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Posts published in “Politics”

Michael Jordan, NBA Players To Raise Money For Obama

By goodblacknews on August 7, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is joining NBA legend Michael Jordan and an array of basketball stars to raise money for his re-election campaign later this month.
The Obama campaign is planning a fundraising “shoot-around” and dinner in New York on Aug. 22 featuring several NBA stars, including Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks, Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics, John Wall of the Washington Wizards and others. Jordan, who played for the Chicago Bulls, Obama’s favorite NBA team, and NBA Commissioner David Stern are co-hosting a $20,000-per person fundraising dinner with the president later in the day.
via Michael Jordan, NBA players to raise money for Obama | theGrio.

9-year-old Joshua Smith Sells Lemonade To Help Cash-Strapped Detroit

By goodblacknews on August 6, 2012

Joshua Smith, a 9-year-old boy from Detroit, Mich., has made national headlines over his ambitious efforts to help his hometown rise out of its ever-sinking debt.
He started off with a goal of selling $1000 worth of popcorn and lemonade and delivering a check of the said amount to Detroit Mayor Dave Bing’s office.

Today In History: President Lyndon Johnson Signs The 1965 Voting Rights Act

By goodblacknews on August 6, 2012

 

Today in history: President Lyndon Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act | theGrio.

First Lady Michelle Obama To Lead New Campaign Mobilizing Effort: ‘It Takes One’

By goodblacknews on July 19, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) — Taking on a more prominent political role, first lady Michelle Obama is launching a nationwide effort to motivate every supporter of President Barack Obama to get more involved in his re-election campaign — and bring along somebody else, too.

The “It Takes One” program urges supporters to make a difference in this election, and to “start by taking one action that will help grow our campaign,” Mrs. Obama says. In a three-minute video message to supporters that was released Thursday, the first lady tells supporters that with a tighter election than 2008 likely this fall, “in the end, it could all come down to those last few thousand votes in a single state.”

“Every time you take action to move this country forward, we’re asking you to inspire one more person to join you as well,” she says. “That could be the difference between waking up on Nov. 7 and feeling the promise of four more years or asking yourself, ‘Could I have done more?’”  The video opens with Mrs. Obama recalling her husband’s first campaign for the Illinois legislature, when the newly married couple would take friends along when they went out to collect petition signatures to get Obama on the ballot.

“Help one new voter get registered through GottaVote.org, recruit one more volunteer, or bring a friend to the next phone bank you attend,” Mrs. Obama says. “If we all commit to finding at least one way to make an impact, we can ensure that we’ll keep moving this country forward for another four years.”  The Obama campaign said Mrs. Obama would lead the “It Takes One” effort, which will include digital media, advertising and grassroots organizing. Campaign officials said Mrs. Obama would be the face of the effort and personally participate in many “It Takes One” events as she travels the country, recruiting neighborhood team leaders, speaking to groups of women to ask them to volunteer and stopping by voter registration events.

That represents a significant increase in the first lady’s role in the campaign. Already, she has been traveling the country to raise money for the campaign and making appearances at rallies designed to energize volunteers and supporters.  Mrs. Obama, whose high favorability ratings are a big asset to the campaign, was known during the 2008 presidential race as “the closer” for her ability to persuade undecided voters to come on board and her success at motivating supporters to get more involved.

The first lady planned to formally launch the “It Takes One” program during campaign stops Friday in Virginia, a battleground state in this fall’s election. The first lady will speak at a campaign event for women in Charlottesville and to grassroots supporters in Fredericksburg.  Obama’s campaign also plans to launch local “It Takes One” efforts in battleground states to engage new volunteers.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

via First lady Michelle Obama to lead new campaign mobilizing effort: ‘It Takes One’ | theGrio.

First Lady Michelle Obama To Lead New Campaign Mobilizing Effort: 'It Takes One’

