Inside President Obama’s ‘Amazing Grace’ Moment

President Obama traveled to the College of Charleston in South Carolina and delivered the eulogy for Reverend Clement Pinckney and 8 other congregation members of Emanuel AME who were killed on June 17, 2015.

Story by Daily Beast
Written by Joshua DuBois

In his speech commemorating Reverend Pinckney, President Obama reminded us yet again why we elected him.

Before the first line of “Amazing Grace” had left the President’s tongue—while he was still gathering his voice, and moving into the song—in that Charleston auditorium, we were already rising to greet him.

We rose because this was the man we had elected, and for times like this. Standing ten feet above the coffin of a murdered senator and preacher, two blocks from the violated church house where he was slain, surrounded by more meaning and history than even that massive building could hold—this was the only man who stood a chance of responding to the national need.

We rose because he understood. He understood the pain of Jennifer, Eliana, and Malana Pinckney. Our president was clearly shaken before taking the pulpit, face drawn, eyes red, having greeted the Pinckney family privately backstage. I’m sure he was grappling with the truth of those two beautiful little girls, what it will mean for daughters to grow up without their father. He was thumbing through the funeral program booklet and surely read Jennifer’s pleading letter—“I feel robbed, cheated, and cut short...but I am thankful for one consolation, that your life was not in vain.” He was affected as we were affected; he honored that family, and understood.

We rose because President Obama left all politics, and expedience, behind. Yes, we know, whenever the President talks about race, a large percentage of our country finds it “divisive.” Yes, we know there are so many streams of policy and history running concurrently this week—from gay marriage to health care to trade—that the President might have been excused for offering simple words of memoriam, and moving on.


President Obama in Charleston, SC delivering the Eulogy of Reverend Pickney, one of the Charleston Nine killed in bible class.

But he didn’t duck, dodge, or move on. Leaning forward in the pulpit, steadying himself on a podium draped in the bright purple colors of the A.M.E. Church, Barack Obama spoke the unvarnished truth, regardless of how it would be spun. He called on the country to ask tough questions that Rev. Pinckney’s killer had begun to reveal: why some men languish in the criminal justice system and others do not; why some children grow up learning to love, and others disposed to hate; why some schools are unequal to others; why, driven by implicit bias, some men named Jamal have more difficult times finding jobs than men name John.

He said that “history can’t be a sword to justify injustice or a shield against progress. It must be a manual for how to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, how to break the cycle, a roadway toward a better world.” He knew this speech would be consumed, heard and acted upon by people across the country. So he said what needed to be said.

We also rose because Obama had given the country a window into something black folks have known and felt deep down in our bones: the power of grace. He opened up the doors of our church and let folks peak inside. He showed the world that this grace—unmerited, undeserving, given freely and flowing from God—is not some passive quantity, the response of a defeated people. Rather, it is a potent, courageous, and healing response to a broken and fallen world. From slave ships to cotton fields to the Underground Railroad to the streets of Mississippi and Alabama to today—we have been specializers in active, lived, powerful grace. Amazing grace. President Obama understood that—so we rose.

Finally, we rose because, in that moment, just as we needed him, he needed us. The man was clearly exhausted, seeking to buttress a family far more exhausted than even he. So before he could fall, we allowed our spirits and voices to mingle with his, and we rose, and sang “Amazing Grace.”

Friday was a singular day in our history. A president who rose to the occasion. Families of the fallen, and a hurting people, who rose with him. We now pray that the country will rise to this moment as well.

Preach on, Mr. President. Preach on.

President Barack Obama's Statement on the Supreme Court Affordable Care Act Ruling

Healthcare Timeline Link: https://www.whitehouse.gov/health-care-in-america?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=email470-text1&utm_campaign=healthcare
__________________________
On March 23, 2010, I sat down at a table in the East Room of the White House and signed my name on a law that said, once and for all, that health care would no longer be a privilege for a few. It would be a right for everyone.

Five years later, after more than 50 votes in Congress to repeal or weaken this law and multiple challenges before the Supreme Court, here is what we know today: This law worked. It's still working. It has changed and saved American lives. It has set this country on a smarter, stronger course.

And it's here to stay.

This morning, the Supreme Court upheld one of the most critical parts of health reform -- the part that has made it easier for Americans to afford health insurance, no matter where you live.

If the challenges to this law had succeeded, millions would have had thousands of dollars in tax credits taken away. Insurance would have once again become unaffordable for many Americans. Many would have even become uninsured again. Ultimately, everyone's premiums could have gone up.

Because of this law, and because of today's decision, millions of Americans will continue to receive the tax credits that have given about 8 in 10 people who buy insurance on the new Health Insurance Marketplaces the choice of a health care plan that costs less than $100 a month.

If you're a parent, you can keep your kids on your plan until they turn 26 -- something that has covered millions of young people so far. That's because of this law. If you're a senior, or have a disability, this law gives you discounts on your prescriptions -- something that has saved 9 million Americans an average of $1,600 so far. If you're a woman, you can't be charged more than anybody else -- even if you've had cancer, or your husband had heart disease, or just because you're a woman. Your insurer has to offer free preventive services like mammograms. They can't place annual or lifetime caps on your care.

And when it comes to preexisting conditions -- someday, our grandkids will ask us if there was really a time when America discriminated against people who got sick. Because that's something this law has ended for good.

Five years in and more than 16 million insured Americans later, this is no longer just about a law. This isn't just about the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.

This is health care in America. Link: https://www.whitehouse.gov/health-care-in-america?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=email470-text1&utm_campaign=healthcare

Today is a victory for every American whose life will continue to become more secure because of this law. And 20, 30, 50 years from now, most Americans may not know what "Obamacare" is. And that's okay. That's the point.

Because today, this reform remains what it always has been -- a set of fairer rules and tougher protections that have made health care in America more affordable, more attainable, and more about you.

That's who we are as Americans. We look out for one another. We take care of each other. We root for one another's success. We strive to do better, to be better, than the generation before us, and we try to build something better for the generation that comes behind us.

And today, with this behind us, let's come together and keep building something better. That starts right now.


Thank you,



President Barack Obama

Did you know that Michael Jordan’s money saved Spike Lee’s Malcolm X film?

Story by Financial Juneteenth

Maybe it was a jesture meant to show support for a film that would be helpful to the black community. Maybe it was just a favor being done for a friend. But a lot of people don’t know that Spike Lee gave Michael Jordan credit (along with other donors) for giving him the money he needed to finish the famous film, “Malcolm X” that he did over 20 years ago.

According to the New York Times, Lee mentioned that Jordan was the person who helped him to keep the film alive when Hollywood wanted to bury it. Anyone who saw the film knows why Hollywood would never want to see something like this in theaters anyway.

According to Lee, the major donors for the film were Bill Cosby, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, Earvin (Magic) Johnson, Janet Jackson, Prince, and Peggy Cooper Cafritz, founder of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington.

Lee gave a press conference at the Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem to discuss the project back in 1992. He said that he had to go outside to get the money after the Completion Bond Company refused to approve any more of the spending necessary to make the film the right way. Lee was told that the film could only be two hours and 15 minutse and that Warner Brothers, who was producing the film and distributing it, would not pay another “single penny” to complete it.

The film had originally been budgeted at $28 million, which was a handsome figure for that time. Then, the price tag rose to $33 million, and finally $40 million by the time it was said and done.

“This is not a loan,” said Lee, back in 1992. “They are not investing in the film. These are black folks with some money who came to the rescue of the movie. As a result, this film will be my version. Not the bond company’s version, not Warner Brothers’. I will do the film the way it ought to be, and it will be over three hours.”

Lee says that his salary to direct the film was $3 million and that he was using $2 million of it to complete the project.

“When we began the film, we never had the amount of money we needed,” he said.

Robert G. Friedman, a Warner spokesman, said that “We’re very pleased with the film and look forward to seeing the completed version.

So, we ask you: Does this information give you a different perspective on Michael Jordan? Some know him to be a stingy, greedy person who doesn’t care much for the black community. Others think he’s simply misunderstood and does his good work in private, where no one can see.

Bobbi Kristina moved to hospice after her 'condition deteriorates'

Story by BBC

Bobbie Kristina Brown's condition has got worse and she is now in a hospice, her aunt has said in a statement.

"Despite the great medical care at numerous facilities, Bobbi Kristina Brown's condition has continued to deteriorate," Pat Houston's statement said.

"As of today, she has been moved into hospice care."

The 22-year-old was found unresponsive in a bathtub at her home in Atlanta, Georgia on 31 January.

"We thank everyone for their support and prayers. She is in God's hands now," reads the statement made on behalf of the Houston family.

She is the daughter of musicians Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston, who was herself found unresponsive in a bathtub in February 2012. She later died.

After her death, Pat Houston, who was also her manager, was made administrator of the trust fund Whitney Houston set up for her daughter.

