Your Black News

Ferraro Claims She is Being Attacked for Being White

Angela Dominguez — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:23:00 +0000

Former Rep. Geraldine Ferraro claimed that she was attacked for being white after making controversial comments about Senator Barack Obama.

"Any time anybody does anything that in any way pulls this campaign down and says, 'Let's address reality and the problems we're facing in this world,' you're accused of being racist, so you have to shut up," she told the Daily Breeze of Torrance, California. "Racism works in two different directions. I really think they're attacking me because I'm white. How's that?"

On an interview with FOX News, Ferraro claimed that Obama's success as the Democratic front-runner was not due to his capability, but rather due to the fact that he is black.

"I said in large measure, because he is black. I said, Let me also say in 1984 -- and if I have said it once, I have said it 20, 60, 100 times -- in 1984, if my name was Gerard Ferraro instead of Geraldine Ferraro, I would never have been the nominee for vice president," she said.

In her first interview with Daily Breeze, published late last week, Ferraro stated that, "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman, he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."

Ferraro also claimed that Hillary Clinton has been attacked unfairly by a "sexist media".

Obama replied that the comments were "patently absurd."

"I don't think Geraldine Ferraro's comments have any place in our politics or in the Democratic Party. They are divisive," Obama told the Allentown Morning News.

"I think anybody who understands the history of this country knows they are patently absurd. And I would expect that the same way those comments don't have a place in my campaign, they shouldn't have a place in Sen. Clinton's, either," said Obama.

Affirmative Action is on the Chopping Block

Boyce Watkins — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 21:17:00 +0000

Ward Connerly is back. Connerly, the black man who singlehandedly dismantled Affirmative Action programs throughout the nation, has helped put the issue on the ballot in 5 states. The vote will give residents of Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma the chance to get rid of Affirmative Action in all government funded projects and public schools.

Connerly's organization is called the American Civil Rights Coalition. He claims that the group is designed to end race and gender based preferences. His group is the main supporter of ballot initiatives.

The ballots will state that "The state shall not discriminate against or grant preferential treatment to any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education or public contracting."

Connerly is not willing to discuss what the government is obligated to do in order to remedy past discrimination. He only speaks to refusing the government's right to remedy it today. Connerly argues that good white students should not be passed over in favor of students of color, no matter what kind of past discrimination can be proven to exist within a given university.

"It's foolish not to think that the kid who is turned away is not going to ... resent that," Connerly said.

The ballot is called the Civil Rights Initiative, and it has already passed in Washington, Michigan and California. If the ballot passes in other states, it will cut off funding to any program that works to remedy racial imbalances within universities.

The conservative slant of the Supreme Court is likely to give additional support to the initiative. The election of President Obama may make a difference, but given that many white Americans do not support Affirmative Action, it may be tough for Obama to stop the initiatives that have been set forth by Connerly and his group.

Tyra Banks Rumored to Get a New Show

Mathew C — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 01:57:00 +0000

It is being reported that Tyra Banks, the supermodel host of "The Tyra Show", is set to get another show through ABC. The rumor is that she and Ashton Kutcher will produce a reality show focusing on beauty pageants.

Currently, Tyra is rated number 3 on the Black Enterprise List of "Top Money Makers in Hollywood". Much of this comes through her show "America's Next Top Model", which is in its tenth season. Her show, "The Tyra Banks Show" allegedly has 4.3 million female viewers per week, according to Entertainment Weekly.

At the age of 34, Tyra Banks is becoming a media powerhouse. She sells herself as a younger, prettier Oprah Winfrey and has a strong willingness to hit hard issues and do peculiar things to get her ratings up. For example, she had one episode in which she dressed as an obese person to know what it was like to be overweight. In another episode, Banks had a doctor come on the show to feel her breasts to prove that they were real. While some criticize Banks as selling herself for ratings, her tactics have helped her build two of the strongest shows in America.

Banks' show comes right after the Writer's Strike, which killed a lot of popular shows, such as "Girlfriends". Reality shows are cheaper to produce and the networks do not have to deal with unions. Black audiences are strong followers of reality shows, as Flavor of Love, The Salt-N-Pepa Show and Making the Band have all done quite well.

Obama Asks Clinton What She has to Hide

Mathew C — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 01:42:00 +0000

Barack Obama's team has gone on the offensive. Hillary Clinton has, to this point, refused to release her tax returns. Obama's camp argues that there may be something more sinister behind the reason that Senator Clinton is not willing to allow the American public to see her financial situation.

"In the face of her unwillingness to release her tax returns, Hillary Clinton has made the false case in this campaign that she is more electable because she has been fully vetted," stated a memo issued by the Obama team. "When it comes to her personal finances, Senator Clinton’s refusal to release her taxes returns denies the media and the American people the opportunity to even begin that process."

Members of the Obama team have claimed the Hillary Clinton has a record of being secretive when dealing with the public. Clinton has said that she will only release her tax returns if she captures the Democratic nomination.

"Over 20 years of the Clintons' tax returns are in the public domain," said Howard Wolfson, Mrs. Clinton's communications director. "Their tax returns since they left the White House will be made available on or around April 15. This information will be in addition to 15 years of uninterrupted public financial disclosure reports."

"Instead of making false attacks, we urge Senator Obama to release all relevant financial and other information related to indicted political fixer Tony Rezko," Wolfson said.

Obama has also pushed Mrs. Clinton to release her tax returns after it was revealed that she loaned her own campaign $5 million dollars. Obama released his 2006 returns last April.

"I think the American people deserve to know where you get your income from," he said. "I've disclosed my income tax returns. I think we set the bar in terms of transparency and disclosure that has been a consistent theme of my campaign and my career in politics.”

Stanford Researcher Says that Americans Associate Blacks With Apes

Angela Dominguez — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 14:42:00 +0000

Crude historical depictions of African Americans as ape-like may have disappeared from mainstream U.S. culture, but research presented in a new paper by psychologists at Stanford, Pennsylvania State University and the University of California-Berkeley reveals that many Americans subconsciously associate blacks with apes.

