August 27, 2011
August 26, 2011
August 25, 2011
August 24, 2011
August 22, 2011
August 20, 2011
August 17, 2011
President Obama has a Confrontation with a Tea Party Activist
By JasmineHughes
US President Barack Obama was recently pulled into a heated debate with a prominent conservative Tea Party activist over remarks made by Vice President Joe Biden, allegedly calling Tea Party members ‘terrorists.’
August 16, 2011
August 15, 2011
Cornel West and Tavis Smiley Talk Poverty in DC
by Kirsten West-Savali, Your Black World
Tavis Smiley and Dr. Cornel West continue to draw fire from critics for their Poverty Tour, which many consider a personal attack against President Barack Obama and his loud silence on poverty in the United States.
President Obama reaches an all-time Low
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action
President Obama received some bad news this week: A recent Gallup Poll foundthat the approval rating for the president has dropped below 40 percent for the first time ever. A full 54 percent of Americans disapprove of the job the president is doing. This puts President Obama into George Bush territory. Bush’s approval rating dropped below 40 percent in early 2006 and never recovered after that.
August 12, 2011
Duchess Harris: Kathryn Stockett Is Not My Sister and I Am Not Her Help
by Professor Duchess Harris, PhD, JD
I did not attend Wednesday’s movie release of “The Help” from DreamWorks Pictures, based on the New York Times best-selling novel by Kathryn Stockett. Why, you ask? Because I read the book.
Last week New York Times op-ed columnist Frank Bruni saw an advance screening of the movie and referred to it as “…a story of female grit and solidarity — of strength through sisterhood.” He wrote, “The book’s author, Kathryn Stockett, told me that she felt that most civil rights literature had taken a male perspective, leaving ‘territory that hadn’t been covered much.’” What neither Bruni nor Stockett acknowledge is that the real territory remaining uncovered is civil rights literature written by the Black women who experienced it.
August 11, 2011
US Government Warns Americans Not to Travel to Haiti
Reports state that the cholera outbreak, high crime levels, and an unstable government are the primary reasons that the US government is not recommending that its citizens visit the country of Haiti.
August 10, 2011
Are For Profit Universities Doing a Disservice to Minorities?
By JasmineHughes
Selected for their potential to succeed or for their potential to become indebted? Many are now questioning the targeted recruiting practices of for-profit colleges.
Cornel West and Tavis Smiley Start Their Poverty Tour
Media personality Tavis Smiley and Princeton professor Cornel West made Chicago one of the first stops on their Poverty Tour, fueling more debate about President Obama’s economics policies and whether those policies have or have not done the current jobs disparity in black communities any justice. There are two factions of thought in the early Smiley & West town hall talks.
August 9, 2011
Martin Luther King is Getting a Monument, Let’s Now Build Something for Malcolm
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Your Black World – Scholarship in Action
As we prepare for the unveiling of the Washington memorial for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., it is important that we take a second to contextualize this extraordinary event. Dr. King deserves to be celebrated next to other great heroes of American history, and it is a proud testament to the growth and maturity of our nation that Dr. King has been honored in this way.
Dr. Julianne Malveaux: S&P Downgrade is Beginning of the End
by Dr. Julianne Malveaux
When S&P downgraded the US bond rating from AAA to AA+, they formalized the financial buzz of months, if not years. The US is going to hell in a hand basket, replicating the denouement of England in the mid-twentieth century. Our tax structure, which rewards the rich and punishes the middle class, looks like something from a developing country, and our economic distribution is going to look like that soon, as well. While many are disappointed and outraged that the flawed S&P felt they could involve themselves in the internal meat grinder of US politics by demanding a certain level of spending cuts, the bottom line is that our politicians were willing to take us to the brink on the debt ceiling, and this brinkmanship does not bode well for fiscal stability.
August 8, 2011
Black Man Killed by Campus Police
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Your Black World
An 18-year old student at the University of Cincinnati was killed this weekend after being stunned by a police taser. Everette Howard, a student in a summer program preparing him for college, died after the attack. Friends say that Howard was trying to break up a fight in front of a dorm when campus police arrived on the scene.
August 7, 2011
Fox News Calls President Obama’s Birthday Party a “Hip-Hop Barbecue that Didn’t Create Jobs”
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action
It appears that Fox News is at it again. The same network that has commentators like Eric Bolling, who asked why President Obama was "inviting so many hoods to the hizzy" referenced his 50th birthday party as a "Hip-Hop Barbecue."
