LAPD.

King met former juror Cynthia Kelley at a pizza shop a day after he was awarded the money.

Reportedly, Kelley was King's strongest supporter during the trial.

When they met, they were both married at the time. After they each got divorced, though, they began a relationship that ended when King agreed to take part in the VH1 reality TV show 'Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew' in 2008. King had admittedly become addicted to PCP and wanted to kick the habit.

On a whim last May, the 44-year-old King decided to call Kelley to see if she was still available, and as luck would have it, she was:

"It just so happened that we reconnected. "It was like we were never apart from one another," Kelley told Radar. "She is a godsend, a blessing in my life," King told the Website. "I don't know what I would have done without her in my life. "I can't wait to make her my wife."

King rose to national prominence back in March of 1992. He was a cab driver chauffeuring two passengers and speeding. Police spotted him and gave chase. King was afraid that since he had been drinking, he would be arrested for drunk driving, so instead of stopping, he decided to try and lose the policemen who were on his trail.

Several other police cruisers and a helicopter were summoned to the scene. When police finally caught up to King, the situation intensified: He refused to exit his car at first, then complied. Officers testified that King reached toward his back pockets and that they thought he was going for a gun. More police approached King and eventually used a stun gun on him.

King was thrown to the ground, and what occurred thereafter became pages for history books: A posse of white policemen began pummeling King, even while he was lying helpless. The 25-year-old cab driver was beaten to a pulp with fists, batons and swift, hard kicks by four officers, while 10 other policemen stood around and watched. Unbeknownst to law enforcement, though, a man had been videotaping the entire incident.

After the merciless beating, King was taken to a hospital, where he was diagnosed with 11 skull fractures, permanent brain damage, broken bones and teeth, kidney damage, and emotional and physical trauma. One of the nurses overheard some of the officers who had accompanied King to the hospital joking and bragging about the number of times he had been struck.

Even though the videotaped footage was aired by news agencies around the world, sparking anger and unrest, particularly in the Los Angeles area, the four policemen involved in King's attack were acquitted.

The acquittals triggered the 1992 L.A. riots, which left more than 50 people dead and resulted in $1 billion in damages. A subsequent federal trial for civil rights violations ended with two of the officers being found guilty and sent to prison, while the other two were acquitted.

When honor student Courtney Howard pledged to join a sorority at San Jose State University, she sought the support of close-knit sisters in the school's small African-American community.

Instead, what she got was ritualized hazing that included a nearly monthlong string of beatings, punching, kicking and paddling, according to a lawsuit filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court this week -- an episode that experts say is far too common among African-American Greek organizations.

Howard, 20, has sued eight students, the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority and the university, saying it failed to investigate and protect her from retaliation by sorority members after reporting the 2008 incident. She has since withdrawn from SJSU and transferred to the University of Southern California, saying she didn't feel safe.

Four of the SJSU students -- Princess Odom, Monique Hughes, Nicole Remble and Joslyn Beard -- have already been convicted of misdemeanor hazing in criminal court, sentenced to 90 days in jail and two years probation.

"There was physical violence," said Howard's attorney, Angela Reddock of Los Angeles. Howard is seeking unspecified damages. "Any number of steps could have been taken by the university to change her living situation and provide security, but that did not happen."

SJSU spokesman Larry Carr would not comment on the lawsuit, but he did say the university has suspended Sigma Gamma Rho until at least 2016 after concluding the chapter had violated anti-hazing regulations.

The 87-year-old sorority was also suspended seven years ago following another hazing incident. Another African-American sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, is suspended from SJSU.

"We enforce a very strict no-hazing policy. We do proper investigations and take complaints very seriously," said Carr. "We want to make sure our students feel that San Jose State is a safe place to be."

Founded in 1922 in the midst of segregation, Sigma Gamma Rho was created to enhance the quality of college life through public service and leadership development. According to its website, the sorority has 500 chapters with 90,000 members, including U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla.; former U.S. Rep. Corrine Claiborne Boggs, D-La.; and many prominent musicians, actresses and writers.

