Emancipation Proclamation

David L. Horne, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Feb 14 2013

Practical Politics

During the 40 years or so of the modern evolution of the Black Studies movement in America’s colleges and universities, we have made major progress in research, writing, teaching and authorship. We have also sometimes accepted the stories we’ve been too often told as true without critical examination. In fact, there is much to be said for providing people who have most often been taught and told relentlessly that they have no worthwhile history and contributions that they actually have much, much more than anyone knows.

Julianne Malveaux  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Jan 17 2013

Counting the Cost

One hundred and fifty years ago, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

It was a flawed document that freed enslaved people in Confederate areas that he did not control. At the same time, it was a progressive document because it initiated discussion about the “freedom” 13th, 14th and 15th amendments.

Jan 10 2013

Jan. 1 marked 150th anniversary

President Barack Obama views the Emancipation Proclamation with a small group of African American seniors, their grandchildren and some children from the Washington, D.C. area, in the Oval Office. Jan.

Harry C. Alford  |   OW Guest Contributor
Dec 20 2012

Beyond the Rhetoric

My family went to the movies to see “Lincoln,” the much advertised and critically acclaimed new film by Steven Spielberg. The plot centered on one particular phase of the president’s legacy, the abolition of slavery and how he got it done. All of us were taught the Emancipation Proclamation was the vehicle that abolished slavery in America. That just is not true, and Spielberg brilliantly showed us the real story. That’s right, it was not the Emancipation Proclamation!

Nov 22 2012

Among slaves, it was thanks to God for the abolition of slavery

Millions of families will come together today and celebrate their bounty by reflecting on God, family and good will. African Americans have a special historical connection to Thanksgiving that is often overshadowed by other iconic figures that have become more closely associated with the holiday, such as the Pilgrims, Plymouth Rock, Native Americans, the turkey and the cornucopia (horn of plenty).
President Abraham Lincoln, who instituted the holiday in 1863, also wrote and delivered the Emancipation Proclamation that same year.

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.