In addition, the findings show that society is more likely to condone violence against black criminal suspects as a result of its broader inability to accept African Americans as fully human, according to the researchers.

Co-author Jennifer Eberhardt, a Stanford associate professor of psychology who is black, said she was shocked by the results, particularly since they involved subjects born after Jim Crow and the civil rights movement. "This was actually some of the most depressing work I have done," she said. "This shook me up. You have suspicions when you do the work—intuitions—you have a hunch. But it was hard to prepare for how strong [the black-ape association] was—how we were able to pick it up every time."

The paper, "Not Yet Human: Implicit Knowledge, Historical Dehumanization and Contemporary Consequences," is the result of a series of six previously unpublished studies conducted by Eberhardt, Pennsylvania State University psychologist Phillip Atiba Goff (the lead author and a former student of Eberhardt's) and Matthew C. Jackson and Melissa J. Williams, graduate students at Penn State and Berkeley, respectively. The paper is scheduled to appear Feb. 7 in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, which is published by the American Psychological Association.

The research took place over six years at Stanford and Penn State under Eberhardt's supervision. It involved mostly white male undergraduates. In a series of studies that subliminally flashed black or white male faces on a screen for a fraction of a second to "prime" the students, researchers found subjects could identify blurry ape drawings much faster after they were primed with black faces than with white faces. The researchers consistently discovered a black-ape association even if the young adults said they knew nothing about its historical connotations. The connection was made only with African American faces; the paper's third study failed to find an ape association with other non-white groups, such as Asians. Despite such race-specific findings, the researchers stressed that dehumanization and animal imagery have been used for centuries to justify violence against many oppressed groups.

"Despite widespread opposition to racism, bias remains with us," Eberhardt said. "African Americans are still dehumanized; we're still associated with apes in this country. That association can lead people to endorse the beating of black suspects by police officers, and I think it has lots of other consequences that we have yet to uncover."

Historical background
Scientific racism in the United States was graphically promoted in a mid-19th-century book by Josiah C. Nott and George Robins Gliddon titled Types of Mankind, which used misleading illustrations to suggest that "Negroes" ranked between "Greeks" and chimpanzees. "When we have a history like that in this country, I don't know how much of that goes away completely, especially to the extent that we are still dealing with severe racial inequality, which fuels and maintains those associations in ways that people are unaware," Eberhardt said.

Although such grotesque characterizations of African Americans have largely disappeared from mainstream U.S. society, Eberhardt noted that science education could be partly responsible for reinforcing the view that blacks are less evolved than whites. An iconic 1970 illustration, "March of Progress," published in the Time-Life book Early Man, depicts evolution beginning with a chimpanzee and ending with a white man. "It's a legacy of our past that the endpoint of evolution is a white man," Eberhardt said. "I don't think it's intentional, but when people learn about human evolution, they walk away with a notion that people of African descent are closer to apes than people of European descent. When people think of a civilized person, a white man comes to mind."

Consequences of socially endorsed violence
In the paper's fifth study, the researchers subliminally primed 115 white male undergraduates with words associated with either apes (such as "monkey," "chimp," "gorilla") or big cats (such as "lion," "tiger," "panther"). The latter was used as a control because both images are associated with violence and Africa, Eberhardt said. The subjects then watched a two-minute video clip, similar to the television program COPS, depicting several police officers violently beating a man of undetermined race. A mugshot of either a white or a black man was shown at the beginning of the clip to indicate who was being beaten, with a description conveying that, although described by his family as "a loving husband and father," the suspect had a serious criminal record and may have been high on drugs at the time of his arrest.

The students were then asked to rate how justified the beating was. Participants who believed the suspect was white were no more likely to condone the beating when they were primed with either ape or big cat words, Eberhardt said. But those who thought the suspect was black were more likely to justify the beating if they had been primed with ape words than with big cat words. "Taken together, this suggests that implicit knowledge of a Black-ape association led to marked differences in participants' judgments of Black criminal suspects," the researchers write.

According to the paper's authors, this link has devastating consequences for African Americans because it "alters visual perception and attention, and it increases endorsement of violence against black suspects." For example, the paper's sixth study showed that in hundreds of news stories from 1979 to 1999 in the Philadelphia Inquirer, African Americans convicted of capital crimes were about four times more likely than whites convicted of capital crimes to be described with ape-relevant language, such as "barbaric," "beast," "brute," "savage" and "wild." "Those who are implicitly portrayed as more ape-like in these articles are more likely to be executed by the state than those who are not," the researchers write.

The way forward
Despite the paper's findings, Eberhardt said she is optimistic about the future. "This work isn't arguing that there hasn't been any progress made or that we are living in the same society that existed in the 19th century," she said. "We have made a lot of progress on race issues, but we should recognize that racial bias isn't dead. We still need to be aware of that and aware of all the different ways [racism] can affect us, despite our intentions and motivations to be egalitarian. We still have work to do."

For Eberhardt, two stories of race exist in America. "One is about the disappearance of bias—that it's no longer with us," she said. "But the other is about the transformation of bias. It's not the egregious bias anymore, but it's modern bias, subtle bias." With both of these stories, she said, there is an understanding that society has moved beyond the historic battles centered around race. "We want to argue, with this work, that there is one old race battle that we're still fighting," she said. "That is the battle for blacks to be recognized as fully human."

This research was supported by a Stanford University Dean's Award to Jennifer Eberhardt.

Clinton Obama Battling Hard in Ohio, Texas

Angela Dominguez — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:43:00 +0000

Hillary Clinton recently stated that Senator Barack Obama is incapable of handling an early-morning foreign policy crisis. While campaigning in Ohio, Obama stated that his rival is getting "a little desperate".

