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Issue: 286

July 17, 2008

The African World

Mandela on My Poster

By Bill Fletcher, Jr. Editorial Board

In important respects there are several different “Nelson Mandelas.” For many of us who were active in and around the anti-apartheid support movement, Nelson Mandela became the face of the South African liberation struggle. This was true not only for activists, but also for much of the rest of the sympathetic world. In this respect…

In important respects there are several different “Nelson Mandelas.” For many of us who were active in and around the anti-apartheid support movement, Nelson Mandela became…

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Commentary

The Obama Engaging the Narrative He Can Believe In!

By Dr. Lenore J. Daniels, PhD Editorial Board

We ought not to cultivate the exceptional or to seek for a hero, who is another form of leader. We ought to uplift the people. -Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth Dream within a dream, Our dream deferred –Langston Hughes, “Island 2” “Barack, he’s talking down to black people on this faith-based – I…

We ought not to cultivate the exceptional or to seek for a hero, who is another form of leader. We ought to uplift the people. -Frantz…

Continue reading 7 min

Color of Law

Progressives Must Claim the Political Center

By David A. Love, JD Executive Editor

We live in extreme times, and positive action of an extreme nature is needed. Capitalism once again is unraveling, as corporate greed and policies of upward wealth distribution take their toll on the common folk. Dinosaur industries such as Big Oil are rewarded for their damage to the environment and are profiting from our misery.…

We live in extreme times, and positive action of an extreme nature is needed. Capitalism once again is unraveling, as corporate greed and policies of upward…

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Commentary

Cynthia McKinney & Rosa Clemente: Building a Movement For REAL Change

By Larry Pinkney Editorial Board

While CNN, ABC, C-SPAN, etc. did give some limited coverage of and to this incredibly momentous event; none of the pundits of these so-called “main stream news” media outlets dared elucidate to the “American” people the enormous present-day and historical significance and opportunities of what just happened in Chicago. None of these pundits dared explain…

While CNN, ABC, C-SPAN, etc. did give some limited coverage of and to this incredibly momentous event; none of the pundits of these so-called “main stream…

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Guest Commentary

A History of Centrism: A Cautionary Tale for Obama

By Paul Rockwell Guest Commentator

Part I Every four years a contentious debate takes place in the Democratic Party, a debate between centrists and liberal Democrats over campaign strategy for seizing and holding the White House. John Kerry, for example, the last candidate to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, became a centrist in the final months of the…

Part I Every four years a contentious debate takes place in the Democratic Party, a debate between centrists and liberal Democrats over campaign strategy for seizing…

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Guest Commentary

Kenya & Zimbabwe: Challenges and Opportunities in the Path to Democracy

By Briggs Bomba Guest Commentator

The world’s attention has been riveted in 2008, by election crises in Africa, first Kenya, and now Zimbabwe. In both cases, challenges remain in converting electoral victory to political power. Can a victorious opposition come to power in the face of an obstinate incumbent? This question is particularly relevant when the incumbent regime controls the…

The world’s attention has been riveted in 2008, by election crises in Africa, first Kenya, and now Zimbabwe. In both cases, challenges remain in converting electoral…

Continue reading 7 min

Commentary

Come On, Jesse: Don’t Hate The Playa, Hate The Game! – Between the Lines

By Dr. Anthony Asadullah Samad, PhD Columnist

This game of divide and conquer of black people at the leadership level is not new. We’ve seen it so many times that, like a re-run on television, we can tell what’s going to come next. After 150 years, we should know the game by now. 150 years ago, Frederick Douglass and Martin Delany had…

This game of divide and conquer of black people at the leadership level is not new. We’ve seen it so many times that, like a re-run…

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Commentary

Remembering Dr, Charshee McIntyre – In Struggle Spotlight

By Dr. Conrad Worrill, PhD Columnist

A key revelation in Dr. McIntyre’s book is her explanation of the development of America’s prison system and its immediate impact on Africans in America. She points our, “To distinguish the prisons from earlier jails and to suggest the essence of what the institution should be doing these do-gooders coined a new name, penitentiaries, implying…

A key revelation in Dr. McIntyre’s book is her explanation of the development of America’s prison system and its immediate impact on Africans in America. She…

Continue reading 1 min

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