Pledging is an important ritual for young people seeking to join Greek life. In identical outfits, learning poems and history, students pledge for a number of weeks and those who stick with it "cross over" into membership. Many make lifelong friends and create strong bonds to their new organization. But during the process, there can be a dark side, called "hazing": physical and emotional challenges that may result in injury, even death. To reduce risk, Greek organizations and universities have shortened the pledge period and banned hazing.

'Snitches get stitches'

On that late September week in 2008, the sorority hazing resembled a gang initiation rite, according to court documents.

Howard -- a B-plus student, athlete and YMCA counselor -- said that when she was invited to join the sorority, she was told it did not haze its pledges.

Sorority sisters threatened Howard that "snitches get stitches," borrowing a gangster phrase, Howard alleges.? During one "pledge meeting," they warned Howard not to drop out, saying she would be "jumped out" with a beating, like being "jumped into" a gang.

In one instance, Howard said she and two other pledges were blindfolded and taken to Odom's San Jose backyard, where they were sprayed with a hose. In another, they were hit on their hands and knuckles with wooden spoons. Later, they were slammed into walls, hit with a kitchen pot and punched in the stomach.

Howard alleges that the repeated assaults in up to 16 pledge meetings caused welts, large bruises and a knee injury, forcing her to seek medical care. Another pledge, Jade Atkins, was knocked unconscious when she fell and hit her head on a wooden floor -- but was simply taken to the shower to awaken, according to the complaint.

Long-term problem

"Hazing has been a long-term problem in African American fraternities and sororities," said Lawrence C. Ross Jr., author of "The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities."

Similar concerns have been described by University of Louisville professor Ricky L. Jones in his book, "Black Haze: Violence, Sacrifice, and Manhood in Black Greek-letter Fraternities."

In 1989, Morehouse College sophomore Joel Harris died after suffering numerous blows to the chest and face, a custom known as "thunder and lightening." The fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha -- whose historical roster includes Martin Luther King Jr. and Thurgood Marshall -- settled for $500,000.

In 2009, Prairie View University student Donnie Wade died while running on a track at 4 a.m. while pledging Phi Eta Sigma fraternity. In 1994, Michael Davis died from internal bleeding while pledging Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity at Southeast Missouri State University. Pledges Kenitha Saafir and Kristen High drowned during Alpha Kappa Alpha activities in 2002 at Cal State Los Angeles.

"In white organizations, the problem is alcohol. In black, it's violence," Ross said.

"Particularly on California campuses, where the number of black students is tiny, fraternities and sororities are extremely attractive," Ross said. "They tie people together, and they can do great things. Students feel a bond.

"It's frustrating. Typically, these things happen off campus, because there is not enough money to have an on-campus house. It is really difficult for the schools to enforce. Several people want to have power over everyone else."

Alcohol problems are easier to control and respond to, he said. "But it's tougher to monitor inside a house."

When Howard sought to join Sigma, she "believed they represented the 'sisterhood' she sought in a sorority," said attorney Reddock.

But after the hazing, then being stalked and threatened, "she feared for her life and did not believe she would survive if she returned to the university."

More than 1,000 low-income African American renters in Antioch can sue the city over allegedly discriminatory police practices but can't pursue a $4 million damage claim, a federal judge has ruled.

A pair of decisions Thursday by U.S. District Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong allowed past and present tenants to proceed with the core of their suit - a claim that Antioch police have tried to drive them out of federally subsidized housing through a policy of arrests and harassment - but made the potential consequences much less expensive for the city.

Armstrong approved class-action status for the suit, saying the renters had provided evidence that police practices targeted African Americans. The city disputes the accusation.

But Armstrong said the complaints that four representative plaintiffs had filed with Antioch officials, describing their alleged mistreatment, contained only individual details and did not say why all black tenants in subsidized housing should receive compensation.

As a result, the four plaintiffs can seek damages of at least $4,000 each under California civil rights law, but the same compensation would not be available to the entire group of tenants, even if their lawyers prove that the police practices were discriminatory. They would be entitled, however, to court orders halting those practices, and to attorneys' fees.

Both sides declared victory.

Armstrong's ruling "guts the efforts of plaintiffs ... to recover damages" against Antioch, the city said in a statement Friday.

City officials noted that a federal court jury, in a separate case Thursday, rejected a racial harassment claim by another African American family against a member of the same Antioch police squad accused in the class-action suit.

