Black Employment

Stanley O. Williford  |   OW Editor
Jul 12 2012

Convention-goers seem open to many points

Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney spoke to a generally warm and welcoming crowd at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) convention in Houston Wednesday, thanking them for their hospitality and assuring them that as president it would be returned.

“This is an honor to address you, one I had not expected and one I value very highly,” Romney said, adding that he appreciated the chance to speak a day before Vice President Joe Biden would address the organization.

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

How to play a pivotal role in reducing unemployment

According to figures recently released by the United States Department of Labor, African Americans continue to suffer an unemployment rate significantly higher than the rest of the country.

While the national rate for June is 8.2 percent, unchanged from May, the rate for Blacks has climbed almost a full percentage point from 13.6 to 14.4 percent.

This compares to an 11 percent rate for Hispanics for both months.

Julianne Malveaux  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Jun 14 2012

Freezing salaries unfairly targets African Americans

Congress is on fire to balance the federal budget, and they don’t care who they take as prisoners in the process. There are at least two proposals to freeze federal salaries for yet another year (they have been frozen since 2011), and to continue to demonize federal workers as do-nothing folks who don’t need raises. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama has asked for a minimal half percent a year increase, and many in the private sector are seeing wages rise. Of course, everyone is struggling with unemployment rates rising to 8.2 percent.

Cynthia E. Griffin-  |   OW Managing Editor
Sep 15 2011

Impact felt deep in the African American psyche

As she watched President Barack Obama lay out his jobs plan for the nation last Thursday and repeatedly challenge Congress to address the issue immediately, Madelyn Broadus was thinking “finally, somebody is for the people.”

“It seems like for the past 12 years, (the government) is always for corporations and big fat cats. I really feel like he said it right for how we can begin again, the hard-working American people,” explained Broadus, one of the 14 million unemployed people that the president was speaking of during his speech.

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.