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.

By George E. Curry
The Republican race to become the party’s presidential standard bearer has been increasingly characterized by candidates invoking racist stereotypes.

By The Editors
Despite the continuing disarray in the GOP candidate field many on the political Right are still confidently predicting whoever the Republican candidate turns out to be, he will beat President Obama in November.

By George E. Curry
Herman Cain’s asinine campaign to become president of the United States is now toast. Not just toast – burnt toast. He officially flamed out Saturday on the heels – or, shall we say, high heels – of yet another woman accusing him of sexual misconduct.

By Kenneth J. Cooper
In academia, Gingrich topped out as an assistant professor of history and geography at a third-tier state school…Someone once wrote he has a “Reader’s Digest intellect.”

By George E. Curry
Welcome to the 2012 slug fest. And with more than twice as many Democrats than Republican senators up for Senate re-election in two years, emboldened Republicans have their sights set on controlling the House, the Senate and the White House.

In order to stay in the White House, the president should adopt my 12-step recovery program.

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.

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 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 Lee A. Daniels
Will they or won’t they?

That question about the black vote—about whether black voters would show up at the polls on election day—hung over the bitter final months of last year’s presidential campaign like a looming thunder cloud.

The answer was resounding, of course, and now, thanks to recent reports by the Census Bureau and the Pew Research Center and the Pew Hispanic Center, we have a wealth of data to quantify just how historic for black America and America November 4, 2008 was.