Black Politics on the Web

Why USC and not a black college, Dr. Dre?

The Admin — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:04:03 +0000

I was in Detroit preparing to give a speech last week when the news came across my Twitter feed: “Dr. Dre and music producer Jimmy Iovine donate $70 million to USC to create new degree.” As one of the first university presidents from the hip-hop generation, I had to stop and read the story immediately. [...]

First lady to high school grads: Live your dreams

The Admin — Sun, 19 May 2013 23:43:11 +0000

First lady Michelle Obama has some advice for some Tennessee high school graduates: Strike your own path in college and life and work to overcome inevitable failures with determination and grit. Mrs. Obama spoke for 22 minutes to the graduates of Martin Luther King Jr. Academic Magnet High School on Saturday in her only high [...]

Group working to raise money for monument to black Civil War vets

The Admin — Sun, 19 May 2013 23:38:50 +0000

Soldiers in Hagerstown were among the first black men in Maryland to join the ranks of the Union during the Civil War, and were involved in the siege of Petersburg, Va., during the conflict. Among the first local blacks who joined the Union were members of Moxley’s Band, a Hagerstown-based black brass band that became [...]

Obama’s Morehouse visit shines spotlight on HBCUs

The Admin — Sun, 19 May 2013 23:26:53 +0000

When President Barack Obama addresses graduates at Morehouse College on Sunday, he’ll also be speaking to the broader community of historically black colleges and universities — a proud corner of higher education that has struggled more than most during the last few years of economic distress. The so-called HBCUs educate a hugely disproportionate share of [...]

50th anniversary of Medgar Evers’ broadcasting milestone

The Admin — Sun, 19 May 2013 23:20:37 +0000

In the early 1960s, as Medgar Evers was becoming better known nationally as a civil rights leader in Mississippi, he found himself shut out of local television newscasts in his hometown and the state capital, Jackson. Although Evers served as the field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, local TV [...]

Charlotte remembers 1963 desegregation ‘eat-in’

The Admin — Sun, 19 May 2013 23:14:39 +0000

In the spring of 1963, a prominent civil rights leader led dozens of protesters on a four-mile march from a predominantly African-American college campus to the center of Charlotte’s downtown. At the rally, Dr. Reginald Hawkins warned city leaders that if something wasn’t done to end segregation, future marches might not be so peaceful. Nearly [...]

Va. GOP picks conservatives for fall ticket; black minister is lieutenant governor choice

The Admin — Sun, 19 May 2013 22:56:24 +0000

Thousands of Virginia Republicans on Saturday picked a slate of statewide candidates who vowed to stay true to conservative principles, resisting calls to remake the GOP message after losses in 2012. At the top of the ticket is gubernatorial hopeful Ken Cuccinelli II, the attorney general. Known for high-profile battles against “Obamacare,” abortion and a [...]

Obama exhorts good deeds by Morehouse graduates

The Admin — Sun, 19 May 2013 22:48:15 +0000

President Barack Obama, in a soaring commencement address on work, sacrifice and opportunity, on Sunday told graduates of historically black Morehouse College to seize the power of their example as black men graduating from college and use it to improve people’s lives. The president said his success was due to “the special obligation I felt, [...]

Before the civil rights movement Alabama blacks faced discrimination on their way to getting law degrees and licenses to practice

The Admin — Sun, 19 May 2013 22:43:12 +0000

When he was going to law school at Boston University in the early 1950s Demetrius Newton had thought about not coming back home to Fairfield and face setting up a law practice as a young black man in the segregated South. He had chosen over his father’s wishes to go to Wilberforce University in Ohio [...]

Obama: There’s no longer time for excuses for black men

The Admin — Sun, 19 May 2013 22:34:56 +0000

President Obama on Sunday told the graduating class at Morehouse College, the country’s pre-eminent historically black college, there is “no time for excuses” for this generation of African-American men and that it was time for their generation to step up professionally and in their personal lives. Obama, the county’s first African-American president, chose a particularly [...]