Urban Issues Forum

Gregg Reese  |   OW Staff Writer
Apr 25 2013

She draws big crowd to Urban Issues Forum

Of all the provocative images that emerged from the counterculture era of the 1960s and 1970s, none was as compelling as that of a striking young philosophy professor, her hair fashioned in a perfectly coiffed Afro, with clenched fist held high in perhaps the ultimate symbol of Black militancy.

Dec 22 2011

Urges Blacks to continue the fight

Legendary civil rights and political leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., speaking at the Urban Issues Forum on Monday, drew a comparison between the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s to the Occupy movement of today.

Jackson was the keynote speaker at the monthly event, and by way of metaphors explained the correlations between the Civil Rights Movements of 40 years ago and the biblical movements for social justice.

Although initially somewhat subdued, the audience warmed up to Jackson with chants and frequent “amens.”

Aug 18 2011

Most big advertisers don’t respect the African American consumer

How much do most big corporate advertisers respect the African American consumer—25 percent, 15 percent, 5 percent, or 1 percent?

If you guessed 1 percent you were wrong. It’s less than that—.68 percent, to be exact.

Of the $263.7 billion spent annually on advertising within the nation, less that 1 percent is used to target African American consumers, despite the fact that Black buying power is estimated at around $857 billion, according to the 2010 census.

Anthony Asadullah Samad, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Jul 14 2011

Between the Lines

The U.S. Supreme Court recently ordered the state of California to address its prison overcrowding problem. As a quick fix nearly 30,000 low-level (nonviolent) offenders will be released in the next few months—nearly 12,000 in Los Angeles County—so the county has a few perplexing dilemmas:

Anthony Asadullah Samad, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Jun 30 2011

Between the Lines

President Barack Obama’s re-election bid has posed some interesting dilemmas for those who helped push the “change we can believe in” agenda.

Since the election, the change agenda has evolved into a manipulation agenda, where everybody has a new demand for the president. The new demand is an extension of the old demands of classic “stakeholder” politics—what did the president promise versus what did the president deliver on, with a little “what have you done for me lately” added in.

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.”