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Obama on Google Plus – Ahead of the Curve Again?

The Editors — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:46:04 +0000

By Lee A. Daniels
Has Barack Obama, who schooled the nation four years ago in how to use the social media to build a political movement just shown us again that he’s ahead of the curve in wedding his political ideals and persona with the new communications technology and thinking to connect with people at an individual level – and, even more important, have them feel they’ve connected with him?

The State of the Union: The “Back Story” for Black America

The Editors — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 20:12:08 +0000

By Lee A. Daniels
President Obama showed again in delivering his State of The Union message that, contrary to the tinny blasts emanating from the Right and despite an economy stacked against him, he’s ready to reprise the star-turn as formidable campaigner that won him the White House in 2008.

Obama Finally Gets His Groove Back

The Editors — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 02:24:49 +0000

By George E. Curry
Facing the worst polling numbers of his administration, an increasingly alienated Democratic base and rigidly uncooperative Republicans, President Obama has junked his Compromiser-in-Chief approach and started calling out members of the GOP who oppose adopting programs that will help revive the economy.

President Obama Proposes Bold American Jobs Act

The Editors — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 19:19:08 +0000

By George E. Curry
President Obama discarded his carefully-crafted image of Compromiser-in-Chief Thursday night by proposing a surprisingly bold American Jobs Act that calls for nearly $500 billion in federal spending and tax cuts to jolt the sagging U.S. economy.

The Economy and the ‘Political Economy’: More of the Same?

The Editors — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 18:45:32 +0000

By Lee A. Daniels
The condition of America’s political economy – that is, the political war in Washington between the Congressional Republicans and President Obama over how to fix the economy – may well get worse.

The Problem We All (Still) Live With

The Editors — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 20:51:00 +0000

By Lee A. Daniels When is a painting not just a painting – but a mirror? That’s the question which leaps out of the current controversy over a painting that President Obama secured to hang in a well-trafficked corridor outside the Oval Office that first appeared forty-seven years ago in one of the most widely-read [...]

Why Blacks Didn’t Celebrate Bin Laden’s Killing

The Editors — Fri, 06 May 2011 20:32:25 +0000

By Stacey Patton
Our quiet response speaks to our long-held understanding of what struggle is – our domestic struggle as a marginalized community is ongoing. We know that the war is not over and that neutralizing Osama bin Laden was a goal but only as part of a war that is not over.

The Birthers: Déjà vu All Over Again

The Editors — Wed, 04 May 2011 19:47:26 +0000

By Lee A. Daniels
If you think the Birthers have been chastened into silence, think again – and look to the past.

Obama got Osama – But Gets Little Credit for Doing It

The Editors — Wed, 04 May 2011 01:31:01 +0000

By George E. Curry
Judging by his critics, Obama won’t have support even when he accomplished something George W. Bush couldn’t.

Obama Releases Birth Certificate to End ‘Trumped-up’ Birther Issue

The Editors — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 16:16:00 +0000

By George E. Curry
Reacting to a circus-like atmosphere created by two-time presidential flirt Donald Trump and the news media acting as willing accomplices, Barack Obama released his long-form birth certificate on Wednesday in an effort to end the manufactured controversy over whether he was born in Hawaii and therefore qualified to serve as president of the United States

Obama Addresses “Sideshows & Carnival Barkers”

The Editors — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 15:55:10 +0000

By Stacey Patton
The fact that our President had to make such a move to prove his legitimacy illustrates once again that we are not the so-called post-racial America that some would like to claim we are.

The Monkey on the Tea Party’s Back

The Editors — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 02:01:10 +0000

By Lee A. Daniels and Stacey Patton
Another day. Another outrageous example of how deeply the election of a black American of mixed parentage has unhinged some conservative white Americans.

Poetic Justice: A Biracial Man Pardoning a Black Man for Dating White Women

The Editors — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 16:03:42 +0000

By TaRessa Stovall
Like an embattled boxer returning to the ring, the question of whether the nation’s first black biracial president will pardon the first black heavyweight champion for the crime of interracial dating is back for another round.