She and Bobby Brown were appointed to be Bobbi Kristina's co-guardians last month.

Bobbi Kristina had surgery to replace her breathing tube with a tracheostomy tube, which is put through an incision in the windpipe, in February.

Kevin Love opts out of deal with Cavaliers

Story by ESPN
Written by Mike Stein

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love has opted out of the final year of his contract, league sources told ESPN on Wednesday.

Sources told ESPN.com that Love notified the Cavaliers on Wednesday that he is opting out of the final year remaining on his contract -- worth $16.7 million next season -- to return to free agency.

The Cavaliers, though, were expecting the decision and, at this juncture, plan to try to re-sign the former All-Star forward, whose up-and-down first season in Cleveland ended prematurely when he suffered a shoulder injury in the first round of the playoffs against the Boston Celtics.

Sources tell ESPN.com that the Los Angeles Lakers and the Celtics are among the teams planning ‎to make a run at Love in free agency. Sources say that the Portland Trail Blazers, furthermore, are likely to pursue the former Oregon high school star in the event that LaMarcus Aldridge -- as many league executives expect -- flees the Blazers in free agency.

Love missed most of the Cavs' run to the NBA Finals after suffering a dislocated shoulder against the Celtics when Kelly Olynyk pulled down on Love's left arm and yanked it out of the socket.

After he suffered the injury, Love was asked if he wanted to return to the Cavaliers next season.

"Yes," the power forward said on June 5. "I want to win."

Love, who had never been on a playoff team in his six prior NBA seasons, averaged 16.4 points and 9.7 rebounds in his first year with Cleveland, which traded Andrew Wiggins and its 2016 first-round pick to get him from the Minnesota Timberwolves last summer.

Why You Can't Kill the Spirit of Mother Emanuel

Commentary by Ben Jealous and Jotaka Eaddy

You can kill a man, but you can't kill an idea. Similarly, you can massacre members of a congregation and assassinate the state senator who served as their pastor, but you cannot kill the mission and spirit of the church to which they belong. And the spirit of Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston, South Carolina is one worth preserving, and celebrating, in the wake of this Wednesday's tragic act of domestic terrorism that occurred there.

Emanuel AME Church is the oldest African Methodist Church in the South, and it has long served as a bulwark for organized defiance to white supremacy and discrimination. Founded by freed black slaves, it was affectionately known as "Mother Emanuel," and the institution's history of challenge and resistance mirrors the movement toward racial progress that it fostered in the South.

In 1816, Mother Emanuel church was investigated for its role in a planned slave rebellion organized by Denmark Vesey, one of its founders. Vesey was executed. Then, for thirty years beginning in 1834, its parishioners had to worship secretly because of a ban on black churches. Mother Emanuel was burned down only to be rebuilt, and shut down by the state only to continue operating as a symbol of resilience and devotion. Throughout it all, the congregation endured, and the church hosted dignitaries from Booker T. Washington to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the decades that followed the Civil War.

Mother Emanuel's pastor, who was slain in the violence Wednesday, was a man that we have both had the honor of knowing. Reverend Clementa Pinckney truly represented the mission and movement of Mother Emanuel. Rev. Pinckney was a pastor at age 18, an elected official at age 23, and a South Carolina state senator at age 27. He was known for his kindness, his commitment to community, and his strong and passionate voice. He fought for police accountability and gun control in a state where both fights were uphill battles, but in the spirit of his church he did not let that defeat him.

There were eight other victims that day: Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Cythia Hurd, Tywanza Sanders, Myra Thompson, Ethel Lance, Rev. Daniel L. Simmons, Susie Jackson, DePayne Doctor. Three men and six women total, together they represented mothers, grandmothers, pastors, community leaders, coaches and college graduates. In short, they represented a devoted and beloved community in the best black church tradition. Their moment of reflection - each praying alone and in unison at once - tragically cut short.

Wednesday's attack, which was motivated by racial hatred, will not be the first time that the congregation of Mother Emanuel church faced an outside force that simply could not abide the thought of its continued existence.

Yet, the church still stands, and on Thursday afternoon its congregation and the community joined hands for a powerful rendition of "We Shall Overcome." In Hebrew, Emanuel means "God is with us", and there is no doubt that God will remain with the congregation that has seen so much pain, yet so much triumph. Mother Emanuel AME will overcome and her spirit will be stronger still.

Ben Jealous is Partner at Kapor Capital and former President and CEO of the NAACP. Jotaka Eaddy, a native South Carolinian and member of the A.M.E. church, is a political strategist and advocate and former Senior Advisor at the NAACP.

President Obama is Hardly the first U.S. President to say “nigger”

Facts by Earl Ofari Hutchinson

President Obama raised eyebrows and took some heat for using the word “nigger” publicly. But he’s far from the first U.S. President to utter the word to make their point. A point in their usage of the pejorative slur that is far different than the one President Obama sought to make about bigotry and hate in using the slur.
_____________________
*Franklin Roosevelt in a letter to Eleanor famously said of his trip to Jamaica how “a drink of coconut water, procured by a naked nigger boy from the top of the tallest tree, did much to make us forget the dust.”

*President Truman called Harlem Congressman Adam Clayton Powell the "nigger preacher"

*President Johnson during the 1950s called a civil rights bill "the nigger bill

*President Eisenhower in a parody of a southern army buddy reportedly used the "nigger" a couple of times.

*President Nixon in a conversation with Donald Rumsfeld repeatedly used the word "nigger"

We can only imagine how many times U.S. Presidents named and unnamed used the word “nigger” privately with no prying ears or eyes around.

Janet Jackson - "No Sleeep"

World shocked at enduring racism, gun violence in US

Story by AP
Written by Christopher Bodeen

BEIJING — Often the target of U.S. human rights accusations, China wasted little time returning such charges following the shooting at a historic black church in South Carolina that left nine people dead. Elsewhere, the attack renewed perceptions that Americans have too many guns and have yet to overcome racial tensions.

Some said the attack reinforced their reservations about personal security in the U.S. — particularly as a non-white foreigner — while others said they'd still feel safe if they were to visit.

Especially in Australia and northeast Asia, where firearms are strictly controlled and gun violence almost unheard of, many were baffled by the determination among many Americans to own guns despite repeated mass shootings, such as the 2012 tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, where a gunman killed 20 children and six adults.

"We don't understand America's need for guns," said Philip Alpers, director of the University of Sydney's GunPolicy.org project that compares gun laws across the world. "It is very puzzling for non-Americans."

A frontier nation like the U.S., Australia had a similar attitude toward firearms prior to a 1996 mass shooting that killed 35. Soon after, tight restrictions on gun ownership were imposed and no such incidents have been reported since.

Ahmad Syafi'i Maarif, a prominent Indonesian intellectual and former leader of Muhammadiyah, one of the country's largest Muslim organizations, said the tragedy shocked many.

"People all over the world believed that racism had gone from the U.S. when Barack Obama was elected to lead the superpower, twice," he said. "But the Charleston shooting has reminded us that in fact, the seeds of racism still remain and were embedded in the hearts of small communities there, and can explode at any time, like a terrorist act by an individual."

A 21-year-old white man, Dylann Storm Roof, is accused of fatally shooting nine people at a Bible study at the historically black Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. An acquaintance said Roof had complained that "blacks were taking over the world."

Racially charged shootings in the U.S., where the constitution's second amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms, have received widespread global attention.

"Guns are in their constitution," said Joanna Leung, a 34-year-old Toronto resident. "I'm pretty sure no one else has anything similar. I never understand why they think gun violence is going to solve anything."

In Britain, the attack reinforced the view that America has too many guns and too many racists. The front-page headline of The Independent newspaper said simply, "America's shame."

The newspaper said in an editorial that America seems to have moved backward in racial relations since Obama's election, and that the "obscene proliferation of guns only magnifies tragedies" like the church shooting.

The leftist Mexico City newspaper La Jornada said the U.S. has become a "structurally violent state" where force is frequently used domestically and internationally to resolve differences.

"In this context, the unchecked and even paranoid citizen armament is no coincidence: Such a phenomenon reflects the feeling of extensive sectors about the supposed legitimacy of violent methods," it said.

In China, the official Xinhua News Agency said the violence in South Carolina "mirrors the U.S. government's inaction on rampant gun violence as well as the growing racial hatred in the country."

Read more:
http://news.yahoo.com/asia-shocked-enduring-racism-gun-violence-us-133146051.html
http://kirktanter.blogspot.com/2015/06/how-for-profit-prisons-have-become.html

Tensions building as Charleston, S.C. as citizen interrupts CNN's Don Lemon live report demanding Lemon talk about the "Anger"

CNN's Don Lemon surprised of Charleston citizen interrupting his live report demanding that he "speak about the anger".

