Election 2012
The President Leads the Nation at Becoming Even More Tolerant and Inclusive
“It’s interesting, some of this is also generational,” President Obama told ABC News about his support of same-sex marriages. “You know, Malia and Sasha, they have friends whose parents are same-sex couples. There have been times where Michelle and I have been sitting around the dinner table and we’re talking about their friends and their parents. And Malia and Sasha, it wouldn’t dawn on them that somehow their friends’ parents would be treated differently. It doesn’t make sense to them, and frankly, that’s the kind of thing that prompts a change in perspective.”
The Rev. Joseph Lowery, who was a part of Martin Luther King’s inner circle, told CNN that Obama had to support gay marriage because he believes in equal rights. “You can’t believe in equal rights for some people and yet not believe in equal rights for everybody,” Lowery said. “That includes the right to marry the person of your choice. Equal rights for some people is an oxymoron.”
In a Gallup survey taken May 3-6, 50% of respondents said marriages between same-sex couples should be recognized as legal, compared to 48% who said they should not. The results fell mostly along party lines – Democrats overwhelming approved of the announcement, while Republicans largely disapproved. Independents were split: 53% approved of Obama's endorsement of same-sex marriage, compared to 44% of independents who disapproved.
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I still hear people say that I should not be talking about the rights of lesbian and gay people and I should stick to the issue of racial justice.
But I hasten to remind them that Martin Luther King Jr. said, 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.' I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream to make room at the table of brother- and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people.
Coretta Scott King
Reuters
March 31, 1998
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Severely Conservative
“Severely conservative,” is how Mitt Romney classified himself during the Republican primaries to counter his more conservative opponents. Now that he is up against President Obama, Romney defended his decision to hire an openly gay staffer who quit under pressure from social conservatives. Romney told FOX News, that he hires people “not based upon their ethnicity, or their sexual preference or their gender but upon their capability.”
West Virginians and Mississippi
Keith Judd, Inmate No. 11593-051, serving a 210-month sentence at the Beaumont Federal Correctional Institution in Texas, took 41 percent of the vote in West Virginia’s Democratic primary— 72,000 votes to Obama’s 106,000. Had anyone had bothered to sign up as a Judd delegate, he would have qualified for convention delegates.
The president angered voters with new Environmental Protection Agency policies, which some see as a “war on coal” and have stalled mining permits for the state’s coal mining industry. Race also played a role in the outcome.
In the 2008 primary, 2 in 10 White West Virginia voters said race was an important factor in their votes, second only to historically openly racist Mississippi. Those voters went for Clinton 8 in 10 times.
Don’t Forget the Libertarian Candidate!
Former GOP presidential candidate Gary Johnson won and accepted the presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party Saturday, May 5. He was once governor of New Mexico.
War On Women Continues?
 Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R), who pointed her fingers in the President’s face, has signed off on a bill that will prevent abortion providers like Planned Parenthood from receiving public funds in most cases. Her bill signing is expected to fuel the Democrat’s painting the Republicans as having a war on women.
Our Way Or Else Says Indiana Republican
"I hope to build a conservative majority so bipartisanship becomes Democrats joining Republicans to roll back the size of government, reduce the bureaucracy and get America moving again," Richard Mourdock said on CNN's Starting Point with Soledad O'Brien," after defeating Richard Lugar in the Indiana primary.
Lugar left swinging: "He (Mourdock) has pledged his support to groups whose prime mission is to cleanse the Republican party of those who stray from orthodoxy as they see it. This is not conducive to problem solving and governance. And he will find that unless he modifies his approach, he will achieve little as a legislator. Worse, he will help delay solutions that are totally beyond the capacity of partisan majorities to achieve," Mourdock chided Lugar for being cordial with President Obama.
