During a wide-ranging interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes,” Obama blamed Republican intransigence for stymieing his efforts to enact policies to improve the economy, saying he often feels like the captain of a ship in rocky seas who is unable to “control the weather.” Read more at washingtonpost.com.
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Oprah: Haitian president made me promise to return
December 13, 2011 - Oprah Winfrey’s trip to Haiti included dinner with the country’s president.
Winfrey tells reporters she dined with President Michel Martelly and his wife Sophia. The president previously said he hoped the television personality would be a goodwill ambassador for Haiti. Winfrey says no formal role was discussed but he made her promise to return to Haiti and she did. Read more at blackpoliticsontheweb.com.
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Ohio landlord fights ‘White Only’ pool sign ruling
December 13, 2011 - A landlord found to have discriminated against a black girl by posting a “White Only” sign at a swimming pool wants a state civil rights commission to reconsider its decision.
The Ohio Civil Rights Commission found on Sept. 29 that Jamie Hein, who’s white, violated the Ohio Civil Rights Act by posting the sign at a pool at the duplex where the teenage girl was visiting her parents. The parents filed a discrimination charge with the commission and moved out of the duplex in the racially diverse city to “avoid subjecting their family to further humiliating treatment,” the commission said in a release announcing its finding. Read more at blackpoliticsontheweb.com.
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Vogue Magazine Digital Archives Launched And Every Black Vogue Cover (PHOTOS)
December 9, 2011 - Yesterday Vogue magazine announced the launch of its complete digital archive--every page from every issue since 1892.
That adds up to an astounding 425,000 images, 300,000 ads, 100,000 articles and one enormous price tag. A one year subscription to the site costs a cool $1,575. Wowza! Yet another reason to loath the top one percent (Occupy Vogue, anyone?) Before grabbing a pitchfork, let's do the math. That's less than $1 per issue--offering a silver(ish) lining for true Vogue magazine junkies. Read more at huffingtonpost.com.
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'BET Honors': Maya Angelou, Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, & Spike Lee Among This Year's Honorees
December 13, 2011 - "BET Honors" the cable network's annual celebration of African Americans who have achieved greatness in music, the arts and education, returns next month for the fifth consecutive year.
Hosted by actress Gabrielle Union the event will recognize the outstanding lifetime achievements of world renowned poet/author Maya Angelou, acclaimed singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder, Grammy Award-winner Mariah Carey, filmmaker Spike Lee, The Tuskegee Airmen and inspirational coach Beverly Kearney. Read more at huffingtonpost.com.
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Obama criticizes GOP intransigence in ‘60 Minutes’ interview
December 11, 2011 - President Obama acknowledged Sunday that it would take more than one term in office for his administration to change a Washington political culture defined by special interests and hyperpartisanship — and that perhaps things might not shift even if he is reelected.
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Three Florida A&M Band Members Charged With Hazing
December 12, 2011 - Police have arrested three Florida A&M band members in the beating of a woman during hazing rituals that became so severe that her thigh was broken.
Tallahassee police said Monday that on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 the three struck band member Bria Shante Hunter’s legs with their fists and with a metal ruler to initiate her into the “Red Dawg Order.” It’s a band clique for students who come from Georgia. Read more at newsone.com.
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R. Kelly's Olympia Fields mansion on sale for $2.9 million
December 13, 2011 - The gated, 16-room mansion built by Grammy Award-winning R. Kelly in 1997 in suburban Olympia Fields is officially on the market.
Kelly, 44, is selling the mansion, part of a $2.9 million foreclosure lawsuit, for $1.595 million. Kelly reportedly failed to make mortgage payments on the property at 2945 Maros Ln. since June 2010. Read nire at nbcchicago.com.
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Dreamers bring ideas, projects to post-quake Haiti
December 12, 2011 - Ron Duprat, a robust celebrity chef decked out in skull-and-crossbones Crocs and a navy blue apron, pauses from his mango-slicing duties at the Karibe Hotel to introduce what he says is a simple recipe for his impoverished country, still battered nearly two years after a devastating earthquake.
What the country needs right now, he declares, is a culinary school, a place to train chefs who can work at a future restaurant showcasing Haitian staples such as rice, beans and goat. Read more at thegrio.com.
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Oprah's OWN network shifting focus on African-American audience
December 8, 2011 - Executives at OWN think they may have found a way to salvage Oprah Winfrey's struggling network: By catering more to an African-American audience. That may help ratings, but it would mean a dramatic shift, and one that could put the channel at odds with Winfrey's own brand. Read more at hollywoodreporter.com.
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Jay-Z channels Warren Buffett: I'd be willing to pay more taxes
December 9, 2011 - Warren Buffet, the investment wizard who is also one of the world's wealthiest men, has long advocated for higher taxes on the superrich. Now Jay-Z, Buffett's pal and himself a member of the upper tier of the 1 percent, is joining him.
