Obama quits Chicago church after long controversy

By TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writer

ABERDEEN, S.D. - Barack Obama has resigned his 20 year membership in the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago in the aftermath of inflammatory remarks by his longtime pastor the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and more recent fiery remarks at the church by another minister.

Obama campaign communications director Robert Gibbs said Obama had resigned from the church "over the last few days."

Campaign aides said they weren't immediately certain how the resignation took place, whether by letter or in some other fashion, and were trying to find out.

Messages left for a church spokeswoman in Chicago were not immediately returned Saturday afternoon.

The development came as Obama campaigned in South Dakota.

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THE BLACK PERSPECTIVE ON WAR: John McCain Is Not a Hero

By Robert N. Taylor

During the upcoming campaign for president between Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, the media will make a lot of McCain’s so-called status of being a hero during this nation’s war in Vietnam during the 1960s and 1970s.

There is just one problem, the Black Perspective on War dictates that Senator McCain is not a war hero despite any brave or unselfish act he may have committed during that horribly misguided war.


Like all things in life, there will always be at least two factors which determine the status of anything – never just one. In order for one to be adjudged a hero in a war, two factors must be present. First, the war in question must be a just war. It cannot be driven by racism, imperialism or economic gain. Second, in a just war, a person must engage in an exceptionally brave and unselfish act.


John McCain does not measure up.

COMMENTARY....

Commentary: In These Days of Increased Foreclosures, More Emphasis on Discrimination in Housing Needed

By: Judge Greg Mathis, Special to BlackAmericaWeb.com

According to most accounts, America is in the midst of a housing crisis. Homeowners are losing their property at record rates, and poor and low-income citizens are struggling to find affordable housing. Competition for rental housing has increased. So too has the number of alleged housing discrimination complaints. Unfortunately, federal action on those complaints has gone down.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development and related housing assistance agencies recorded more than 10,000 discrimination complaints in 2006: a 12 percent increase from 2005 and the highest since HUD started keeping track in 1990. Despite the increase, the number of follow ups on such complaints has reduced significantly. Only 31 discrimination charges were filed or marked for legal action by the agency in 2007 and just 36 in 2006. In 10 years, the number of charges filed by the agency has dropped more than 60 percent.

COMMENTARY....

Latin Stars Release Video Supporting Obama

By: Laura Wides-Munoz, Associated Press

MIAMI - (AP) Move over, Obama Girl. More than 20 stars from the Latin music and film community released a Spanish-language video in support of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Thursday, days before Puerto Rico's primary.

The video, "Podemos con Obama," or "We can With Obama," features such Puerto Ricans as actor John Leguizamo and hip hop artist Don Omar, and international pop stars Alejandro Sanz and Paulina Rubio. Actors George Lopez and Jessica Alba also participated.

The video comes as Obama seeks to woo Hispanic voters, who generally have preferred rival Hillary Rodham Clinton in the primaries.

STORY....

Commentary: Shocked at the Sight of Kids’ Provocative Dancing? If You Did ‘The Freak,’ You Shouldn’t Be

By: Gregory Kane, BlackAmericaWeb.com

Google “rape dance.”

After you do, you’ll get results that might read like this: “School ‘Rape Dance’ Video Posted on You Tube Shocks Parents.” Or “Rape Dance Vid Shocks Community.” Or “Rape Dance Controversy in Memphis, TN.”

In early May, two videos were posted on YouTube. Some very young -- and apparently very horny -- students at Mitchell High School in Memphis held a dance in their gymnasium where the boogying took a turn that was darn near pornographic. Young women with their butts thrust snugly into the crotches of young men. Those same young men eagerly grinding away.

“(The video) shows young men and women engaging in what one parent described as ‘sex with clothes on,’” one news story read, and another quoted a parent as saying the behavior of the teens was “very disturbing.”

COMMENTARY....

Obama: He May Visit Iraq This Summer

By: Nedra Pickler, Associated Press

WASHINGTON - (AP) Barack Obama is considering a visit to Iraq this summer, his first since becoming a presidential candidate.

