Black Politics on the Web

Romney’s Outreach to Blacks, Good Photo-Ops But not Much Else

The Admin — Sun, 27 May 2012 15:49:07 +0000

Earl Ofari Hutchinson - Presumptive GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney got exactly what he wanted at the Universal Bluford Charter School in West Philadelphia. That was the ultimate photo-op. He had a room filled with black teachers, administrators, and at times smiling students. But most importantly he had banks of TV cameras and reporters recording [...]

Pastors Say an African-American President Would be Good for SBC

The Admin — Sun, 27 May 2012 15:41:18 +0000

Eighty-six percent of Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) pastors who expressed an opinion believe it would be good for the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. to have an African-American leader. Many anticipate the historic election of Rev. Fred Luter, an African-American pastor from New Orleans, as SBC president at the denomination’s annual meeting next month. [...]

‘Scandal’ updates image of black women on network television

The Admin — Sun, 27 May 2012 15:35:08 +0000

Olivia Pope is smart, runs a successful business and is the center of attention when she enters a room. She’s the kind of woman who magazines say every woman can be, and the type that others love to hate. There’s just one thing: She is also black. After a successful first season, viewers know that [...]

Grambling could suffer from proposed budget cuts

The Admin — Sun, 27 May 2012 14:39:08 +0000

Imagine a sawmill owner doing something that had not much to do with his core, primary business. Imagine that guy deciding that, for the good of the community, he wanted to do something big, something that would have lasting impact. Imagine a white man helping black farmers and others who had struggled to keep a [...]

‘Other-ness’: What Obama and Romney have in common on religion, race

The Admin — Sun, 27 May 2012 14:09:34 +0000

The uproar last week over a proposed campaign ad highlighting President Barack Obama’s former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, lit up political circles before organizers finally backed off the idea. And Mitt Romney came under fire from evangelicals before his speech to Liberty University in Virginia earlier this month because some at the traditional Christian school [...]

Mississippi district agrees to stop handcuffing students

The Admin — Sat, 26 May 2012 12:54:23 +0000

Jackson public schools will no longer handcuff students to poles or other objects and will train staff at its alternative school on better methods of discipline. Mississippi’s second-largest school district agreed Friday to the settlement with the Southern Poverty Law Center, which had sued over the practice of shackling students to a pole at the [...]

Romney hires veteran black strategist for 2012 campaign

The Admin — Sat, 26 May 2012 12:50:52 +0000

Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign has hired longtime Republican operative and conservative pundit Tara Wall as a senior communications adviser who will also work on “coalitions outreach,” as the Washington Post first reported Friday. Wall will be one of the most senior African-Americans on Romney’s team as he tries to defeat the first black president. After [...]

Barbara Graves, wife of prominent publisher Earl Graves, dies

The Admin — Sat, 26 May 2012 12:41:28 +0000

Barbara Kydd Graves, the wife of the publisher of Black Enterprise Magazine who aided in the growth of the publication and media company, died Friday. Black Enterprise said in a statement that Graves had been fighting gall-bladder cancer for more than three years when she died at Howard University Hospital in Washington. She was 74. [...]

Sutro Baths was test case for blacks’ civil rights

The Admin — Sat, 26 May 2012 12:37:47 +0000

Seven swimming pools filled with seawater, an exotic amusement center at the very tip of Lands End, endless ocean views and funny bathing suits. The opening of the new visitor’s center above the ruins of Sutro Baths conjures up these historic images. But the new attention on the baths has unearthed another hidden story of [...]

Obama honors veterans during Memorial Day weekend

The Admin — Sat, 26 May 2012 12:05:21 +0000

President Barack Obama is paying tribute to veterans during Memorial Day weekend, honoring those willing to sacrifice their lives for their country. Obama says in his weekly radio and Internet address he will mark Monday’s holiday with veterans and their families at Arlington National Cemetery and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The president says the nation [...]