"I think she has got a little desperate toward the end of this campaign," Obama told ABC News. "[She] has been a lot more aggressive in her negative attacks."

The comment about not being able to handle an early morning crisis came in response to an ad issued by Hillary Clinton in Texas. The ad portrays children asleep in their beds, and the narrator says, "It’s 3 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep. Who do you want answering the phone?”

Obama's camp came right back, stating that Hillary Clinton's "red phone moment" came when she voted to authorize the war in Iraq. They also stated in response to the ad that the person who answers the phone should have had the "judgment and courage to oppose the Iraq war from the start."

"As I've pointed out, we've actually had a pretty significant moment in the last several years, that called people's judgment into question," said Obama. "And that was the war in Iraq."

Hillary Clinton, who worked to regain black votes by attending the State of the Black Union Conference last week, defended her ad.

"I think it's a contrast that needed to be sharpened, because this is a big decision for people," she said. "And I want people to have as much information as possible as they make these decisions. So I think we are helping to get out the differences and raise some issues that are important."

City Council Asks Kwame Kilpatrick to Resign

Angela Dominguez — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 17:09:00 +0000

The Detroit City Council is expressing its disdain for disgraced Detroit Mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick. This week, the council moved for a resolution asking for Kilpatrick to resign voluntarily. However, Mayor Kilpatrick has refused to do so.

"This is what I was born to do," said Kilpatrick.

A formal vote by the council is set for Tuesday. If the resolution passes, the council will seek a voluntary resignation. If Mayor Kilpatrick refuses to resign, the city then resorts to other options available to force his removal from office.

"The city has basically been paralyzed since all this information has come out," said Councilwoman Brenda Jones. "We can't just sit here and act like we are moving forward."

Jones and the other council members unanimously passed the resolution against Kilpatrick.

Kwame Kilpatrick, known as "The Hip Hop Mayor", has had a troubled administration from the start. Most recently, he found himself in the middle of a whistle-blower case, in which two Detroit Police Officers sued, citing that they were fired for revealing details of the Mayor's extracurricular activities.

Mayor Kilpatrick, who is the son of Congress Woman Carolyn Kilpatrick, has been accused of perjury after he and his Chief of Staff, Christine Beatty, lied under oath about having an affair. If found guilty of felony perjury, Kilpatrick could be disbarred, forced to resign as mayor and given up to 15 years in prison.

Kilpatrick had little to say about possibly being forced out by the City Council. "I don't want to get into that," he said. "I'm not resigning."

The Detroit City Council also had some disparaging remarks about the national attention that the case has drawn.

"Detroit has received embarrassing coverage nationally and internationally, which has caused the mayor to be absent from his duties for a prolonged period of time and absent from the public," the resolution stated.

Whether the council can remove Kilpatrick from the Mayor's Office is yet to be determined. Council President Kenneth Cockrel Jr. stated that he doesn't believe Kilpatrick can be removed without being convicted of a felony.

"I think at this point he's dug his heels in pretty well," Cockrel said.

Kwame Kilpatrick, an attorney, was the youngest Mayor ever elected in the city of Detroit. His troubles began as Mayor in 2002, when rumors of a wild party at his mansion surfaced. It is alleged that the party involved strippers, and that Kilpatrick's wife, Carlita Kilpatrick, came home unexpectedly and got into a fight with one of the strippers.

But Kilpatrick's problems with strippers did not stop there. Tamara Greene, a stripper with the nickname "Strawberry", allegedly performed at Kilpatrick's home. Greene was shot over a dozen times by the same .40 caliber pistol offered for use by the Detroit Police Department. Her family is claiming that her murder (which came shortly after another failed attempt on her life) was committed to keep her from testifying.

Tamara Greene's family is suing the city of Detroit for $150 Million.

More Kwame Kilpatrick Commentary:

Dr. Boyce Watkins: Why the World Hates Kwame Kilpatrick

Mother Murders Children: Fathers Had Tried to Get Custody

Angela Dominguez — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 15:15:00 +0000

Three children, ages 6, 5 and 1, were found either drowned or poisoned, with one having her throat cut on Monday.

Leatrice Brewer called the 911 operator and said coldly "I killed my babies."

The three children, a girl 6 and two boys, 5 and 1, were found wearing their night clothes.

"They almost looked as though they were sleeping," Lt. Michael Fleming said. "It almost looked like they were cuddled up together for the night."

Ms. Brewer, 27, called police herself. She also jumped out of a second story window and was hospitalized with a back injury. She lived in the New Cassel section of Long Island, a relatively poor neighborhood. She had an arrest record going back to 2000.

Brewer's case brings up the larger issue of child custody and whether the courts favor the mother too much in such cases. The father of Brewer's daughter, as well as the father of her two sons, said they'd been fighting family court to take possession of the children. However, each of them said that the court would not hear them out.

"Whenever I tried to get my daughter, Family Court wouldn't let me," said Ricky Ward, the little girl's father. "The courts wouldn't hear me out. I blame this on Leatrice Brewer and Family Court."

Many fathers throughout America are fighting the same issue. Mathew Smith, a doctor and father of one, said that he tried for years to take possession of his child, who was living in unfit circumstances.

"I loved my child, but she didn't like the discipline I imposed because her mother did not discipline her," said Smith, who was also denied partial custody because his daughter did not want to live with him. "She was a teenager and sharing a room with her teenage brother, which was clearly inappropriate because I gave her mother thousands per month in child support, which she spent on her boyfriend. But the courts refused to even listen to my case."

This is a nation-wide problem, as many fathers are victims of alienation by mothers who deny them the right to see their children. Groups like Fathersrights.org and others are designed to protect the rights of fathers in child custody and child support cases.

The issue is especially strong in the black community, where many fathers are accused of abandoning their children. However, this is not always the case, as many fathers are simply denied access to their kids.

"People accused me of being a bad father for not marrying the mother of my kids and for not living with my children," said Dr. Smith. "But the honest truth was that her mother did not want to marry me and she denied me the right to spend time with my kids, even when I tried. I never did anything but love her."

