Politics
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We Still Need the Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the monumental achievements of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidency, was designed to not only eliminate voting barriers for African Americans, but also to monitor attempts to restrict their access to the ballot box. The act is perhaps the most important civil rights legislation of the 20th century,…
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BREAKING: Authorities Use Force to Beat Back Protesters in Tehran Square
This is a recent development in the on-going unrest in Iran. The information available right now is vague, but, according to CNN, it appears security forces in Iran have broken out clubs and firearms against election protesters in Tehran. Many updates are being received via Twitter: From @BreakingNews: – “You should stop this, you should…
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Where There's Smoke…
Covers the White House and Washington for The Root. Follow her on Twitter.
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Official Sheds Light on Possible Obama Moves in Africa
Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson is spilling some of the president’s beans regarding his African policies in the future. In Washington Monday, Carson told the African American Unity Caucus that Obama’s African policy would focus on four key issues. According to Voice of America, those issues are: 1.Promoting and strengthening democratic…
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Video: United We Serve
The First Family calls on Americans to lend a hand. Do you agree that “a summer of service initiative” helps to kickstart an economic recovery?
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(Traditional) Fathers Don’t Always Know Best
Who’s your daddy? Barack Obama, that’s who. We haven’t seen black family role modeling like this since the Huxtables. Actually, Cliff and Clair couldn’t touch the Obamas—they didn’t have Bo. Still, the president’s not content with his own nuclear family bliss. He really, really wants you to have a great dad, too. But the problem…
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God's Work? Baptist Minister Prays for Obama's Death
From the mouth of Rev. Wiley Drake, a minister in the Southern Baptist church, regarding the president: “If he does not turn to God and does not turn his life around, I am asking God to enforce imprecatory prayers that are throughout the Scripture that would cause him death.” According to the Baltimore Afro American,…
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Justice Thomas Dissents
1 Cite as: 557 U. S. ____ (2009) Opinion of THOMAS, J. SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES No. 08–322 NORTHWEST AUSTIN MUNICIPAL UTILITY DIS- TRICT NUMBER ONE, APPELLANT v. ERIC H.HOLDER, JR., ATTORNEY GENERAL, ET AL. ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA [June 22, 2009] JUSTICE THOMAS,…
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Court Saves Voting Rights Act and Itself
It would be difficult to overstate the significance and revelatory import of the Supreme Court’s long-awaited decision in Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District (NAMUD) v. Holder —the case that challenged the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. We learn that the conservative plurality on the court—minus Justice ClarenceThomas—has a pretty good sense…
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The First Couple’s First Flick
The story of Michelle and Barack Obama has been drawn as one about black achievement, the triumph of tradition, racial healing and just plain romance. But their story has also, from day one, been a political one. It’s been that way since their first official date 20 years ago, when the couple went to see…