David L Horne

David L. Horne, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Aug 11 2011

Practical Politics

Black August is the annual designation of a month of Black significant historical events and personalities who have helped to define what it is to be Black in America and what is possible in changing that status.

David L. Horne, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Jul 14 2011

Does not include Darfur

REPUBLIC OF SOUTH SUDAN—On Saturday, the Republic of South Sudan became the 55th African nation. As part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed between the Arab-dominated Sudanese government in Khartoum and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in 2005, brokered by former Secretary of State Colin Powell, the southern Sudanese population voted overwhelmingly in January in a popular referendum to separate into a new country.

David L. Horne, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Jul 14 2011

Practical Politics

On August 28, 2011, a day chosen to celebrate the 48th anniversary of Dr. King’s famous “I Have A Dream” speech on the Washington Mall, another major milestone will occur. For the first time in American history, a centerpiece construction of a permanent stone and bronze monument will be erected in the nation’s capital for an African American who was not a former American president.

David L. Horne, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Jun 30 2011

Practical Politics

Next week, America will celebrate its most hallowed of holidays, its July 4th Declaration of Independence. One hundred forty-five years after the ratification of the 13th amendment legislation that ended legal slavery in America, 143 years after the ratified 14th amendment made Black Americans citizens of the USA, and 141 years after the 15th amendment (with a lot of help from the civil rights-era Voting Rights Act, 1965, with amendments) enfranchised us, do the vast majority of us finally feel real about being free and independent in America and that July 4th is our favorite holiday too?

David L. Horne, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Jun 23 2011

Practical Politics

On Monday morning’s FrontPage discussion on Stevie Wonder’s KJLH radio station, I mentioned to Dominique Diprima that Congressional approval of American military action against Libya under the 1973 War Powers Act, would not automatically mean that Congress had declared war against Libya.

In fact, Congress could approve military operations along a continuum from a limited and time-sensitive engagement all the way to a full-scale declaration of war.

Across Black America

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

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.