Hillary Clinton, Tavis Smiley Work to Repair their Images

Angela Dominguez — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 03:30:00 +0000

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, the only Presidential candidate from either party to attend The State of the Black Union Conference held by Tavis Smiley of PBS, worked hard to use the appearance as a chance to regain lost black voters. Critics have charged that Clinton attended the conference because she is so far out of the presidential race that she could spare the time.

During the conference, event organizer Tavis Smiley gave Mrs. Clinton a chance to regain affinity with black voters. She acknowledged that there were "painful moments" during the race, and that she regrets them.

Hillary Clinton's husband, Bill Clinton, was once so popular with black voters that he'd been called "The First Black President". The title was offensive to some people of color, but many embraced the idea. However, during the election, Former President Clinton made several mistakes, such as presuming that Barack Obama won in South Carolina because both he and many of the voters were black.

Since that day, Mrs. Clinton has lost most of her primaries by a huge margin, and Obama has regularly exceeded her in black votes by 40 or 50%. The State of the Black Union, the venue in which Clinton appeared, but Obama did not, was her chance to appeal directly to African-Americans to regain their support.

Last week, Black America was in an uproar over Tavis Smiley's public attacks on Senator Barack Obama for not attending The State of the Black Union event. Obama offered to send his wife, Michelle, but she was rebuffed. While Smiley argued that no spouse of a Presidential candidate would be acceptable, many were concerned about the fact that many of the panelists invited were also not running for President.

Since that time, both Smiley and Clinton has seen a tremendous slide in their popularity in the black community.

Hillary Clinton claimed that her husband made racial reconciliation part of his public life. However, she stopped short of fully explaining why he refused to apologize for slavery.

"Most of my African-American friends and advisors don't believe that we should get into what was essentially a press story about whether there should be an apology for slavery in America," Bill Clinton stated in a magazine in 1998. "They think that that's what the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendment was; they think that's what the civil rights legislation was, and they think we need to be looking toward the future."

To this day, neither of the Clintons have backed legislation to publicly apologize for slavery.

Dr. Boyce Speaks on Tavis Smiley and Barack Obama Feud

Boyce Watkins — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 21:24:00 +0000

by Dr. Boyce Watkins
www.BoyceWatkins.com

I received alot of mainstream media requests about the situation between Senator Barack Obama and Tavis Smiley. Some interpreted my commentary to imply that I somehow wanted to take sides on this issue. I also received calls from some close friends of Tavis Smiley (but nothing personally from Tavis, who may be angry with me right now), who were concerned that I felt that Tavis was wrong for doing what he did.

I will now set the record straight.

I make it my primary objective to speak with complete honesty. I also found the situation between Barack Obama and Tavis Smiley to be disturbing. However, I do not consider either individual to be worthy of any form of persecution from the American public. I refused to do any mainstream media appearances to discuss this issue, because there are some things that black people need to discuss among themselves. I have a good relationship with the people at The Tom Joyner Morning Show and Black America Web, and it is my goal to keep it that way.

Tavis Smiley is a good man and a respectable brother. I want to see Barack Obama win this election, and Mr. Smiley has stated that he too celebrates Obama's success. It would never be in my plans to disrupt Obama's path to the White House, nor is it to add to the stress Tavis Smiley is clearly feeling right now. Did I take Tavis Smiley to task on what he said? A little bit, yes. But I only made my comments because I felt that some things needed to be said.

It is my personal opinion that while Tavis Smiley has no problem seeing Senator Obama jeopardize his race to The White House in order to appear at the State of the Black Union, I wouldn't expect Tavis to be willing to jeopardize one of his many corporate sponsorship deals to appear at someone else's forum. Also, if people were to accuse him of being anti-black for refusing to give up his sponsors, that would be wrong. While Smiley has proclaimed himself to be a tireless freedom fighter for the black community, I have never once seen him take Walmart to task for the way this company has consistently pillaged poor people and those of color. It would not be in Mr. Smiley's interest to do so, but yet the broader community would certainly benefit from such a commentary. Thus, like the rest of us, Tavis does sacrifice a little freedom for a little "me-dom" every now and then.

So, for those who are fans of Tavis Smiley, Tom Joyner or Barack Obama, please understand that my goal is to be fair, not to take sides. Tavis should have invited Barack to his conference, but for him to assume that anyone who is anyone in Black America should be attending the State of the Black Union.....well, that's just wrong. There are many forums in Black America that allow individuals to express their blackness, and his convention is just one of them.

Sorry to be honest brother, but I've got to tell the truth. I've had alot of people compare me to Tavis and we have alot of mutual friends. I will always respect you.

My video statement is below. A special thanks to the production crew for putting it together. For those who don't like the hip hop in the commentary, I'm sorry, but that's just me being Dr. Boyce.

Respect and Love:

Boyce Watkins

Obama Lands a Key Endorsement

Mathew C — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 07:24:00 +0000

This week in Milwaukee, Senator Barack Obama gathered a key labor endorsement that once belonged to Hillary Clinton. He also criticized Senator Clinton for signing off on labor bills that he felt were harmful to American workers.

Many have criticized Hillary Clinton for being on the board of Walmart, one of the companies that has most benefited from such laws.

"Her supporting NAFTA didn't give jobs to the American people," Obama said. "Her supporting a bankruptcy bill made it harder for people to get out of debt that didn't help them with the bills that were stacking up on their desks."

Obama needs the labor endorsements, especially since polls show that Hillary Clinton has a large lead in Ohio and Pennsylvania, two states that contain a large number of delegates. His most recent endorsement came from the Service Employees International Union, an organization with 1.9 million workers.

He was also endorsed by the United Food and Commercial Workers, a group with 69,000 members in Ohio and another 26,000 in Texas.