William D. Jackson: The Importance of Black Male Teachers
Your Black World, ThyBlackMan.com
A third-generation black male teacher writes about the importance of black men in education.
August 6, 2011
The White House Issues a Statement about the Historic Downgrade of Federal Debt
Your Black Politics received this message from the White House today. It is President Obama’s first response to recent reports that for the first time in U.S. history, federal government debt has been downgraded from AAA status.
Erin Harper: Language on The Morehouse vs. Howard Rivalry Fan Page is Getting Downright Embarrassing
by Erin Harper, YourBlackWorld.com
I did not graduate from Morehouse College or Howard University. Neither did Sean Combs or many of this week’s readers of the “Howard v. Morehouse: Nation’s Football Classic Trash Talk” group page on Facebook. However, while at Spelman, I DID take one psychology class at Morehouse, served on the Miss Maroon & White court, and strolled in front of Kilgore Hall to Juvenile’s “400 Degreez” album enough to earn me at least 36 credit hours in Drama and Dance. Thus, I attended Morehouse College and I have granted myself with the right and the privilege to defend the institution whenever there is a need.
Do Black People Discriminate Against Dark Skin and Natural Hair?
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action
I spent time watching a trailer for the film "Dark Girls," directed by Bill Duke and D. Channsin Berry. Oddly enough, the clip was sent to me by a friend of mine who has spent her life being praised for being "light skinned-ed" and having the long, flowing hair of a black Marilyn Monroe. She eventually married a tall, dark man, leading me to wonder if she feels any guilt for receiving preferential treatment over something that should never have mattered at all.
August 5, 2011
Black Unemployment Drops Slightly, Remains Steady for Black Men
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Your Black World – Scholarship in Action
The recent release of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that Black unemployment declined during the month of July. It had reached 16.2 percent and dropped over the course of the month to 15.9 percent. While the number is an improvement, it is still nearly double that of white Americans.
Dr. boyce: No, I Won’t Be Seeing “The Help”
The new film, “The Help,” starring Emma Stone, Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer has gotten a bit of buzz recently. The film is based on a novel by Kathryn Stockett about two black maids working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi during the late 1960s. I was curious about the film, since my first impression is that it is a female version of “Driving Miss Daisy.” I can’t say, however, that I am curious enough to want to watch it – for I’ve seen films like this one before.
August 3, 2011
Dr. Boyce: The Student Who Sued Her School Over “Wigger Day”
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action
A high school in Minneapolis may end up having to pay up after allowing its students to openly engage in a tradition called "Wigger Day." On this "sacred" occasion, the students in the school would wear clothing and engage in behavior that "from their perspective, mimicked black culture." This was all according to a federal class action lawsuit filed on Friday.
The suit claims that a group of roughly 60 students voted to have "Wigger Wednesday," where students would dress up as African Americans from "the hood." The outfits included oversized sports jerseys, fitted hats and "doo" rags. Some of them even threw up gang signs to celebrate the occasion.
Congressional Black Caucus Takes a Stand Against the Debt Ceiling Compromise
By JasmineHughes
Dissatisfied with the debt-ceiling deal negotiated by President Obama and leaders in Congress, members of the Congressional Black Caucus are planning a procedural move that would require a majority of House Republicans to cast their votes on the measure before CBC members cast theirs. READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY→
August 2, 2011
Chicago Radio Station Allegedly Fires Host After Getting Pressure from McDonald’s
by Dr. Boyce Watkins
I’ve never met Lenny McAllister, a former host on WVON 1690 in Chicago. The only thing I know is that Lenny is a Republican (which I am not), and that WVON was once my favorite radio station in the entire country. The station, in my mind, has always represented the essence and history of the South Side of Chicago, a place that is near and dear to my heart.
Nobel Prize Winning Economist Says that the Debt Ceiling Deal was a Disaster
Your Black World reports.
Princeton University Professor and Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman expressed his concerns about the recent debt ceiling deal between President Obama and the Republicans. Krugman said that the president effectively caved in to threats from the Republicans, and gave them what they wanted.
August 1, 2011
Rev. Jesse Jackson Says President Obama Wasn’t Tough Enough During Debt Talks
The Rev. Jesse Jackson had a few things to say about the recent debt crisis. Jackson claims that President Obama should have been “tougher” with the Republicans and less willing to compromise.
“He has a propensity to be trusting, on the side of reconciliation,” Jackson said to POLITICO. “He kind of underestimates how ideological these guys are and how determined they are to destroy him.”