The Democrat, who has been criticized by Republican rival John McCain for not visiting Iraq since 2006, revealed his plans to The New York Times. He also declined McCain's invitation for a joint trip.

"I just don't want to be involved in a political stunt," Obama said, according to a report on the newspaper's Web site Wednesday.

"I think that if I'm going to Iraq, then I'm there to talk to troops and talk to commanders," he said in the interview. "I'm not there to try to score political points or perform. The work they're doing there is too important."

STORY....

Fear of Islam hurts Obama in Kentucky

Rural voters say they do not trust that Obama has been honest about his religious beliefs.

Commentary: Enough Already, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick – It’s Time to Do the Right Thing and Resign

By: Tonyaa Weathersbee, BlackAmericaWeb.com

Kwame Kilpatrick, resign already.

Many Detroiters probably don’t care that you had an affair with your chief of staff, Christine Beatty -- the torrid details of which you revealed in text messages on city-owned pagers. They probably don’t condone it, but they understand that it should be a personal matter for you and your wife to work through.

Some of your defenders have tried to liken your situation to that of former President Bill Clinton in the hopes it will help you save your job. More than a decade ago, Clinton was impeached for lying under oath about his affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

COMMENTARY....

Black Kids in Foster Care Not Served by ‘Colorblind’ Approach to Adoption, Experts Say

By: David Crary, AP National Writer

NEW YORK - (AP) Several leading child welfare groups Tuesday urged an overhaul of federal laws dealing with transracial adoption, arguing that black children in foster care are ill-served by a "colorblind" approach meant to encourage their adoption by white families.

Recommendations for major changes in the much-debated policy were outlined in a report by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute.

"Color consciousness -- not 'color blindness' -- should help to shape policy development," the report said.

Groups endorsing its proposals included the North American Council on Adoptable Children, the Child Welfare League of America, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and the National Association of Black Social Workers.

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SLICK RICK PARDONED BY NY GOV.: David Paterson noted rapper's commitment to helping kids.

Slick Rick moved one step closer to putting constant threats of deportation behind him with his full and unconditional pardon Friday by New York Gov. David Paterson.


The rapper, born Ricky Walters, was convicted of attempted murder in 1991 and spent over five years in prison. The 43-year-old faced numerous attempts to deport him, even though he has lived in the U.S. since he was a child.


Rick spent over five years in prison after his 1991 conviction of attempted murder. Although he finished all of his probation requirements, he kept facing threats of deportation by INS officials.

He was arrested again in June 2002 by Immigration agents who stopped him after he returned to Miami from a weeklong Caribbean cruise, where he was a featured performer. The arrest stemmed from a 1997 Immigration and Naturalization Service warrant that had not been pursued earlier, and he spent 17 months in jail.

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OPRAH'S DWINDLING APPEAL EXAMINED: New York Times outlines reasons for TV mogul's drop in popularity.

An article in Monday's New York Times points out various signs that Oprah Winfrey's pop culture dominance is beginning to weaken.

Writer Edward Wyatt notes: The average audience for “The Oprah Winfrey Show” has fallen nearly 7 percent this year, according to Nielsen Media Research — its third straight year of decline.

“Oprah’s Big Give,” an ABC philanthropic reality show, beat every program on television except “American Idol” in its premiere week this winter, but steadily lost nearly one-third of its audience during the rest of its eight-week run, according to Nielsen.

STORY....

Obama, McCain Address Veterans Issues

By: Associated Press

WASHINGTON - (AP) John McCain on Monday defended his plan for veterans' college benefits, as both the war hero and Democratic rival Barack Obama reached out to veterans on the Memorial Day holiday.

The issue has become a point of contention between the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting and Obama, the Democratic frontrunner who has slammed McCain for opposing a measure in the Senate. The two have squared off from a distance in recent days, at times with heated words.

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Reports of Discord Over King Memorial Statue’s Design Exaggerated, Officials Maintain

By: Jackie Jones, BlackAmericaWeb.com

News reports that the all-important U.S. Commission of Fine Arts had attacked the statue portion of the already approved Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in Washington, D.C. exaggerated what was actually a part of the normal building process, according to the president and CEO of the memorial foundation and an official with the Fine Arts Commission.

