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Home Issue: 283

Issue: 283

June 26, 2008

Commentary

Black Media Fails Its LGBTQ Community

By The Reverend Irene Monroe Editorial Board

By now many in the LGBTQ community have heard of the news about the cop beat down of Duanna Johnson in a Memphis jailhouse that was captured on a surveillance video. Those of us especially of African descent, who don’t know or haven’t seen a photo of Johnson, might pick up on a cultural marker…

By now many in the LGBTQ community have heard of the news about the cop beat down of Duanna Johnson in a Memphis jailhouse that was…

Continue reading 6 min

Guest Commentary

Black Orchid in the White House Garden: Assailing Michelle Obama

By T. S. Aschenge Guest Commentator

“The slave woman is at the mercy of the fathers, sons, or brothers of her master!” -Fredrick Douglass Where and When She Enters Politics is the hyper-actualization of the zeitgeist of American life and culture. It speaks to the very soul of the nation from its own particular vantage point garishly poised in the mirror…

“The slave woman is at the mercy of the fathers, sons, or brothers of her master!” -Fredrick Douglass Where and When She Enters Politics is the…

Continue reading 26 min

Guest Commentary

Continuing Fight to Protect the Voting Rights Act

By Ryan Paul Haygood Guest Commentator

The long march toward political equality for Blacks and other people of color recorded an important victory May 30, 2008 when a three-judge federal court in Washington, D.C., upheld Congress’ recent 25-year extension of Section 5, a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Voting Rights Act of 1965, the crown jewel…

The long march toward political equality for Blacks and other people of color recorded an important victory May 30, 2008 when a three-judge federal court in…

Continue reading 4 min

Guest Commentary

Welcome Home, Soldier: Now Shut Up

By Paul Rockwell Guest Commentator

There are two kinds of courage in war – physical courage and moral courage. Physical courage is very common on the battlefield. Men and women on both sides risk their lives, place their own bodies in harm’s way. Moral courage, however, is quite rare. According to Chris Hedges, the brilliant New York Times war correspondent…

There are two kinds of courage in war - physical courage and moral courage. Physical courage is very common on the battlefield. Men and women on…

Continue reading 2 min

Commentary

Wisdom: Poetic Black Fusion

By Poet Blackman Preach Spoken Word Columnist (includes MP3 audio)

BlackCommentator.com Spoken Word Columnist, Poet Blackman Preach (Cedric T. Bolton), is a poet (spoken word artist) and producer, born in Pascagoula, Mississippi and raised in Paterson, New Jersey. Cedric received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Western Washington University and currently resides, with his wife, in Syracuse, New York. He is the Founder of Poetic…

BlackCommentator.com Spoken Word Columnist, Poet Blackman Preach (Cedric T. Bolton), is a poet (spoken word artist) and producer, born in Pascagoula, Mississippi and raised in Paterson,…

Continue reading 2 min

Guest Commentary

Two Fathers

By Nicholas Powers Guest Commentator

On Father’s Day, two black men passed each other. One stepped into glory, the other emerged from his grief. The former was Sen. Barack Obama, who took the pulpit at Chicago’s Apostolic Church of God to castigate absent black fathers. The other was William Bell a black father who organized a rally for his son…

On Father’s Day, two black men passed each other. One stepped into glory, the other emerged from his grief. The former was Sen. Barack Obama, who…

Continue reading 5 min

Guest Commentary

If The Opposite of Pro Is Con, Then The Opposite of Progress

By David Swanson Guest Commentator

Why is Congress ranked right below Dick Cheney in popularity? Because nobody has yet polled on the popularity of pond scum. The day before Congress tossed the Fourth Amendment, and literally five minutes after they took out a $163 billion loan on behalf of my unborn grandkids to kill Iraqis and U.S. troops for another…

Why is Congress ranked right below Dick Cheney in popularity? Because nobody has yet polled on the popularity of pond scum. The day before Congress tossed…

Continue reading 8 min

Commentary

Prosecuting For War Crimes: as Lincoln Said, The Battle of Today is not for Today Alone, but for A Vast Future – National Affairs

By Lawrence R. Velvel, JD Columnist

There are also those who will say that American courts will never call this country’s leaders, or their minions like John Yoo, to account. That almost surely is true now and will likely remain true for at least ten or twenty years, even though library stacks and internet servers already are fairly bulging with books,…

There are also those who will say that American courts will never call this country’s leaders, or their minions like John Yoo, to account. That almost…

Continue reading 2 min

Commentary

Why Barack Took The Money (And I’m Glad He Did)? – Between the Lines

By Dr. Anthony Asadullah Samad, PhD Columnist

Much ado (about nothing) has been made about Barack Obama becoming the first Presidential candidate to reject public financing of Presidential elections (and the $84.1 million spending limit that comes with it) since it started in 1976. Mainly that Obama reversed himself on his position as a supporter of campaign spending limits and a previous…

Much ado (about nothing) has been made about Barack Obama becoming the first Presidential candidate to reject public financing of Presidential elections (and the $84.1 million…

Continue reading 5 min

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