Anthony Samad: Bernard Parks disrespects people, the political office he holds, and the political processes he engages.
Is Parks’ Representation Worth The $2.3 Million Paid Over The Next Four Years?
By
Anthony Samad: Ask yourself the question if you’re an 8th District voter, “Am I getting $50,000 a month value out of the leadership (the) Parks provide in this district?”
Why This Is Our Time
By
Anthony Samad: On education, immigration, the green environment, and of course, jobs, President Obama helped even Republicans understand that the only way the country was going to move ahead was, together.
Can’t Wait to Hear What He Had in His Hand This Time
By
Anthony Samad: The LAPD shot and killed another Black man. Why weren’t two trained law enforcement officers able to subdue an unarmed, naked man? I’d like to know how this happened. I just wanna know what he had in his hand that would justify the use of lethal force.
When Radicalized Political Rhetoric and Anti-Intellectualism Meet
By
Anthony Samad: Free speech is one thing. Symbolic speech is covered by the First Amendment, but don’t say your coded messages don’t have anything to do with violent consequences.
The Party of “NO” Is About To Get Their Chance
By
Anthony Samad: We know the Republicans will claim to support education, and jobs, and home ownership, and families but will dump them in a heartbeat for business tax credits and budget cuts.
Who (What) Is Forescee?
By
Anthony Samad: FORESCEE is the change the 8th district is looking for. Eight years of desperation doesn’t have to continue.
Villaraigosa Finally Speaks Up Against Teacher Union Reform Busting
By
Anthony Samad: Villaraigosa said the unions are “one unwavering roadblock to reform.” He is right on that point. They have been and will be. But he is wrong to have waited so long to speak.
WikiLeaks and Freedom of the Press
By
Anthony Samad: Government agencies (particularly the FBI and CIA) use leaks to discredit those they don’t like or who they see as threats to the public disclosures of government betrayal. Why should the press not be able to do the same when it becomes obvious that government has not been forthcoming in its dealing and has violated the public trust? That’s what the WikiLeaks debate is really about.
Kamala Harris Won for a Few Reasons: Vision and Disdain Are Just Two
By
Anthony Samad: Kamala Harris won the California Attorney General race for many reasons but two stand out – her visionary approach to public safety and the voters’ disdain for her opponent.
Why Obama Must Get Mad
By
Anthony Samad: President Obama needs to get mad a little more often, when he’s trying to do something serious, and the conservatives (and their pundits) are playing games with him.
Michael Vick and the Politics of Second Chances
By
Anthony Samad: Second chance success stories in our society are few and far in between. People choose to forget who you are and remember what you did, instead of forgetting what you did and remembering who you are.
Word To “The Motha:” Isn’t It Nice to Have Landed on the Right of History?
By
Anthony Samad: Diane Watson had to be dragged, kicking and screaming the whole way, to the right side of history. And now she’s serving the first African American President and part of a Congress that passed universal health care, something she worked her whole life for in the California legislature and something seven Presidents couldn’t do.
A Helleva of a Choice (but I’ma Have to Support My President)
By
Anthony Samad: As ugly as it is out there for some Democrats, one in particular-in California-y’all know who I’m talking about, I’m going to have to trust the President on this election.
Democrats or Republications: Who Will Be “The Biggest Loser” This November?
By
Anthony Samad: With no real “new ideas” to combat a recovering economy, all Republicans have to bash is President Obama, who is really more popular than polls indicate because polls don’t really survey his base.
Playing With God: Terry Jones, Christian Radicalism and 15 Minutes of Fame
By
Anthony Samad: Religion without sincerity, reason, or spirituality is not a good look no matter who wears this evil jacket. Evil things happen when people play with God and use political motives to desecrate his word.
The Black Vote and California’s Next Governor
By
Anthony Samad: Whitman and Brown — the black community likes to see who they’re voting for, and not just during election time.
Glenn Beck’s Restoring Honor Rally
By
Anthony Samad: Both Beck and Palin only became dissident voices in the last election cycle, so they wouldn’t have been factors in any Republican “rally” cry. The Republican party really has no “front men” (women) per se, other than John McCain — who ain’t nobody listening to.
Ramadan: The Best Time To Discuss America’s Growing Anti-Muslim Sentiment
By
Anthony Samad: You have ideologues like Newt Gingrich saying building a mosque near the twin tower site is tantamount to building a Nazi building next to a Holocaust site, or building a Japanese memorial at Pearl Harbor.
Overturning Prop 8: No Matter how You Feel About Gay Marriage, The Gay Marriage Ban Was Always a Constitutional Question
By
Anthony Samad: Regardless of what you feel about the politics of sex-same marriage, the reality is that the gay marriage ban was always a constitutional question. We just never had a constitutional answer for gay marriage, before now.
Shirley Sherrod and Race Realities In America: We All Need a History Lesson
By
Anthony Samad: America so badly needs a history lesson on race right now. Not necessarily to indict, but to enlight. Then maybe we wouldn’t as susceptible to episodes like Breitbart’s and other race baiters trying to gain Rush Limbaugh-Glenn Beck type notoriety.
“I Read, Therefore I Am:” Ode To Dr. Dolores Nehemiah
By
Anthony Samad: Every author in Los Angeles knew there was no greater advocate for reading than Dr. Nehemiah. Whenever she met you, she asked you, “What’s the last book you read?” Or, “What you working on? I know you’re writing!”
Why Tea Party Chairman Mark Williams Got Kicked Out
By
Anthony Samad: Don’t look for Tea Party activists to try to run racists hiding in their ranks out of the movement. For they can no more disavow the racists in their own Party than they could disavow their white grandfathers that raised them but said things that made them “uncomfortable.” They’ll just have to learn to keep their unspoken truths to themselves.
The LeBron to Miami Free Agency Decision: Curt Flood and Oscar Robertson Must Be Proud
By
Anthony Samad: The players in this free agency cycle leveraged the owners to the hilt, as well they should’ve. They are talent that makes the league profit. And they’re not slaves. Curt Flood is smiling from above. One day, the owners are going to get over it and put him in the baseball Hall of Fame.
California NAACP Endorses Legalizing Marijuana: Is It Me, or Is Somebody High for Real This Time?
By
Anthony Samad: The NAACP is a civil rights group. Why is it endorsing the California initiative to legalize marijuana? Who is behind this initiative? Join the discussion.
PCL offers monthly Open House Events on the 2nd Saturday at 2pm and 3rd Thursday at 6pm. Click here to learn more.
Eddie Long Scandal: Silence Doesn’t Make Church Molestation Go Away
Anthony Samad: The presence of gay men in black churches, and not just in the choir, is significant. This is an issue waiting to break in probably every city in America. And it’s not that the congregation doesn’t know it. It is now the silent concern in the black church.