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Obama's Coattails Haven't Helped Rahm With Black Voters
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Rahm Emanuel was supposed to receive a hero’s welcome in the black community when he announced his candidacy for mayor of Chicago. After all, he was chief of staff for the first black president of the United States, who happened to be the cool former congressman from Illinois! Plus,…
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'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Hurts African-American Women the Most
Since this article was written, the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy has been repealed. In January 2011 the article was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award. During the recent heated debates on Capitol Hill about repealing “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” former Army Sgt. Tracey L. Cooper-Harris sent a poignant letter to President Barack Obama…
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Drowned Out by the Tea Party Hype: Progressive Voices
Ever wonder when progressives will find their voices again? Well, about 800 gathered in Chicago recently at the Facing Race Conference in Chicago to collaborate and generate ideas for the future at a time when they feel drowned out by conservatives and Tea Partiers. It is a pivotal moment on the nation’s political front. Midterm…
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Why Is Talking About Race So Hard?
At a time when America’s obsession with race has intensified, a gathering of experts on racial justice is taking place in the heartland. The Facing Race in Chicago 2010 conference began yesterday at the McCormick Hyatt Regency in Chicago. Hosted by New York-based Applied Research Center, a think tank on race, the event is being…
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Will 'Fair Sentencing' Make a Dent in Black Incarceration?
Lawrence Garrison felt a tinge of hope last month when President Barack Obama signed the Fair Sentencing Act, which reduced the disparity in the amounts of powder cocaine and crack cocaine required for mandatory minimum prison sentences. The hope was not for him, you see. He is a free man, so to speak. The 37-year-old…
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Sharpton: Report on NAN Finances a 'Bogus Attack' by News Corp.
The Rev. Al Sharpton unleashed a formal assault on Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. today, accusing it of dredging up old tax debts for his civil rights organization in retaliation for holding his Reclaim the Dream rally the same day as Fox News TV host Glenn Beck’s Restoring Honor event, which took place at the foot…
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Sharpton Will Ask Feds to Probe Mitrice Richardson's Death
Civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton vowed this week to file a federal inquiry into the death of Mitrice Richardson, a missing 25-year-old woman thought to be mentally ill whose remains were found last week. She had been allowed to leave a sheriff’s station nearly a year ago against the wishes of her parents.…
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You Can't 'Fix' an Abuser
Love apparently brought Tonya Hunter paroxysms of pain during the final months of her 42 years of life. The Cleveland marriage and family counselor was enamored with her job of helping people through crisis, but she couldn’t help herself. Her husband of seven months, Maurice Lyons, 38, is accused of murdering her in their home…
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Does the NAACP Have a Leadership Problem?
Benjamin Todd Jealous, president and chief executive officer of the NAACP, strode into the media spotlight last month when he called on the Tea Party to “repudiate the racist element and activities within” its ranks. He immediately became the focus of attacks from the right and emerged as a visible advocate for racial justice, following the announcement…
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White-on-Black Violence = Hate Crime, Right?
It has been nearly two months since a 30-year-old black poultry plant worker was shot by a white co-worker, his corpse strung to the back of a pickup truck and dragged for 11 miles like so much detritus in a small central-South Carolina town. While the killing of Anthony Hill evoked strong memories of the…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
