President Obama

Apr 16 2013

Clergy on the front lines

As President Obama and our representatives in Washington debate gun-violence prevention measures, many in the African American community are saying, “It’s about time!”

Nov 29 2012

7 percent under the poverty line

WASHINGTON—More than 11 million Blacks lived below the poverty line in 2011, including an estimated 5.2 million that languish in severe poverty, according to a recent report.

The yearly report by the Half in Ten campaign found that, even though Blacks comprise 13 percent of the total population in the United States, they accounted for 27.6 percent of Americans living below the poverty line, defined as $23,018 a year for a family of four. Less than one in 10 of those living below the poverty line in 2011 were White.

Nov 15 2012

They vow to block her promotion to secretary of state

Senate Republicans vowed Wednesday to block the promotion of Susan B. Rice to Secretary of State. Rice, the current United States ambassador to the United Nations, has come under fire recently over the State Department’s handling of the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, which left four Americans dead, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

Nov 15 2012

He garners 93 percent of their votes

WASHINTON—Despite efforts in some states to suppress the Black vote and predictions that African Americans would not turn out at the rate they did in 2008, Blacks overcame all obstacles and were key to Obama’s re-election to a second term, an analysis of voting data shows.

Exit polls show that 93 percent of Blacks voted for Obama this year, down slightly from the 95 percent rate in 2008. But voting for all groups was down this year compared with the presidential election four years ago.

Nov 1 2012

From South Carolina to the New England states

WASHINGTON—Only days before the presidential election, as the mega-storm slowed down both candidates and knocked out power in millions of homes across the East Coast, a Black voter operation used every possible mechanism to continue get-out-to-vote and voter protection efforts for Tuesday.

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.