Story by Hollywood Reporter and Bossip

A bystander interrupted Don Lemon's live report from Charleston, South Carolina Thursday to accuse him of being an "Uncle Tom." She urged him to report on the anger residents felt in the city where a gunman shot and killed nine people.

"Are you angry Don? Uncle Tom? Hello," said a woman who walked into the frame behind Lemon. "Are you angry Don, because we're angry. Speak about the anger."

She also called President Obama a Puppet and an Uncle Tom in her assault on the media moment.

On Wednesday, a gunman police identified as 21-year-old Dylann Storm Roof entered Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church around 9 p.m.

The gunman opened fire at the historic African-American church, killing eight on the scene. An additional victim died on the way to the hospital. Police captured Roof on Thursday morning. Law enforcement officials say the killings were racially motivated.

President Obama Delivers a Statement on the Shooting in South Carolina

Charleston's Emanuel AME Church shooting suspect arrested in Shelby, N.C.

Story by CNN
Written by Ralph Ellis and Ed Payne

• Charleston church shooting suspect Dylann Roof has been taken into custody in North Carolina, a senior law enforcement official briefed on the investigation told CNN's Deborah Feyerick.

• Roof, 21, of Lexington, South Carolina, is the suspect in Wednesday's deadly shooting at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, city police said Thursday.

• Witnesses say the suspect stood up and said he was there "to shoot black people," a law enforcement official said. The shooter is also thought to have used a handgun, according to the official.

They got him

The man suspected of killing nine people Wednesday night at an African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina, was arrested Thursday morning about three hours away near Shelby, North Carolina, law enforcement authorities said.

Investigators identified the suspect as Dylann Roof, 21, of Lexington, South Carolina.

The man spent an hour in a prayer meeting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on Wednesday night before he opened fire, Charleston police Chief Greg Mullen said Thursday morning.

A law enforcement official says witnesses told them the suspect stood up and said he was there "to shoot black people."

Police were searching for information about Roof. A picture of him on social media showed him wearing a jacket with what appear to be the flags of apartheid-era South Africa and nearby Rhodesia, a former British colony that was ruled by a white minority until it became independent in 1980 and changed its name to Zimbabwe.

Six females and three males were killed, Mullen said. Three people survived, including a woman who received a chilling message from the shooter.

"Her life was spared, and (she was) told, I'm not going to kill you, I'm going to spare you, so you can tell them what happened," Charleston NAACP President Dot Scott told CNN. Scott said she heard this from the victims' family members.

Federal authorities have opened a hate crime investigation into the shooting at the oldest AME church in the South, the Department of Justice said.

"The only reason someone would walk into a church and shoot people that were praying is hate," Charleston Mayor Joe Riley said.

Among the victims was the church's politically active pastor, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, his cousin, South Carolina state Sen. Kent Williams, told CNN.

Pinckney was also a state senator and one of the black community's spokesmen after the slaying of an unarmed man by a North Charleston police officer earlier this year.

There were 13 people inside the church when the shooting happened -- the shooter, the nine people who were killed and three survivors, South Carolina state Sen. Larry Grooms, who was briefed by law enforcement, told CNN. Two of the survivors were not harmed, he said.

It was not clear if the man targeted any individual.

"We don't know if anybody was targeted other than the church itself," Mullen said.

Historic significance

Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church has been a presence in Charleston since 1816, when African-American members of Charleston's Methodist Episcopal Church formed their own congregation after a dispute over burial grounds.

It was burned to the ground at one point, but rebuilt. Throughout its history, it overcame obstacle after obstacle -- destroyed by an earthquake, banned by the state. But its church members persevered, making it the largest African-American church in terms of seating space in Charleston today.

A storied church in a historic city: http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/18/us/charleston-emanuel-ame-church-history/index.html

Mullen said video cameras at the church show the suspect is in his early 20s and stands 5 feet, 9 inches tall. Police said he may be driving a black Hyundai with vehicle tag LGF330, police said.

Police described the gunman as clean-shaven with a slender build and sandy blond hair. He was wearing a gray sweatshirt, blue jeans and Timberland boots.

On Thursday morning, police handed out images of the man and his car taken from surveillance footage and asked for the public's help in identifying him. Officials say they think he is still in the Charleston area, but they have contacted law enforcement authorities elsewhere to be on the lookout.

Nine dead in a church shooting in South Carolina

Story by New York Times
Written by Jason Horowitz, Nick Corasaniti, and Ashley Southall

CHARLESTON, S.C. — A white gunman opened fire Wednesday night at a historic black church in downtown Charleston, S.C., killing nine people before fleeing and setting off an overnight manhunt, the police said.

At a news conference with Charleston’s mayor early Thursday, the police chief, Greg Mullen, called the shooting a hate crime.

“It is unfathomable that somebody in today’s society would walk into a church while they are having a prayer meeting and take their lives,” he said.

The police said the gunman walked into the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church around 9 p.m. and began shooting.

Eight people died at the scene, Chief Mullen said. Two people were taken to the Medical University of South Carolina, and one of them died on the way.

“Obviously, this is the worst night of my career,” Chief Mullen said. “This is clearly a tragedy in the city of Charleston.”

City officials did not release information about the victims and did not say how many people were in the church during the shooting. Hospital officials declined to comment.

Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. said the city was offering a reward for information leading to the arrest of the gunman, whom the police described as a clean-shaven white man about 21 years old who was wearing a gray sweatshirt, bluejeans and Timberland boots. Chief Mullen described him as “extremely dangerous.”

“To walk into a church and shoot someone, is out of pure hatred,” the mayor said as he walked away after the news conference.

Law enforcement officers from the F.B.I.; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division; and other agencies were assisting. Chief Mullen said the police were tracking the gunman with police dogs.

Around 10:45 p.m., police officers escorted a man in handcuffs who appeared to match the attacker’s description. But officials said later that they were still searching for the gunman.

In the first hours after the shooting, the police blocked reporters and passers-by from approaching the church, opposite a Marriott Courtyard hotel, because of a bomb threat. Many among the cluster of media workers were political reporters in town to cover campaign events of Hillary Rodham Clinton and Jeb Bush.

Helicopters with searchlights circled overhead, and a group of pastors knelt and prayed across the street.

“The question is, ‘Why God?’,” a man wearing a shirt bearing the name of the Empowerment Missionary Baptist Church said during the prayer.

Later, a group of church leaders gathered at the corner of Calhoun and King Streets, a few blocks from where the shooting occurred, and held an impromptu news conference. Tory Fields, a member of the Charleston County Ministers Conference, said he believed the suspect had targeted the victims because of their race

“It’s obvious that it’s race,” he said. “What else could it be? You’ve got a white guy going into an African-American church. That’s choice. He chose to go into that church and harm those people. That’s choice.”

The church is one of the nation’s oldest black churches. The pastor, the Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney, is a state senator. It was not clear whether he was at the church at the time of the shooting.

The Gothic Revival church was built in 1891 and is considered a historically significant building, according to the National Park Service.

The congregation was formed by black members of Charleston’s Methodist Episcopal Church who broke away “over disputed burial ground,” according to the website of the National Park Service.

In 1822, one of the church’s co-founders, Denmark Vesey, tried to foment a slave rebellion in Charleston, the church’s website says. The plot was foiled by the authorities and 35 people were executed, including Mr. Vesey.

The church houses the oldest black congregation south of Baltimore, the Park Service said.

Gov. Nikki R. Haley said in a statement that she and her family were praying for the victims.

“While we do not yet know all of the details, we do know that we’ll never understand what motivates anyone to enter one of our places of worship and take the life of another,” the governor said. “Please join us in lifting up the victims and their families with our love and prayers.”

Late Wednesday, the campaign staff of Mr. Bush, the former governor of Florida who is seeking the Republican nomination for president, said he was canceling appearances planned for Thursday in Charleston because of the shooting. Mrs. Clinton was in Charleston on Wednesday, but an aide said she had left the city before the shooting.

40 days and 40 nights - NAACP's "America's Journey for Justice" March from Selma, Alabama to Washington DC begins Saturday, August 1st, 2015

Dates targeted for States along the NAACP's Selma to Washington DC March Route. City stops include Atlanta and Charlotte.

The New NAACP President Cornell William Brooks: "Our focus today are on the issues for the 860-mile 'America's Journey for Justice' March from Selma to Washington DC...NOT Reality-TV."


NAACP President Cornell Brooks and a Coalition begin to answer media questions following the "America's Journey for Justice" June 15th, 2015 Press Conference at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC.


"The Television/Print/Internet Mediums - though more concerned with former NAACP branch president Rachel Dolezal in the Q and A session - showed up to get video clips and soundbites about the historic biblical Forty Days-Forty Nights march."

OUR LIVES, OUR VOTES, OUR JOBS, OUR SCHOOLS MATTER

The NAACP, together with a broad coalition of partners, announced "America’s Journey for Justice" - March from Selma to Washington DC - at the June 15th, 2015 Press Conference at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC.

