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On Saturday night, President Obama took the White House Correspondents’ Dinner podium, Politico rounded up his best barbs, including his note of the Republicans’ attempt to attract more minorities. Their efforts, he joked, could start with him. Watch video above for more.
Posts published in “Politics”
At the 2013 White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night, First Lady Michelle Obama glowed in a glittering black cap-sleeve gown by Monique Lhuillier. The designer tweeted, “I am honored @MichelleObama is wearing me to the White House correspondence dinner tonight !! She looks amazing!!! xx Monique”.
Fashion journalist Laurie Brookins added, via Twitter, that the dress was “a black beaded/draped chiffon goddess gown with high neckline in Chantilly lace.”
article via huffingtonpost.com
Anita Bonds a local Democratic activist for more than 30 years emerged from a crowded field to win a special election for the coveted At Large seat on the Washington D.C. Council. Bonds got 32 percent of the vote winning in predominantly African- American wards 4,5,7 and 8. Patrick Mara, a Republican was endorsed by the Washington Post, but lost badly, trailing second place finisher Elissa Silverman 28 to 23 percent.
Bonds at 68 says senior citizens, the poor and working poor will be her highest priority. Bond says her strong showing in those communities is because blacks are long standing DC residents and the ones most concerned about being able to afford the escalating costs of remaining in the District.
article via wusa9.com
The Metro Transportation Authority (MTA) in Los Angeles pledged significant African American participation during the construction phase of the Metro Crenshaw/LAX Transit Corridor and also signed a project labor agreement to ensure that Blacks received adequate employment representation. But contractors have drastically underperformed in the hiring of African Americans in the first phase of the Crenshaw Advanced Utilities Relocation PLA for Targeted Worker Attainment.
According to MTA internal documents obtained by the Los Angeles Sentinel, which revealed the number of individual hires, Blacks ranked lower than any other demographic group. After Mayor Antonio Villraigosa required the promoting of African American hiring during the construction phase, the number of Blacks hired in the month of February nearly doubled the percentage of the previous two months to 5.81 percent for February and escalated again in March to report its greatest gains yet reaching almost 8 percent.
“Finally, I think we are moving in the right direction because more African Americans are now included in the work force,” said Mayor Villraigosa. “However, I am not satisfied and will not be until I see that African Americans who live in this community are employed and reflected in the bottom line. “I believe that it is only appropriate that residents of this community be active participants and work on this rail system being built. I want to see the number of people hired that represents the population of the community. They deserve it and I demand it. My legacy as mayor of the City of Los Angeles rides on it.”
article by Kenneth Miller, Los Angeles Sentinel via postnewsgroup.com
“I never considered myself someone who was in the closet,” Sen. Atkinson told theGrio. ”My family and friends knew.”
Atkinson said while his close friends in the Nevada House and Senate knew his sexual orientation, his statement Monday “was the first time publicly acknowledging it for everyone else.”
Related Post: Kelvin Atkinson, Nevada Lawmaker, Comes Out In Gay Marriage Debate
“I had no intentions of speaking that night. [I] heard some of my colleagues speak, and I just felt like now is a really good time to do it. My heart was pounding through my suit. I just felt like it was time.”
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.
WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama will address Planned Parenthood’s annual gala on Thursday, the organization announced.
“President Obama has done more than any president in history for women’s health and rights,” Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards said in a statement announcing that Obama will deliver the keynote address at the organization’s “Time For Care” dinner in Washington. “We are honored to have President Obama join us…at this pivotal moment for women’s health.”
Richards also served as a surrogate for Obama’s reelection campaign, touting the president’s record on women’s issues during the heat of the campaign. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer and HBO’s “Girls” creator Lena Dunham will be honored the event.
Planned Parenthood provides a variety of services for women, including contraception, cancer screenings and abortions. Obama reaffirmed just last week that he favors abortion rights.
“What I can say is this: You know, I think, President (Bill) Clinton said it pretty well when he said abortion should be safe, legal, and rare,” Obama said in an interview with NBC’s Today show.
article via newsone.com
Nevada state Sen. Kelvin Atkinson (D-North Las Vegas) on Monday declared that he is gay during a legislative debate over a measure to repeal the state’s gay marriage ban.
“I’m black. I’m gay,” he said, in what the Las Vegas Sun described as a “trembling” voice. “I know this is the first time many of you have heard me say that I am a black, gay male.”
He dismissed the idea that gay marriage threatened other marriages. “If this hurts your marriage, then your marriage was in trouble in the first place.”
The measure passed the Senate by a 12-9 vote, with 11 Democrats and one Republican voting in favor. It would remove the ban on gay marriages in the Nevada Constitution. If passed by the Assembly, which has a 27-to-15 Democratic advantage, and both houses again in 2015, the repeal would then be put to voters in 2016.
Nevada voters passed a gay marriage ban in 2000 and 2002. The legislature passed a domestic partnership law over former Gov. Jim Gibbons’ (R) veto in 2009. A February poll by the Retail Association of Nevada showed that 54 percent of Nevadans favor repealing the marriage ban while 43 percent oppose.
article by Luke Johnson via huffingtonpost.com
President Barack Obama, next to Vice President Joe Biden, gestures as he speaks during a news conference in the Rose Garden of the White House, in Washington, on Wednesday, April 17, 2013, about the defeat in the Senate of a bill to expand background checks on guns. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Federal law bans certain mentally ill people from purchasing firearms, but not all states are providing data to stop the prohibited sales to the FBI’s background check system. A federal review last year found 17 states contributed fewer than 10 mental health records to the database, meaning many deemed by a judge to be a danger still could have access to guns.
The Obama administration was starting a process Friday aimed at removing barriers in health privacy laws that prevent some states from reporting information to the background check system. The action comes two days after the Senate rejected a measure that would have required buyers of firearms online and at gun shows to pass a background check. That’s already required for shoppers at licensed gun dealers.
Stung by the defeat, Obama vowed to keep up the fight for the background check expansion but also to do what he could through executive action.
As our hearts here at GBN continue to go out to all those affected by the recent Boston Marathon bombing, we find comfort and inspiration in President Barack Obama’s speech today at a church service titled “Healing Our City” at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston memorializing and honoring its victims and survivors. Here is the link to it at nytimes.com.
article by Lesa Lakin and Lori Lakin Hutcherson