“It gets into how you depict somebody and how do you do it,” said Thomas Luebke, secretary of the commission, which advises the government on public design and aesthetics on monuments and memorials in the nation’s capital. Commission members are “looking for the very best artistic rendition as they can,” he said.

FULL STORY....

Racial Tensions Rising in Crown Heights

By: Verena Dobnik, Associated Press

NEW YORK - (AP) Seventeen years after race riots left the streets of one New York City neighborhood bloodied, tensions are rising again there between Orthodox Jews and blacks.

First, a black man was badly beaten. Weeks later, a Jewish teenager said he was attacked by two young blacks while riding his bicycle, and angry Jewish residents took to the streets with signs saying "Jewish blood is not cheap!" and "Every Jew a .22."

And along the way, the district attorney accused an Orthodox Jewish street patrol of vigilantism and compared the group to street gangs like the Bloods and Crips.

STORY....

Saul Williams - List of Demands

Fox News Contributor, Liz Trotta, Wants Obama to Die

Fox News contributor Liz Trotta made a horrific verbal gaffe when talking about Hillary's recent assassination comment. She first confused Obama w/ Osama and then said that it would great if we could "knock" them both off.





Liz Trotta Apologizes for "Knock Off" Obama Comment

Liz Trotta on FOX News, May 26, 2008

JOHN MCCAIN DUMPS HIS JEREMIAH WRIGHT: John Hagee said, 'God sent Adolf Hitler to help Jews reach the promised land.'

Look like presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain has his own Jeremiah Wright to deal with.

McCain on Thursday rejected endorsements from two influential but controversial televangelists, saying there is no place for their incendiary criticisms of other faiths, reports the AP.


McCain rejected the months-old endorsement of Texas preacher John Hagee after an audio recording surfaced in which the preacher said God sent Adolf Hitler to help Jews reach the promised land. McCain called the comment "crazy and unacceptable."


He later repudiated the support of Rod Parsley, an Ohio preacher who has sharply criticized Islam and called the religion inherently violent.


McCain issued a statement Thursday afternoon announcing his decision about Hagee.


"Obviously, I find these remarks and others deeply offensive and indefensible, and I repudiate them. I did not know of them before Reverend Hagee's endorsement, and I feel I must reject his endorsement as well," he said.


Later, in Stockton, he told reporters: "I just think that the statement is crazy and unacceptable."


Then in an interview with The Associated Press, McCain said he rejected Parsley's support, too.


"I believe there is no place for that kind of dialogue in America, and I believe that even though he endorsed me, and I didn't endorse him, the fact is that I repudiate such talk, and I reject his endorsement," McCain said.

STORY....

Obama Steps Up McCain Criticisms, While Clinton Says She’d Take Her Fight to Denver

By: Brendan Farrington, Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. - (AP) Barack Obama criticized likely general election rival John McCain on Wednesday where it could hurt most -- the Arizona senator's reputation as a champion of ethics. Hillary Rodham Clinton, meanwhile, raised the possibility she might carry her fight to the Democratic convention floor.

With more superdelegate endorsements after Kentucky and Oregon primaries the night before, Obama was just 64 delegates short of the 2,026 needed to clinch the nomination.

The Illinois senator confidently detoured from the three remaining Democratic primary states -- Puerto Rico, Montana, South Dakota -- to campaign in Florida, a crucial state in the November election. He also kept his focus on McCain, the Republicans' certain nominee in the fall.

STORY....

Commentary: Are Today’s Scantily-Clad Prom Attendees Making a Statement? If So, What Are They Saying?

By: Gregory Kane, BlackAmericaWeb.com

“Hello, world! I’m a tramp!”

That had to be the statement young Marche Taylor was trying to make when she showed up at her senior prom in Houston earlier this month. The dress she wore has been described in the news media as “skimpy,” but believe me, we journalist types are being way too kind.

I mean, have you seen this thing she wore -- and then had the nerve to try and get into a prom? (She never made it; she caused a ruckus and cops had to take her away in handcuffs.)

