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Open Letter to My Congressman, Robert Pittenger: No, We Don’t Hate White People
Dear Rep. Robert Pittenger: You may be the elected U.S. congressman from the district of North Carolina that runs through my neighborhood, but you don’t represent me. When you were asked for your reaction to the citizens who took to the streets of Charlotte to protest the killings of people of color by law enforcement and…
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Hollywood Celebrities Show Up in Support of DC Statehood
In a room sprinkled with celebrities—and there were quite a few, from Ashley Judd to David Schwimmer—one stood out for reasons other than a starring role on TV or in the movies. Eleanor Holmes Norton has been on the front line of social-justice causes her whole life, and she has no problem uniting with more…
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There’s More Than 1 Kind of Black: HBCUs Celebrate the Diversity of the Diaspora
It was definitely a major coup for Johnson C. Smith University, one of the nation’s HBCUs, to snag Oprah Winfrey as its commencement speaker. And she certainly delivered with down-to earth wisdom, her own inspirational stories and lessons from leaders from Martin Luther King Jr. to Maya Angelou. On a sunny Sunday morning, Winfrey told…
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‘Calm’ May Not Fit Country’s Mood, but It’s Obama’s Only Choice
Sometimes, even when I suspect that he knows it will hurt him, President Barack Obama does not follow the script. The evening of the day when terrorists struck in Belgium, the president and his family attended a Major League Baseball exhibition game in Cuba. Why didn’t he rush back to Washington, D.C., or to Belgium…
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Obama Brings a Dollars-and-Sense Message to Women in NC
Charlotte, N.C., Wed., April 15: In a battleground state he won in 2008 and lost in 2012—both by close margins—President Barack Obama spoke on Wednesday, Tax Day, about economic policy, particularly how it affects working families and working women. By listing his administration’s initiatives—the successful ones and those he said were obstructed by Republicans—Obama was…
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Michelle Obama: The Candidate?
Too soon, too soon, of course. After observing close-up the kind of headwinds her husband has met in Washington, D.C., and beyond, there is absolutely no indication that first lady Michelle Obama is looking to place her own name on any ballot. She has, in fact, said the opposite, although in his just-released book, Michelle…
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In the Loretta Lynch Confirmation Hearings, the GOP Continued to Drive Black Voters Away
In recognition of Black History Month, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus and Co-Chair Sharon Day have released a statement in which Priebus says that “as we reflect on the generations of African Americans who contributed immensely to the fabric of our country and to the Republican Party, let us honor their legacy not just…
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Supreme Court Could Decide Voter-Restriction Battle in NC
Last week, voting-rights advocates hailed a legal victory—at least briefly—when a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit cleared the way for North Carolina voters to utilize same-day voter registration and out-of-precinct provisional balloting, both of which were eliminated in a revision of the state’s election law that was passed…
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What Does It Take to Be the Black ‘It’ Girl?
In some ways, Lupita Nyong’o fits the fashion-plate standard of beauty that’s changing, ever so slowly, but still frequently looks for a certain type: She’s thin and sculpted, with regal cheekbones and bearing to match. And her accent doesn’t hurt, either, in an America that’s still New World enough to be impressed by such things.…
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Holder Determined to Challenge Voter-Suppression Laws
North Carolina went from being the model of a voter-friendly state to the poster child for voting restrictions, in one session of a Republican-dominated state legislature. Now, the battle over sweeping new laws passed this year is in the courts, with challenges from the Justice Department and civil rights groups, with crucial midterm elections on…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