Black History Month 2011: W.E.B. Du Bois in the Age of Obama

The Editors — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 01:33:11 +0000

By David Levering Lewis
An eminent historian maintains there would be no Obama presidency without the Du Bois legacy.

President Obama Signs Compromise Tax Bill; Unemployment Benefits Extended

The Editors — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 18:56:17 +0000

By The Editors
President Obama Friday quickly signed legislation the House of Representatives had passed at midnight Thursday authorizing more than $800 billion in tax cuts and extending unemployment benefits to millions of jobless workers for the next 13 months.

Obama-GOP Tax Plan Prospects Improve; Unemployment Benefits Renewal Nears

The Editors — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 23:06:42 +0000

By The Editors
The Senate appeared ready Tuesday to pass the controversial compromise tax plan fashioned by President Obama and Congressional Republicans, legislation that would also extend unemployment benefits to millions of jobless workers to the end of 2011.

Obama’s New American First: The President as ‘The Other’

The Editors — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:38:12 +0000

By Lee A. Daniels Today, American society is flooded with virulent, racially-driven images and rhetoric hurled against the President, saturated with the demonizing of undocumented Latino immigrants and calls for scrapping the constitutional protection all children born in America should enjoy, and degraded by cynical assertions that guilt-by-association is valid principle to apply to people who are not white

Beyond Blame – Dealing with Spilt Oil

The Editors — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 01:03:09 +0000

By Maggie Astor While the brunt of public fury has rightly fallen on BP, quite a bit of blame has been pinned on President Obama as well. This is not entirely surprising, given the time-honored American tradition of blaming the federal government for almost everything. But we could do with a more levelheaded look not only at what Obama can realistically accomplish here, but also at where he fits in the long history of presidential responses to environmental disasters.

Ishmael Reed on ‘Barack Obama and the Jim Crow Media’

The Editors — Fri, 14 May 2010 18:41:18 +0000

By Jill Nelson Barack Obama and the Jim Crow Media: The Return of the Nigger Breakers is Reed’s fourth book of media criticism. We talked to Reed while he was on the East Coast on a brief tour to promote a book whose publication and scathing critique of racist, corporate controlled media has largely and not surprisingly been ignored by those whom Reed labels the “Jim Crow Media.”

Ascent to the White House: ‘Dark Days, Bright Nights’

The Editors — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 18:51:22 +0000

By Eisa Nefertari Ulen In Dark Days, Bright Nights: From Black Power to Barack Obama, historian Peniel E. Joseph examines President Barack Obama’s ascent to the White House, an almost unbelievable achievement that is still startling in its historic significance.

One on One: Barack Obama vs. Scott Brown, In the Gym

The Editors — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:32:14 +0000

By Mark Lassiter
If Scott "Downtown" Brown and "The Big O" (with a sincere apology to Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson) consider practicing for their charity game together, they cannot violate party boundaries or be seen in public. Their clandestine practice session would sound something like this.

Obama, Race and Representation

The Editors — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:06:43 +0000

By Manning Marable Early on in their deliberation process, the Obama pre-campaign group recognized that most white Americans would never vote for a black Presidential candidate. However, they were convinced that most whites would embrace, and vote for, a remarkable, qualified Presidential candidate who happened to be black.

Reflections of a Black Pioneer: Two Cases of Integrative Leadership

The Editors — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 22:53:17 +0000

By Clifton R. Wharton, Jr. The unprecedented election of President Barack Obama has provided a dramatic spotlight on the issues of race in America. One aspect of significance is that it represents an important step in the process of racial integration in our nation. His election was the result of the collective decisions by a multi racial and multi ethnic electorate. Both as a U.S. Senator from Illinois and as President, Obama has been what might be called an "Integrative Black Pioneer."

The (Missed) Opportunity of a Lifetime

The Editors — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:38:35 +0000

By Leslie Proll When President Obama took office last January, hopes were high that the right wing’s long stronghold on the federal courts had come to an end. LDF and other civil rights advocates were eager for a new day when fair and impartial judges would once again be nominated and confirmed in large numbers.

Obama at Year One

The Editors — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:31:02 +0000

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.