The class-action suit "relies on the same witnesses and similarly flawed expert evidence and ... carries the same dangerous implications for a city's ability to protect its residents," the statement said.

Brad Seligman, lawyer for the class-action plaintiffs, said the damage ruling was a setback. But he said that "stopping the (police) behavior is the most important goal of this litigation," which now can proceed to trial.

The suit accused Antioch of targeting African Americans in subsidized Section 8 housing when it established the police Community Action Team in July 2006 to patrol high-crime neighborhoods.

Plaintiffs' lawyers said city leaders had reacted fearfully to the near-doubling of Antioch's black population in the previous five years, and had blamed increased crime on an influx of Section 8 tenants, most of whom are African American.

Renters in the suit said the police squad entered and searched their homes without warrants, pressured their landlords to evict them and asked the county housing authority to eliminate their federal subsidies. One plaintiff's landlord said an officer advised him not to rent to African Americans.

City officials said Friday that the police squad is fair and professional and is supported by "the overwhelming majority of Section 8 tenants."

The head of the National Black Farmers Association renewed his call Tuesday for Congress to fund a historic discrimination case settlement involving minority farmers.

He slammed the sharply divided Senate for repeatedly stripping funding provisions from different bills, and urged President Obama to call for a decisive vote on the measure by the end of September.

"Suffering is an understatement of what is going on with black farmers," John Boyd said in front of a federal courthouse in lower Manhattan. We "are tired of waiting."

Boyd said black farmers are losing land at a rate three times faster than other agricultural workers. He said that it takes nearly 400 days to process a black farmer's loan request at the Agriculture Department, compared with less than 30 days for white farmers.

"Congress has money for everything -- to bail out banks, Wall Street, AIG, everybody," he said. But "we can't seem to get this done. There is something terribly wrong with that picture."

Boyd showed up in front of the courthouse with a mule -- a reference to Civil War-era promises of assistance for freed African-American slaves.

Last month, the U.S. Senate failed to approve $1.25 billion for the settlement between the U.S. Agriculture Department and black farmers, prompting finger-pointing by members of both parties and outrage among many black farmers.

"We are very, very, very disappointed that we are just caught up in such a larger political fight in the Senate, where it's just partisan division," Boyd said after the August 5 outcome.

A 1997 case against the Agriculture Department, Pigford v. Glickman, was settled out of court 11 years ago, but tens of thousands of farmers missed the filing deadline to submit claims.

As a senator, Obama sponsored a measure in the 2008 Farm Bill that reopened the case, known as Pigford II.

The $1.25 billion settlement is owed to the farmers after years of being denied government farm loans and support from federal programs because of the color of their skin.

Under a federal judge's terms dating to 1999, qualified farmers could receive $50,000 each to settle claims of racial bias.

In February, the Department of Justice released a statement saying Attorney General Eric Holder and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack were announcing a resolution to Pigford II. The statement said the settlement agreement is contingent on the appropriation of funds by Congress.

"Following the appropriation, class members may pursue their individual claims through a non-judicial claims process in front of a neutral arbitrator," the Justice Department statement said.

"Claimants who establish their credit-related claims will be entitled to receive up to $50,000 and debt relief. A separate track may provide actual damages of up to $250,000 through a more rigorous process. The actual value of awards may be reduced based on the total amount of funds made available and the number of successful claims."

Prominent members of both parties have voiced support for paying out the settlements.

In July, the House approved a war supplemental funding bill that included money to pay for the settlement.

But the attempt to approve the funds in August failed in the Senate. It was the seventh attempt by the Senate to approve the funds, Boyd said.

Former University of Southern California star running back Reggie Bush is expected to be stripped of the Heisman Trophy by the end of the month.

Two sources close to the Heisman trust, which oversees the award given to college football's top player, have been quoted as saying the group is finishing its investigation into allegations of wrongdoing at USC during the 2005 season. The sources told reporters the Heisman trust will eventually rule it agrees with the NCAA's assessment that Reggie Bush would have been ineligible to play during 2005 - and therefore ineligible for the award.

The decision would make Bush the first player in the 75 years of the Heisman to be stripped of the title.

