Category Archives: African American

Wealth Gaps Between Whites, Blacks, Hispanics

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By Paul Taylor, Richard Fry, and Rakesh Kochhar

The median wealth of white households is 20 times that of black households and 18 times that of Hispanic households, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of newly available government data from 2009.

These lopsided wealth ratios are the largest since the government began publishing such data a quarter century ago and roughly twice the size of the ratios that had prevailed between these three groups for the two decades prior to the Great Recession that ended in 2009.

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With Cain Out Turn the Glare on Gingrich’s Racial Skeletons

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Author and political analyst

With GOP presidential contender Herman Cain’s presidential candidacy effectively dead, now’s a good time to turn a hard glare on the suddenly surging GOP Presidential contender Newt Gingrich’s racial skeletons. His closet is stuffed with them. The first reminder of that was his off-the-cuff crack at Harvard that ghetto children are lazy and chronic thieves and should be dumped into menial jobs early on to break their alleged ghetto slothful habits. This racially loaded slur was vintage Gingrich. . . . . .

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Adilah Barnes at Whitworth – One Actor’s Journey

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Cover of Adila Barnes' autobiography

Adilah Barnes performance in the one woman show I Am That I Am: Woman, Black at Whitworth University on October 26 was an evening of inspiring theater. The choice of women portrayed (from Sojourner Truth forward to Angela Davis and May Angelou), the interesting and meaningful selection of their words woven together with song in a dark theater was moving. As the excellent questions from students, faculty and community members revealed something of Ms. Barnes life and spirit and because some of her life path seemed to parallel my own I decided to buy her book so I could find out more.  We talked a little as she signed the book and indeed we had both been college students in the San Francisco Bay area in the late 60’s and early 70’s – that great time of change. . . . . .

But as I opened her book and read about her origins I realized we had even more in common – we are both from Oroville, California. . . . . (more)

Thanks to Adilah Barnes for sharing her life journey so unreservedly. It was heart warming to read the story of someone who set goals and didn’t let anything stop her from reaching them.  More information about her, including where you can buy her book, may be found at her website.
http://www.adilahbarnes.com/
IMDB (The Internet Movie Database) pulls up some full episodes of TV series she was in if you search her name:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0055481/videogallery

“VICTORY: Justice in Cook County

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Thanks to the activism of 65,000 ColorOfChange.org members and the tireless legal work of our friends at the Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth and the Innocence Project, the Englewood 5 are free–bringing justice for some who’ve waited nearly 20 years.1

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From our Washington D.C. area connection

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Seen Around Town Exhibits – by ichoosethesun

As a resident of the DMV (DC, Maryland and Virginia), it’s easy to take all that the city has to offer for granted. Seen Around Town will be a series of posts where I will share information about various events in the DMV area.
Saturday was a beautiful day in DC so I decided to head downtown to catch a couple of exhibits that have been on my to-do list. The first was:

The Black List exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery.
From the website:
Historically, “blacklist” denotes a group of people marginalized and denied work or social approval. In an effort to redefine the term, these portraits of 50 African Americans reclaim the term “blacklist” to be affirming, influential and powerful.
Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and Elvis Mitchell worked together to develop a list of people whom they thought would represent the African-American experience in the 20th century. Greenfield-Sanders created large-format fine-art photographs, and Mitchell interviewed the subjects on film; the portrayals provide insight on the struggles, triumphs and joys of black life in the United States.
This exhibit is visually stunning and there were several people on the “list” that I had no prior knowledge of.  The interviews are funny, candid and inspiring. The Black List reminds us of the infinite number of contributions African-Americans have made to the world beyond the “usual suspects”. This is a FREE exhibit and family-friendly. The Black List will be at NPG through April 22, 2012.  For more information including hours and directions, visit the website here: http://www.npg.si.edu/exhibit/exhblacklist.html .

The second exhibit was 30 Americans at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. ………. More

We in the Spokane area have contacts and connections that reach beyond our borders. We welcome input from your relatives, friends and associates wherever they are, that can share experiences relevant to African American interests and issues. Send it to us at the Spokane African American Voice at info@4comculture.com.