(by Trymaine Lee, BlackVoices/Huffington Post) – The Obama campaign has hired a longtime NAACP operative to head its African American voter outreach going into the 2012 presidential election. Stefanie Brown, the national field director for the NAACP, will join team Obama’s Operation Vote in February. The program is geared toward outreach to key Democratic constituency […]
Civil Rights?
By Raynard Jackson – As the two supposed premier civil rights groups gather this week and next for their annual conventions (the N.A.A.C.P and the National Urban League, respectively), I want to challenge their agendas and then pose a few questions for them to answer. When civil rights are discussed in the media, you never […]
NAACP Says EPA’s Cross-State Air Pollution Rule Will Improve Health Conditions by Holding Power Plants Accountable
Baltimore, MD – Last week the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized rules that will cap toxic emissions from power plants. The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule is designed to limit air pollution that blows across state lines. On Tuesday the NAACP put out a statement lauding the new rule: “The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule will improve […]
NAACP Applauds National Labor Relations Board Ruling
Washington, DC – The NAACP applauds the National Labor Relations Board for issuing a new rule to protect the rights of workers to vote and eliminate obstacles for employees wishing to form a union in their workplace. “The NAACP is extremely pleased with today’s NLRB rule,” stated NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous. “In […]
It’s About Time
By Raynard Jackson – I have worked around 3 Republican presidents (Reagan, Bush, and Bush) and I can tell you for certain that one sure-fire way of learning a president’s priorities, is by who he agrees to spend time with (as in meetings). A president’s time is scheduled to the nth degree. So, if the […]
Unlikely Allies Call for Shifting Spending from Prisons to Schools
By Nirvi Shah (Edweek.org) – The NAACP has joined forces with fiscally conservative groups, former U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige, and others to persuade legislators and policymakers to shift the growing amount of money spent on prisons to education. In a new report called “Misplaced Priorities: Over Incarcerate, Under Educate,” the NAACP compiled research […]
The Root: We Can’t Afford To Not Fix Justice System
By Benjamin Todd Jealous and Lateefah Simon (NPR.com) – Reforming the nation’s criminal-justice system is one of the most urgent civil rights issues of our time. One shocking fact illustrates why: More African-American men are entangled in the criminal-justice system today than were enslaved in 1850. How did we get here? The rise in America’s […]
Gender Equity is Everybody’s Business
By Julianne Malveaux – March is Women’s History Month, and the White House Council on Women and Girls, led by Valerie Jarrett, commemorated it by releasing a report on the status of women. According to the report, we’ve come a long way sisters, but we’ve still got a long way to go. Despite the fact […]
With All Thy Getting – Rights vs Responsibilities
Raynard Jackson – King Solomon, of the Bible fame, states in Proverbs 4:7, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting, get understanding.” I assume that it’s still legal in the U.S. to mention or quote from the Bible? I am not too sure; this can cause me to be […]