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Henry Louis Gates Jr, America's most famous black scholar, has accused local police of racism after he was arrested while trying to break into his own home near Harvard University. According to a police report, officers in Cambridge, Massachusetts, were called to the house on Thursday afternoon after a woman said she had seen a man "wedging his shoulder into the front door as to pry the door open". According to police, an officer ordered the man to identify himself and Prof Gates refused. He allegedly began calling the officer a racist, repeatedly saying: "This is what happens to black...

BOSTON – Supporters of a prominent Harvard University black scholar who was arrested at his own home by police responding to a report of a break-in say he is the victim of racial profiling. --------- snip "Gates continued to yell at me, accusing me of racial bias and continued to tell me that I had not heard the last of him," the officer wrote.

Here we were in the Senate Dirksen building participating in a Congressional Hearing on the pending climate legislation known as the Waxman/Markey Bill. This is a gigantic piece of proposed laws, taxes, regulations that will change the way America does business. There are many costs involved and it appears that the African American community will be paying a disproportionate share of the job loss and increased energy costs. No surprise as this is usually the case because we have no political apparatus that addresses that when it happens. The Congressional Black Caucus will go with the flow or, in other...

WASHINGTON (CNN) – A longtime civil rights leader called Sunday for the nation’s first African-American president to be more engaged with the black community and for greater government action to address the needs of the poor and unemployed — especially those in the African American community. Rev. Jesse Jackson said that he and other African-American leaders “want to engage more fully with [Obama] because there is a lot of unfinished business.” While Jackson noted that the president has met with members of the Congressional Black Caucus and with some African-American mayors, Jackson said he has yet to sit down with...

July 18, 2009 Aim higher than rap or basketball, Obama urges young blacks The 45-minute address was Mr Obama?s first big speech on race since he was forced to tackle the issue head on during his presidential campaign last year James Bone. In his first big speech on race since winning the White House, President Obama has exhorted young blacks to aspire to be more than basketballers and rap music stars. In a historic address, America’s first black president told the country’s oldest civil rights group, celebrating its 100th anniversary, that it was time for “a new mindset” that did...

President Barack Obama speaks during the 100th anniversary convention of the NAACP, Thursday, July 16, 2009, in New York.President Barack Obama on Thursday traced his historic rise to power to the vigor and valor of black civil rights leaders, telling the NAACP that the sacrifice of others "began the journey that has led me here." The nation's first black president bluntly warned, though, that racial barriers persist. Take a look at the best photos of President Obama and his family captured during his first year in office. View Slideshow People around the world welcome Barack Obama as America's 44th president...

CNN) -- Far from flowing rainbow flags, the sound of Lady Gaga and, quite honestly, white people, stands a nightclub just outside of Wicker Park in Chicago, Illinois, by the name of The Prop House. The line to get in usually stretches down the block, and unlike many of the clubs in Boystown and Andersonville, this one plays hip-hop and caters to men who may or may not openly identify as gay, but without question are black and proud. And a good number of them are tired of hearing how the gay community is disappointed in President Obama, because they...

Barbara Boxer behaved like the elitist, liberal ideologue she is and basically told the head of the Black Businessman's Association to stay in his place and follow behind the black "leaders" that she believes are legitimate. Harry C. Alford, CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce, was asked to testify before Congress and voice his organization's opposition to the foolish cap and trade bill. Barbara Boxer became indignant like she would toward any minority who didn't accept the socialist nonsense advocated by groups like the NAACP. Speaking of the NAACP, a group that's never seen a Democratic or...

On one side are those who think pop star Michael Jackson is deserving of canonization -- OK, just short of that. The leader of this quixotic charge is Rep. Sheila Jackson, a black Texas Democrat who sponsored a congressional resolution to honor Jackson, 50, who died June 25. On the other side are those of us with enough common sense to think Sheila Jackson and her supporters must have been drinking from the same fountain as Bubbles the Chimp. If you're sick of reading about this mess, imagine how black people who were not Jackson fans must feel. .. The...

Check out what happened to Sen. Boxer today... Notice how she talks down to the black businessman and doesn't request him to call her Senator.

Red meat by the slab, folks! Barbara Boxer wound up getting reamed by Harry Alford, the chair of the National Black Chamber of Commerce, after attempting to challenge his testimony on energy policy. When Boxer started waving position papers from the NAACP and the 100 Black Men of Atlanta, Alford called it a “condescending” attack and complained about Boxer’s focus on black people rather than science. I just love it when white politicians set themselves up as arbiters of racial authenticity, especially when they try to scold minorities for drifting off the political reservation. It belies a “soft” bigotry, if...