Led by NAACP President and CEO Cornell William Brooks, America’s Journey for Justice – a historic 860-mile march from Selma, Alabama to Washington, DC – will mobilize activists and advance a focused national policy agenda that protects the right of every American to a fair criminal justice system, uncorrupted and unfettered access to the ballot box, sustainable jobs with a living wage, and equitable public education.

America’s Journey for Justice will unite partners from the social justice, youth activism, civil rights, democracy reform, religious, not-for-profit, labor, corporate, and environmental communities to call for justice for all Americans under the unifying theme “Our Lives, Our Votes, Our Jobs, Our Schools Matter.”

America’s Journey for Justice will commence on August 1st to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. The march will feature rallies and teach-ins along the route, satellite events across the country, and a #JusticeSummer social media campaign – and will culminate in a Washington, DC rally and advocacy day.
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NAACP.ORG
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Wade Henderson, President of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, addresses the media on the importance of this huge undertaking.


Dr. E. Faye Williams, National President/CEO of the National Congress of Black Women, fired up the crowd on the urgency of this 860-mile National March for Justice, Voting Rights, and more.


Rev. William Barber, President of the NAACP North Carolina State Conference, says this march is important and outlined the many cruelties out-front and
Behind-the-Scenes in his State and other nearby States.


NAACP President Cornell Brooks says that each day the March will travel roughly 20-miles for forty days and nights. The route includes stops in Atlanta,Ga. and Charlotte, N.C., where there will be teach-ins. Churches and community center will provide overnight stays with cots/sleeping bags.


After the Lincoln Memorial Press Conference, photo op here (l to r): Yours Truly Kirk Tanter, Wade Henderson, NAACP President Cornell Brooks, Rev. William Barber, and Communications Workers of America President Larry Cohen.

Black Women's Lives Matter, Too

Commentary by National Urban League President Marc Morial

Recent events in McKinney, Texas, show that racially-motivated police brutality is not limited to young black men. A cell-phone video showing a snarling police officer brutalizing 14-year-old Dajerria Becton has led to the resignation of the officer and possible criminal charges.

While women have been at the forefront of the Black Lives Matter Movement, female victims of police brutality have gone largely ignored. The social media campaign #SayHerName is an effort to confront the reality that women are victims, too, and their names are seldom heard.

While Dajerria’s case has exploded onto the national scene, others remain relatively unknown: 22 year old Rekia Boyd was walking with friends in Chicago when an off-duty police officer who thought they were making too much noise fired five shots over his shoulder while sitting in his car. The officer was acquitted of all charges in her death. Yvette Smith was shot and killed while following a deputy sheriff’s order to come out of her home. The deputy is awaiting trial. Natasha McKenna died when officers used a stun gun on her while she was handcuffed. Her death was ruled accidental. The list goes on and on.

It was 48 years ago today: Supreme Court rejects anti-interracial marriage laws

Story by National Constitution Center

On June 12, 1967, the Supreme Court issued its Loving v. Virginia decision, which blocked states from passing laws that banned inter-racial marriages. Here is a brief recap of the this landmark civil rights case.

As of 1967, 16 States had still not repealed anti-miscegenation laws that forbid interracial marriages. Mildred and Richard Loving were residents of one such state, Virginia. They had fallen in love and wanted to get married.

Under Virginia’s laws, however, Richard, a white man, could not marry Mildred, a woman of African American and Native American descent. The two travelled to Washington D.C. where they could be married, but they were arrested under a Virginia state law that prohibited inter-racial marriage.

Because their offense was a criminal conviction, after being found guilty, they were given a prison sentence of ONE YEAR. The trial judge suspended the sentence for 25 years on the condition that the couple LEAVE Virginia.

On appeal, the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia ruled that the state had an interest in preserving the “racial integrity” of its constituents and that because the punishment applied equally to both races, the statute did not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

The United States Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, reversed the Virginia Court’s ruling and held that the Equal Protection Clause required strict scrutiny to apply to all race based classifications. Furthermore, the Court concluded that the law was rooted in invidious racial discrimination, making it impossible to satisfy a compelling government interest.

“Under our Constitution,” wrote Chief Justice Earl Warren, “the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual, and cannot be infringed by the State.”

The Loving decision still stands as a milestone in the Civil Rights Movement.

View the 1967 unanimous ruling: http://www.oyez.org/cases/1960-1969/1966/1966_395

Urban Radio Heats Up

Story by Inside Radio

To say the urban format is on a ratings roll would be an understatement. For a second consecutive month, the format shattered its PPM record in May. Urban’s latest share of audiences aged 6+ (3.6), 18-34 (6.6) and 25-54 (4.1) were all new records under PPM measurement.

“Simply put, the last year-and-a-half has been the best stretch we’ve seen yet for urban contemporary,” Nielsen says its monthly format trends report.

Programmers say it’s more than just mega-hits from core acts like from Wiz Khalifa, Kendrick Lamar and Trey Songz driving the growth. “Urban programmers have continued to learn how to effectively program their station to deliver compelling content to their station’s P1 consumers,” consultant Tony Gray says. Stronger contesting and marketing are helping help drive more listening occasions. Gray also points to a number of urban station operators that have added the Telos Voltair audio processor to their audio chain, thereby increasing the likelihood of their station’s encoded signals being detected by Nielsen ratings meters.

While it’s tough to peg the growth to any one factor, urban’s ratings trajectory is undisputable. Cox Media Group’s “99 Jamz” WEDR, Miami charged 3.7-4.4-5.0 in May, despite the presence of a well-oiled competitor. Radio One’s “92-Q”WERQ, ranked second in Baltimore with a 7.2, up from a 5.4 in January. In St. Louis, Radio One’s “Hot 104” WHHL has trended 3.8-5.4 during the past year. New competitors, meanwhile, are expanding the format’s market share. The February arrival of a second urban station in Los Angeles has grown the format’s 6+ share by more than 50% since January.

Dame Dash speaks on "Ownership"

Dame Dash speaks on "Ownership" during an interview on Power 105.1 in New York

NAACP's "Journey for Justice" (Selma to Washington DC March is August 1st) Press Conference - Monday 6/15/15 at 10am - Streamed Live - www.naacp.org

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Jamiah Adams (mobile) 443 571 6618 (email) jadams@naacpnet.org
Nicole Kenney (mobile) 410 336 4559 (email) nkenney@naacpnet.org
Michelle Nealy (mobile) 443 562 4233 (email) mnealy@naacpnet.org

REQUEST FOR COVERAGE

NAACP ANNOUNCES “AMERICA’S JOURNEY FOR JUSTICE”

Broad coalition of partners including the Democracy Initiative, Communications Workers of America, Common Cause, and Sierra Club Announce 860-mile March from Selma, AL to Washington, DC featuring nationwide demonstrations, teach-ins, and #JusticeSummer campaign
OUR LIVES, OUR VOTES, OUR JOBS, OUR SCHOOLS MATTER

The NAACP, together with a broad coalition of partners, will announce America’s Journey for Justice at a press conference on MONDAY, JUNE 15, AT 10 A.M. AT THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL 2 LINCOLN MEMORIAL CIRCLE NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20037

Led by NAACP President and CEO Cornell William Brooks, America’s Journey for Justice – a historic 860-mile march from Selma, Alabama to Washington, DC – will mobilize activists and advance a focused national policy agenda that protects the right of every American to a fair criminal justice system,uncorrupted and unfettered access to the ballot box, sustainable jobs with a living wage, and equitable public education. America’s Journey for Justice will unite partners from the social justice, youth activism, civil rights, democracy reform, religious, not-for-profit, labor, corporate, and environmental communities to call for justice for all Americans under the unifying theme “Our Lives, Our Votes, Our Jobs, Our Schools Matter.”

America’s Journey for Justice will commence on August 1st to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. The march will feature rallies and teach-ins along the route, satellite events across the country, and a #JusticeSummer social media campaign – and will culminate in a Washington, DC rally and advocacy day.

Date: Monday, June 15, 2015
Time: 10 a.m. – 11 a.m. ET
Place: Lincoln Memorial, 2 Lincoln Memorial Cir NW, Washington, DC 20037
Speaking program to be announced.

Press RSVP here: http://action.naacp.org/page/s/ajfjrelease

Press conference will also be live streamed at www.naacp.org.

###
Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest and largest nonpartisan civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities. You can read more about the NAACP’s work and our five “Game Changer” issue areas here.

