The Wire

Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus released the following statement on the January unemployment report:
“While today’s jobs report brings welcome news of lower unemployment, far too many Americans are still without work. Our economy remains unacceptably weak, and families across the country are still struggling to make ends meet,” said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus.

“Three years ago yesterday, President Obama said that if he didn’t have the economy fixed ‘in three years,’ his presidency would ‘be a one-term proposition.’ Today’s unemployment numbers remind us that our economy is far from fixed. That, by the president’s own standard, should make him a one-term president.

“After three years in office, Barack Obama has failed to produce the economic recovery he promised. His endless pursuit of regulations, mandates, taxes and deficits made economic recovery significantly more difficult.

“Our country desperately needs a change in direction. We need a president who will fight for hard-working taxpayers, not just campaign donors and his own job. As the campaigner-in-chief travels around the country, he’s making countless promises for a second term. Today’s jobs report reminds us that he could not even keep the promises from his first term.”

Blogging While Brown is proud to announce that Tamika D. Mallory, Executive Director of Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network (NAN) will be a panelist at the 2012 Blogging While Conference that will take place June 1-2 in Philadelphia at the Chemical Heritage Foundation.

“We are thrilled that Ms. Mallory will be participating in our political activism panel in a very important discussion amongst those who use social platforms and their influence to be catalysts of change within their communities. The panel will be a dialogue between traditional civil organizations and younger activists during a presidential election year. Mallory has continuously demonstrated that our individual voices can be powerful when joined together and social media makes such a collective effort an effective means to peacefully organize political and social action,” states Blogging While Brown founder Gina McCauley.

Mallory has been a member of the NAN since age 20 and was recently named as one ofEbony Magazine’s 30 most influential national leaders under 30 and she was publicly applauded as “a leader of tomorrow” by Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama, Valerie B. Jarrett. She is currently being heralded as one of the youngest champions of the civil rights movement. Since a child, Mallory has participated in rallies, marches, vigils and protest with her parents who were founding members of NAN.

As Executive Director Mallory has spearheaded NAN’s anti-violence initiative and lead the organization to many significant achievements. Those achievements include shaping the organizations commitment to equal standards for women and African Americans in the music industry and the elimination of misogynistic and racist language in music. Mallory was single-handedly responsible for mobilizing thousands of protestors across the country for the National Day of Outrage.

By participating in Blogging While Brown Mallory seeks to engage new leaders in the African American community. By marrying the traditional civil rights organization with today’s powerful social networking tools Mallory seeks to address the emerging issues facing today’s African American community such as healthcare, education and employment, to make a difference in the lives of young African Americans.

For more information about Tamika Mallory and NAN please visitNationalActionNetwork.net.

Blake Leeper:  an athlete who is changing people’s perspectives on people with disabilities and who is vying to compete at the Paralympic Games this year in London.  Adam Holland: a 16 year-old young capitalist who started a highly successful shaved ice business to help pay for his sister’s education.  Adele Taylor: a 16 year-old who launched a book donation program called Adele’s Literacy Library that has distributed more than 5,000 books in her hometown.  Today, leading African-American news site The Root unveiled this year’s 2012 Young Futurists List– an annual list spotlighting the top young African-American leaders and innovators of the future.

The Young Futurists are between the ages of 16 and 22 and are committed to making the world a better place in which to live.  Each year, The Root conducts an open nomination process, seeking candidates who are not only achievers but also innovators in the worlds of green innovation, science and technology, arts and culture, social activism and business enterprise.  Past Young Futuristshave started non-profits and invented unique technologies, among other creative and praiseworthy ventures.  Nominations are submitted from across the U.S. and only 25 are selected each year.

“The Young Futurists list honors trailblazing African-American leaders under 21 who will shape our future, our communities, and our daily conversations with work that matters,” said Managing Editor Sheryl Huggins Salomon. Their range of talent, drive and commitment is so inspiring and they are clearly having an impact on our lives and our communities.”

Other Young Futurists include green innovator Kendyl Crawley-Crawford, a 2012 Marshall Scholar who has traveled to the South Pacific to document environmental issues; Sydney Shaves, a 16 year-old who filmed a documentary “Elvira’s Eyes” that chronicles a genealogical journey through 106 years of her slave ancestor’s life; and Brandon Turner, a Wake Forest University senior whose investigation into the molecular structure of proteins for future drug development led him to be one of just 30 U.S. students named Rhodes scholars this year.

The 2012 Young Futurists list including biographies, photos, and details on why each honoree was selected can be found atwww.theroot.com/young-futurists-2012.

The White House has released a number of ways for Americans to connect with the President’s State of the Union address as well as participate in the conversation through social media.  You can watch a stream of the President’s speech here or through the White House Live App on Facebook , YouTube  and their Google+ page.

Tomorrow I’ll share information about a State of the Union interview that will take place with President Obama on Monday through a Google Plus Hangout.

Streaming Schedule for Tuesday evening: 
7:00 PM EST  Pre-program video begins with 2011 highlights

9:00 PM EST  The President’s State of the Union Address

Immediately after a Live Panel from the White House to answer public questions (45 minutes)

The Twitter hastag for tonight’s event will be #SOTU.