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More Tales from the Gambia
By Wayne A. Young
This is Not the KKK, but the KKK
In America, KKK written on a wall can stir very deep emotions. In the Gambia, it simply means “In this House we speak with one voice.” In Mandinka, the most widely spoken language in Gambia, kang, means voice, killing means one, and kunda mean house.
Upcoming Jazz Festival
Hypolink Resort, The Gambia
Mon, Feb 4 – Sun, Feb 10, 2013
Voluntary Carjacking?
It was dark when I ran out of gas while driving on a dark parking lot. I noticed a guy walking around the parked cars as I got out of my borrowed car to retrieve the gas can from the trunk and to pour gasoline into the car. Even with gas (at $7.16 per gallon) in the car, the car still would not start.
Afraid of what could happen, I hesitantly asked the young stranger for a push. He obliged. The car still would not start, so he said, “let me get in and you push the car down the hill.” No problem, I thought as I pushed the car down the hill towards the Atlantic Ocean.
Soon, the tall dark-skinned stranger and the car disappeared into the darkness. I was frantic, walking the four blocks down to the ocean, asking for the stranger’s whereabouts along the way, and trying to call my friend, the owner of the car. About 15 minutes later, the young stranger rolls up and says, “where have you been, I have been looking for you? You think I took your car!”
I had admit to him that I did—as I thought about the carjacking I witnessed back in the States, I thanked him, got his name, and learned that he was the owner of the car park service. And I had to admit, to myself, that I was not in America—I have yet to tell this embarrassing story of my friend, the car’s owner.
Would this Have Happened in Sanford, FL?
 Baba, another friend, was not really upset that his house had gotten broken into. He was more upset that a member of the community had broken into his home on the Nema Kunku Nursery School compound as the school struggles to pay its teachers. It just did not make sense to him.
Meanwhile, I was puzzled on how the thief had gotten caught. Baba wasn’t and I should not have been since I have witnessed how wrong doers have gotten caught.
In this case, the school’s janitor caught the thief along with a neighbor. Unlike in Sanford, FL or Baltimore, MD, these neighbors didn’t profile the suspect or attack him, they simply walked him to the police.
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Training Opportunities
YearUp is looking for 18-24-year-olds with a high school diploma or a GED who have an interest in information technology (IT). The program asks for a 1 year commitment between 8:30a and 5p. YearUp provides students with a stipend and a six month internship with companies such as Freddie Mac and AOL.
The National Academies Christine Mirzayan Science & Technology Policy Graduate Fellowship Program is designed to engage its Fellows in the analytical process that informs U.S. science and technology policy makers at the federal, state, or local levels. Graduate and professional school students and those who have completed graduate studies (degree awarded) within the last five years may apply. Areas of study may include any social/behavioral science, medical/health discipline, physical or biological science, any field of engineering, law/business/public administration, or any relevant interdisciplinary fields. The stipend/grant will be $8,240 for the Fellowship session.
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Keen Senior’s East River Swing
St. Luke’s Center
4923 East Capitol Street, SE
Washington
Thu, May 17 4p-8p, $20
advance sales only: 202-534-4880 x110
 Pre-Launch Book Party
Sherry Ways, author of
Feel Good Spaces
Imagine Wellness & Yoga Center
Bowie, Maryland
Sat, May 19, 10:30am-2p, free
Malcolm X Birthday Block Party
165th Street btwn Broadway & St. Nicholas
Harlem, NY
Sat, May 19, noon–5p, free
27th annual AIDS Walk New York
The 10k (6.2-mile) AIDS Walk route begins and
ends in Central Park
Sun, May 20, 2012
2012 Boley Rodeo and BBQ Festival
Boley, OK
Sat and Sun, May 26 -27
Us Helping Us Picnic in the Park
Fort Dupont Park,SE
Washington, DC,
Mon, May 28, noon-7p
Artist Larry “Poncho” Brown Art Sale
Howard University Middle School
405 Howard Place (on campus)
Washington, D.C.
Wed, May 30, 1p-3p
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