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Home Issue: 281

Issue: 281

June 12, 2008

Cover Story

The Black Jobless Picture – From Bleak to Bleaker & Out of Sight

By Carl Bloice Editorial Board

When I heard there was a sizable increase in black community joblessness between April and May I mentioned it to a few people and in return got that so-what-else-is-new? stare. “Every month, when unemployment rate data are released, the news for African Americans is bleak,” wrote educator Julianne Malveaux four years ago. Some things change,…

When I heard there was a sizable increase in black community joblessness between April and May I mentioned it to a few people and in return…

Continue reading 5 min

Commentary

Political Strategy: What Are We Going To Do? Part 2 of a 3 Part Series – Organizing Objectives and Strategies

By Chuck Turner, Boston City Councilor Editorial Board Member

Our unemployed is the sector of our population most rooted in poverty and despair and therefore needs to be viewed as the target for organizing to become the base of a movement for change. However, the reality is that we all suffer from the psychological emasculation to some degree, I believe, described above. Therefore, our…

Our unemployed is the sector of our population most rooted in poverty and despair and therefore needs to be viewed as the target for organizing to…

Continue reading 2 min

Guest Commentary

Katrina Meets Kucinich

By David Swanson Guest Commentator

In the back of your head have you ever thought that abandoning an American city and nearby towns to a predictable and predicted natural disaster, and then refusing to repair the damage, ought to be considered unacceptable behavior. On a grander scale, does it strike you that there is something seriously wrong with the Bush…

In the back of your head have you ever thought that abandoning an American city and nearby towns to a predictable and predicted natural disaster, and…

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The African World

Senator Obama and the Constituencies

By Bill Fletcher, Jr. Editorial Board

It is said that one cannot argue with success, but in this commentary I will challenge that proposition. Despite being the presumptive Democratic Party nominee, there is something about the Obama candidacy that has been nagging at me. A lunch meeting with a woman friend of mine, followed by listening to a commentary by journalist…

It is said that one cannot argue with success, but in this commentary I will challenge that proposition. Despite being the presumptive Democratic Party nominee, there…

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Commentary

The Bishop’s Bittersweet Day

By The Reverend Irene Monroe Editorial Board

In Robinson’s new book, In the Eye of the Storm: Swept to the Center by God, he answers the question. BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board member, the Rev. Irene Monroe is a religion columnist, theologian, and public speaker. A native of Brooklyn, Rev. Monroe is a graduate from Wellesley College and Union Theological Seminary at Columbia University,…

In Robinson’s new book, In the Eye of the Storm: Swept to the Center by God, he answers the question. BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board member, the Rev.…

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Commentary

Bring on the Elephants: It’s Time for Action

By Jamala Rogers Editorial Board

As I put the finishing touches on this commentary, four black men have been murdered in my city in a 24-hour period. It is tragic trend that other urban cities are also facing. Recently, St. Louis witnessed thousands of men taking to the streets, organized under the Call to Oneness. The Call was to mobilize…

As I put the finishing touches on this commentary, four black men have been murdered in my city in a 24-hour period. It is tragic trend…

Continue reading 4 min

Guest Commentary

Rebel Without a Cause: The Movement to Reclaim and Radicalize Hip Hop

By MK Stallings and Montague Simmons Guest Commentators

Hip Hop, celebrated as the child of the Civil Rights and Black Power eras, was born as an insurgent voice of outrage against the poverty and violence that permeated the Black and Latino communities of Bronx, New York in the early 1970s. The music and culture reflected the psychosocial and political realities of the day.…

Hip Hop, celebrated as the child of the Civil Rights and Black Power eras, was born as an insurgent voice of outrage against the poverty and…

Continue reading 5 min

Color of Law

Republicans Would Chisel the Anger Out of Dr. King’s Face

By David A. Love, JD Executive Editor

In its narrative, the NBRA conveniently omits the role of the GOP’s Southern Strategy in steering White segregationists from the Democratic Party to the Republicans, and winning elections by appealing to White fears of African Americans. It started with Nixon, following Johnson’s passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Act, which ensured a massive…

In its narrative, the NBRA conveniently omits the role of the GOP’s Southern Strategy in steering White segregationists from the Democratic Party to the Republicans, and…

Continue reading 2 min

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