Malik Miah

The attempted political assassination of Arizona Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords on January 8 opened a new debate about the depth of political divisions in the United States. It has included hot button issues of gun control and mental illness. Giffords amazingly survived a gunshot wound through the head, but six of her supporters at the sidewalk meeting died. It included a nine-year-old girl and a federal judge. Thirteen people were wounded.

Good and evil is back in vogue with the US far right. Former president George W. Bush and the Republican Party attacked opponents of his invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan as aiding the “evil doers”. And such evil should be tackled by whatever means necessary, no matter what the US constitution or international law says. This tactic sent the many liberals and Democratic Party politicians running to the corners and lining up behind the war mongers.

Beyond Black & White By Manning Marable Verso Press, 2009, 319 pages Review by Malik Miah Manning Marable’s latest book is an update of a valuable critique of Black and US politics first issued in 1995. He revised it last year, adding new chapters covering the period from 1995 to 2008, including an analysis of the meaning of the election of the first African American president of the US, Barack Obama, in November 2008.

What I found most striking about President Barack Obama’s first “State of the Union” address before Congress on January 27 was what he didn’t say.

The heat is on the administration of US President Barack Obama.

The critical lack of quality and affordable health care is devastating for African Americans. Twice as likely as whites to go without health insurance, African Americans suffer chronic illnesses such as high blood pressure and diabetes at an escalating rate.

The so-called beer summit between President Barack Obama, Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates and Cambridge police officer sergeant James Crowley took place without incident on July 30 at the White House.

The front page of the San Francisco Chronicle the day after the historic November 4 presidential election provided this image: a full page color photo of Barack Obama with the quote, “Change has come to America”.

The deepening financial calamity exposes how the “fundamentals” of the economy impact on working people in the US, particularly African Americans. The so-called unfettered free market system has been a failure.

Much of the world is fascinated by the US presidential election campaign.

“America, this is our moment”, stated Barack Obama on June 3 after winning enough delegates to become the presidential nominee for the Democratic Party.

SAN FRANCISCO — In a referendum that coincided with the election for California's governor, voters rejected Proposition 54 — the "Racial Privacy Initiative" — by an almost two-to-one margin. Drafted and aggressively promoted by