Here is explosive video of the CEO of the Black Chamber of Commerce in a fiery exchange with California Sen. Barbara Boxer. Black Chamber of Commerce, President and CEO Harry Alford accused Senator Boxer (D-CA) of playing race politics during an EPW Committee hearing on green jobs. He accused her of using "condescending" racial remarks because she tried to counter his testimony by using quotes from several "black" organizations and individuals such as the NAACP. Alford was upset because he wanted his testimony to stand on the merits of the evidence and not be countered by Boxer thinking his testimony...

In a committee markup last week, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said that residents of the District of Columbia have a disproportionately large number of abortions because D.C. is disproportionately African-American. In our nation's capital, 41 percent of all pregnancies end in abortion...

<p>Where are the defenders of "the cause" when you need them? When an actual social tragedy occurs, where are the self-titled leaders of the black movement? I'll answer my own question: They're busy fighting for an interview or a microphone during all of the Michael Jackson festivities.</p>

Regina Benjamin, the youngest doctor and first black woman admitted to the American Medical Association, is President Obama's pick to be surgeon general. ------ snip ------

Among Democrats on Capitol Hill, black aides are significantly more likely to work for committees whose chairmen are African-American, according to a survey conducted by the Congressional Black Caucus. Blacks make up nearly half the staffs at two committees with black chairmen — the Oversight and Government Reform and Homeland Security — while there are only two blacks among the 55 staff members working for the House Agriculture and Rules committees, both of which are headed by white representatives. “The survey confirms what members have noticed anecdotally—the lack of African-American staffers on Capitol Hill, particularly in senior positions,” said Representative...

President Obama hosted a reception at the White House celebrating LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) Pride month. Black Christians should take note and learn a few things about our black President. As they say, we are what we do. It tells us something that Mr. Obama had no time to host an event for the National Day of Prayer. Nor did he have time to accept the invitation to convey greetings and a few remarks to the couple hundred thousand who came to Washington, as they do every January, for the March for Life. However, the LGBT Pride event did...

The word is out that the Obamas will be spending part of their summer vacation in Martha's Vineyard. "Many blacks from Oak Bluffs are elated that the Only One-in-Chief may be joining them. "People are going to lose their minds!" Tonya Lewis Lee says. At the same time, there's also a bit of wariness among the wealthiest ones, an uncertainty whether Obama will affirm them. "Obama is more a man of the people," says a Vineyarder who's part of black high society. "He doesn't seem to identify with affluent black people. His wife definitely doesn't; she is basically a ghetto...

Healthcare reform important to BlacksBy: Brian D. Smedley, NNPA Guest Commentary Posted: Monday, June 22, 2009 12:00 pm Health inequities are deep, persistent, and not new. From the cradle to the grave, racial and ethnic minorities suffer from shorter life spans, higher rates of disease and disability, and higher mortality relative to national averages. These problems have plagued generations of African Americans and other people of color in the United States. Yet these issues have historically received scant attention in Washington - until now. Both Congress and the Obama Administration are ramping up efforts to improve health and health care...

Ashby Jones: The Senate unanimously passed a resolution on Thursday apologizing for slavery, making way for a joint congressional resolution. Click here for the WaPo story. “You wonder why we didn’t do it 100 years ago,” Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), lead sponsor of the resolution, said after the vote. “It is important to have a collective response to a collective injustice.” Memo to Senator Harkin: We had a collective response. It was called the Army of the Potomac. Not to mention the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th Amendment, the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and decades of affirmative action. Jones continues: Randall...

“Gather together those who did wrong and their associates, and what they worshipped Besides Allah, then lead them to the way to hell. And stop them, for they shall be questioned: What is the matter with you that you help not one another? Nay, on that day, they will be submissive.”—Holy Qur'an, Surah 37, verses 22-26 For the last 4,000 years of a 6,000-year cycle of history, the world has been dominated by the Caucasian people or White Race. The other colors from Brown to Yellow to Red, and all other racial mixes coming from the Black man has exerted...