In Wisconsin, Obama claimed that Clinton was attacking him as a cheap ploy to gain votes. He also claimed that she was so divisive that she was not able to get her health care reform bill passed.

"Hollering at Republicans and engaging in petty partisan politics didn't help health care get done," he said. "The American people don't want to play the same games. They don't want the cheap shots. They don't want the negative ads. What they are looking for are solutions and bringing people together."

Clinton's campaign appears to be in trouble. She has had 8 straight losses to Obama, her funds are not as strong, and her staff has lost key members. However, in spite of all this, Obama only has a small edge in Wisconsin.

Clinton has released a spate of negative ads in Wisconsin, accusing Obama of refusing to debate her in the state. She also claims that she can still win. The Obama camp agrees that Hillary Clinton should not be underestimated.

Obama Dominates Clinton Once Again

Angela Dominguez — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 14:12:00 +0000

Barack Obama is now the frontrunner.

Yesterday, Senator Barack Obama slammed Hillary Clinton once again, winning 3 more primaries in relative landslides. Obama's wins in DC, Maryland and Virginia pushed him past Senator Clinton and into the lead in the race for the Democratic nomination.

According to estimates by CNN and other networks, Obama now has 1,215 delegates and Clinton has 1,190. One needs 2,025 delegates to clinch the nomination.

This is the eighth straight primary that Obama has won. This result is a far cry from just one month ago, when Clinton was the strongest candidate.

"The change we seek swept through Chesapeake and over the Potomac," said Obama.

"We won the state of Maryland. We won the commonwealth of Virginia. And though we won in Washington, D.C., this movement won't stop until there is change in Washington, D.C., and tonight we're on our way."

While Bill Clinton had once mentioned Obama as being similar to Jesse Jackson, this has not shown itself to be the case. While stealing a large number of African-American votes from Clinton, Obama has also taken many of her white and Hispanic supporters. He has also eaten into her female support.

According to exit polls in Virginia and Maryland, Obama walked away with 60% of the female vote. He also had as much as 90% of the black vote in all three states. The white vote was split down the middle.

Some have stated that Clinton's loss of Latino voters stemmed from the firing of her campaign manager, a Latino woman. Clinton did, however, win among white women, who gave her a 10 point edge over Obama.

Clinton, who appears to be struggling both financially and politically, has started to turn her focus on Texas and Ohio.

"We're going to sweep across Texas in the next three weeks, bringing our message about what we need in America ... I'm tested, I'm ready. Let's make it happen," she said.

She now has an uphill battle.

Barack Obama Has Hillary Clinton on Her Heels

Mathew C — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 14:55:00 +0000

After a weekend sweep, Senator Barack Obama has Hillary Clinton back peddling and looking like an underdog. Visibly shaken, the Clinton campaign made major changes over the weekend, with Clinton firing her Campaign Manager, Patti Solis Doyle and replaced her with Maggie Williams, an African-American.

Making a change so late in the process further heightens rumors that the Clinton Campaign is in real trouble. Last week, speculation was fueled by the fact that Clinton was forced to loan $5 million to her own campaign, while Obama was setting fund-raising records.

Things are expected to get worse for Clinton in the near future. Obama may also sweep the contests in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, DC. The voting is set to take place on Tuesday.

The delegate count between Clinton and Obama is now 1,139 to 1,135, in favor of Obama. Some see this as a symbolic shift, as Obama's momentum is currently quite strong. A candidate would need 2,025 delegates in order to clinch the Democratic nomination.

David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager, has not yet rested.

"The Clintons are far better-known and have a political machine that's been honed over two decades," Plouffe said.

"But the more voters get to know Obama and his message of change, the more they support him, which bodes well for the upcoming primaries."

Obama also won a Grammy this weekend for the audiobook version of "Audacity of Hope", his best-selling book.

The race is not over, as Clinton is expected to have the advantage over Obama in the March 4 votes in Texas and Ohio. Wisconsin would also be a strong victory, with voters coming together on February 19.

"I have the ability to bring people together," Obama stated this weekend in Alexandria, Virginia. "If you will vote for me on Tuesday ... we will transform this country."

Obama Has Money, Clinton Has Much Less

Angela Dominguez — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:44:00 +0000

In an odd mixture of fortunes, Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton find themselves in very different financial situations. Senator Obama raised $7.2 million since Super Tuesday balloting, including $3 million in a 24 hour period. Meanwhile, Senator Clinton had to loan her campaign $5 million and is not paying her senior staff.

Obama's fundraising prowess, via extensive use of the Internet, has worried Hillary Clinton and her supporters. Both have done a remarkable job raising money during the past year, but Obama continues to raise the mark. In addition to the recent $7.2 million raised in the two days after Super Tuesday, Obama raised $32 million during the month of January. This amount exceeded that of any Presidential candidate in American history.

Hillary Clinton has asked Barack Obama to debate once a week, something that Obama has refused to do.

Clinton is not completely out of the fundraising excitement to recently hit the Democratic party. She raised $4 million from 35,000 new contributors since Super Tuesday.

Obama is planning to use his funds to engage in a major sprint across the country. He will appear in many states this weekend that plan to hold political contests between he and Senator Clinton.

Clinton plans to focus heavily on Ohio and Texas, two large states that hold primaries March 4. She already has strong leads in those places. She also believes that the senior citizens of Pennsylvania are going to provide strong support on their April 22 primary.

Some say that the letter sent by Clinton's Campaign Manager, Patti Solis, inviting Senator Obama to weekly debates is a clear sign that her camp is worried.

"I'm sure we can find a suitable place to meet on the campaign trail," Solis stated in the letter. "There's too much at stake and the issues facing the country are too grave to deny voters the opportunity to see the candidates up close."

Obama's camp rejected the debates.

Super Tuesday Results Do Little to Separate Clinton and Obama

Angela Dominguez — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 17:13:00 +0000

According to the media, Super Tuesday results were interesting, but did not declare clear front runners. Senator Hillary Clinton only has 41% of the delegates needed for the nomination, while Senator Barack Obama has 36%. The results in California and New Mexico have not yet been finalized.

