Berry Craig: I haven’t seen anything written about the great irony of “Lincoln:” Lincoln the president and his Republican party were big fans of “big government,” the bane of the current GOP.
The Accidental Hero—Remembering Rodney King
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Jasmyne Cannick: For every Black man and woman in Los Angeles who has ever been pulled over for driving while Black since March 3, 1991, a debt of gratitude is owed to Rodney King for the beating they didn’t get.
How the Trayvon Martin Case Has Divided America
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David Love: The killing of Trayvon Martin has brought many people together, but has exposed the various divisions along racial, political and media lines as well.
Syria in Perspective
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William Blum: Regime change in Syria has been on the neo-conservative wish list since at least 2002 when John Bolton, Undersecretary of State under George W. Bush, came up with a project to simultaneously break up Libya and Syria.
Not All Black Democrats Subscribe to ‘But He’s the First Black President’
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Jasmyne A. Cannick: Me — I long fell out of love with the President. I don’t talk about it much because doing so can be a detriment to your well-being in certain company.
Redistricting and California’s African Americans
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Jasmyne Cannick: The bottom line is that they can draw all the Black voter-friendly districts they want but if Blacks continue on this mass exodus to the South, there won’t be enough Blacks left to vote anyone into office and the ones that are left won’t have the same adoration for the political process as their ancestors.
Grover Norquist and the American Dream
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Robert Illes: Grover Norquist, toady of America’s wealthy business class who few but political wonks have heard of, heads the so called “Club for Growth” which requires every Republican who wants to keep his or her government job to promise not to raise taxes.
Where Is the Outrage?
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Steve Ybarra: Tell the Republicants that the 1.775, 389 registered Spanish-surnamed Democratic voters condemn this petty, cowardly attack on our President.
The Other Down Low: Sagging
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Jasmyne Cannick: Don’t expect an end to sagging by Black men in or out of prison coming anytime soon. Heavily influenced by mass media, what started off as a signal for other prisoners that one was gay, is now a part of pop culture.
Tea Kettle Crowd: So You Want Your Country Back?
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Wayne Williams: Now, if you can’t face the truth of living in the present and come to the table rather than be the party of no and hate, the rest of us are going to move forward and do it without out you.
The Black Men’s New “Little Black Book”
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Changing the mindset of black men to see a doctor is a difficult one. Fear of doctors is tied to a vestige of slavery where black male illness was totally ignored. Distrusting doctors has a long history, even before the Tuskegee experiment.
When the Brothers Blast You and the…
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To be rendered invisible and unworthy of consideration by men who look like our fathers, brothers, cousins, uncles and the best of who we are – heroes like El Hajj Malik El Shabazz, Marcus Garvey and Martin Luther King, Jr. – is beyond offensive.
Van Jones, Man on a Mission
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Van Jones is one of the founders of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, a non-profit organization based in Oakland, CA. Before Van Jones joined the Obama Administration, he was one of the founders of The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, an organization that started as a vehicle for the fight for fair treatment by the police but broadened its reach to human rights for all.
Jackie Robinson’s Mandate – Black History Month in Pasadena
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A life can be a work of art, but like art, there are standards to meet before it can be classified as “art”. A life that is a “work of art” has to do something pretty spectacular, like advance the human race or something equally valuable. The life of Pasadena’s own Jackie Robinson, was a [...]
Republicans Now Led by a Black Man
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Michael Steele has been selected to lead the Republican Party. He is the first African-American to chair the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the second African-American to chair either of the two major party’s National Committee after Ron Brown, who chaired the Democratic National Committee. Michael Steele was the first black to serve in a [...]
“That One:” President-Elect Barack Obama and the Fulfillment of Unreasonable Expectations
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The day we all thought we’d never see became a reality this week as the nation took a major step toward racial reconciliation in entrusting the country’s national government to a black man. President-elect Barack Obama, soon to be President Barack Obama – now, doesn’t that have a fantastic ring to it — a man [...]
The Strong Wind at His Back
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Well, the pundits were wrong. White voters didn’t change their minds in the voting booth. Barack Obama’s victory proves that some analysts gave too much weight to race, not only in gauging today’s opinions but also in judging how the American people’s attitudes have been taking shape for decades.
The Lesser Schlep
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I want a girl like Sarah Silverman. She’s as pretty as Sarah Palin, much funnier, a lot smarter and she’s a nice . . . girl. Plus, she’s got what it takes to come before the nation and shamelessly call out the lot of Jews who are closet racists. Her video titled The Great Schlep [...]
What Congressman John Lewis Was Really Saying: White Folk Getting Ready to Act Up, Y’all!
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Much ado has been made over Georgia Congressman John Lewis’ statement about the nasty turn the Presidential campaign took at Republican rallies. From Palin saying Obama was “pallin’ around with domestic terrorists, to Republican rally supporters calling the Democratic nominee “an Arab,” “a terrorist,” and calling for Obama’s death, shouting out, “Kill him!”, the rhetoric [...]
Obama Proves the Pundits Wrong
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After Barack Obama won the Iowa caucuses by a surprisingly large margin, the punditocracy was troubled. Pundits had virtually conceded the nomination to Hillary Clinton, and now went into high gear explaining the Illinois Senator’s deficiencies.
Uh-Obama: Racism, White Voters and the Myth of Color-Blindness
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Here’s a sentence I never thought I’d write, at least not as soon as I am now compelled to write it: It may well be the case that the United States is on its way to electing a person of color as President. Make no mistake, I realize the way that any number of factors, [...]
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Who’s Who In Black Los Angeles: Who Really Wants To Know and What Is This Really About?
Anthony Asadullah Samad: Guess who discovered Who’s Who In Black Los Angeles after two years? Before you ask, I really wanted to feature a Los Angeles Times editor in Who’s Who in Black Los Angeles. Really. The problem is, there is not a single African American among those who make coverage decisions for the paper. In hindsight, it probably was a mistake not to include the one black man on the paper’s full-time Metro reporting staff. That brother deserves a special award for what I imagine he goes through everyday. Well, maybe next year.