Sources say the Heisman trust would strip Bush of the award and leave it vacant - instead of awarding it to another honoree like Texas quarterback Vince Young who finished second in the voting, but by a wide margin.

But on Tuesday, after the news began to spread online, ESPN's Chris Fowler said on SportsCenter that a decision had not yet been made, stoking even more speculation.

In June the NCAA ruled Bush had violated rules by accepting gifts, cash and other benefits while he played for the Trojans - violations that would have impacted his eligibility. The NCAA infractions committee also levied heavy penalties against the program as a whole - vacating its 13 wins, include their Orange Bowl victory against the Oklahoma Sooners, taking away 30 school scholarships and banning USC from bowl games for two years.

USC incoming and outgoing presidents involved in the matter have said they would be returning their recognitions associated with Bush's Heisman win - and that the now-New Orleans Saints running back would do so himself if and when he was asked.

News of the expected ruling has sent the Web into a tizzy, with Bush beginning to dominate Web and social media trends, and leaving fans to wonder several questions and debate the apparent decision.

Some wondered why Bush would be stripped of the award when O.J. Simpson was not, given his post-college run-ins with the law. Others questioned if Bush would have to publicly give back the trophy with the famous pose or how it might shake the star's confidence when he takes the field for the New Orleans Saints' opener Thursday against the Minnesota Vikings.

Black Gas Station Owner Accuses Atlanta-Based Company of Racism, Intimidation,and Violation of Independent Operator Agreement. Calls for Nationwide Boycott of RaceTrac Gas Stations.

A nationwide boycott is being called against Raceway Petroleum, the Atlanta GA-headquartered parent company that controls more than 600 RaceTrac gas stations nationwide. The company is being cited for racist treatment of its black-owned gas station operators.

Eric Banks, an historically black college and university (HBCU) graduate of Grambling State University, operates the only two black-owned RaceTrac/Raceway gas stations in the country
with his family. Citing retaliation and intimidation in response to numerous emails to Raceway/RaceTrac corporate executives about the corporation’s failure to honor the provisions of its
franchising agreement, specifically RaceTrac management’s harassment and botched maintenance
repairs of leased equipment required to be maintained by the company per the franchise operating
agreement, Banks and his family were given a 90-day notice stating the company had determined
Banks and his family no longer are the “right fit” for their Ruston, LA location. The notice went on to inform Banks that his Ruston gas station will be offered to another operator whom Banks has confirmed is not black.

Banks’ Ruston, RaceTrac gas station is situated in a predominately “white, republican
neighborhood” that currently is undergoing extensive upscale development. Former NBA player
Karl Malone is building a shopping center down the street and other new businesses have been or are
being constructed. “RaceTrac has strong armed and intimidated black operators for too long while
‘pumping’ hundreds of millions of dollars from black communities with virtually no black ownership,” says Banks. “Their efforts are part of a long, and well-documented history of failing to offer equal access and opportunity to black owners and when we do have an opportunity, the company makes every effort to undermine our success.”

Since purchasing the gas station in 2008, the Banks family has endured limited or obstructed access
due to highway construction, but the major obstructions to their operations have come directly from
Raceway Petroleum in the form of failed or botched repairs or other franchise agreement violations
by the company, designed to severely impact or cripple Banks’ ability to service his customers,
which ultimately impacts the station’s profitability. “The RaceTrac Petroleum contract expressly
states we are ‘independent owner/operators’ and they have no say in how we run our business,”
asserts Banks. “But they have regularly given our employees direct instructions and attempted to
regulate how we manage and operate our locations. It’s not only a violation of our contract with
them; it’s a direct attempt to circumvent basic franchise protections under federal law,” insists
Banks.

Not only have Banks and his family garnered thousands of signatures of support from loyal white,
black and Latino patrons, their Ruston, LA location, once operationally-defunct, has set record sales
volumes since the family took it over in 2008. The Ruston location also holds special significance
for Banks because it’s where over 12 members of the family attended college, and dreamed of one
day returning to provide employment not only to local college students but also to ex-offenders
committed to rejoining and contributing to their communities. “This is not just a gas station,”
declares Banks, “it is a place of hope for the un-employable; a place where they can earn an honest
living and avoid returning to their past lives.”