If you would rather not receive future communications from NAACP, let us know by clicking here.
NAACP, 1156 15th st. NW, Washington, DC 20005 United States

U.S., European Stocks Surge Amid Optimism on Greece, Oil Rally

Story by Bloomberg
Written by Jeremy Herron

U.S. and European stocks rallied amid optimism Greece will reach a deal with creditors and as energy shares jumped with the price of crude. Government bonds fell, while the yen rose against all its major peers.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 1.2 percent at 11:28 a.m. in New York, the best gain in a month. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index surged 1.7 percent for its first rise in seven days. Germany’s 10-year bund yield topped 1 percent for the first time since September and Treasury 10-year rates hit October highs. Oil added 1.5 percent in New York, while emerging equities halted a 12-day slump.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-09/oil-extends-jump-before-stockpiles-kiwi-bonds-fall-amid-selloff

Barbershop 3 - First Look

A "Behind-the-Scenes" look at upcoming 2016 movie Barbershop 3.

Video Statement from McKinney Mayor Brian Loughmiller about the McKinney Police incident

In this video statement, McKinney Mayor Brian Loughmiller said that "Casebolt would remain on administrative leave until the Department's internal investigation was concluded."

Link to McKinney Police incident: http://kirktanter.blogspot.com/2015/06/mckinney-texas-police-attack-girl-in.html

An 860-mile 'March for Justice' from Selma, Alabama to Washington DC - NAACP ANNOUNCES “AMERICA’S JOURNEY FOR JUSTICE”

NAACP ANNOUNCES “AMERICA’S JOURNEY FOR JUSTICE”

Broad coalition of partners including the Democracy Initiative, Communications Workers of America, Common Cause, and Sierra Club announce 860-mile March from Selma, AL to Washington, DC featuring nationwide demonstrations, teach-ins, and #JusticeSummer campaign

OUR LIVES, OUR VOTES, OUR JOBS, OUR SCHOOLS MATTER

The NAACP, together with a broad coalition of partners, will announce America’s Journey for Justice at a press conference and rally on MONDAY, JUNE 15, AT 10 A.M. AT THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL 2 LINCOLN MEMORIAL CIRCLE NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20037

Led by NAACP President and CEO Cornell William Brooks, America’s Journey for Justice – a historic 860-mile march from Selma, Alabama to Washington, DC – will mobilize activists and advance a focused national policy agenda that protects the right of every American to a fair criminal justice system, uncorrupted and unfettered access to the ballot box, sustainable jobs, and equitable public education.

America’s Journey for Justice will unite partners from the social justice, youth activism, civil rights, democracy reform, religious, not-for-profit, labor, corporate, and environmental communities to call for justice for all Americans under the unifying theme:

“Our Lives, Our Votes, Our Jobs, Our Schools Matter.”

America’s Journey for Justice will commence on August 1st to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. The march will feature teach-ins along the route, satellite events across the country, and a #JusticeSummer social media campaign – and will culminate in a Washington, DC rally and advocacy day.

Date: Monday, June 15, 2015

Time: 10 a.m. – 11 a.m.

Place: Lincoln Memorial
2 Lincoln Memorial Circle NW,
Washington DC 20037

REQUEST FOR COVERAGE

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Jamiah Adams (mobile) 443 571 6618 (email) jadams@naacpnet.org
Nicole Kenney (mobile) 410 336 4559 (email) nkenney@naacpnet.org
Michelle Nealy (mobile) 443 562 4233 (email) mnealy@naacpnet.org

McKinney, Texas Police Attack Girl in Bikini, Pull Gun on Teens at Pool Party

“It was horrific,” said one of the teenage girls who attended the graduation pool party. It turns out that these young adults were simply celebrating their graduation, and nearly all of them were invited guests in the community. (Videos by Filming Cops)


Witness tells her side of the story of what happened

13 Cities Where Millennials Can't Afford a Home

San Francisco (left - Photographer: Christian Heeb/Getty Images)

Story by Bloomberg
Written by Victoria Stilwell and Wei Lu

There's no place like home — except when you can't afford one.

Millennials have been priced out of some of the biggest U.S. cities, with residential real estate prices rising even as wage growth remains elusive.

Bloomberg used data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Zillow Group Inc. and Bankrate.com to quantify how much more money millennials would need to earn each year to afford a home in the largest U.S. cities. The good news is that out of 50 metropolitan areas, 37 are actually affordable for the typical 18-34 year-old (scroll down to the end of the story to see the full results).

The bad news is that the areas that often most appeal to young adults are also the ones where homeownership is the most out of reach.


The biggest disparities are on the West Coast. Take the three Californian hubs of San Francisco, San Jose (the heart of Silicon Valley), and Los Angeles (where a developer is trying to sell one of the biggest homes in U.S. history for a record $500 million). The typical young adult in those cities doesn't even make half of what's needed to afford a home.

That makes places such as New York, where millennials have an earnings gap of just $6,550, seem relatively affordable. But remember that New York's metropolitan statistical region includes places that are outside of the high-priced housing market in and around Manhattan, where $374,350 (the median home value for the metro area) wouldn't even buy you a kitchen.

Almost 80 percent of New York's millennials reside in three counties: New York County, Queens County and Kings County, where Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn respectively are located. Using the average median home value for those three boroughs ($749,596) and the 2015 estimated earnings for millennials living there ($49,193), the affordability gap comes out to a whopping $52,262.

Furthermore, Bloomberg's calculations assume that millennials have already saved up the 20 percent they'd need for a down payment, which is a problem in itself. Families where the head of household was under 35 years old had a median net worth of $10,400 in 2013, according to the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances.

Many millennials "don't have the money for a down payment or can't afford to buy where they want to buy," said Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Charlotte, North Carolina. "It's tougher to buy a home in the city."

That means millennials living in unaffordable markets will be forced to shell out money for ever-increasing rents, instead of building equity.

Graduate school brought Dan Smart, 28, to New York almost three years ago. As he was finishing his degree, he wanted to buy property to "put down some roots and be established for a while," Smart said in an interview. High home prices in Manhattan, however, are making that dream a little more difficult, he said.

"I'm making a good salary and I'm doing all these things that I'm supposed to be doing," such as saving for a down payment, he said. "But you're just not able to save enough to get to that number. Housing is so inflated."

Real estate markets that millennials may find most affordable include Detroit, Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Indianapolis. You can see the full list in the interactive table below (click on the column headers to sort). A negative earnings gap on the far-right column indicates that the typical millennial doesn't earn enough to buy a home in that metro area. A surplus, on the other hand, indicates that the typical young person does.
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Link to 50 cities: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-08/these-are-the-13-cities-where-millennials-can-t-afford-a-home

Methodology: Fifty largest U.S. cities are ranked based on the monetary gap between the median earnings of millennials and the minimum earnings required to purchase a single family home for the given region. Home values, sourced from Zillow, are based on January to April 2015 monthly median values for detached single family homes within a given region. Millennials' earnings estimations are based on 2013 median earnings for workers ages 18 to 34 years old from the Census Bureau, assuming an escalation of 2 percent per year. The mortgage payment calculation assumed a standard 20 percent down payment and state-based monthly average of 30-year fixed rates in 2015, or jumbo rates if the home value was higher than $417,000. Minimum salary required was the inferred amount, assuming one-third of the pre-tax income goes to mortgage payment.

Emmis Broadcasting and Jay-Z's "Tidal" Partnership

Story by Inside Radio
Tidal link: http://listen.tidalhifi.com/

“Hot 97” WQHT, New York has traditionally streamed its annual Summer Jam festival on its own platforms. But yesterday’s concert from New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium was streamed by the Jay-Z-led Tidal music service. It’s part of a new strategy by Emmis to monetize exclusive content via paid subscriptions.

In place of sponsorship revenue, Emmis sold exclusive rights to a nine-hour live stream of what is arguably the biggest hip-hop concert on the planet to Tidal, which charges $10 or $20 a month and is making exclusive content its unique value proposition.

For Emmis, the partnership is a risky experiment into a new way of monetizing exclusive content. Last year more than 1.3 million viewers tuned in to the Summer Jam stream across multiple distribution partners, including several hundred thousand who watched it on HD TVs.

Even with fans having to buy a Tidal subscription to access the stream, Emmis-New York GM Deon Levingston says he expects the stream to generate a significant online audience. “This is the first step in a new partnership between Emmis and Tidal that both are very excited about,” he says.

Levingston believes a paid subscription model will ultimately allow him to better monetize the concert stream.

But there’s no benchmark for knowing how many fans will pay to stream the show, which he said was “very close” to a 53,000-person sellout before the gates opened yesterday afternoon. “It’s a very risky venture but I think it’s worth the risk,” Levingston says.

Serena Williams wins French Open for 20th Grand Slam title

Serena Williams interviewed following her 20th Grand Slam victory at the French Open

Story by ESPN and AP
Written by Lucie Safarova

PARIS -- What started out as a stroll became quite a struggle for Serena Williams.

After going up by a set and two breaks in the French Open final, she double-faulted away that lead. Then, suddenly, she trailed in the third set.

As the tension thickened, Williams was warned by the chair umpire for an audible obscenity. She even felt the need to hit one shot left-handed.

