Julianne Malveaux

Julianne Malveaux  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Nov 15 2012

Counting the Cost

After we savor the feeling of sweet success that comes from President Barack Obama’s re-election, there is work to do. Most of us got the outcome that we both worked and hoped for, but we have to resist the temptation to exhale and get on with our work. Before the president takes the oath of office for a second time, African Americans should mobilize around these issues:

Julianne Malveaux  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Nov 1 2012

Counting the Cost

No matter who wins the Nov. 6 election, he will have a mess on his hands.

Julianne Malveaux  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Oct 18 2012

Counting the cost

Our Constitution offers us “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” but we can’t pursue anything if we are unhealthy.

Yet, health disparities in the United States are a fact of life. African American people have shorter lives than Whites for three reasons. One has to do with income and poverty. Poor people (and 27 percent of African Americans are poor, compared to about 10 percent of Whites) have less money and less access, often having to make a choice between medical treatment and food to eat, prescription drugs and rent.

Julianne Malveaux  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Oct 11 2012

Counting the Cost

Somehow, the body snatchers came last Wednesday and took the fire (as in fired up, ready to go) out of President Barack Obama, leaving a rather listless shell of a man who never truly engaged the audience.

He looked down at his notes, fidgeted, and let his opponent, Mitt Romney, get away with multiple lies.

Julianne Malveaux  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Oct 4 2012

Counting the Cost

In late September the “nonpartisan” website Real Clear Politics (realclearpolitics.com) reported that President Barack Obama leads Republican nominee Mitt Romney in several battleground states. According to the polls, President Obama leads by 5.2 percent in Ohio, 4.5 percent in Virginia, 4.2 percent in Nevada, 4 percent in Iowa, and 3 percent in Florida.

Do we believe the polls? I’m not so sure. But I surely don’t believe these polls should alter an aggressive effort to re-elect this Democratic president.

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.