Raceway Petroleum executives have cited in their 90-day notice that Banks and his family "are no
longer the right fit for this upscale location". Company officials also have informed Banks that he
and his family could pursue other RaceTrac locations elsewhere at a later date, but “just not here, not
now”.

Banks and his family are determined to fight the company’s decision: “Our patrons love our service
and they don't understand why RaceTrac would do this,” offers Banks. Amid allegations that the
prior owners not only stole local patron’s credit card numbers, but also absconded with more than
$100K in fuel funds from RaceTrac, Banks and his family have vowed to stay put. “The former
owners – and Raceway Petroleum – totally violated the community’s trust,” asserts Banks, “a trust
that we painstakingly have earned back and we demand the right to continue to serve our patrons and
our community!”

Jefferson Thomas, one of the so-called "Little Rock Nine," the nine students who integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957, has died, according to Carlotta Walls LaNier, president of the group's foundation. He was 67.

Thomas died of pancreatic cancer on Sunday, the Little Rock Nine Foundation said in a statement. He was living in Columbus, Ohio.

As a 15-year-old, Thomas was one of the nine African-American students who braved segregationist mobs to integrate the all-white school under the protection of military forces.

A retired federal accountant for the Department of Defense, Thomas "had spent the last decade of his life doing community service, traveling to promote racial harmony and supporting young people in seeking higher education," the foundation said. In 1999, he and the others received a Congressional Gold Medal from President Bill Clinton.

Thomas' oldest sister, Alma Hildreth, told CNN she believes God protected Thomas so that he could accomplish a mission that God had given him: "To stand up and do what he thought was right, [and to show] that education belonged to him and all the children."

"He did a lot of good that he really enjoyed doing and wanted to do. He did a lot of speaking and encouraging young people to reach for the stars. That was his mission, to do that," Hildreth said.

President Barack Obama expressed his condolences to Thomas' family in a statement issued Monday, and praised Thomas' bravery in entering Central High School.

"Mr. Thomas was just a teenager when he became one of the first African-American students to enroll in Little Rock Central High School. Yet even at such a young age, he had the courage to risk his own safety, to defy a governor and a mob, and to walk proudly into that school even though it would have been far easier to give up and turn back," the Obama statement said.

Obama said the action "helped open the doors of opportunity for their generation and for those that followed."

The surviving members of the Little Rock Nine "expressed their heartfelt sadness at the passing of the man they called their brother in a unique group for the past 53 years," the foundation's statement said. The nine have remained close, and through their foundation they provided college scholarships and mentoring to students.

"I will miss his calculated sense of humor," said LaNier, another member of the nine. "He had a way of asking a question and ending it with a joke, probably to ease the pain during our teenage years at Central. He was a Christian who sincerely promoted racial harmony and took his responsibilities seriously."

"Jefferson has always been, to us, a brother," said Melba Pattillo Beals, another one of the nine. "He's funny and very strong, like when we would have a very difficult day, things were absolutely at their worst, he would say, 'Smile, you're on Candid Camera,' or, you know, 'Look at what you're wearing!' He was just really, really funny."

She said Thomas sent other members of the group funny e-mails almost until the day of his death.

On September 4, 1957, a national furor erupted as the nine students attempted to enter Central High. Then-Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus, in defiance of a federal court order desegregating schools, called out the Arkansas National Guard to prevent them from entering.

"The nine students, chosen by Little Rock school system administrators for their excellent grades and records of good behavior, were stunned by the presence of hundreds of rioting segregationists and the Arkansas National Guard, the foundation said. The group was turned away.

For two weeks, the group remained at home, attempting to keep up with their schoolwork. The federal court ordered Faubus to stop interfering with the court order, so he removed the guardsmen from the front of the school. On September 23, the nine entered the school for the first time, but an angry crowd outside beat African-American reporters who were covering the events, according to the encyclopedia. Little Rock police, who feared they could not control the mob, pulled the nine from the school that day, and they returned home.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower then mobilized the Army's 101st Airborne Division to escort the nine into the school, calling the mob's actions "disgraceful," according to the encyclopedia. The nine entered on September 25. The military presence remained for the entire school year, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture.

