By Mark Lassiter
The President’s luncheon meeting with the House Republican Conference in Baltimore last Friday offered proof that the art Ali demonstrated in the boxing ring at the pinnacle of his career can also shine brightly in a different kind of arena.

By C. Nicole Mason
Public confidence in Obama is wavering. The honeymoon is definitely over. Even progressives are starting to look at him a little sideways. In order to recapture support and the spirit of the campaign, Obama will have to do less politicking and more change-making. He needs less charisma and more grit.

By John Payton
A year ago, we could barely contain our excitement as we contemplated a historic achievement. Barack Obama had won a decisive victory. There was widespread enthusiasm for his Presidency. Right after the election, Gallup reported that 68 percent of the public was proud that Obama was President. His choices of Senator Hillary Clinton to be Secretary of State, of Eric Holder to be Attorney General and of Robert Gates to remain as Secretary of Defense were well received. His Inaugural speech was brilliant. We were looking forward to acknowledging and confronting fundamental problems that have plagued our society for decades.

By Karen Hunter
GOP chair Michael Steele made the rounds this weekend calling for, among other things, the resignation of Senate Majority Leader Democratic Harry Reid for comments that Reid made about Barack Obama while he was making his historic run for president.

By C. Nicole Mason
The 2000s were a mixed bag for African-American women. From Venus and Serena Williams to Condoleezza Rice to Michelle Obama to Don Imus’ infamous nappygate, the 2000s will go down as the decade of both opportunity and setbacks for black women. This decade retrospective looks at the top ten events that shaped how we view black women in society, our communities, and in pop culture.

By C. Nicole Mason
As the old adage goes, you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Over the last several weeks, President Obama seems to have gotten himself caught between a rock and a hard place with black legislators and advocacy groups.

By Khalil Gibran Muhammad
Everywhere I turn these days I keep seeing or hearing the words, “No More Excuses.” From black self-help book titles to black pundits on CNN, these three words have become the mantra of post-racialism in the Age of President Obama. Whether intended or not, the mantra fuels the belief that because of individual black achievements, we have finally reached the promised land of a color-blind, equal-opportunity America.

By The Editors
Thursday, November 19, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions conducted a hearing on the nomination of Jacqueline A. Berrien, Associate Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund to be the new Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

By The Editors
Tom Perez, President Obama’s choice as Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division — the Administration’s point man on civil rights enforcement—formally took office November 13, amid a palpable sense of celebration among civil rights advocates.

By The Editors
On Friday, President Obama  signed a measure once again extending benefits to the long-term unemployed—even as it became likely that  still another extension may be necessary next spring.