By The Editors
This week, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) released Free the Vote: Unlocking Democracy in the Cells and on the Streets, a report detailing the impact felon disfranchisement laws have on communities of color nationwide.

By John Payton
April 1, 2010 is Census Day! This count of the entire population occurs once every ten years, and is critical to the African American community. The distribution of federal funds to state, county and municipal governments and the distribution of political power at every level of government depend on an accurate count.

By The Editors
This month the U.S. Census Bureau issued new guidelines that could significantly alter how inmates in state prisons are counted for the census. That, in turn, could affect whether voting districts across the country gain or lose population in advance of the 2011 Congressional and state legislative redistricting.

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.”

By Ryan P. Haygood
The 2010 Census affords a unique opportunity to harness the momentum of African-American civic engagement that was forged in the 2008 Presidential election — this time, to ensure complete African-American inclusion.

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.

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 Lee A. Daniels
This is the week America celebrates in special fashion the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr.

By Lee A. Daniels
As someone who was born a Negro – that’s what it says on my birth certificate — I wonder how anyone who has any understanding of black Americans’ history could think that the term “Negro,” or any of the other historical names black Americans have called themselves during their four-century sojourn in America, are demeaning or dishonorable.

By the NAACP Legal Defense Fund Political Participation Practice Group
Recent online polls and news reports have raised a question about the use of the word “Negro” on the 2010 Census form. The brewing controversy focuses on the derogatory history of the term and its connection to racial segregation.