WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is calling attention to the 50th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act that aimed to eliminate gender wage disparities, making the case for strengthening the law that President John F. Kennedy signed in 1963.
Obama, speaking to an audience almost entirely of women, says women continue to be paid less than men. He says: “This is the 21st century. It’s time to close that gap.”
The event’s focus on women’s pay comes during a week when Obama is paying special attention to Democratic constituent groups. On Tuesday he will speak at the White House in support of an overhaul of immigration laws. He will be fundraising for the Democrats on Wednesday. On Thursday he will observe LGBT Pride Month with remarks at the White House.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press via thegrio.com
Posts published in “Anniversaries”
On May 29, 1973, Tom Bradley became the first African-American elected mayor of Los Angeles. In that election, he defeated incumbent Sam Yorty with 56 percent of the vote. The win was considered trailblazing by historians, taking into account the city’s largely white population at the time.
Bradley served in office from 1973 to 1993, giving him the longest tenure as mayor in the city’s history before term limits were passed by voters in 1990. He ran for governor in 1982 and 1986, but was defeated each time by George Deukmejian. His loss in 1982 gave birth to the term “the Bradley effect” in U.S. politics, underlining the inconsistencies between voter opinion polls and actual election outcomes when a white candidate runs against a minority. Bradley retired from political life in 1993.
In March 1996, he suffered a heart attack and later a stroke that left him paralyzed and unable to speak. He suffered a second heart attack and passed away on Sept. 29, 1998 at the age of 80.
article by Britt Middleton via bet.com
Bradley served in office from 1973 to 1993, giving him the longest tenure as mayor in the city’s history before term limits were passed by voters in 1990. He ran for governor in 1982 and 1986, but was defeated each time by George Deukmejian. His loss in 1982 gave birth to the term “the Bradley effect” in U.S. politics, underlining the inconsistencies between voter opinion polls and actual election outcomes when a white candidate runs against a minority. Bradley retired from political life in 1993.
In March 1996, he suffered a heart attack and later a stroke that left him paralyzed and unable to speak. He suffered a second heart attack and passed away on Sept. 29, 1998 at the age of 80.
article by Britt Middleton via bet.com
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tavis Smiley has stood out in 20 years in broadcasting, and he has no intention of changing his style or substance. He’s the rare black host with national TV and radio platforms, one who sees his job as challenging Americans to examine their assumptions on such thorny issues as poverty, education, and racial and gender equality.
In other words, he doesn’t squander his opportunities on PBS’ daily talk show “Tavis Smiley,” which marks its 10th year this month, or on public radio’s “The Tavis Smiley Show” and “Smiley & West,” the latter a forum for commentary he shares with scholar and activist Cornel West.
His quarterly “Tavis Smiley Reports” specials for PBS, in-depth looks at topics such as the relationship between the juvenile justice system and the teenage dropout rate, fit the same bold pattern.
Smiley, marking two decades in broadcasting this year, considers himself engaged in a calling as much as a career: “This is the kind of work I think needs to be done. I’m trying to entertain and empower people.”
Harold Washington, mayor of the city of Chicago, on 12/14/86 in Chicago, Il. (Photo by Paul Natkin/WireImage)
CHICAGO – As Chicagoans marked the 30thanniversary of its first African-American mayor, Harold Washington’s, inauguration on April 29, the effects of his rule and the movement that put him in office could still be felt across the country, although rarely celebrated or vaguely remembered on the façades of buildings in the city.
The son of a lawyer and Chicago precinct captain, Washington was essentially born into local politics. But even operating in a political climate harshly adverse to him, he had a strong commitment to fairness and affecting change for the good of all Chicagoans, from the inside out.
Before becoming mayor, Washington served in the Illinois legislature as a congressman and senator. After he unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 1977, a group of community organizers who were upset with the rule of then-mayor Jane Byrne asked him to run in 1983. He did so under two conditions: that the group registered 50,000 African-Americans to vote and raised $250,000 for his campaign.
All ethnic groups involved
“It was the first thing Chicago had ever seen like that before. You had all ethnic groups involved,” said Josie Childs, who worked within Washington’s campaign, administration and now leads a local campaign commemorating Washington’s legacy.
The grassroots effort registered more than 100,000 black voters and raised about half a million dollars for Washington’s campaign, “so it almost put Harold in a position that he couldn’t say no,” said the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was part of both of Washington’s campaigns for mayor.