No-Brainer choice for Latinos Much is heard about the competition between the Republicans and the Demo/Nihilists for the so called Latino vote. From the standpoint of the average Latino, this should be a “no-brainer,” the Republicans are stewards of two bright and shining beacons: Truth and Morality. The Demo/Nihilists are racists, constantly seeking to put Latinos on the same plantation where they are holding the blacks captive. Author and social observer, Star Parker has examined this phenomenon thoroughly in her book, Back on Uncle Sam’s Plantation. Visit her site at, http://www.urbancure.org/article.asp?id=3141 Here are some brief snips from Ms. Parker’s site:...

REDDING, CA, JUNE 15, 2009: For many people, the words "black" and "Mormon" don't belong in the same sentence, unless in a pejorative manner. Few people, Mormon or non-Mormon, are aware of the African American presence in the LDS Church from its earliest days. Free and slave blacks have been members of the LDS church since the 1830s and, in most cases, worshiped together with white members. The vanguard company of Mormon pioneers, fleeing religious persecution in 1847, included three "colored servants." At least one of those was a baptized Mormon whose descendants remained active in the Church for generations....

Clarion CallAfrican-American Studies--As They Should Be An ethnic studies department should be a place of learning, not a place for settling old scores or undergoing a 12-step therapy program. By John McWhorter June 09, 2009Editor's note: John McWhorter is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, an adjunct professor at Columbia University, and the author of several books on language and on race issues. “If I couldn’t study something that’s about myself then I wouldn’t want to be here,” the black sophomore once told me, explaining how crucial it was for him to major in African-American studies. That always stuck...

The realization recently hit: I voted for Barack Obama because of his skin color. For a thoughtful, responsible voter, the admission was mildly jarring. Not that I regret having done it. I couldn’t be more proud. I’ve never based my vote on superficial matters. I voted on the mandate, never the man (or woman). Now I must admit that I mainly voted for Obama because he is black, like me. This is not to say I didn’t like what he articulated for our sagging economy, our schools and for organizing the chaos of the Iraq war. But I have to...

The California Supreme Court's decision not to retract Proposition 8, the ban on gay marriage, has sent the issue back to the forefront of conversation across the country. Most recently, New Hampshire became the sixth state to legalize gay marriages. While some 18,000 same-sex couples have already tied the knot in California, those who wish to walk down the aisle today will not receive the same privilege. Assembly Speaker Karen Bass says blacks have been falsely accused of passing Prop 8. Some in the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community blame the passing of Proposition 8 last November on...

Perceptions of racism -- from being treated with suspicion in a store to unfairness in employment or housing -- can heighten stress levels and affect health, research has shown. A new study from Boston University links these smoldering signs of racism to weight gain in black women, suggesting a possible explanation for the their higher obesity rates compared to white women. Yvette Cozier, an epidemiologist at the Slone Epidemiology Center at BU, led a survey of more than 43,000 women enrolled in the long-running Black Women's Health Study. Writing in the June issue of Annals of Epidemiology, she and her...

At Daily Kos, there is a blog today on how to repeal Prop 8 in the future. LINK BELOW. Keep black and Hispanic turnout low, and counter Mormon Money... The title of the blog is "To Repeal Prop 8, Keep Black and Hispanic Turnout Low, And Counter Mormon Money." Does this sound to you like libs/Dems cherish black and hispanic votes? Does this sound to you like libs/Dems are against suppressing the minority vote? Don't libs/Dems want every vote to count? Could it be that libs/Dems only care about advancing liberalism and socialism and really don't care what they have...

HAWAIIAN GARDENS, Calif. (AP) - A Latino street gang waged a racist campaign to eliminate the city’s black residents through attempted murders and other crimes, according to federal racketeering indictments unsealed Thursday. Five indictments charged a total of 147 members and associates of the Varrio Hawaiian Gardens gang, and federal and local agencies arrested 63 of them by early Thursday, U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien said at a news conference. Another 35 defendants were already in custody on unrelated charges. Weapons and drugs worth more than $1 million also were seized in what O’Brien called “the largest gang takedown in...

Two years ago while I was studying abroad in Paris, my younger sister called me from the U.S. giggling that she had delicious news to share with me. She announced breathlessly that Disney was creating its first black princess movie. Despite the fact that I was a sophomore in college and my sister was a senior in upper school, we all but swooned. Oh, I had my reservations – as someone who is African American, Native American, Asian American, and English American, it seemed that Disney had misrepresented the better part of my various heritages. I’m not even talking about...