However, the harassment did not end after the nine integrated the school. Military guards were assigned to escort the nine students to classes, according to the encyclopedia, but could not go everywhere, and name-calling, kicking and shoving continued in restrooms and locker rooms.

"I do remember [the family] got a call that he had been knocked out -- someone had hit him on the back of head while he was at a locker in hallway," said Jessie Agee, another sister of Thomas'. "But he wanted to continue on with it."

When it was time to leave school, he'd run home, and one of his older brothers -- armed with a tire iron -- would wait around a corner to escort him the rest of the way, Agee said.

The following year, Faubus closed all the Little Rock high schools to avoid integration, the foundation said. When the high schools reopened for the 1959-60 school year, Thomas and LaNier returned to Central High and graduated in May 1960.

"We're very sad," Minnijean Brown Trickey, also a member of the nine, told reporters Monday. "We were friends before the Little Rock Central crisis, and we've been very close over the years, so it's a great tragedy for us."

Thomas was a track athlete at the African-American Dunbar Junior High School in Little Rock when he volunteered to attend Central High as a sophomore, according to his biography on the Little Rock Nine Foundation website.

Hildreth said one of the reasons Thomas was inspired to volunteer came to him in biology class. At his old school, the class and the teacher had to share one frog when it came time to dissecting an animal.

"But he heard at Central, all the students had their own frog to dissect. And he said he wanted to go to Central High because he would be in a class where each student had their own frog," Hildreth recalled. "We would laugh about it [later]. He said, 'I just want my own frog.'"

"He found out about the wonderful education they were getting there, and that's what he wanted to experience," Hildreth said.

Agee told reporters that everyone in their family, except their mother, thought Thomas' attempt to go to Central was a good idea.

"She wasn't too keen on it, but she went along with it. His father wanted him to do it. She finally gave in. Him being the youngest, she was very protective of him. And he managed to do it," Agee said.

After graduating from Central, he entered Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, but joined his family after they relocated to Los Angeles in 1961. He attended Los Angeles State College, where he was a member of the student government and president of the Associated Engineers.

He was inducted into the Army in 1966, and was assigned to duty in south Vietnam with the 9th Infantry Division, the biography said. "He served as an infantry squad leader and directed numerous field campaigns as they confronted enemy troops."

Right around now, Blair Irvin Jr. was expecting the call from the Florida Tuskers of the United Football League inviting him to training camp.

Former Kansas State football standout and former minor league baseball player Blair Irvin, who was born in New Orleans, grew up in Marrero and then moved to Patterson,Louisiana for high school, was the victim of a savage beating as he was leaving a bar in Berwick, LA on August 15,2010. Two men and a woman are in jail charged with battery and hate crimes after they broke his jaw in two places.At the time, Irvin was awaiting a tryout with the United Football League's Florida Tuskers and this has dashed his chance for a football career. He was at his uncle's barber shop A Cut Above in Marrero. His initial medical bill was $6,181 and he has to have his jaw wired shut for eight weeks. His jaw constantly bothers him and he has to take pain killers to cope.

A star athlete at Patterson High School, Irvin was recruited in 2002 as a cornerback by LSU but ended up signing to play baseball with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. After four years in the minor leagues, Irvin decided to return to football, playing two years with Coffeyville Community College in Kansas and a year with Kansas State before returning to Patterson a few months ago to prepare for what he hoped would be a call to go pro.

"I'm pretty much not going to get that call," said Irvin, 27, speaking in the low mumble that is the best he can do since the early morning of Aug 15. That's when Irvin, who is African-American, said he was lured to a bar in nearby Berwick by a white woman of his acquaintance, jumped and beaten amid a hail of racial invective, leaving his jaw broken in two places and the woman, her half-brother and a friend of theirs charged with second-degree battery and hate crimes.

Denise Aucoin, 30, of Bayou Vista; her half-brother, Robert Taylor, 26, of Jackson, Mich.; and Bengie LaFleur, 29, of Patterson are being held in three different lock-ups in St. Mary Parish, where they are likely to remain at least until they are assigned lawyers and face their arraignment, now scheduled for Sept. 28. Bond is set at $150,000.

Irvin, who was born at Charity Hospital in New Orleans and grew up in Marrero before moving to Patterson in the seventh grade, said he believes the attack was premeditated and racially motivated.

