Barack Obama
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The Unfinished Business of The First Black President
There’s a huge difference between having a President that’s Black and having a Black President. With Barack, we thought we hit the jackpot and were finally gonna get both, but boy were we wrong. Almost eight years into the Obama Era and we’ve still not grappled with some of the vexing issues of negritude and…
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Green Party VP Nominee Ajamu Baraka: We Must Disrupt Our Relationship to Democratic Party
When Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein tapped Ajamu Baraka to be her running mate back in August, there was a flurry of news stories. Most tried to paint him as the anti-Obama—too radical, too intense, too left to occupy the space just a heartbeat away from the Oval Office. All of these characterizations of Baraka amounted to attempts…
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High School Graduation Rates in US Reach Record High
Federal data released Monday shows that the nation’s high school graduation rate rose again during the 2014-2015 school year, reaching a record high as more than 83 percent of students earned their diplomas on time. The Washington Post reports that gains were made in every student group, including low-income, black, white, Asian, Hispanic and Native…
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Bill Clinton Bashes Obamacare During Rally, Then Tries to Moonwalk Away From His Statements
Rule No. 1 when stumping for the next president who happens to be your wife: Don’t criticize the current president’s signature policy, especially when he and his wife are extremely popular and are also stumping for your wife. That’s exactly what Bill Clinton did during a Democratic rally in Flint, Mich., on Monday. In an…
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On Slowly But Surely Accepting The Fact That President Obama Kinda Sucks When Talking To And About Black People
A few months ago, I was asked to contribute to The Meaning of Michelle — a collection of essays about Michelle Obama’s influence and legacy. My chapter (“Crushing on Michelle: Or the Unapologetic Power of Blackness”) makes a reference to the psychic impact the Obama family’s presence has had on Black America, and how our collective cathartic…
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A Historic Museum Featuring #APeoplesJourney Opens on the National Mall
Saturday morning marked a monumental day for America, a day that many believed would never come: the opening day of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the 19th museum of the Smithsonian Institution. NMAAHC was established by an act of Congress in 2003 under the authorization of President George W. Bush. But that, of course, was not…
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10 Breakups That Would Totally Absolutely Devastate Black America More Than Brangelina's
My cousin, the unsinkable sarah huny young, and I regularly frequent the same coffee shop. But we rarely see each other there because she’s usually there early (9am to 1:30-ishpm) and I usually don’t get there until after 2pm. Today, however, I had a meeting there at noon and was able to chop it up…
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Dallas Cop Accuses Black Lives Matter, Obama of Inciting Race War, Files Lawsuit
A Dallas police sergeant has filed a federal lawsuit against Black Lives Matters and its supporters, claiming that the movement is inciting a race war and blaming them for violence against police officers, the Dallas Morning News reports. According to the Morning News, Sgt. Demetrick Pennie, a 17-year veteran and the president of the Dallas…
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Obama to CBC: ‘Personal Insult’ to Me if Black Voters Don’t Support Clinton
Fiyah. Lit. Sixteen bars. There are all sorts of African-American colloquialisms and aphorisms that will be used to describe President Barack Obama’s last speech as president to the Congressional Black Caucus on Saturday night. While all of those descriptions are true enough, there was something even more daring and more compelling about the president’s speech that…
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Oh, Now Mainstream Media Should Draw Lines in the Sand? That's Interesting
In his latest New York Times op-ed, “When a Crackpot Runs for President,” Nicholas Kristof laments the state of journalism and wonders if media has done enough to show that, according to him, any comparisons between Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump are false equivalencies. Kristof writes: I’m not sure that journalism bears…
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