Ah, but when Williams plays her best, no one is better. Putting aside a lingering illness, a mid-match lull and a feisty opponent, Williams staved off Lucie Safarova's upset bid to prevail 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-2 and win the French Open for the 20th Grand Slam title of her career.

"When I was a little girl, in California, my father and my mother wanted me to play tennis. And now I'm here, with 20 Grand Slam titles," Williams said in French. "This is very special for me. I haven't always played very well here, but I'm really happy to win the 20th here."

She now has three French Open trophies to go alongside six each from the U.S. Open and Australian Open, and five from Wimbledon. She also became the first woman to win consecutive U.S. Open, Australian Open, and French Open titles since Monica Seles in 1991-92.

"This is by far the most dramatic [major title I've won]," Williams told NBC's Mary Carillo afterward. "I didn't even train yesterday, I've had the flu ... it's just been a nightmare."

Williams led 4-1 in the second set, then began to falter. Coughing between points, she double-faulted twice in a row to get broken for the first time, then double-faulted again to make it 4-all. When Safarova, now more confident in her strokes, held moments later, she led 5-4.

"I choked, simple as that," Williams said. "I hit a lot of double-faults, and my first serve just went off. ... I got really nervous, it was a big moment to win 20."

With the score 5-5, Williams broke Safarova and served for the match. But the 13th-seeded Czech player broke straight back to force a tiebreaker, which Safarova dominated with powerful groundstrokes.

Safarova her momentum going and led 2-0 in the final set before Williams began her comeback. Williams received an obscenity warning from the chair umpire after holding serve for a 3-2 lead in the third set. After sealing the game with an ace, Williams yelled on center court and received the warning moments later.

The top-ranked Williams took the last six games and added to her championships on the red clay of Roland Garros in 2002 and 2013.

Serena Williams won the French Open in dramatic fashion, prevailing in three back-and-forth sets over Lucie Safarova. Dominique Faget/AFP/Getty Images
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She stretched her Grand Slam winning streak to 21 matches, following titles at the U.S. Open last September and Australian Open in January.

Only two women in the century-plus history of Grand Slam tennis have won more than the 33-year-old American: Margaret Smith Court with 24 titles, and Steffi Graf with 22.

This one, though, did not come easily for Williams, who double-faulted 11 times, part of 42 total unforced errors, 25 more than her opponent.

Whatever it takes to win, right? No one does that better than Williams, who is 32-1 in 2015, including 12-0 in three-setters.

She is the first woman since Jennifer Capriati in 2001 to win the Australian Open and French Open back-to-back and will head to the grass courts of Wimbledon this month with a chance to extend a bid to do just about the only thing she hasn't accomplished: win a calendar-year Grand Slam.

When Saturday's match, which went from a stroll to a struggle, was over, Williams dropped her racket, threw her head back and lifted her arms into a "V." In the stands, her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, stood and raised his hands. He held aloft two fingers on his right and made a fist with his left, to symbolize "20."

And to think: Four times in her first six matches over the past two weeks, Williams dropped the opening set before coming back to win, including in Thursday's semifinals, when Williams was lethargic and, Mouratoglou would say afterward, bothered by the flu, a fever and difficulty breathing.

So the most meaningful question leading into the final against Safarova, a 28-year-old lefty with a whip-like forehand who was making her Slam final debut in her 40th major appearance, was this: How healthy would Williams be?

She began providing answers from the get-go on a sunny afternoon.

Williams closed the first game with an untouchable groundstroke winner, followed by a 120 mph ace. As if to prove her timing on returns was just fine, too, she pounded a 104 mph serve with a cross-court forehand so powerful and precise that Safarova didn't bother to step toward the ball, watching the winner sail by for a break that made it 3-1 after 13 minutes.

Williams received a kiss from 18-time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova as she collected the French Open trophy, raising it triumphantly over her head as she milked the applause from the Court Chatrier crowd.

Williams, speaking in French, paid tribute to beaten finalist Safarova.

"Lucie played very well, she was a magnificent opponent," Williams said. "It was a dream for me to win."

Safarova returned the compliment -- in English:

"Serena, you were amazing today, you a great fighter. Congratulations," she said.

American Pharoah claims first Triple Crown since 1978

Story by ESPN

NEW YORK -- At long last, the Triple Crown drought has ended.

American Pharoah led all the way to win the Belmont Stakes by 5½ lengths Saturday, becoming the first horse in 37 years to sweep the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes -- one of the sporting world's rarest feats.

The bay colt with the unusually short tail defeated seven rivals in the grueling 1½-mile race, leading wire-to-wire and covering the distance in 2:26.65 to end the longest stretch without a Triple Crown champion in history.

"We need stars," said Ahmed Zayat, American Pharoah's owner. "I'm so thrilled, honored, privileged and humbled."

American Pharoah is the 12th horse and first since Affirmed in 1978 to win three races on different tracks at varying distances over a five-week span. He won the Kentucky Derby by one length on May 2 and romped to a seven-length victory in the rainy Preakness two weeks later. He is the fourth Triple Crown winner to go wire-to-wire in the Preakness and the Belmont.

Trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Victor Espinoza ended their own frustrating histories in the Triple Crown. Baffert finally won on his record fourth Triple try, having lost in 1997, 1998 (by a nose) and 2002.

"I still can't believe it happened," Baffert said. "I couldn't be any happier."

Espinoza, the first Hispanic jockey to win the Triple Crown, got it done with his record third shot after failing to win in 2002 and last year on California Chrome.

"I come here with a lot of confidence -- more confidence than anywhere," Espinoza said. "This time, I had so much confidence in American Pharoah.

"That trophy caused me a lot of stress. But the third time is the charm."

Frosted finished second and Keen Ice third.

ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Minister Louis Farrakhan announces on WWPR's 105.1fm Breakfast Club Morning Show in New York, the 20th Anniversary of the Million Man March/Rally in Washington DC October 10th, 2015

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan makes a rare radio appearance on iHeart's WWPR 105.1fm in New York, promoting the 20th Anniversary of the Million Man March/Rally in Washington DC on Saturday October 10th, 2015. Farrakhan speaks of his Harlem and Boston Roots; Presidents Obama, Bush, and Reagan; the Baltimore Uprising; Drugs and Guns brought into the Black Community; Disciplining our children; Iraqi Oil Reserves; Marching; Vaccinations; Dr. King's messages during the last year of his life; and much more...

How For-PROFIT Prisons have become the Biggest Lobby to Congress no one is talking about

A For-Profit Prison (Photo Credit: Benjamin C. Tankersley/Washington Post)

Story by Washington Post
Written by Michael Cohen

Several industries have become notorious for the millions they spend on influencing legislation and getting friendly candidates into office: Big Oil, Big Pharma and the gun lobby among them. But one has managed to quickly build influence with comparatively little scrutiny: Private prisons. The two largest for-profit prison companies in the United States – GEO and Corrections Corporation of America – and their associates have funneled more than $10 million to candidates since 1989 and have spent nearly $25 million on lobbying efforts. Meanwhile, these private companies have seen their revenue and market share soar. They now rake in a combined $3.3 billion in annual revenue and the private federal prison population more than doubled between 2000 and 2010, according to a report by the Justice Policy Institute. Private companies house nearly half of the nation’s immigrant detainees, compared to about 25 percent a decade ago, a Huffington Post report found. In total, there are now about 130 private prisons in the country with about 157,000 beds.

Marco Rubio (photo left) is one of the best examples of the private prison industry’s growing political influence, a connection that deserves far more attention now that he’s officially launched a Presidential bid. The U.S. Senator has a history of close ties to the nation’s second-largest for-profit prison company, GEO Group, stretching back to his days as speaker of the Florida House of Representatives. While Rubio was leading the House, GEO was awarded a State Government contract for a $110 million prison soon after Rubio hired an economic consultant who had been a trustee for a GEO real estate trust. Over his career, Rubio has received nearly $40,000 in campaign donations from GEO, making him the Senate’s top career recipient of contributions from the company. (Rubio’s office did not respond to requests for comment.)

The Justice Policy Institute identified the private-prison industry’s three-pronged approach to increase profits through political influence: lobbying, direct campaign contributions, and building relationships and networks. On its website, CCA states that the company doesn’t lobby on policies that affect “the basis for or duration of an individual’s incarceration or detention.” Still, several reports have documented instances when private-prison companies have indirectly supported policies that put more Americans and immigrants behind bars – such as California’s three-strikes rule and Arizona’s highly controversial anti-illegal immigration law – by donating to politicians who support them, attending meetings with officials who back them, and lobbying for funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Showing just how important these policies are to the private prison industry, both GEO Group and Corrections Corporation of America have warned shareholders that changes in these policies would hurt their bottom lines.

