Voting

Sep 13 2012

They note an assault on voting rights

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—During a roundtable briefing with Black journalists at the Charlotte Convention Center just before President Barack Obama accepted his party’s nomination for president, his campaign said there is a sense of urgency for African Americans to get out and vote.

Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett told the roundtable of journalists that the assault on voting rights should motivate Blacks to get to the polls in November.

Cynthia E. Griffin-  |   OW Managing Editor
Apr 12 2012

The epicenter of movement

 States around the nation, in an effort to address what they allege are two issues of major concern—the flow of undocumented immigrants into their environs and the level of illegal voting—have passed a number of controversial laws that are galvanizing opponents.

In Alabama, the state Legislature is currently revisiting its anti-illegal immigration law House Bill 56 and has presented a list of revisions it plans to use to tweak the legislation passed in 2011.

Juliana D. Norwood  |   OW Staff Writer
Oct 21 2010

Redistricting may have racist undertones

Proposition 20 is a ballot measure that if passed, will remove elected representatives of the state legislature from the process of establishing congressional districts and transfer that authority to a recently-authorized 14-member Citizens Redistricting Commission.

The commission is comprised of five Democrats, five Republicans, and four voters registered with neither party, and requires that any newly-proposed district lines be approved by nine commissioners including three Democrats, three Republicans, and three from neither party.

Feb 19 2009

Parents and community to select school governance

Los Angeles, CA -- On Feb. 20 and 21, Westchester High School will hold elections to determine the community and parent representatives to sit on the campus’ governance council.

Parents and community members are eligible to vote.

Parents must currently have a child enrolled at Westchester High School or have a student who is currently in eighth grade at Wright Middle School and living within the Westchester attendance area.

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.