Politics

I’ll admit that I also felt uncomfortable during this year’s State of the Union address when members of Congress stood up and cheered in support of President Obama’s criticism of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the case in which the court dismantled congressional efforts to curb corporate contributions…

Lawrence C. Ross Jr. is the author of The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities and a brother of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Follow him on Twitter. Become a fan of The Root on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter. Lawrence Ross is the author of the Los Angeles Times best-seller…

We keep hearing that reconciliation is the “nuclear option” when it comes to health care reform. To Republicans, it is a partisan move that should not be contemplated at all because of  its potential to “blow up” our method of governing, particularly when it involves such sweeping social legislation. Democrats have done a good job…

It was kind of funny. While the overflow crowd of 450 or so ate in the dining room of Queens University of Charlotte, staffers took their lunch in the kitchen before Kathryn Stockett, author of The Help, spoke. No, it had nothing to do with race or class. (And no one had to use separate…

In 2010, black politics is often written in male faces. Tomorrow, women may be the torchbearers of black political power. Today’s pantheon of African-American political talent begins with President Barack Obama, who rode into office on the strength of organized communities and an overwhelming black turnout. Add to the shining roster: Cory Booker, Rhodes Scholar…

With little fanfare, the FBI announced in an article in the Washington Post last week that it was closing its investigations into all but a handful of unsolved civil rights era murders. The head of the FBI team assigned to investigate these cold cases stated that “there’s maybe five to seven cases where we don’t…

During our quest to learn what it takes for a black woman to make it in politics, The Root turned to former ambassador Carol Moseley Braun. She was the first black female senator in Congress, serving Illinois from 1993-1999. She also ran in the 2004 Democratic primary for president of the United States, so we…

Today, Darlene Garner and Candy Holmes are getting married. Garner and Holmes have been in an on-again-off-again relationship for more than 14 years. When asked why they took so long to realize they were right for each other, Garner and Holmes joked that their relationship is kind of like the movie, It’s Complicated. Along with…

When Ayanna Pressley decided to take a shot at a seat on the city council in her adopted hometown of Boston, Mass., she was committed to winning by any means necessary. This meant cashing in her 401(k) retirement plan—earned over 16 years as a Democratic operative in Boston and in Washington for Sen. John Kerry…