In its 2014 annual report, CCA wrote:

The demand for our facilities and services could be adversely affected by the relaxation of enforcement efforts, leniency in conviction or parole standards and sentencing practices or through the decriminalization of certain activities that are currently proscribed by our criminal laws. For instance, any changes with respect to drugs and controlled substances or illegal immigration could affect the number of persons arrested, convicted, and sentenced, thereby potentially reducing demand for correctional facilities to house them. … Legislation has been proposed in numerous jurisdictions that could lower minimum sentences for some non-violent crimes and make more inmates eligible for early release based on good behavior.

This outlook runs counter to what should be a rehabilitative mission of the nation’s criminal justice system. Instead, private prison contracts often require the government to keep the correctional facilities and immigration detention centers full, forcing communities to continuously funnel people into the prison system, even if actual crime rates are falling. Nearly two-thirds of private prison contracts mandate that state and local governments maintain a certain occupancy rate – usually 90 percent – or require taxpayers to pay for empty beds. In Arizona, three private prisons are operating with a 100 percent occupancy guarantee, according to Mother Jones. There’s even a lockup quota at the federal level: The Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s detention budget includes a mandate from Congress that at least 34,000 immigrants remain detained on a daily basis, a quota that has steadily grown each year, even as the undocumented immigrant population in the United States has leveled off. Private prisons have profited handsomely from that policy, owning nine of the 10 largest ICE detention centers, according to a report released this month by Grassroots Leadership.

With the growing influence of the prison lobby, the nation is, in effect, commoditizing human bodies for an industry in militant pursuit of profit. For instance, privatization created the atmosphere that made the “Kids For Cash” scandal possible, in which two Pennsylvania judges received $2.6 million in kickbacks from for-profit juvenile detention centers for sending more kids to the facilities and with unusually long sentences. The influence of private prisons creates a system that trades money for human freedom, often at the expense of the nation’s most vulnerable populations: children, immigrants and the poor.

The biggest beneficiaries of private prisons’ political donations have been Republican politicians in Florida, Tennessee, and border states with high populations of undocumented immigrants. The Republic Party of Florida PAC has received nearly $2.5 million from GEO and CCA since 1989. In 2010, GEO and its affiliates pumped $33,500 into political action committees benefiting Florida Republicans, including the Marco Rubio for U.S. Senate PAC. Since 2009, GEO Group’s co-founder and chief executive, George Zoley, has personally donated $6,480 to Rubio.

A 2011 investigative report published by The Center for Media and Democracy detailed the connections between Rubio and GEO during his time in the Florida House. It notes that Rubio hired Donna Arduin, a former trustee for GEO’s Correctional Properties Trust, as an economic consultant. Arduin worked with Rubio’s then-budget chief, Ray Sansom, who pushed through a $110 million deal for a new GEO prison in the House Appropriations Bill. The report also detailed how legislation favorable to GEO Group has shadowed Arduin’s presence in government from California to Florida. In 2011, Florida Gov. Rick Scott – who also used Arduin as a budget adviser – pushed (unsuccessfully) to privatize 27 prisons south of Orlando.

Upon winning the Senate seat, Rubio tapped former lobbyist Cesar Conda as his chief of staff in 2011. Conda had co-founded what is now GEO’s main lobbying firm, Navigators Global, and after joining Rubio, continued receiving payments of $150,000 from the firm as part of a stock buyout arrangement. In April 2014, Conda went on to lead Rubio’s Reclaim America PAC as a senior adviser, until recently rejoining Navigators. During Conda’s time with Rubio, GEO became a top-10 contributor to Reclaim America, giving $16,000 in 2014, according to OpenSecrets.org. Conda’s firm also banked $610,000 from the private prison company between 2011 and 2014 as its lobbying firm. According to a disclosure form obtained by The Nation, among the issues Navigators lobbied for on GEO’s behalf was immigration reform, an issue on which Rubio has remained dubious. In an e-mail responding to these issues, Conda said Navigators never lobbied for GEO’s prison business (he said the services were for GEO’s subsidiary, BI Incorporated, and the team working on it, which he wasn’t a part of, focused on homeland-security issues), and that he never met nor communicated with a Navigators lobbyist about GEO while working for Rubio, though he couldn’t speak for other members of senator’s staff.

But Rubio shouldn’t get a pass just because there’s no clear quid pro quo. What our criminal justice system needs is reform, not incentive for expansion. In fact, opposition to criminal justice reform should render any candidate woefully inadequate to lead a nation suffering from a prison system that essentially perpetuates the oppression of its most vulnerable citizens. We can’t allow the proliferation of private prisons and their political influence to remain the most important issue that no one’s talking about.

Remembering Albert Joyner (brother of Tom Joyner)

Source: Black America Web
Photo: Courtesy of the Joyner Family (L to R: Albert and Tom Joyner)

Albert Joyner, one of the nation’s most successful owners of McDonald’s franchises and philanthropist, passed away in Jackson, Mississippi on Wednesday June 3, 2015. He was 69.

Joyner was a fervent family man and is survived by his wife, Danita, and four children – Michael, Allison, Danielle and Albert Jr. He is also survived by his brother, Tom, and nephews Thomas Joyner, Jr. and Oscar Joyner.

Albert shared his brother, syndicated radio personality Tom Joyner’s, passion for education and served as an active board member of the Tom Joyner Foundation.

Known for his dry wit and keen business acumen, he bought his first McDonald’s franchise in Mobile, Alabama. With the success of this first restaurant, he formed My Joy, Inc. and went on to own numerous franchises in Birmingham and Jackson, Mississippi. Mack Wilbourn, one of the first minority McDonald’s franchises in the Southeast, as well as Joyner’s mentor and friend, has said that one of his greatest accomplishments was mentoring Albert Joyner.

Always with an eye to make something happen – Albert collaborated with his brother to break the regional record for the most cars served in a McDonald’s drive-through in an hour at one of his Jackson Mississippi locations. At the end of the hour, 419 cars had been served, breaking the previous record of 288 at a Baton Rouge McDonald’s.

Born in Tuskegee, Alabama, Albert Joyner attended Tuskegee Institute High School and graduated from the famed Tuskegee University (née Institute), majoring in physical education.

In lieu of flowers, click here to make a donation to the Al Joyner Memorial Scholarship Fund, benefiting students at Tuskegee University, his alma mater.

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Shrinking Middle Class squeezes African Americans, Latinos - Commentary by Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.

Commentary by Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.
Email: jjackson@rainbowpush.org

They teach our children, drive our buses, clean our streets and deliver our mail. They staff the government and make it run. Their public-sector jobs are at the heart of the middle class, particularly for African-Americans and Latinos. And they are in steep decline.

One of five African-American adults works in government employment. This is a higher percentage than either white Americans or Latinos. It isn’t surprising. Freed of segregation, African-Americans came into our cities just as manufacturing jobs — the traditional pathway to the middle class — were headed abroad. Government employment offered secure jobs, decent pay and benefits, a chance to buy a home and lift your family.

Women also flocked to public service jobs, which offered greater professional and managerial opportunities.

But in 2008 when the economy collapsed, state budgets were savaged. Tax revenues plummeted; spending needs soared. Deep cutbacks in regular programs followed. No one will be surprised to learn that African Americans lost jobs at a higher rate than whites, often because of seniority.

Now, in the sixth year of the recovery, the economy has inched back, unemployment is down. But employment in the public sector hasn’t bounced back. The new jobs being created pay less and offer less security than the jobs that were lost. And this has devastating effects on the African-American middle class, the very people who have worked hard, played by the rules, and sought to get ahead.

The Economic Policy Institute estimates that since 2007, there are 1.8 million missing jobs in the public sector. Moreover, across the country, conservative Republican governors have assaulted unions and sought to curb collective bargaining, erase teacher tenure, and dramatically cut pensions and other benefits.

The loss of jobs and cutback on wages exacerbated the housing collapse. We’ve learned that banks and other predators targeted black neighborhoods like Prince Georges County in Maryland. They marketed shoddy mortgages, leaving those with good credit paying higher rates than they could have and those with no credit betting it all on the assumption that housing prices would never fall.

Many report on the decline of the middle class, which has fallen backward over the last decade in both median income and wealth. More than 8 of 10 Americans, according to a Pew Poll, now report that it is harder to maintain their standard of living than it was 10 years ago.

And African-Americans and Latinos got hit the hardest. The race gap has widened, not narrowed, in this century. The New York Times reports that 50 percent of African-Americans now are low-income households, along with 43 percent of Latinos — a category that has been growing since 2000.

In Illinois, the nonprofit Corporation for Enterprise Development reports that more than one in three households suffers a “persistent state of financial insecurity.” Again, African-Americans, Latinos and single women with children fare worse.

Numbers like this numb. We know the reality. But we seem in denial. When Baltimore blows up, the spotlight is put on the police and their practices, as it should be. But police forces across the country are ordered to keep order in communities racked with unemployment, homelessness, drugs, guns, collapsing schools, impoverished families and crushed hopes. The best-trained, more empathetic police officers in the country would have a hard time fulfilling that mission.