On April 27, The New York Times reported that the percentage of black Americans who believe race relations in America are generally good has doubled since July. This statistic forces me to ask: Why are African-Americans feeling so good about our country in a time of economic crisis and international conflict? It is not just the fact of a black president. Instead, with everyone analyzing the 100-day mark of Barack Obama's administration, I think the answer lies in understanding this historic moment through a black cultural lens. I believe African-Americans are feeling racially optimistic because they respect how our first...

Are only liberals fitting nominees to a traditional “black seat” on the Supreme Court? Did the nomination of the conservative Clarence Thomas somehow kill off the “black seat” tradition? Chris Matthews seemed to suggest as much on this afternoon’s Hardball. Along the way, Matthews analogized Thomas to Abe Fortas, a nominee who ultimately withdrew his name when ethical issues arose. Matthews made his murky comment while discussing the prospects for David Souter’s replacement with Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.). View video here.

“She was working in conjunction with two other men — Ellison and Mack — and went to a Hispanic man’s residence with the intent to rob him,” said Maj. John Gibson with the sheriff’s office. “Wells approached the man and offered him sex. He said he didn’t have any money and didn’t want sex, and told her to leave. Two black males were outside, and she brought them in to threaten the man.” Gibson said the man did have sex with the woman due to the threats of the two men, but still couldn’t give them any money.

Blacks and Hispanics lag behind whites for higher-paying jobs at the largest rates in about a decade as employment opportunities dwindled during the nation's economic woes and housing slump. Census data released Monday show an increasingly educated U.S. work force whose earnings didn't always seem to match up with its potential. ... Among those 25 and older last year, 86.6 percent had graduated from high school, up from 85.7 percent the previous year. It was the biggest increase since 1992, with record percentages of people earning diplomas across all racial and Hispanic categories. The share of people with at least...

I thought I'd share this, I don't normally post vanities but its something I think you all should hear, a growing number of African Americans are starting to not like the idea of Obama as our first black president. I've been hearing from African Americans in New Hampshire, Maine and Mass and found that they do not like him one bit. One guy at a bar told me that He used to support him but that he might change from Democrat to republican because of what he did in office. A friend of mine in Nebraska was at a church...

I saw very little of Tiger Woods playing Sunday at the Masters tournament, and that was enough to know that he was not out of the woods. Literally. One of his shots struck a tree on the 17th hole and another one hit a tree on the 18th. Of course, thousands of African Americans were deeply disappointed that Woods did not collect his second green jacket in Augusta. The problem with placing so much faith in someone, even an athlete as great as Tiger Woods, is that it places unrealistic expectations on the athlete while simultaneously setting us up for...

The pirate standoff was a classic Jack Bauer crisis: Either shoot the three nutters pointing AK-47s at Captain Richard Phillips, or watch him be killed. So Obama gave permission to use all necessary force should Phillips' life be in imminent dange, and the Navy Captain in charge gave the order to kill the pirates when a gun was pointed at the hostage's head. In the customary spin of the Leftist media -- which we've come to know so well and despise so deeply -- three innocent young black African teenagers were knocked over by a veritable White Fleet (as Teddy...

Conservative principles are sufficiently established in today’s political debates that they appeal to people of all races and creeds when presented fairly. So it is disappointing to read Shelby Steele, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, arguing conservatism has little to offer black Americans. In a recent Wall Street Journal piece, he writes, "In an era when even failed moral activism is redemptive -- and thus a source of moral authority and power -- conservatism stands flat-footed with only discipline to offer." Conservatism, "with its beautiful idea of a free man in a free society," Steele writes, offers no...

ALBANY — When Gov. David A. Paterson met recently with a group of mostly black legislators, he got an earful. They wanted to know his strategy for recovering from his disastrous first year. They complained that their constituents were furious over Mr. Paterson’s cuts to hospitals and schools, and that his administration had failed to consult with them on important issues. It fell to the Rev. Al Sharpton, a Paterson confidant at the meeting, in late March, to make peace. Better communication was needed, Mr. Sharpton said, but he added that lawmakers should stand behind Mr. Paterson — especially now....

Art as Propaganda for Evolution April 10, 2009 — Should a scientific theory be propagated by appeal to scientific evidence, or by appeal to emotions through visualization?  Nature this week contained two articles that shamelessly praised art as propaganda for evolution.  Surprisingly, one of them mentioned Charles Darwin as someone “at the cutting edge of visualization.” Endless Forms:  Carl Zimmer reviewed an exhibit currently at the Yale Center for British Art, Endless Forms: Charles Darwin, Natural Science and the Visual Arts.1  The title is taken from the last sentence in the Origin where Darwin said that endless forms most beautiful...