From TMZ.com

Al Green just told TMZ … he thinks President Barack Obama‘s version of “Let’s Stay Together” was “terrific” and, “He nailed it.”

Green, of course, is referring to Obama singing part of the first verse of the song last night at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.

Green said, “I was thrilled that the President even mentioned my name, and if the President can get the economy going again and get everything going that he wants to, then we’ll all be together.”

Politics aside, Obama’s singing is pretty awesome.

ShawnPWilliams.com thanks to Casey Carver of TMZ.com for permission to use this story.

“It is as close as despicable as anything I can imagine. I’m frankly astounded that CNN would take trash like that and set it to open a presidential debate,” Newt Gingrich said after CNN’s John King asked about his ex-wife’s assertion he wanted an open marriage.

Gingrich was pretty accurate in his assessment.  For John King to lead a presidential debate with that question was horrific. King’s answer for why he asked the question may have been worse.

King talked about how the ABC interview was the story of the day and that you’re “damned if you do and damned if you don’t” ask the question. But Ari Fleischer made a great point after the debate when he said that the Gingrich story occupied the time and mind share of politicos and pundits.  Those in the media who eat and breathe politics placed too much importance on the story.

ABC should not have allowed for the interview in the first place.  Not now for sure.

What could we possibly have learned in the interview that we didn’t know?  A man who we know (because he’s said so) cheated on his wife wanted an open marriage?  So what.  The issue (as MSNBC continues to ask about this) is that these allegations are from 1999.  We’ve been there, he’s moved on with his life, he’s remarried, next subject.

CNN should not have allowed ABC to dictate their debate.  The interview had not even aired yet, so King was going off a marketing clip used to get eyeballs on television sets.

There were many important issues to focus on: Romney tax returns and Cayman accounts, Perry exit and endorsement of Gingrich.  Why even go there CNN?

The CNN panel save Fleischer seemed to be in agreement that King needed to ask the question. The majority of the people I have followed and spoken with disagree.  CNN gave Newt Gingrich a gift that he didn’t deserve, but for which I’m sure he and his supporters are thankful.

No one thought that there would be a potential recount? Even without the recount, 8 votes in a primary should not a winner make. Remember when we used to get delegate updates?  Has anyone seen one of those lately?

When the media talks about a surge Romney received out of Iowa, they say it as if the media is not the conduit.  Sensational journalism is the name of the political game and don’t let anyone tell you different.  If you don’t believe me watch ABC’s interview with Marianne Gingrich.

It’s tough to call exactly when Perry’s star was put out.  It wasn’t just the oops moment when he forgot the third agency he would eliminate.  Perry couldn’t cut it on the debate stage and his ideas where extreme by extreme measures.

Perry has endorsed Newt Gingrich which will further consolidate Republican support against Mitt Romney. The 33% or so South Carolina voters who are supporting Romney means that 2/3 of the GOP electorate prefer someone else.  If those votes continue to go to Santorum or Gingrich, Romney’s going to be faced with a math problem.

Since the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington D.C. was unveiled, one quote in  the presentation caused an uproar from the beginning.  On the Stone of Hope are inscribed the words “I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness.” I’m glad to hear that the Interior Department is moving to change the quote.

I thought the quote was an abomination to the legacy of Dr. King. I know that’s a pretty strong statement, but there are two reasons the quote affected me so deeply.

First, I feel very close to the memorial since Alpha Phi Alpha played a key role in its construction.  Secondly, in the days of my youth I was given the task of reciting Dr. King’s 1968 speech The Drum Major Instinct.  I’ve listened to the speech over and over through the years.

The original passage from from King’s speech used for the inscription went like this:

If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.

On the stone it ended up as:

I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness.

Maya Angelou was an early critic of the misquote, and she was told as, as many were that it wasn’t a big deal.  But as Ms. Angelou pointed out, King in his speech was talking about how others might remember him.  If the stone had read “He was a Drum Major for Justice, Peace and Righteousness” it would have been truly fitting and intentionally ironic.

But to take a portion of such a great speech out of context could not be allowed to stand.  All involved will be better because of this revision. Most notably the legacy of Dr. King.

The context is how some of those before us have refused to “pass the torch” and the point is coming where we may have to take it.

I’ve watched our elders hold on to the keys of the church, the family reunion and the mantle of public office. It’s not just because they enjoy the perks of authority, which they do. It’s also that they don’t trust us.

While we grew up in a wait our turn world, Generation Y seems to be content in creating their own world, (see Mark Zuckerburg).  Meanwhile Gen X is caught between the realities of getting older but feeling younger.

While many of us still look and feel youthful, the reality is we’re really not that young. It’s the ultimate moment of transition for us. I have classmates who are new grandparents while others are still welcoming their own newborns into the world.

 

The full column is available behind the pay wall in the subscriber content portion of the website.  If you buy a paper or have access to the premium content please take a moment to check it out.

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