Barack Obama once again disassociated himself with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrkhan at the final presidential debate Tuesday.
“I obviously can’t censor him, but it is not support that I sought. And we’re not doing anything, I assure you, formally or informally with Minister Farrakhan,” he said.
Read more about it here.
If you haven’t added TheRoot.com to your regular reading of issues affecting black Americans, perhaps its time to start.
There’s some good stuff about Obama not attending Tavis Smiley’s State of the Black Union for the second time in a row; The Bush Family’s slave-holding past and the Blackness Diet.
Despite the attention it received in recent years, I’ve never really had the desire to trace my roots back to Africa. Because the DNA is only traced back through a handful of women, the information would represent such a small percentage of my history that I wasn’t sure that it was worth it. (They examine your mother’s DNA, and her mother’s DNA, and then her mother’s DNA and so on.)
But I’ve been watching “American Lives” on PBS. Actually, I’ve been watching clips on the website, not the actual show, but you get the point.
Anyway, its VERY interesting.
One of Tom Joyner’s elders was electrocuted after being accused of killing a white confederate soldier, forcing his entire family to sale 130 acres of land and move.
And Don Cheadle’s people were owned by Native Americans, not whites, and weren’t required to free slaves when whites were because they were governed by their own laws.
I would LOVE for Gates to sit down with some of today’s more popular celebrities and tell them about their lives. How would 50 Cent or “Supahead” respond after hearing about his elders?
Learn more here.
The story of Bluefield State College is an interesting one. For those of you who don’t know, the historically black college is also a predominantly white institution.
An employee recently sued the college saying that too many leadership positions are overwhelmingly white.
The Chronicle of Higher Education reported,
“An employee of Bluefield State College has filed a racial-discrimination lawsuit against the West Virginia college, according to a report by WVVA, a local television station.
Rebecca Martin, who has worked at the college for more than 25 years, says that she was passed up for two positions, which went to white women.
The college, a historically black institution, has had trouble with discrimination charges in the past. In 1998 the college was ordered to reinstate a professor who said he had been harassed and fired after he criticized the racial composition of the college. At that time, the college was only 7 percent black and had recently fired its last black professor, although it was getting more than $1-million a year in federal funds as a historically black institution.”
Looks like the NAACP Image Awards might be the only awards show the Hollywood writers write for.
Reps for the Writers Guild of America told the Associated Press that the organization will not likely stop striking to write for next month’s Grammy’s or the Oscar’s, but might for the NAACP event.
The AP reported:
The Guild said it would allow its members to work on the NAACP Image Awards and would not picket the Feb. 14 show at the Shrine Auditorium.
The awards presented by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People honor those who promote diversity in the arts. Awards in 44 categories, including movies, TV and literature, will be presented in the ceremony broadcast live on Fox.
“Because of the historic role the NAACP has played in struggles like ours, we think this decision is appropriate to jointly achieve our goals,” guild leader Patric Verrone said at a news conference.
Read more here.
