Politics

Need a reason to celebrate Earth Day? Here’s one. According to the Center for American Progress, more than 71 percent of African Americans and 66 percent of Latinos live in areas that fail to meet one or more of the Environmental Protection Agency’s air-quality standards. The EPA says that our minority communities are susceptible to…

Once a staple in big cities like Philadelphia, Detroit and Atlanta, African Americans are leaving in herds and heading toward the suburbs. The Washington Post reports that eight of the nation’s top majority-black districts lost an average of more than 10 percent of their African-American populations. This new census data is troubling not just to…

When Barack Obama invoked the inspiring words of famous leaders during his 2008 presidential campaign, followed by the refrain “just words,” he was striking back at his opponents’ claims that he lacked the experience to back up his soaring rhetoric, as well as at the cynicism that he believed was infecting the American political process.…

NPR is reporting that Buthayna Kamel is making history. She has announced her candidacy for presidency, which is a first for women in Egypt. Kamel’s candidacy in the presidential election, which will be held later this year, is the result of the youth uprising and pro-democracy movement that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak and his…

Dan Balz and Jon Cohen of the Washington Post are reporting that deepening economic pessimism has pushed down President Obama’s approval rating to a near record low, but he holds an early advantage over prospective 2012 rivals, in part because of widespread dissatisfaction with Republican candidates, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. In…

The Associated Press is reporting that President Barack Obama declared a major disaster for 18 counties in North Carolina after Gov. Beverly Perdue asked the president and to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack for help, seeking low-interest loans for farmers, and loans and grants to help others repair their homes and businesses. The state estimated…

President Barack Obama has frequently called education the most important civil rights issue of our generation. “There’s a reason the story of the civil rights movement was written in our schools,” he said at the 2009 NAACP convention, citing Brown v. Board of Education and the Little Rock Nine. “It’s because there is no stronger…

Marilyn Davenport, the Southern California GOP official who sent an email depicting President Obama and his parents as chimpanzees, has finally issued an apology. But despite calls for her resignation by Republican County Chair Scott Baugh, former state Chair Michael J. Schroeder and a chorus of civil rights activists, Davenport defiantly vowed to remain in office. “To my fellow Americans…

Call it “America’s Next Top Extra”? A walk-on part in Steve Harvey’s upcoming movie, Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, will go to the winners of Sony Picture’s Face of the Fan open-casting-call contest. The public gets to choose a male and a female for the roles, who we presume will act like…

First lady Michelle Obama was returning from New York Monday when her plane was forced to abort its landing at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland as a result of an air traffic controller’s mistake. The Boeing 737 came dangerously close to a 200-ton military cargo jet when it was told it could not land. Vice…