There are big races to be had in Texas and Ohio that will put Obama and Clinton head to head in their fight for the Democratic nomination. Both the Obama and Clinton camps acknowledge that Senator Obama has an advantage in both races.

"There are a lot of working-class whites [in Ohio] and she feels she does extraordinarily well with that demographic," VandeHei said on CNN's "American Morning."

However, Pennsylvania is a state that Senator Clinton strongly feels that she can win.

"I look forward to continuing our campaign and our debates about how to leave this country better off for the next generation, because that is the work of my life," Clinton said.

Even though Hillary Clinton won the larger states such as California, New York and New Jersey, Senator Obama won more states in total, 13 to 8. Some argue that this shows that Obama has a tremendous amount of momentum in his campaign.

"There is one thing on this February night that we do not need the final results to know," Obama said. "Our time has come. Our movement is real. And change is coming to America."

Dr Boyce Watkins Motivates Black Students to succeed

Angela Dominguez — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 17:49:00 +0000

Syracuse Prof. speaks about Dr. King's message

Posted: Jan 17, 2008 06:45 PM EST

Updated: Jan 17, 2008 06:45 PM EST

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January 17, 2008

Albany- A renowned Syracuse University finance professor motivated students at Albany State Thursday as part of the Martin Luther King Day Celebrations.

Dr. Boyce Watkins spoke to ASU first and second year experience program students, encouraging them to finish their education. Watkins was the only African American in the nation to earn a Ph.D. in finance in 2002. He told students King's desire for education and his courage should inspire everyone.

"Because one without the other really minimizes you ability to impact the world. There are a lot of educated people who just want to get in line and follow suit and do what they're told, but Dr. King was a person who said I'm going to do what's right," said Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University Professor.

Watkins is author of the book, "What if George Bush were a black man?" and is national director of the Step Up and Go to College Program.

Tiger Woods: Black Golfer on a Mission

Mathew C — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 14:47:00 +0000

Tiger Woods was unstoppable....again. In a dramatic come from behind win, Woods won the Dubai Desert Classic this week by one stroke. This is the 7th win in his last 8 starts, something almost no golfer in history has ever done before.....except Woods.

Last week, Woods crushed the field at the Buick Invitational by 8 strokes, a huge margin of victory in professional golf. He has won both of his tournaments this year, and says that he is playing better than he did during his 2000 season, during which he broke records that were set before golf even became a sport in the United States.

The win this week was even more amazing after Woods revealed that his equipment was faulty. On the first day of competition, Woods broke his driver and had to use his backup to defeat the competition.

"I broke my driver and had to use my backup which I don't like very much," he said. "I spun it too much, It was fine on Thursday because the wind didn't blow, but as soon as the wind started blowing, I had a hard time controlling the driver because it kept spinning too much.

"I was on the periphery most of the day and somehow got into it late in the back nine."

Tiger Woods started the final round of the tournament four strokes behind Ernie Els, the closest thing he has to a rival in professional golf. However, this isn't much of a rivalry, as Woods has defeated Els time and time again. This event was no different, as Woods caught Els and the rest of the field with birdies on 5 of the last 6 holes. One of the birdies was a 25-foot downhill putt that had Woods pumping his fist, leading the crowd into a frenzy.

Tiger Woods, the only African-American golfer in most tournaments in which he participates, has been nothing short of phenomenal. His world golf ranking score is 20.43, which is astounding, since no other golfer in the world has a score above 10. Only the top 10 golfers in the world have a score above 5. In 2000, Woods World Golf Ranking score almost reached 30, a feat considered impossible before Woods came onto the scene.

The late Earl Woods, Tiger's father, once bragged that his black teenage son would become the "Muhammad Ali of golf". Considered insane by sports journalists who believed that domination of professional golf would be impossible, Earl Woods and Tiger Woods proved the American sports media wrong. Woods has also transcended the sport by increasing the involvement of African-Americans and other people of color. He also became the first black golfer to win a major. Currently, he is on pace to eclipse all major golf records and has broken many of them already.

The United Nations Tries to Fix the Kenyan Crisis

Angela Dominguez — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 20:13:00 +0000

The President of the African Development Bank, Donald Kaberuka, recently held a series of meetings with African Heads of State during the 10th summit of the African Union, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

During the meetings, Mr. Kaberuka stressed the importance of ending the crisis in Kenya and not losing the gains made over the past several years.

During his meetings with Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, Mr. Kaberuka suggested ways the bank could help end the crisis. In a joint statement with the World Bank, The African Development Bank stated the following:

"By our early estimates, the current situation could drive 2 million Kenyans into poverty, reversing the gains made over the last few years".

Both institutions went further, saying that they "support efforts by Mr. Kofi Annan and his team, under the African Union initiative, to bring all parties together to make credible and visible progress toward quick and peaceful reconciliation."

Additionally, UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, was in Kenya this week to put energy behind the efforts of Kofi Annan and his mediation talks.

Mr Ban made his appearance as France called for the UN Security Council to get more deeply involved in the Kenyan Crisis. Thus far, the crisis has left 850 dead and over 300,000 homeless.

Mr. Ban's message to Mwai Kibaki, Raila Odinga and the Kenyan people was simple: "It has to stop." His message was delivered in Nairobi and repeated several times.

At the same time Mr. Ban was speaking in Nairobi, Canadian High Commissioner to Kenya, Ross Hynes, was also getting involved Mr. Hynes stated that Canada can no longer engage in "business as usual" with the Kenyan government. He claimed that Canada would refuse contact with Kenyan leaders accused of disabling democratic institutions. He also said that they may even deny them visas to his country.