But it will be up to the district attorney's office whether to stick with the hate crimes charges, and some friends and family of the accused say some racist words in the heat of battle don't necessarily mean it was a hate crime.

"I'm hoping they realize that this was just a fight that has gotten out of hand and gone really bad; I'm just hoping that they realize that this was not a hate crime," said Vincent Aucoin, Denise Aucoin's father. "They did not attack this man because he was black."

He said Irvin "was a friend of my daughter's. He had been at her house many a time ... and now, because in the middle of an argument in a fight, someone uses this word, and the law's going to call it a hate crime?"

Lemina Fabre, who is like a second mother to LaFleur -- her home is his legal address -- said she is even more puzzled
"They called it a hate crime, but he's (LaFleur) mixed, too -- his grandfather's black," Fabre said of LaFleur, who has told her and others that he was trying to break up the fight.

A judgment call

James Richard, the police chief in Berwick, a mostly white town of 4,500 just across the Atchafalaya River from Morgan City, acknowledged it was a judgment call whether to invoke the state's hate crimes statute.

"It's kind of a tough case to show that they specifically beat him just because he was black, but that was what we charged them with," Richard said.

As events in Jena proved a few years back, a story of race in a small Louisiana town can rivet and roil the nation.

When Rev. Aubry Wallace of Marrero heard about Irvin's beating from the young man's uncle, Kendel Irvin, at his barber and beauty shop, A Cut Above in Marrero, Wallace alerted the NAACP, the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

But Irvin's father, Blair Irvin Sr. -- who lives in Opelika, Ala., since being displaced from Avondale by Hurricane Katrina -- says he does not think that is the way to go.

"I love my son. I want him to come through feeling as if justice has been served," he said. But he said he wants no part of a race drama.

"He don't need no Al Sharpton or none of that," Irvin Sr. said. "I know it's hard for him but I told him, 'We just got to pray and move on and let the law run its course.'"

Blair Irvin Jr. said he met Aucoin in July. He had visited her home in Bayou Vista, but she had warned him, "her brothers and cousins didn't agree with black and white" relationships.

It was 1:30 in the morning on Sunday, Aug. 15, when Irvin said Aucoin called from Charlene's Roadhouse in Berwick.

"She said she was intoxicated and she needed a ride," he said.
Irvin arrived to find Aucoin in a bar filled with white people, including her brother, who had returned from Michigan a few weeks before looking for work. Irvin asked Aucoin why she needed him to give her ride. She didn't answer, and while Irvin said he was puzzled, he stayed to shoot some pool.

After shooting two games, Irvin told Aucoin he was leaving, "but when I walked outside to leave, the whole bar came behind me."


"This guy Bengie comes up to me, shakes my hand and he says, 'Hey, are you Blair Irvin?' I said, 'Yeah,' and he said, 'Do you know me?' and I said, 'No,' and he said, 'Well you are about to get to know me cause I'm going to beat your tail.'"

Irvin said he thinks a few other people joined in the beating, but LaFleur, Taylor and Aucoin, who police say struck him with a motorcycle helmet, were the only ones he could identify.

A different version

Stephanie Sanders, a friend of LaFleur's who was there that night and made a statement to police, offers a different version of events.

She said only Aucoin and Taylor were involved in the attack, that LaFleur tried to pull Taylor off, and that only about five people watched. The other witnesses, she said, have made themselves scarce.

"Everyone's drinking, nobody wants to get in trouble, nobody wanted to deal with the police," she said.

The story she heard, said Sanders, is that the fight was ignited by Aucoin confronting Irvin at the bar about a purse with $400 in it that had gone missing the week before. Irvin said he never took her purse, and only heard about that version of events after the fact.

Irvin, who escaped from the scene in his car, said the attack remains what it was the night it happened: a racist hate crime.

Up until mid-August, Irvin had a plan. He would prove himself with the Tuskers, and in a year or two fulfill his promise and be playing in the NFL.

But now, with his broken jaw?

"His football days are over," said his father. "I hate what happened to him."

But, he said, "I'm just happy that he's not dead. I'm just grateful my boy's still alive. I want everybody to stay alive when all is said and done."