Barack Obama

Karen Bass  |   OW Guest Columnist
Jan 22 2009

Reclaiming the past, moving into the future

 As Speaker of the California Assembly, I often am invited to events that focus on California’s youth and their future. I frequently tell the young people about the principle of Sankofa. That’s the African principle that says we must go back to reclaim our past so we can move into the future. The symbol of Sankofa is a bird looking backward while it continues to walk ahead.

If ever there were a time that represented what Sankofa is all about, this week is it.

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.

Anthony Asadullah Samad, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Jan 22 2009

Barack H. Obama, 44th President of the United States: Has ‘The Dream’ been fulfilled

 The day of an African American President of the United States is no longer coming. That day is here. Witnessing Barack Obama take the oath of office, in the freezing cold with a million other people, is surely one of the seven highlights of my life (along with witnessing the birth of my four children, my second marriage and being present at the Million Man March in 1995). The chests and breasts of black people were bursting out with all “Americans” who shared in this celebration.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Jan 17 2009

The Obama camp manafactures issue

The Obama camp did it again. They manufactured yet another issue out of a non issue when they pounded Hillary Clinton for supposedly defiling Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by minimizing his role in the civil rights struggle. Here’s Hillary’s terrible sin per the Obama campaign crowd. She said that Dr. King’s dream was realized when President Lyndon Johnson shoved the 1964 Civil Rights Bill through Congress. This was anything but a put down of King.

Jan 15 2009

Author analyzes historical campaign

Los Angeles, CA - There is no such thing as an overnight success. Barack Obama didn’t just magically appear in a puff of smoke.
Exploring the strategy of his climb to the top can be as intoxicating as following the historical paths of the Underground Railroad, the Civil Rights movement and other pivotal events.
Like the “yellow brick road,” with it’s twists and turns; witches and farmers; heartless and brainless, the journey eventually led to the Emerald City. Or, in Obama’s case, the White House in Chocolate City.

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.