Black Politics

Anthony Asadullah Samad, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Jan 12 2012

Between the Lines

This week is our annual King dance.

I call it the King dance because it’s the time of year when American society dances around the significance of Martin Luther King Jr. and his contributions to the evolution of American society.

It is really difficult to grapple with the compromising of the King legacy.

King was more than a day off work. King marched for social justice and economic equality. He didn’t march in parades. I never got the parade concept. What are we celebrating? The life of Martin Luther King Jr., you say.

Julianne Malveaux  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Jan 12 2012

The reality if different for Blacks

The unemployment rate is falling for the third month in a row, and in December about 200,000 private sector jobs were created. The monthly unemployment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that unemployment has declined by six-tenths of a percentage point since August. Already, some economists are saying we can expect another decline next month.

David L. Horne, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Jan 5 2012

Practical Politics

OK, it is official now—the United States Supreme Court is going to hear oral arguments in March on the continuing controversy and mixed federal court rulings regarding the Affordable Care law, aka, ObamaCare.

At least 26 states with Republican state attorneys general have filed suits against the legality of the law passed by Congress in March 2010. There have been rulings that have said the law is unconstitutional in whole or in part, and the majority of rulings saying the law is constitutional as is.

Julianne Malveaux  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Jan 5 2012

Sparks may fly when the House returns

Most Americans have been enjoying the holiday haze since House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) folded and allowed the two-month extension of unemployment insurance and the Social Security tax cut, and other key matters to go through.

Indeed, if the French take the month of August off by law, we almost do the same in the period between Christmas and New Year. Except for retail establishments that support the great American pastime– shopping–few businesses got substantive work done in the last week.

Anthony Asadullah Samad, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Jan 5 2012

Between the Lines

We’ve watched the Republicans drop-kick President Obama for months now… the ones in Congress, the pundits on Fox, the wannabe candidates (Palin and Trump), and the gonna-be candidates for the Republican nomination in the 2012 election.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

California
San Diego college students and volunteers will carry out their sixth home restoration project on Wednesday, July 10 through Sunday, July 14. as part of the “Healing our Heroes’ Homes” (H3) program created by the nonprofit Embrace. The five-day effort will take place at the home of medically retired Marine Corps Capt. Sarah Bettencourt. Bettencourt served with many different units across the country during the Global War on Terrorism and developed a rare neurological disorder in 2008. With a focus to restore the homes of disabled veteran homeowners, H3 falls in line with Embrace’s mission to mobilize college-student volunteers and community members to serve less fortunate members of civilian and veteran communities. The project for the Bettencourts’ home includes kitchen and bathroom remodeling, building ADA-compliant disability ramps, widening their driveway to ADA standards, widening doorways and landscaping.
 
District of Columbia
The 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival will showcase its five-year community research project on African American identity with the program “The Will to Adorn: African American Diversity, Style, and Identity.” This multicity collaboration examines the history and culture of the aesthetics of African Americans. The festival will be held June 26-30 and July 3-7, outdoors on the National Mall between Seventh and 14th streets. “Whether we realize it or not, we are all dress artists. The way we compose our look is a creative expression of our ideas about who we are and who we aspire to be,” said Diana N’Diaye, program curator. “This program explores the diversity of African American traditions of style, but also teaches young people the importance of documenting their own culture and saving that information for themselves and future generations.”