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First Lady's Anti-Obesity Push Gets Unlikely Assist
By Jason Horowitz and Nia-Malika Henderson Republicans eager to knock Sarah Palin from her presumed perch at the head of the cluttered 2012 presidential primary field have found an unlikely wedge issue that includes an unlikely ally: The first lady and flab. In an odd turn of events, some conservatives have taken to defending Michelle…
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Newark Mayor Using Robust Twitter Presence to Reach Snowed-Under Residents
Written by Krissah Thompson Newark Mayor Cory Booker has been battling the snow on his city’s streets tweet by tweet – and getting a lot of attention doing it. Since the Sunday storm that dumped about two feet of snow on the Newark area, he’s helped lift cars, shoveled driveways and promised to send road…
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Jazz Great Billy Taylor Dies at 89
By Matt Schudel Billy Taylor, one of the musical treasures of Washington and the world, died last night, Dec. 28, at a hospital in New York City. He was 89 and died of a heart attack. Dr. Taylor, as he was known to one and all, was a first-rate jazz pianist who grew up in…
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Danger Ahead for the GOP
By Eugene Robinson It’s been not quite two months since Republicans won a sweeping midterm victory, and already they seem divided, embattled and — not to mince words — freaked out. For good reason, I might add. Sen. Lindsey Graham captured the mood with his mordant assessment of the lame-duck Congress: “Harry Reid has eaten…
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Obama's (Conservative) Liberal Agenda
By Adam Serwer As we reach the end of a successful lame-duck session of Congress and the second year of the Obama presidency, Perry Bacon writes, “This blitz of bill signings completes a dramatic first two years for the nation’s first black president that included the enactment of arguably the most major liberal policies since…
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Obama Says His Views on Same-Sex Marriage Are 'Evolving'
By Perry Bacon Jr. Twice this week, President Obama suggested that he might become the first sitting U.S. president to support gay marriage. He said his views on whether same-sex couples should be allowed to marry are “evolving” and added that, although he is a longtime supporter of civil unions, “I recognize that from their…
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Sources: Waters Ethics Probe Derailed by Infighting
By R. Jeffrey Smith and Carol D. Leonnig A lengthy House investigation of Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) has been derailed by infighting within the politically charged ethics committee over errors in building a case against her, according to congressional sources with direct knowledge of the probe. The probe, opened in 2009, dissolved this fall and…
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Howard U in Flux: An HBCU Reinvents Itself
By Daniel de Vise Howard University is concluding the broadest academic review in its 143-year history, hoping to shed weak programs and bolster strong ones in order to compete in the increasingly fierce contest for America’s top black scholars. Howard offers 171 academic programs, an uncommonly large number for a university of 10,500 students. The…
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Homeless Man in D.C. uses Social Networking to Advocate for Others Like Him
Written by Nathan Rott Eric Sheptock has 4,548 Facebook friends, 839 Twitter followers, two blogs and an e-mail account with 1,600 unread messages. What he doesn’t have is a place to live. “I am a homeless homeless advocate,” he often tells people. That’s the line that hooks them, the one that gives Sheptock – an…
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Homophobia on the Rise in Africa
By Sudarsan Raghavan KAMPALA, UGANDA — Persecution of gays is intensifying across Africa, fueled by fundamentalist preachers, intolerant governments and homophobic politicians. Gay people have been denied access to health care, detained, tortured and even killed, human rights activists and witnesses say. The growing tide of homophobia comes at a time when gays in Africa…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