By goodblacknews on July 19, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) — Taking on a more prominent political role, first lady Michelle Obama is launching a nationwide effort to motivate every supporter of President Barack Obama to get more involved in his re-election campaign — and bring along somebody else, too.
The “It Takes One” program urges supporters to make a difference in this election, and to “start by taking one action that will help grow our campaign,” Mrs. Obama says. In a three-minute video message to supporters that was released Thursday, the first lady tells supporters that with a tighter election than 2008 likely this fall, “in the end, it could all come down to those last few thousand votes in a single state.”
“Every time you take action to move this country forward, we’re asking you to inspire one more person to join you as well,” she says. “That could be the difference between waking up on Nov. 7 and feeling the promise of four more years or asking yourself, ‘Could I have done more?’”  The video opens with Mrs. Obama recalling her husband’s first campaign for the Illinois legislature, when the newly married couple would take friends along when they went out to collect petition signatures to get Obama on the ballot.
“Help one new voter get registered through GottaVote.org, recruit one more volunteer, or bring a friend to the next phone bank you attend,” Mrs. Obama says. “If we all commit to finding at least one way to make an impact, we can ensure that we’ll keep moving this country forward for another four years.”  The Obama campaign said Mrs. Obama would lead the “It Takes One” effort, which will include digital media, advertising and grassroots organizing. Campaign officials said Mrs. Obama would be the face of the effort and personally participate in many “It Takes One” events as she travels the country, recruiting neighborhood team leaders, speaking to groups of women to ask them to volunteer and stopping by voter registration events.
That represents a significant increase in the first lady’s role in the campaign. Already, she has been traveling the country to raise money for the campaign and making appearances at rallies designed to energize volunteers and supporters.  Mrs. Obama, whose high favorability ratings are a big asset to the campaign, was known during the 2008 presidential race as “the closer” for her ability to persuade undecided voters to come on board and her success at motivating supporters to get more involved.
The first lady planned to formally launch the “It Takes One” program during campaign stops Friday in Virginia, a battleground state in this fall’s election. The first lady will speak at a campaign event for women in Charlottesville and to grassroots supporters in Fredericksburg.  Obama’s campaign also plans to launch local “It Takes One” efforts in battleground states to engage new volunteers.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
via First lady Michelle Obama to lead new campaign mobilizing effort: ‘It Takes One’ | theGrio.

Jada Pinkett Smith Speaks Against Human Trafficking To Congress

By goodblacknews on July 18, 2012


WASHINGTON (AP) — Actress and activist Jada Pinkett Smith urged Congress on Tuesday to step up the fight against human trafficking in the U.S. and abroad.  The actress testified during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing that she plans to launch a campaign to raise awareness and spur action against human trafficking and slavery. She said the “old monster” of slavery “is still with us,” almost 150 years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation that freed slaves in the U.S.
“Fighting slavery doesn’t cost a lot of money. The costs of allowing it to exist in our nation and abroad are much higher,” the actress said. “It robs us of the thing we value most, our freedom.”  She said the issue was brought to her attention by her daughter Willow, 11, who sat nearby with actor Will Smith, Pinkett Smith’s husband and Willow’s father. The Smiths all wore blazers over T-shirts that read, “Free Slaves.” The hearing room was filled mostly with young people, some trying to take photos of the famous family.
With her father’s arm around her, Willow remained attentive to her mother’s testimony and often whispered to her father. At least 30 minutes into the hearing, Will wrapped his gray blazer around Willow.  The actress called for an extension of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which provides funding to combat trafficking and help trafficking victims. The act also created a task force, chaired by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, which coordinates among federal agencies to implement policies against human trafficking.
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., pledged to try to gather bipartisan congressional support to further fund the act.
The State Department estimates that at least 14,500 people are trafficked to the U.S. annually.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
 

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Wins 2011 Nobel Peace Prize

By goodblacknews on October 7, 2011
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Wins 2011 Nobel Peace Prize

Women’s rights activists share 2011 Nobel Peace Prize. (Getty)

CNN is reporting that three women’s rights activists have received the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize award. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and activist Leymah Gbowee of Liberia, along with activist Tawakkul Karman of Yemen, were awarded the prize “for their nonviolent struggle for the safety of women and forwomen’s rights to full participation in peace-building work,” the Nobel committee said.
“We cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women obtain the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society.”
Jan Egeland of Human Rights Watch told CNN that the Nobel committee had come up with a great prize that merged the efforts of Liberian women in achieving “momentous change” in their country with the vital role of women in the ongoing Arab Spring movement.
Rights group Amnesty International said the award would encourage women everywhere to continue fighting for their rights.
Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia’s 72-year-old president and Africa’s first elected female head of state, told CNN she was very excited about the prize, which she said was shared by all of her country’s people.
“I’m accepting this on behalf of the Liberian people, so credit goes to them,” she said. “For the past eight years, we have had peace, and each and every one of them has contributed to this peace.”
She said the peace that had ended 14 years of civil war should be attributed to the country’s women.
Congratulations to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first elected female head of state; Leymah Gbowee; and Tawakkul Karman for not only talking the talk but also walking the walk. The only thing more wonderful than when words and deeds match up is being acknowledged and honored for it.
Read more at CNN.

Photojournalist Honored For Soweto Uprising Image

By goodblacknews on April 27, 2011

Sam Nzima poses with his iconic photo of Hector Pieterson, a 13-year-old fatally shot by police during the 1976 Soweto Uprising, in South Africa on Wednesday.
Sam Nzima poses with his iconic photo of Hector Pieterson, a 13-year-old fatally shot by police during the 1976 Soweto Uprising, in South Africa on Wednesday. (Denis Farrell/Associated Press)
The man behind a searing image that helped shine an international spotlight on apartheid-era violence more than 30 years ago is being recognized in South Africa Wednesday.
South African President Jacob Zuma will pay tribute to former photojournalist Sam Nzima and bestow on him the Order of Ikhamanga, which celebrates citizens who excel in the arts, culture, journalism or sport.
Nzima, 75, is best known for his June 16, 1976 image of Hector Pieterson, a 13-year-old who was one of the first to die from police gunfire during the Soweto Uprising.
Working as a photojournalist for daily newspaper The World, Nzima was assigned to cover what he thought would be a peaceful demonstration by black students protesting an order that Afrikaans be an official language taught in non-white schools. An officer ordered the students to disperse and, when they began singing instead, the police began firing on the students.