Excerpt....The National Urban League has just issued its annual State of Black America report. It provides a troubling statistical snapshot of where blacks stand today in our country. Like Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League, I'm concerned. But after concern, we part company. We have very different ideas of what it is we should be concerned about. Morial, I am sure, sees his organization as part of the solution. From what I see, it is a well-funded symptom of the problem. Shouldn't it embarrass black Americans that one the nation's largest and most prestigious civil rights organizations offers...

While Mr Obama has played down the influence of race over his government and policies, Washington is abuzz that the president has handed control of domestic policy, all White House social events, environmental issues and food safety to African American women - seven senior government posts in all. Known variously as The Sisterhood and Obama's Women, the group of seven accomplished and elegant women have drawn comparison with "Blair's Babes", the generation of female Labour MPs whose election in 1997 caused an historic shift in the composition of the House of Commons. President Obama used his press conference last week...

This must be what the country felt like when John F. Kennedy took the office - so much hope and youthful exuberance. The media is flowing in praise and pride at how diverse a nation we are now, at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream coming true, at how "little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers" as they grow up on more equal ground than at any time in history. And, oh yes, we voters have judged a man, our president, not by the...

Movies have been made and treatises have been written on the role of barbershops in African American life. In the pre-Civil Rights era, they were one of the first businesses that black men, especially in the South, could own, and, outside of churches, one of the few places they could gather. In recent years, the barbershop has continued to be a place of fellowship, where African American men meet, gossip and dissect sports and politics across generational and socioeconomic lines. Now barbershops across South Los Angeles have been targeted as the site of lifesaving efforts, thanks to Dr. Bill Releford...

WEDNESDAY, March 4 (HealthDay News) -- Many teens today, especially black teens, aren't getting enough of vitamin D, the so-called sunshine vitamin that is essential for cells to function, say researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to many chronic diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, immune system problems and inflammatory diseases. "There is evidence that the levels of vitamin D we have been using in the past may have been too low," said lead researcher Dr. Sandy Saintonge, a fellow in general preventive medicine at Weill Cornell. Vitamin D is measured...

Treatment Costs Higher Than For Whites CHICAGO -- Striking new research shows dying blacks and Hispanics have much steeper treatment costs than whites, sobering evidence that racial health-care differences continue right up until death. It's not that minorities are being charged more than whites. It's that they tend to get more costly, intensive treatments including feeding tubes and other invasive medical procedures near death. That's in sharp contrast with what often happens throughout their lives, when minorities are less likely than whites to get aggressive medical care. The results raise a troubling question about whether medical resources for nonwhite patients...

Maggie Anderson drives 14 miles to buy groceries, which might seem curious given that she lives in bustling Oak Park. She and her husband, John, patronize gas stations in Rockford and Phoenix, Ill. They travel 18 miles to a health food store in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood for vitamins, supplements and personal care products. The reason? They want to solve what they call "the crisis in the black commu- nity." They want to, as they say, "buy black." The Andersons, African-Americans who rose from humble means, are attempting to spend their money for one year exclusively with black-owned businesses and...

March 2009 Update on the racist Arab Muslim [Arab league backed] dictator Al Bashir's arrest warrant for genocide, crimes against humanity     Ban urges Sudan to ensure safety of UN bodies Reuters - [March, 4, 2009]UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Khartoum to cooperate with all UN entities and ensure their safety after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant on Wednesday for Sudan's leader.http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE5234A520090304   World court issues arrest warrant for Sudan's Bashir Christian Science Monitor [Mar. 4, 2009]‎http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0305/p90s01-woaf.html   Court issues war crimes warrant for Sudan's Bashir The Associated Press  [Mar. 4, 2009]‎...charges...

Acknowledging that "tough times for America often mean tougher times for African-Americans," US President Barack Obama on Saturday called for more local and national engagement by fellow blacks. "You know that tough times for America often mean tougher times for African Americans. This recession has been no exception," Obama told the 10th annual "State of the Black Union" gathering, noting that the unemployment rate among African-Americans is five points higher than the national average. "At the same time, we know that government cannot and will not succeed alone. It will take all of us stepping up and doing our part....

PBS Talk Show Host Tavis Smiley and a variety of America's black leaders meet in Los Angeles, CA, for the 2009 "State of the Black Union." This day-long event is titled, "Making America As Good As Its Promise." This event will re-air on C-SPAN2, Friday, March 6 at 8pm (ET).