Earth to Marche (pronounced “mar-shay,” according to some news broadcasts I’ve heard): proms are by definition a school function. And schools have a thing we call dress codes. And no school in the country -- Lord knows, I hope I’m right about this -- has a dress code that allows young women to attend school functions looking like $20 hookers.

COMMENTARY....

THE HUTCHINSON REPORT: Do police rush to judgment when they investigate themselves?

By Earl Ofari Hutchinson

Inglewood, California Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks faces a dilemma that many big city police chiefs face when their officer’s gun down unarmed civilians under dubious circumstances, and those civilians in almost all cases are young African Americans or Latinos.

In this case the victim was 19 year-old Michael Byoune.


The deep suspicion is that police routinely bend, twist and massage testimony and evidence to whitewash and ultimately exonerate officers.


The way to counter that is to conduct a thorough and honest investigation and if the officer(s) are found guilty of wrongdoing impose swift punishment.


But that almost always draws loud protests from police unions and some city officials.

The Byoune killing by any standard was a bad shooting. In fact, it evoked instant comparisons to the killing of bride-groom-to-be Sean Bell by NYPD officers in 2007. Bell, like Byoune, was a young African-American male. Bell and Byoune were unarmed. There is no indication that he, like Bell, was involved in any gang or criminal involvement. From tapes and news clips, Inglewood police officers riddled the car that Byoune was in with bullet holes. The car Bell was in was also riddled with gunfire.

COMMENTARY....

Barack Obama Iowa Speech

Barack Obama, May 20, 2008

Commentary: Surprise, Surprise -- Black and Brown Youths Unfairly Targeted by NYPD Stop-and-Frisk Policies

By: Tonyaa Weathersbee, BlackAmericaWeb.com

The more I read the news coming out of the Big Apple these days, the more I’m beginning to believe that young black people there aren’t as much of a threat to the police as they are a mark for them.

First there was Sean Bell. The unarmed, 23-year-old died after police unleashed a storm of 50 bullets at him and his friends outside of a Jamaica, Queens nightclub in November 2006.

The three detectives, who recently were found not guilty on manslaughter charges stemming from that shooting, apparently thought that the only way to stop any potential for gunplay among young black men was to simply beat them to the punch; to kill them all first. And count on an acquittal later.

COMMENTARY....

After Oregon Win, Barack Obama Less Than 100 Delegates Away from Claiming Nomination

By: Associated Press and BlackAmericaWeb.com

Barack Obama stepped to the brink of victory in the Democratic presidential race Tuesday night, defeating Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Oregon primary and moving within 100 delegates of the total he needs to claim the prize at the party convention this summer.

Speaking to some 6,000 supporters at an outdoor rally with the Iowa Statehouse as a backdrop, the Illinois senator pointed to a campaign where few gave him much of chance of winning when he started the journey a year and a half ago. He is now the likely nominee.

"Tonight, in the fullness of spring, with the help of those who stood up from Portland to Louisville, we have returned to Iowa with a majority of delegates elected by the American people and you have put us within reach of the Democratic nomination for president of the United States of America," he told cheering supporters in Iowa, the overwhelmingly white state that launched him, a black, first-term senator from Illinois, on his improbable path to victory last January.

STORY....

Katrina survivors struggle years after hurricane

A documentary report from New Orleans presents voices of Katrina survivors still fighting for survival.

Barack Obama Hits Major Milestone on Tuesday: Winner of the Most Pledged Delegates

By: Stephen Ohlemacher, Associated Press

WASHINGTON - (AP) Barack Obama will reach a significant milestone Tuesday as he marches toward the Democratic nomination for president -- a majority of pledged delegates at stake in all the primaries and caucuses.

Obama will still be short of the overall number of delegates needed to clinch the nomination, unless he were to suddenly receive an avalanche of endorsements from the party and elected officials known as superdelegates. But the Illinois senator's campaign is touting the delegate milestone as a big step in defeating his rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.

"A clear majority of elected delegates will send an unmistakable message -- the people have spoken, and they are ready for change," Obama campaign manager David Plouffe wrote in a memo to supporters Monday.