Black Female Bloggers Taking the World by Storm

Boyce Watkins — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 19:26:00 +0000

Tech savvy African American blogger takes to Internet airwaves With incredible results

Los Angeles, CA – After only four shows since its January launch, the hugely popular Internet radio program, The Content Black Woman Show, has grabbed the #1 spot for current events programming on BlogTalkRadio.

Hosted by new media entrepreneur and blogger Valencia Roner, a.k.a. the “Content Black Woman,” the zenith rise of this web sensation is currently averaging around 15,000 downloads per week. A spin-off of the highest ranking site relating to Black women by Google, Why Black Women Are Angry, the program provides news, views and insights from a “content black woman’s” perspective as oppose to a perspective of an “angry black woman.” Whyblackwomenareangry.blogspot.com is the highest ranking site when inputting the search terms “black women” in Google’s search engine. The blog was also recently recognized by Ebony/Jet.com as one of the Ten Most Important Blog Posts for 2007 for Roner’s in-depth coverage of Prophetess Juanita Bynum and the controversy surrounding the popular ecumenical leader’s pending divorce and criminal case involving estranged husband Bishop Thomas Weeks.

“These are exciting times in our nation’s history,” said Roner, a featured panelist at the 2007 BlogHer Conference. “With white men ruling talk radio for so long, I think the success of my show demonstrates that a market exists that is hungry for a more diverse perspective on everything from news to pop culture to politics. It’s my goal to provide such a perspective.”

With the exponential growth of the Internet by way of YouTube, MySpace, blogs and other social networking sites, audio programs such The Content Black Woman Show on the fast growing BlogTalkRadio.com are providing a platform for those with something to say and to an audience to whom to say it.

The only African American woman in BlogTalkRadio.com’s top 10 out of the over 51,000 shows and over 7,500 hosts, The Content Black Woman Show is clearly meeting a unique market-based demand.

Valencia Roner has specialized in marketing and public relations for over 15 years. She owns and writes for the popular blog Why Black Women Are Angry (http://whyblackwomenareangry.blogspot.com). She began this platform with the intent of addressing the less than favorable stereotype of Black women as being angry in order to demonstrate Black women as beautiful and content with a perspective.

BlogTalkRadio is an interactive, media 2.0 platform that allows users to connect quickly and directly with their audience. Using an ordinary telephone and computer, (no software downloads or MP3 players required) hosts can create live call-in shows with unlimited participants that are instantly archived and made available as subscribable podcasts. The network has signed up more than 7,500 hosts in less than 16 months.

For additional press information, call 310-230-5381 or contact via e-mail at contentblackwoman@yahoo.com

Barack Obama Sets a Fundraising Record

Angela Dominguez — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 04:12:00 +0000

During the month of January, Senator Barack Obama raised $32 million dollars from donors, the most ever raised during a one month period by a Democratic Presidential candidate. The campaign also announced that they picked up 170,000 new donors, raising the total number to 650,000.

Hillary Clinton's camp did not release its fundraising numbers for the month.

The funds raised by the Obama campaign for January exceed the highest 3 month total for any period in 2007, a remarkable achievement. The funds are also an excellent propelling mechanism for "Super Tuesday", when national ads are going to be purchased by the Obama camp.

"We think that the strength of our financial position and the number of donors does speak to financial sustainability if it ends up going through March and April," stated an advisor to the Obama campaign. "We think we will have the financial resources to conduct vigorous campaigns in the states to come."

On "Super Tuesday", February 5, more than 20 states are going to hold their primaries. Clinton plans to air ads in 12 states, while Obama is going to focus on at least 20 of them.

Obama and Clinton have, together, raised a over $100 million dollars since the campaigns began. Both are considered front runners in the race for the Democratic nomination.

Best (Actual) News Headlines for 2007

Angela Dominguez — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 04:47:00 +0000

Crack Found on Governor's Daughter
[Imagine that!]

Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says
[No, really?]

Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers
[Now that's taking things a bit far!]

Is There a Ring of Debris around Uranus?
[Not if I wipe thoroughly!]

Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over
[What a guy!]
&n bsp;

Miners Refuse to Work after Death
[No-good-for-nothing' lazy so-and-so!]

Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant
[See if that works any better than a fair trial!]

War Dims Hope for Peace
[I can see where it might have that effect!]

If Strike Isn't Settled Quickly, It May Last Awhile
[You think?]

Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures
[Who would have thought!]

Enfield (London) Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide
[They may be on to something!]

Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges
[You mean there's something stronger than duct tape?]

Man Struck By Lightning: Faces Battery Charge
[he probably IS the battery charge!]

New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group
[Weren't they fat enough?!]

Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas
in Spacecraft
[That's what he gets for eating those beans!]

Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
[Taste like chicken?]

Local < B>High School Dropouts Cut in Half
[Chainsaw Massacre all over again!]

Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors
[Boy, are they tall!]

And the winner is....

Typhoon Rips Through
Cemetery; Hundreds Dead

Aborigines Get Apology, African Americans Do Not

Charles Smock — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 12:07:00 +0000

The Australian government has decided to do for Aborigines something that the U.S. Government has yet to do for African-Americans: apologize for wrong-doings of the past. The Australian government is set to issue its first formal apology to the Aborigines as its first item of business for the new parliament on February 13.

This marks an historic occasion for the country, as it works to progress beyond wounds of the past. The apology is to be issued to the "stolen generation", consisting of those Aborigines who were taken away from their families on the idea that their race was "doomed".

The issue has divided Australians for a very long time, but Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has finally pushed the issue forward.

"The apology will be made on behalf of the Australian government and does not attribute guilt to the current generation of Australian people," Macklin said in a statement.

In spite of the apology, Rudd has refused to pay compensation, nor hold the Australian government accountable for the actions of the past. Michael Mansell, an activist in the country, has argued that the government should create an $882 million dollar fund to pay compensation for government wrong doing toward Aborigines.

Aborigines make up less than 5% of the Australian population. They are far more likely to be arrested, imprisoned, unemployed and illiterate. Also, there is a 17 year life expectancy gap between Aborigines and other Australians.