Pronounced dead

Nzima witnessed a boy shot and picked up by another youth, who began to run away with the boy in his arms.
The photographer was able to snap six images of the scene before he and another newspaper colleague rushed the injured child to a clinic. There, the young Pieterson was pronounced dead. Hundreds of black students were killed in ensuing incidents across the nation.
Nzima had removed the film with the images of Pieterson and hid the roll — wisely because when he later encountered police, the officers forced him to expose the film inside his camera.
“A lot of people ask me, why didn’t I help Hector Pieterson?…It was not my duty. A journalist must do his job. My job is to take pictures,” Nzima said in an interview on Wednesday. “This picture was an eye-opener for the whole world.”
Facing police harassment and fearing for his life after the attention-grabbing images were published worldwide, Nzima decided to end his career as a photojournalist. He left Johannesburg for a small eastern town.

A symbol of the Soweto uprising

Over the years, his image has been included in exhibitions in the U.S. and across Europe. He was also invited to speak to students at a German school named for the slain Pieterson, who became a symbol of the Soweto Uprising.
“It has been 35 years now, but when I look at the picture, I still remember everything that happened on that day,” he said.
Nzima is being recognized alongside others receiving national honours on Wednesday, dubbed Freedom Day to mark the anniversary of the first democratic elections held in South Africa.

Obama Administration Drops Defense Of Anti-Gay Marriage Law

By goodblacknews on February 23, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a major policy reversal, the Obama administration said Wednesday that it will no longer defend the constitutionality of a federal law banning recognition of same-sex marriage.
Attorney General Eric Holder said President Barack Obama has concluded that the administration cannot defend the federal law that defines marriage as only between a man and a woman. He noted that the congressional debate during passage of the Defense of Marriage Act “contains numerous expressions reflecting moral disapproval of gays and lesbians and their intimate and family relationships – precisely the kind of stereotype-based thinking and animus the (Constitution’s)Equal Protection Clause is designed to guard against.”
The Justice Department had defended the act in court until now.
“Much of the legal landscape has changed in the 15 years since Congress passed” the Defense of Marriage Act, Holder said in a statement. He noted that the Supreme Court has ruled that laws criminalizing homosexual conduct are unconstitutional and that Congress has repealed the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
Holder wrote to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, that Obama has concluded the Defense of Marriage Act fails to meet a rigorous standard under which courts view with suspicion any laws targeting minority groups who have suffered a history of discrimination.
The attorney general said the Justice Department had defended the law in court until now because the government was able to advance reasonable arguments for the law based on a less strict standard.
At a December news conference, in response to a reporters’ question, Obama revealed that his position on gay marriage is “constantly evolving.” He has opposed such marriages and supported instead civil unions for gay and lesbian couples. The president said such civil unions are his baseline — at this point, as he put it.
“This is something that we’re going to continue to debate, and I personally am going to continue to wrestle with going forward,” he said.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.

Obama Signs Child Nutrition Bill

By goodblacknews on December 13, 2010


Washington (CNN) — President Barack Obama signed a sweeping overhaul of child nutrition standards Monday, enacting a law meant to encourage better eating habits in part by giving the federal government more authority to set standards for food sold in vending machines and elsewhere on school grounds.
Among other things, the $4.5 billion measure provides more money to poor areas to subsidize free meals and requires schools to abide by health guidelines drafted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. To help offset the higher cost of including more fruits and vegetables, the bill increases the reimbursement rate for school lunches.
The bill is about “giving our kids the healthy futures they deserve,” the president said during a bill signing ceremony at a Washington elementary school. “Right now across the country too many kids don’t have access to school meals.”
Even when they do, he added, too often the meals aren’t sufficiently nutritious. As a result, he said, one out of every three children in America is overweight or obese.
Some Democrats had objected to the bill because it is funded in part by stripping $2.2 billion from the federal food stamp program. Congress also voted over the summer to take money from the program to fund legislation sending money to cash-strapped states to avoid teacher layoffs.
The cuts largely negate a spending increase provided to the food stamp program by the 2009 economic stimulus plan. Administration officials reportedly have promised anxious liberals that they will work to find ways to restore the higher funding levels.
The measure has been a top priority for first lady Michelle Obama, who has championed it as part of her “Let’s Move” initiative to combat child obesity in the United States.
“Had I not been able to get this bill passed, I would be sleeping on the couch,” the president joked shortly before signing the measure into law.
“We won’t go into that,” the first lady said. “Let’s just say it got done. Don’t have to go down that road.”