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Obama Signals Policy Shift in Middle East Region
Two years ago in his famous Cairo speech, President Obama heralded a “new beginning” between the United States and Middle East — to end a cycle of mistrust and usher in a new era of democracy and human rights. Aspirational and lofty as the speech was, it lacked concrete policies to support these ideals. In…
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Homeland Security Lets Haitians Stay Longer
During the Congressional Black Caucus’ meeting with President Obama last week, Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) handed the president a letter. The message, signed by more than 50 members of Congress, requested more time for displaced Haitians to legally stay in the United States. On Tuesday the Department of Homeland Security announced that it would both…
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The SBA Teams Up With Media Mogul Cathy Hughes
In a 2008 study sponsored by Radio One, Black America Today, the majority of participants between the ages of 18 and 30 said they wanted to be entrepreneurs. “The hip-hop generation believes in education, but not … that you need a good education in order to get a good job,” Cathy Hughes, founder of Radio…
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USDA Unveils Blueprint for Fixing Civil Rights Issues
Three months into his position as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack sent a memo to USDA employees promising an aggressive strategy to fix the racial discrimination issues long plaguing the department. The well-known Pigford Case, a successful class-action suit filed against USDA by black farmers for unfairly denying them loans, was just one example…
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Bertha Lewis on Life After ACORN
One year after the community-organizing group ACORN disbanded — after an undercover video scandal and a denial of federal funds by Congress — the organization’s former president is back. Today Bertha Lewis is at the helm of the Black Institute, her newly created “action tank” dedicated to immigration reform, environmental justice, education and economic fairness.…
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Recy Taylor Speaks on Alabama Apology
Seated on the stage of a packed room at Washington, D.C.’s National Press Club on Thursday night, Recy Taylor smiled softly as the audience stood and applauded her. Dressed in a royal purple skirt suit, her gray hair curled neatly behind her ears, the 91-year-old appeared slightly overwhelmed by the attention. When a young woman…
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Meeting With the President, Again
Today President Barack Obama will meet at the White House with the Congressional Black Caucus — less than two months after his Oval Office sit-down with the CBC’s five-member executive board in March, and one week after the caucus met with White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley. It’s a noticeable change of pace from…
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Common, Jill Scott Headline at White House Poetry Night
On Wednesday night, Common walked into the dim blue light of a White House stage against the audio backdrop of a D.J. looping, “I have a dream that one day … one day … one day … ” from the iconic Martin Luther King Jr. speech. Wearing a gray tailored suit, the hip-hop artist and…
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Passing the Buck on Immigration?
Throughout the past two years, President Obama has repeatedly mentioned a need for America to “fix the broken immigration system.” He’s emphasized the importance of tight enforcement, as well as a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States. But while his administration has been holding down the…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