"Me, personally, I wouldn't mind paying more in taxes if it went to the things that really mattered," he said to CNN. "If it went to education, to people in poverty, I wouldn't mind." Read more at huffingtonpost.com.
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Eddie Murphy Will Play Marion Barry In Spike Lee Biopic
December 8, 2011 - HBO Films is developing an untitled television biopic centered on former Washington D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, whom Murphy would play should the project move forward, a source confirms to The Hollywood Reporter.
Spike Lee is attached to direct with John Ridley (Red Tails, Da Brick) to pen the script. Murphy, Lee and Ridley would all serve as executive producers as the Washington Post first reported. Read more at hollywoodreporter.com.
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Tea Party group makes racially-tinged Obama skunk reference
December 12, 2011 - Patriot Freedom Alliance, a Hutchinson, Kansas Tea Party group, is coming under fire for making a racially-tinged Obama skunk reference. An offensive illustration comparing President Obama to a skunk was posted on patriotfreedomalliance.org, the website of the group, with the caption: "The skunk has replaced the eagle as the new symbol for the president. It is half black, it is half white, and almost everything it does, stinks."
It was removed from the Patriot Freedom Alliance web site after being highly criticized for its racially charged message by the NAACP. Read more at thegrio.com.
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Farrakhan, Oprah visit Haiti on separate trips
December 12, 2011 - Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan started a five-day trip to Haiti on Sunday, arriving just ahead of fellow Chicagoan Oprah Winfrey as they make separate trips to the poor Caribbean country.
Farrakhan told reporters at the airport that he will be exploring ways his organization can help Haiti rebuild from the devastating 2010 earthquake. Read more at thegrio.com.
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Journalist detained covering Oprah in Haiti
December 12, 2011 - Police detained a Haitian journalist who tried to take photos of Oprah Winfrey as she visited an encampment of citizens displaced by the 2010 earthquake.
An Associated Press journalist on Monday saw a guard drag a Haitian photographer into a small police station at the camp. Read more at thegrio.com.
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Beck: Support for Gingrich Based on Race
December 12, 2011 - See if you can get your head around this one: Glen Beck, of all people, is suddenly concerned about whether the political preferences of the Tea Party have something to do with race. His theory is that Gingrich is so liberal that the only difference between he and Obama is color. While we certainly acknowledge the role of race may play in Tea Party activism, this particular argument sounds like a bit of a stretch (Gingrich? Progressive? Really?) But Beck, normally the target rather than the accuser when it comes to allegations of racism, seems to see no irony in his new position. Read more at theroot.com.
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Florida Students Graduate in Record Numbers
December 12, 2011 - Florida's graduation rate has risen to its highest level ever, continuing a six year upward trend despite a challenging budget year. According to results released today from the Florida Department of Education, Hispanic and African-American students continue to graduate at higher levels, with Hispanic students increasing graduation rates 13 percentage points since 2006-07, and African-American students increasing 11.5 percentage points during the same timeframe. Overall, the Sunshine State's graduation rate rose more than one full percentage point to 80.1 percent, up from 79.0 percent last year and up nearly 10 percentage points since 2006-07. Read more at fldoe.org.
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Republicans Racialize Abortion Debate
December7, 2011 - The Washington Post reports that Arizona Republican Rep. Trent Franks (who once argued that because of high abortion rates in black communities, African Americans were better off under slavery) chaired a Tuesday House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on legislation he is introducing that would make it harder women to have abortions -- especially black women. Read more at theroot.com.
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Standing for freedom with you in 2012 and beyond
December 12, 2011 - In a conversation with Benjamin Todd Jealous President & CEO NAACP, he said; “Yesterday tens of thousands of people rallied at our Stand for Freedom mobilization in New York City to stand up against the forces trying block the right to vote for millions.”
He continued to say; “It was a powerful way to kick off our campaign to protect our right to vote. At the rally, I spoke before a massive crowd of people ready to stand up and fight for their rights as American citizens. Read more at the examiner.com.
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Steve Harvey’s Book Hits The Big Screen “Think Like A Man” Official Trailer
December 10, 2011 - “Let the mind games begin” reads the “Think Like A Man” movie poster. The Steve Harvey inspired film stars Gabrielle Union, Taraji P Henson, Meagan Good, Michael Ealy, Kevin Hart, BET’s Terrence J and more!
The all black, all-star cast go through relationship 101 in this comedic rendition of the best selling novel– “Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Man.” See movie trailer at hellobeautiful.com.
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Income gap widens within the black community
December 9, 2011 - What happens within the black community when the gap widens between the poor and the affluent? That’s one question raised by new census data showing well-off African-Americans leaving cities for the suburbs and the South while the ranks of the black poor grow larger.
Over the past decade, the share of black households ranking among the poorest poor — those earning less than $15,000 — climbed from 20 percent to 26 percent, according to census figures released Thursday. Other racial and ethnic groups posted smaller increases. During the same period, the percentage of African-Americans making $200,000 or more a year was unchanged at 1.1 percent, even after the Great Recession. Read more at blackpoliticsontheweb.com.
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