This country cannot stay in denial. We have to have a bold plan to rebuild high poverty neighborhoods from Chicago’s South Side to Appalachia’s valleys. Across the country we have work to do — from rebuilding 100-year-old water systems to creating the rapid transit that will connect people to jobs to moving to clean energy — and we have an entire generation of young people desperate for work.

We have Corporations stashing trillions abroad to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. Billionaire hedge fund operators pay a lower tax rate than their secretaries.

We need to rebuild America and put people to work. The cost of losing another generation to despair will be far greater than the cost of investing in them on the front side of life.

Email: jjackson@rainbowpush.org

Twitter @RevJJackson

Senate approves sweeping reforms to NSA spying programs

Story by The Hill
Written by Julian Hattem

The Senate on Tuesday sent legislation reforming the nation’s surveillance laws to President Obama’s desk — days after a stalemate caused the National Security Agency’s powers to lapse.

The 67-32 vote for the USA Freedom Act came more than 36 hours after three parts of the Patriot Act expired, forcing the NSA to wind down its bulk collection of U.S. phone data.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) suffered a political blow during the bruising fight over the legislation. He and other hawkish Republican Senators opposed the bill even after the House approved it in a broad, bipartisan vote.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) lambasted McConnell for the lapse in Patriot Act provisions, arguing it would not have happened if the GOP leader hadn't spent so much time on trade legislation in the previous month.

Adding further insult to McConnell’s injury, all three of the amendments to the legislation he supported died on Tuesday.

McConnell was also thwarted by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a Presidential candidate and his erstwhile ally.

Paul blocked several efforts by McConnell to extend the existing authority for the NSA powers before the Memorial Day recess, which all but ensured a lapse in the authority. Paul has made opposing the NSA a central part of his Presidential campaign, but his efforts over the last few weeks clearly irritated many of his Senate colleagues.

Passage of the law is a significant victory for critics of the NSA, as for the first time since that post-9/11 National Security law was passed, Congress voted to affirmatively rein in the nation’s surveillance powers.

Fittingly, passage of the legislation — which would end the National Security Agency’s (NSA) controversial collection of bulk records about Americans’ phone calls — came almost exactly two years to the day that government leaker Edward Snowden first revealed the existence of the program to the world.

“It’s an historic moment,” Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) — one of the authors of the bill — said immediately after the vote. “It’s the first major overhaul in government surveillance laws in decades and add significant privacy protections for the American people.”

Once President Obama signs the bill — which is likely to be quickly — three parts of the Patriot Act that expired at midnight on Sunday would go back online, bringing with them authorities that the government says are critical to protecting the nation.

The legislation will end the NSA’s collection of phone “Metadata” — which include the phone numbers involved in a call as well as the time a phone call occurred and the length of the call. The NSA program does not collect the actual content of people’s conversations.

“Nobody’s civil liberties are being violated here,” McConnell insisted moments before the vote.

The bill will also limit other types of data collection, as well as add new transparency measures and place a new expert panel on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which oversees intelligence activities but currently only hears the government’s side of an argument.

The House passed the legislation 338-88 last month, which many saw as a ringing endorsement of its reforms.

The bill hit a series of snags in the Senate, however.

After lawmakers in the upper chamber initially blocked it and a short-term measure offered by McConnell, the Senate was forced to return for a rare Sunday evening vote, mere hours before the spying powers lapsed. But McConnell was outplayed by Paul — a candidate for president — who forced the temporary lapse.

In recent days, McConnell and Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) had made a last ditch attempt to reform the bill over the heated objections of lawmakers in the House and the White House.

“There are a number of us who feel very strongly that this is a significant weakening of the tools that were put in place in the wake of 9/11 to protect the country,” McConnell told reporters on Tuesday.

Later, on the Senate floor, McConnell characterized the White House-backed bill as part of a broader tendency by the Obama administration to sacrifice America’s National Security edge.

“This bill is a part of a pattern, going back to the time the President took office, to pull back,” he said, equating it to his attempt to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and the military draw down from Afghanistan.

Critics said that the three amendments would have significantly watered down the bill. The measures would have reduced the powers of a new expert panel on the secretive federal court overseeing intelligence programs, given the NSA more time to end its phone records program and imposed new requirements for telephone companies.

A 99-Year-Old Wall Street Veteran Reveals the Secrets of Her Success

Stralem & Co. Senior VP Irene Bergman. Photographer: Chris Goodney/Bloomberg

Story by Bloomberg
Written by Dakin Campbell

As she nears 100, Irene Bergman has some advice for enjoying a long career on Wall Street: Don’t do anything stupid.

Consider investment returns, the financial adviser at Stralem & Co. said in an interview at her New York apartment, where, surrounded by paintings from Dutch masters, she telephones her clients. While many investors nowadays obsess over quick profits, it’s best to wait at least three years, or better yet, many more, before evaluating holdings. But don’t be afraid of revising your thesis, she said. If thorough research favors a portfolio shift, have courage and make changes.

“The longer you’re in the business, the more pessimistic you get,” Bergman said in her soft voice, noting she currently thinks shares are too expensive. Still, “I’m able to get bullish, because when I look at a stock, I can imagine where it was 40 years ago.”

As one of the oldest working professionals in an industry run by men half her age, Bergman offers a rare perspective. She recalls the small private firms founded by German Jews of the 19th century that came to define Wall Street before their partnership model gave way to public listings, and honor succumbed to an ever-fiercer push for profit.

“The way of doing business has changed,” she said. “It’s much more competitive, much more knives-in-the-back.”

Vodka, Scotch

Guests at Bergman’s midtown Manhattan apartment, where she’s lived for more than 60 years, may be invited to sip a vodka or scotch, while seated on furniture crafted in Europe before World War II. The French Louis XV chairs are off-limits.

Four personal assistants attend to her needs around the clock, and she calls on colleagues at New York-based Stralem including Chairman Hirschel Abelson when she needs research on particular securities. While she never married and doesn’t have children, she does own a Maltese named Fanny.

Her career was a near-realization of a dream she had as a teenager. In an essay at the time, she wrote that she wanted to follow her father, a private banker, onto the Berlin Stock Exchange. He made that world seem so “lively,” she said. She would have been the first woman to attain that position.

Fleeing Nazis

Those aspirations stalled when the Nazis chased her Jewish family from Germany and then Holland. They came to the U.S. In 1942, Bergman began working as a secretary at a bank. Fifteen years later, she joined Hallgarten & Co., a member of the New York Stock Exchange.

“Women on Wall Street were not very popular,” she said. She would join Loeb Rhoades & Co., and in 1973, Stralem, where she finally felt like she belonged. “This was the first place where I was treated like an equal.”

Stralem oversees almost $2 billion in assets and runs a strategy focused on identifying “up-market” and “down-market” stocks. It manages money for institutions and individual accounts, 11 of which are Bergman’s. She serves on its investment committee.

Bergman, who stopped visiting the office in December and turns 100 in August, attributed her longevity to good genes, not any special diet. She said she stayed physically fit by riding dressage horses until she was 80 and mentally sharp by forgoing retirement. Bergman speaks with Stralem colleagues daily and talks with some clients every week.

Recessions, Depressions

“She’s been through multiple business cycles, ups and downs, recessions, depressions, and has a good feeling for where things are going,” said George Falk, a doctor of internal medicine in private practice in Manhattan. “She understands what my needs are, has my interests at heart, and is not primarily interested in making a lot of money off of me. I have a great deal of trust in her.”

Bergman has Falk, 75, invested 100 percent in U.S. Treasuries.

Her family’s post-war experience informs her advice today. Because it took a decade after coming to New York for Bergman to recover her family’s wealth, which was frozen by U.S. and Dutch authorities, she emphasizes the importance of safeguarding funds.

One bright spot for today’s investor is the ability to sell large blocks of stock quickly, Bergman said. Years ago, it would have taken Stralem weeks to execute a large order. Now it takes hours or days.

At the same time, speed has “great disadvantages,” she said. “People trade who shouldn’t be, or they do something too fast.”

Her caution has translated into loyal clients, according to Philippe Labaune, head of trading at Stralem, who said that in almost 20 years at the firm, he’s never seen her lose an account. Though some did close when their owners died.

Missed Opportunity

“In this business, you have to get the confidence of your clients,” Bergman said. “You don’t have your clients for three weeks, you have them for at least three years. It takes that long to know if you’re doing a good job.”

Customers appreciate that she has her own wealth. “They had the feeling that I didn’t need to churn their accounts because I had money myself,” she said.

Bergman does recall one investment she let slip away: Apple Inc.

“I missed Apple totally,” she said. “Apple was too much for me.”

That brings her to another tip: Make your own decisions.

“I always like to do what I want to do, then it’s my fault,” she said. “I can’t blame anyone else.”