Al Sharpton

Stanley O. Williford  |   OW Editor
Apr 21 2011

Says she won’t resign

Just a week before President Barack Obama was set to arrive in Los Angeles, a member of the Orange County Republican Central Committee was adamantly determined to save her position after appending the president’s face on a chimpanzee with the words, “Now you know why—No birth certificate!”

Marilyn Davenport sent the email containing the depiction, which included a chimpanzee mom and dad dressed as humans, with the picture of Obama superimposed over a smaller chimpanzee’s face.

Juliana D. Norwood  |   OW Staff Writer
Dec 23 2010

Commitment ensures more minority participation

The NAACP, National Urban League and National Action Network recently signed an agreement with Comcast and NBC Universal to expand current initiatives intended to increase diversity in a wide range of areas, including programming and employment.
 
The memorandum of understanding filed with the Federal Communications Commission outlines commitments by the merged companies to improve diversity in corporate governance, employment/workforce recruitment and retention, procurement, programming, philanthropy and community investments. 
 

Earl Ofari Hutchinson  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Feb 26 2009

Mr. Murdoch, is Obama really a chimp?

 Mr. Rupert Murdoch, it’s certainly no surprise to you that New York Post Editor-in-Chief Col. Allan would hotly defend the racist Post cartoon comparing President Obama to a chimp. That’s what your shock and smut dealing Post is in the business of doing and it does it well. The idea of course is to get the tongues furiously wagging, get enraged e-mails, letters and phone calls pouring in, and then put forth the predictable defense calling this and other inflammatory cartoons a parody, a free speech right, and harmless spoofery. Allan didn’t stop there.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Jan 22 2009

Remember Fannie Lou Hamer for Obama’s triumph

 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is not the only person President Barack Obama owes a profound debt of gratitude to. He also owes a debt to Fannie Lou Hamer. King put the moral and political face to the modern civil rights movement. Hamer put the moral and political face to the voting rights and equality movement. The movement transformed the Democratic Party and American politics. It made Obama’s presidential triumph possible.

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.”