I admired Jimmy Carter’s attempt to work with the rest of the world as equals as exemplified in his appointment of Andrew Young as UN Ambassador.  I liked Bill Clinton’s strong inclusionary practices such as when he selected the then unfamiliar Hazel O’Leary to head the Energy Department. 

I love Barack Obama.  He embodies Port Of Harlem’s mantra:  inclusion, diversity and pan-Africanism.  The nation’s first Black president started his presidency with a noble act -- the signing of the Lilly Ledbetter bill, which helps women fight for equal pay for equal work.  The occasion reminds me of what Frederick Douglass once said,  “When I ran away from slavery, it was for myself; when I advocated emancipation, it was for my people; but when I stood up for the rights of women, self was out of the question, and I found a little nobility in the act.”

And when I hear Blacks say he has done nothing for them, I wonder where were they when he signed the Affordable Health Care Act (Obamacare) and doubled funding for Pell Grants.  As you may know, 80 percent of Blacks compared to 90 percent of Whites currently have no health insurance and according to The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, “About 46 percent of all African-American undergraduate students receive federal Pell Grant awards. They account for approximately one quarter of all Pell Grant recipients.”  (Blacks are about 13 percent of the US population.)

No law should have to have the word “Black” stamped on it for African-Americans to understand the racial implications of its implementation. 

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According to Avaaz.org, at any moment, a big-game hunting corporation could sign a deal with the government of Tanzania which would force up to 48,000 members of the famous Maasai ethnic group from their land to make way for wealthy Middle Eastern kings and princes to hunt lions and leopards. Experts say the Tanzanian President Kikwete’s approval of the deal may be imminent.

Click here to sign your name among others from around the world protesting the President’s possible actions.

• See how Mitt Romney and President Obama's tax plans would affect your wallet
  
  
• Rep. Todd Akin, the newly-christened GOP Senate nominee in Missouri, said this weekend that "legitimate rape" rarely causes pregnancy
  
  
• Biggest Corporations Pay Only 9% of Revenue as Federal Tax

Stock Market Soars Under Obama
The S&P 500 index is up 74% since Jan. 20, 2009. One has to go back to Dwight Eisenhower's first term (1953-1957) to find a President whose first term showed this much stock market growth.

Deferred Deportation Forms are Online - Started Aug 15
Earlier this year President Obama said he would not deport young illegals who were brought to the U.S. as children, have never been in trouble with the law and who have either completed high school or have an honorable discharge from the Armed Forces. Now the program is in action. As of Aug. 15, the forms to apply for the program are available online.

Judas or Converted Sinner?
Former congressman Artur Davis, who officially seconded President Obama’s nomination at the 2008 Democratic convention, will address the  Republican convention this month — calling for Obama’s defeat.  The Washington Post reports that at a Tea Party event he declared, “You have a converted sinner who’s standing in front of you right now.” In 2010, he ran for governor of Alabama and lost in the Democratic primary to a more liberal candidate.

How Romney/Ryan Can Phase Out Medicare
For the Republicans, the reason for wanting to have vouchers replace the current Medicare system goes something like this (in the long term), says one pundit.  First, the size of the voucher could easily be reduced over time, making it less and less valuable which would de facto phase out the program. Also, a future Congress could means test the vouchers to save money. But if at some point everyone had to pay taxes to support Medicare but only the poor got vouchers, the Republicans would be able to attack the program as a welfare scheme and argue it should be abolished.

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Remembering Ancestors ceremony
Fells Point, Broadway Pier
Baltimore, MD
Thu, Aug 23
7:15p (dusk) wear White, free

African Diaspora International Film Festival
Washington, DC
Fri, Aug. 24-Sun, Aug 26, $

Grand Prix of Baltimore
Inner Harbor
Fri, Aug 31–Sun, Sep 2, $

Notting Hill Carnival
London, UK
Sun, Aug 26-Mon, Aug 27, free

National Health Equity Conference
Renaissance Hotel
999 Ninth Street, NW, Washington, DC
Panelist include:  Angela Glover Blackwell
Wed, Sep 5, $125

Ethiopian New Year - (2005) Celebration
Washington Monument’s Sylvan Theater
Sun, Sep 9, 1p–11p

Port Of Harlem joined celebrations demonstrating the diversity within the African community.  In West Virginia, POH joined locals in celebrating African-American culture with a parade and festival in Charles Town.  At the heart of the celebration was belated birthday of the father of Pan-Africanism and Senegambian-American Martin Robison Delany.  Delany who was born in Charles Town in 1884 at North and Lawrence Streets.  A post-parade festival took place on the grounds of the school named for him just this past year.

Eritrean-Americans celebrated their East African culture with the Taste of Eritrea at the Washington Convention Center. The event included cultural programs for adults and young adults. “We get together with friends including non-Eritreans to share our culture,” said Elsa Hailemariam, president of the National Union of Ertirean Women in North America, sponsors of the event.  In the video, Hailemariam joined many of the other women who “ululated” (created a high pitch sound) to warmly greet arriving guests. During the presentation by government officials, they cited food security as their number one focus and expressed concern for the UN sanctions against the country.

At the Reeve Center in Washington, Muslims celebrated Eid-Ul-Fitr.  The holiday is a significant religious celebration which starts with a day of prayer and marks the official end of the fasting month of Ramadan and held to thank Allah for His help with their month-long act of self-control. 

Guest at the celebration including Yusuf Adam Marafa.  The Nigerian participated in The Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program in 2007 and is now back as a counselor.  The program provides scholarships to high school students from countries with significant Muslim populations to spend up to one academic year in the United States.

“Sorry, I just received the sad news that one of my friends is in prison.  He had a car accident.  He was driving and hit a child.  The boy is dead,” I wrote to my uncle Wayne, while chatting with him on Facebook.  “I want to go and see him after work,” I told him for my reason for needed to end our conversation.  My friend is a good one.  He neither smokes nor drinks.

My uncle was then surprised how the situation unfolded:   After the accident, the police took my friend to the police station where he stayed for two days.  The authorities later took him to our central prison, pending a court ruling. I visited him and my friend said that the boy’s family said it was an accident, no man can add a second to your life when God has said it is over. It was the end of their boy’s life and Allah said it will happen this way; so be it.

The boys Mum is from Bwiam. She came to Metro Banjul to visit her brother and says she should have gone home the day before the accident.  However, she didn’t understand what her body was trying to tell her, so had cancelled her departure.  “On the whole, the mother said, “I was waiting for my child's death.”

The young boy's family forgave him.  My friend is a free man.