The apology has brought a comparison to African-Americans, who suffer from many of the same problems. Social dilemmas for African-Americans have been linked to 400 years of slavery in the US, for which the American government refuses to apologize.

Christine King of the Stolen Generations Alliance had a great deal to say about the developments in Australia.

"Older people thought they would never live to see this day," King said. "It's very emotional for me and it's very important."

From 1910 through the 1970s, roughly 100,000 Aboriginal children of mixed blood were stolen from their parents due to state and federal laws that said that their race was doomed and that taking the children would be the humane thing to do. The same thing happened to people of color during slavery, when their families were divided and sold to white owners across the country.

An inquiry into the family separations of Aboriginal children showed that the children suffered long-term psychological damage from losing their parents. A government inquiry in Australia argued that the government should apologize to the families and compensate them. But the Prime Minister at the time, John Howard, refused to do either, stating that this government should not be held accountable for policies of the past. The same has been said by U.S. Government Officials as it pertains to slavery.

Barack Obama Supporter Accuses Bill Clinton of Suppressing the Vote

Mathew C — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 03:01:00 +0000

Dick Harpootlian, a prominent Democrat and supporter of Senator Barack Obama, has accused former President Bill Clinton of using dirty Republican tricks to defeat Obama.

Harpootlian, a former chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party and supporter of Barack Obama, accused Clinton of using remarks that were appeals to race and gender, meant to "supress the vote, demoralize voters and distort the record."

Harpootlian claimed that Clinton's remarks are "reminiscent of Lee Atwater", a Republican strategist who worked during the Reagan Administration. Atwater's tactics have since been disgraced by Democrats.

When asked about Harpootlian's comments, Bill Clinton lashed out at the reporter, saying, "You live for this. This hurts the people of South Carolina."

"Because the people of South Carolina come to these meetings and ask questions about what they care about, " he said. "And what they care about is not what's going to be in the news coverage tonight, because you don't care about it."

Barack Obama supporters have expressed grave concern over Bill Clinton's overshadowing presence in the Presidential election. Obama has claimed that he sometimes can't tell if he is running against Hillary Clinton or Bill Clinton.

Bill Clinton has been on the offensive lately, heavily attacking Obama on issues related to the Iraq War, and he also complained that Obama's supporters in the union in Nevada suppressed votes. Finally, Clinton claimed that Obama made remarks supporting Republican ideas.

Clinton distanced himself from the attacks, claiming that the discussions were "crazy" and that he was "getting carried away." Many agree with his assessment and feel that he should not overshadow his wife's bid for the presidency.

Obama Calls for Unity on Martin Luther King Day

Angela Dominguez — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 19:07:00 +0000

Barack Obama spent his Sunday in church calling for unity as America deals with its problems. In front of a packed house, the Senator stated that "none of our hands are clean" as it pertains to racial divisions.

Obama was speaking at Ebenezer Baptist Church the day before the Federal Martin Luther King Holiday. He based his speech on a famous quote by King that "Unity is the great need of the hour."

"The divisions, the stereotypes, the scape-goating, the ease with which we blame the plight of ourselves on others, all of that distracts us from the common challenges we face: war and poverty; inequality and injustice," Obama said. "We can no longer afford to build ourselves up by tearing each other down. We can no longer afford to traffic in lies or fear or hate. It is the poison that we must purge from our politics; the wall that we must tear down before the hour grows too late."

The next Democratic Primary will be held in South Carolina on Saturday, and this is the first state with a large percentage of black voters. Some argue that Obama needs a strong victory here in order to remain in the fight with Senator Hillary Clinton.

In Nevada, Obama lost to Clinton in spite of having 83% of the black vote. The biggest concern for many Obama supporters is that the recent spat over Dr. Martin Luther King identified Obama as "The black candidate", leading to a decline of white support.

Some African Americans were originally skeptical over whether Obama had the ability to defeat Senator Clinton. However, his win in Iowa, which is predominantly white, gave voters a great deal of confidence. His black poll numbers jumped dramatically after this win.

"I understand that many of you are still a little skeptical," Obama said Friday night in Las Vegas. "But not as skeptical as you were before Iowa. Sometimes it takes other folks before we believe ourselves."

"We had to fight, bleed and die just to be able to vote," the Rev. Raphael G. Warnock said while introducing Senator Obama. "Now we can select presidents, and now with credibility and intelligence and power, we can run for president."

Obama mentioned the fact that there have been some divisive issues in his campaign recently. "Last week, it crept into the campaign for president, with charges and countercharges that served to obscure the issues instead of illuminating the critical choices we face as a nation. None of our hands are clean," he said.

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, both realizing the destructive nature of their public spat, called a truce on the issue last week. But the problems are still present, yet beneath the table.

Clinton Wins Nevada, Obama Wins the Black Vote

Angela Dominguez — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 00:02:00 +0000

African-Americans in Nevada showed overwhelming support for Senator Barack Obama. However, this was not enough for him to defeat Hillary Clinton. Black voters represent 16% of the voting population in Nevada, and 80% of these voters supported Barack Obama.

The same was true in Michigan, where polls say that Obama would have won over 70% of the black vote. Some argue that this predicts a clear victory for Obama in South Carolina, where half of the voting population is African American.

Rather than support Senator Clinton in Michigan (where Obama chose not to participate due to party sanctions), 70% of African-American voters chose to vote "uncommitted". CNN exit polls showed that these voters were in overwhelming support of Barack Obama.

African-Americans have long supported the Clintons, with Bill Clinton having been called "The first black president" by Toni Morrison. The name was also adopted by Hillary Clinton as well. But many have come to question the Clinton commitment to African-Americans, leading to a substantial decline in African-American support for the Clintons.

On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee won the Nevada Caucus. South Carolina's primary serves as an important symbolic win for whichever candidate emerges victorious.