(Part one of an eight-part series) WASHINGTON (NNPA)—In communities around the country, Black people are missing. Neighborhoods languish. Dreams deferred rot in distant warehouses we call prisons. The similarities between the correctional system and slavery are eerie: Families ripped apart. Traditions lost or never made. The shipment of flesh, the pipeline that nearly guarantees Black children go from the cradle to the prison; the insane profits made by warehousing human beings; the burden borne forever by those labeled as “convicts.”
WASHINGTON (NNPA)—This week marks the 46th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on Aug. 28, 1963. Nearly a half century since the march that drew more than 200,000 to Washington, D.C., Black activists confess they have changed their strategy in the wake of an African-American president, but they contend that their commitment remains the same. “I think that some leaders are now reluctant to engage in public struggle because President Barack Obama is in the White House. But I would remind you that a public demonstration for justice would not be a march on the president. That would be unfair,” said Rev. Jesse Jackson, president and CEO of the Chicago-based Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. “We supported Kennedy over Nixon, but we still had the March on Washington. We supported Johnson over Goldwater, but we still had the march on Selma.” DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. AT THE 1963 MARCH ON WASHINGTON
CHILMARK, Mass. (AP)—The first family settled in Sunday for their vacation on Martha’s Vineyard not long after Hurricane Bill scampered away, leaving behind big waves and heavy rip currents for the Obamas. A tropical storm warning was lifted just hours before President Barack Obama began his first vacation since taking office. The hurricane forced him to delay his departure from Andrews Air Force Base by a few hours. During the flight from Washington to Cape Cod, White House spokesman Bill Burton conveyed a message from Obama, who boarded Air Force One in khakis and without jacket or tie, to the reporters traveling with him. TAKING A BREAK—President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, with daughters Malia, right, and Sasha, walk to board Air Force One heading for a week of vacation in Martha’s Vineyard off Cape Cod, Mass., at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. They are accompanied by base commander, Air Force Col. Steven Shepro.
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP)—Green Bay has a Black police officer for the first time in the 152-year history of its police department. Solomon Ayres starts the first phase of a 17-week training regime this week. He says he expects some resistance from both Black and white residents. But thinks his life experiences will help defuse difficult situations and make him open to different points of view. MAKING HISTORY —In this photo taken Aug. 19, newly sworn-in Green Bay police officers Solomon Ayres, left, and Tom Marquardt talk during weapons training at the multi-jurisdictional range in Oneida, Wisc.
HAPPY TIMES - In this Jan. 28, 2008 file photo, then-Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., smiles with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., during a rally at American University in Washington where Kennedy endorsed Obama. Kennedy, the liberal lion of the Senate, has died after battling a brain tumor. He was 77. Kennedy's family announced his death in a brief statement released early Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File) by Glen JohnsonAssociated Press WriterCHILMARK, Mass. (AP) — Edward M. Kennedy was much more than just former Senate colleague and influential legislator to Barack Obama, evident in the president's personal, mournful tribute on Wednesday.