STORY....

Four Cops to Be Fired Over Taped Beating

By: Maryclaire Dale, Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA - (AP) Philadelphia's police commissioner said Monday that four officers will be fired and four others disciplined for their roles in the beatings of three shooting suspects, an encounter that was captured on videotape and drew widespread outrage.

Another eight officers who had physical contact with the suspects will undergo additional training on the department's policies concerning the use of force, Commissioner Charles Ramsey said. He said the police department made the disciplinary decisions after reviewing frames from enhanced tape of a video shot by a television news helicopter on May 5.

ARTICLE....

Obama to Tennessee GOP: Lay Off My Wife

Commentary: Bush May Be Top Dog as a Hang-Out Buddy or Golf Partner, But as President, He’s a Real Mutt

By: Deborah Mathis, BlackAmericaWeb.com

As further evidence that you really do get what you pay for: Behold, George W. Bush.

This is a president the electorate picked up in the flea market of American politics. He came with no warranty, no product manual and only a questionable performance record. Still, the public bought him based on what the sellers said he could do.

Or, better put, it’s like getting a pet at the dog pound. Every now and then, you end up with a real winner who will bring unparalleled joy and service to the household. Many times, you end up with something barely tenable, rather on the lazy side or sickly. Sometimes, like this time, you find yourself stuck with trouble-on-the-paw -- the type that chews up your shoes, soils the furniture, barks throughout the night and terrorizes the neighbor’s kids.

COMMENTARY....

Tyson Tells All in Film Shown at Cannes

By: Angela Doland, Associated Press

CANNES, France - (AP) Mike Tyson considers it a miracle that he lived to tell his tale. And he's telling it -- in graphic detail -- in a new documentary at the Cannes Film Festival.

"I lived a wild and extreme life," the former heavyweight champion told reporters Saturday. "I used drugs. I had altercations with dangerous people. I slept with guys' wives that wanted to kill me. I'm just happy to be here, you know. It's just a miracle."

ARTICLE....

Obama Focuses on General Election Fight

By: Tom Raum, Associated Press

WASHINGTON - (AP) Making up for lost time, Barack Obama is dashing full-tilt into the general-election fight against Republican John McCain without waiting for the Democratic marathon to end.

He's running down McCain more often than the woman he's nominally still fighting for his own party's nomination. And he's running after white working-class voters, independents, Hispanics, Catholics and Jews -- voting blocs that will be important in the November election and with whom he's had mixed successes.

Even as Obama tries to fight off Hillary Rodham Clinton in the few remaining primaries, he is campaigning in states that have already held elections and vowing to return to states where he lost to Clinton. His campaign has sent teams into battleground states, set up a program for signing up millions of Democrats over the next six months and is developing ads to use against McCain.

STORY....

Over Six Months After Gaining Freedom, Genarlow Wilson Enjoying His Life at Morehouse

By: Jackie Jones, BlackAmericaWeb.com

It has taken some getting used to, but Genarlow Wilson says college life is treating him just fine.

Wilson, who was freed from a Georgia prison last October, began classes as a part-time student at the 140-year-old predominantly male liberal arts Morehouse College in Atlanta. The 10-year-old Tom Joyner Foundation is paying for Wilson’s education, including tuition, books and campus room and board.

In 2005, Wilson was convicted of aggravated child molestation for having oral sex with a 15-year-old girl at a 2003 New Year's Eve party. Wilson, a star athlete and honors student, was 17 at the time. He was sentenced to serve a mandatory 10-year sentence with a sex offender designation. After a nationwide effort to fight for his release, Wilson was set free last October after spending two years in prison on the teen sex conviction. The case received international media attention and garnered support from civil rights leaders, celebrities, business leaders and politicians, including former President Jimmy Carter and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

FULL ARTICLE....

Obama: "Anywhere, Anytime" to Debate McCain on Foreign Policy

Barack Obama, May 16, 2008

Did Bush attack Obama in Israel

At the Israeli Knesset, President George W. Bush compares those who would talk to Iran as Nazi appeasers.