The greatest hip-hop album ever was made 25 years ago this month. Its title alone speaks volumes: It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back. At the time, it was a metaphor for African-American people, a nod to the systemic racism plaguing America, but for others, it also represented the uphill battle Public Enemy faced.
The album was crafted at a time, 1988, when hip-hop had no boundaries and every landmark album was groundbreaking. But Public Enemy broke ground that went clear through to the other side of the world when they made It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back. The album is what we call a Magnum Opus (Latin for ‘great work’).
PE’s second album, It Takes A Nation boasts one of the slickest intros, but it forecasted what was to come — world domination. It Takes A Nation kicks off from a recording in London, while the Long-Island-born group toured the world on the 1987 Def Jam tour. They were informing America that they had already been approved by the world and now it was America’s turn.
Of course, hardcore hip-hop heads had already embraced their first album, Yo! Bum Rush The Show, but this was special.
Read the full article here: Public Enemy’s ‘It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back’ still powerful 25 years later | theGrio.
WASHINGTON (AP) — On April 4th, the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s death, Attorney General Eric Holder challenged the Supreme Court to uphold a key section of the Voting Rights Act that requires all or part of 15 states with a history of discrimination to get federal clearance before carrying out changes in elections.
Holder made the comments Thursday in a speech to a civil rights group whose founder and president is the Rev. Al Sharpton. Focusing on issues he regards as important during President Barack Obama’s second term in office, Holder vowed to protect the voting rights of all Americans, safeguard young people from gun violence and improve the criminal justice system.
Opponents of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 say the pre-clearance requirement has outlived its usefulness. Starting in 2009, the Supreme Court made clear its skepticism about the present-day need for the provision. The court is considering a challenge on the issue from Shelby County, Ala., near Birmingham.
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., is seen in this undated file photo. Martin Luther King Jr., leader in the African-American civil rights movement was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis. (AP Photo)
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s last speech the evening before his assassination was especially resonant, considering the events that followed. Popularly known as the “I’ve Been To The Mountaintop” speech, King delivered the words at the Church Of God In Christ headquarters, Mason Temple, in Memphis, Tenn., on this day in 1968.
Full of prophetic themes and such, King was addressing the Memphis Sanitation Strike and was galvanizing workers in a call for unity and nonviolent protests. One of the more chilling moments of the speech is the foretelling of his death, which some experts feel was the speech’s most poignant moments. Dr. King would be assassinated the very next day at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis at the age of 39. Watch part of the speech below:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oehry1JC9Rk&w=420&h=315]
article by D.L. Chandler via newsone.com
During the 1950s and 1960s, the Ebony Fashion Fair exposed black American audiences to some of the most cutting edge couture fashions in the world. But the reason the shows were able to attract such quality was because of Eunice W. Johnson, the wife of John Johnson, who was the head of Johnson Publishing Company. Mrs. Johnson regularly traveled to Europe and purchased couture from the top fashion houses in Europe.
“On the runways, what you saw was her vision of what was fashionable and what was stylish,” curator Joy Bivins said. “In the late 1950s, when these black people showed up in Europe to purchase these garments, it wasn’t always an easy thing to get their foot in the door. They didn’t have the history, they didn’t know who we were, what Ebony was.”
They amassed thousands of ensembles, some of which will be on display at the Chicago History Museum’s newest exhibition “Inspiring Beauty: 50 Years of Ebony Fashion Fair.”
Read the full article: 50 Years of Ebony Fashion Fair on display at Chicago History Museum through Jan. 2014 | theGrio.
On March 29, 1988, an album that propelled two kids from West Philadelphia into the stratosphere of international fame was released on Jive Records: DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince’s He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper. Their debut LP, 1987’s Rock the House, included the mild hit single, “Girls Ain’t Nothing But Trouble,” but it was the duo’s sophomore effort, which eventually sold enough to be certified triple platinum, that ranks among the most successful hip-hop records ever—and certainly the most successful out of Philadelphia.
He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper made Jeffrey Townes and Will Smith household names throughout their beloved hometown, while subsequently putting Philly on the map and the global stage in ways that still resonate a quarter-century later. Townes remains one of the most respected spinmasters in the world, and Smith has become one of Hollywood’s highest-grossing actors in Hollywood and part owner of the 76ers.
Read more at: DJ Jazzy Jeff on the 25th Anniversary of “He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper” | Cover Story | Arts and Culture | Philadelphia Weekly.
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