Tea Party

Anthony Asadullah Samad, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Feb 3 2011

Between the Lines

President Barack Obama’s second State of the Union address last week offered us a glowing reminder of why we elected him the 44th President of these dis-United States. In a remarkable display of reason, logic, results and, yes, hope, all wrapped up into one, President Obama disarmed a cynical Congress even with its new hostile majority in the House.

Anthony Asadullah Samad, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Jan 13 2011

Between the Lines

The chilling silence taking place around the mass shooting tragedy that occurred at an Arizona Congresswoman’s constituent town hall rally in Tucson is extremely disturbing.

Congresswoman Karen Bass  |   OW Guest Contributor
Jan 13 2011

Sacred document

Last week in Congress, I raised my right hand and pledged to the best of my ability, to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.

Little did I expect that reading the Constitution would be the next order of business as our communities continue to struggle through a painful economic recession that has unfairly harmed our neighborhoods and families.

But the new Republican majority in Congress received marching orders from their Tea Party base and a reading of the Constitution was their demand; that wish was granted by the Republican leadership.

Anthony Asadullah Samad, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Dec 23 2010

Between the Lines

The power of truth rests in our desire to seek its source. Whether that truth is the reality of our current circumstances and desires to understand why things are the way they are, or the truth in the reality that there is a better way, a better life, a better reality that can be attained if we choose to see that reality as one we desire to attain.

Part of changing a reality is having the capacity to change it. Another part is having the desire to change it.

Zenitha Prince  |   OW Guest Contributor
Nov 18 2010

Tim Scott and Allen West new to the fold

Election Day victories for two Black Republicans raise a rare question in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 112th Congress: How will two African-American members of the Grand Old Party interact with the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC)?

Fourteen Black Republicans ran for Congress in the Nov. 2 mid-term elections but, after all the votes were counted, only Tim Scott, a South Carolina businessman, and Allen West, a Florida-based Army veteran of the Iraq War, will take seats. They are the first African-American Republicans to be elected to Congress since 1995.

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.