Abbey Lincoln Has Passed Away At the Age of 80

From The New York Times

Abbey Lincoln, Jazz Singer and Writer, Dies at 80
By NATE CHINEN
Published: August 14, 2010

Abbey Lincoln, a singer whose dramatic vocal command and tersely poetic songs made her a singular figure in jazz, died on Saturday in Manhattan. She was 80 and lived on the Upper West Side.

Her death was announced by her brother David Wooldridge.

Ms. Lincoln’s career encompassed outspoken civil rights advocacy in the 1960s and fearless introspection in more recent years, and for a time in the 1960s she acted in films, including one with Sidney Poitier.

Long recognized as one of jazz’s most arresting and uncompromising singers, Ms. Lincoln gained similar stature as a songwriter only over the last two decades. Her songs, rich in metaphor and philosophical reflection, provide the substance of “Abbey Sings Abbey,” an album released on Verve in 2007. As a body of work, the songs formed the basis of a three-concert retrospective presented by Jazz at Lincoln Center in 2002.

Her singing style was unique, a combined result of bold projection and expressive restraint. Because of her ability to inhabit the emotional dimensions of a song, she was often likened to Billie Holiday, her chief influence. But Ms. Lincoln had a deeper register and a darker tone, and her way with phrasing was more declarative.

“Her utter individuality and intensely passionate delivery can leave an audience breathless with the tension of real drama,” Peter Watrous wrote in The New York Times in 1989. “A slight, curling phrase is laden with significance, and the tone of her voice can signify hidden welts of emotion.”

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The President Defends Religious Freedom

I think we need to celebrate religious freedom in the United States.

hat tip-W.E.E. See You

Celebrating Ramadan At The White House

The President defended the building of a mosque/cultural center near Ground Zero, recalling the fundamental premise of religious freedom which is an original tenant of the foundation of the United States of America.





WASHINGTON - AUGUST 13: U.S. President Barack Obama hosts an Iftar dinner in celebration of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in the State Dining Room of the White House August 13, 2010 in Washington, DC. During the dinner Obama spoke in support of the controversial construction of a mosque near the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan.
-----Martin H. Simon-Pool/Getty Images


WASHINGTON - AUGUST 13: U.S. President Barack Obama hosts an Iftar dinner in celebration of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in the State Dining Room of the White House August 13, 2010 in Washington, DC. During the dinner Obama spoke in support of the controversial construction of a mosque near the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan.
----Martin H. Simon-Pool/Getty Images


Unidentified guests listen to US President Barack Obama speak at an Iftar meal, the breaking of the Ramadan fast, at the White House in Washington on August 13, 2010. Muslims all over the world abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex from sunrise to sunset during the month of Ramadan in order to purify themselves and concentrate on Islamic teachings.
----NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images


WASHINGTON - AUGUST 13: U.S. President Barack Obama hosts an Iftar dinner in celebration of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in the State Dining Room of the White House August 13, 2010 in Washington, DC. During the dinner Obama spoke in support of the controversial construction of a mosque near the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan.
-----Martin H. Simon-Pool/Getty Images


WASHINGTON - AUGUST 13: U.S. President Barack Obama hosts an Iftar dinner in celebration of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in the State Dining Room of the White House August 13, 2010 in Washington, DC. During the dinner Obama spoke in support of the controversial construction of a mosque near the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan.
----Martin H. Simon-Pool/Getty Images


U.S. President Barack Obama (center, L) greets guests after delivering remarks during the Iftar dinner in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington August 13, 2010. The Iftar dinner celebrates the evening breaking of fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
----REUTERS/Jason Reed


**Guests listen as President Barack Obama speaks at an iftar dinner, the meal that breaks the dawn-to-dusk fast for Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan, in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, Friday, Aug. 13, 2010. For over a billion Muslims, Ramadan is a time of intense devotion and reflection. Obama emphasized the American tenet of religious freedom just as New York City is immersed in a deeply sensitive debate about whether a mosque should be built near the site of the World Trade Center that was destroyed during the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.
----AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite


President Barack Obama hosts an iftar dinner, the meal that breaks the dawn-to-dusk fast for Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan, in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, Friday, Aug. 13, 2010. For over a billion Muslims, Ramadan is a time of intense devotion and reflection. Obama emphasized the American tenet of religious freedom just as New York City is immersed in a deeply sensitive debate about whether a mosque should be built near the site of the World Trade Center that was destroyed during the September 11, 1981 terror attacks.
----AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Dr. Laura Schlessinger's Racist Rant

From Media Matters:

On August 10, Dr. Laura Schlessinger launched into a racially charged rant, during which Schlessinger -- in her own words -- "articulated the 'n' word all the way out -- more than one time." Among other things, Schlessinger also told an African-American caller that she had a "chip on [her] shoulder." Schlessinger has since apologized for her remarks, but audio from the discussion appears to have been excised from the recording of that day's show that appears on Schlessinger's website. Media Matters has obtained full audio of Schlessinger's comments:

Transcript at link above.

She never took up the woman's issues about why she called. AFTER THIS WOMAN TOLD HER SHE WAS OFFENDED, Dr. Laura continued with her racist rant. And, that's what it was, a fullblown racist rant. You can tell - those that have been wanting to reveal their true selves, and that's what she revealed - her ugly ass racist self.

But, even with the ugliness exposed, who can say that they are surprised by what happened?

She is who we thought her to be. There's absolutely nothing shocking about what she did, because if you have followed her in the least, you know what she's all about.

Kiss my 'Sensitive' Black Ass about her so-called ' apology'.


Rev. Al's response:

Why blacks must reject "anchor baby" fever: African-Americans and Latinos should be brothers-in-arms in fighting Republican extremism

A young mother has a baby in San Antonio, TX. Minutes later, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents swoop in and place the mother and baby under arrest. The mom goes to jail for “harboring an illegal” while the baby goes to jail for being in the country illegally. Later that day federal agents take them to the border and tell them not to come back.

Read the rest at The Loop.

Congratulations, Justice Kagan

Senate approves Kagan for high court

Washington (CNN) -- Solicitor General Elena Kagan was easily confirmed Thursday as the next associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, completing the 50-year-old native New Yorker's climb to the peak of the American legal profession.

The 63-37 vote was mostly along party lines. Five GOP senators backed Kagan, and only one Democrat -- Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska -- opposed her. Republican leaders offered spirited floor opposition to the nominee, but were unable to muster a prolonged delay or filibuster of the vote.

Kagan is set to begin a lifetime position as the nation's 112th justice. She will be sworn into office Saturday afternoon, taking the traditional constitutional and judicial oaths. The newest justice will then be able to assume her court duties immediately.

What is it about the 14th Amendment that scares them so?

Remember, when you were in school and you had to pass the U.S. Constitution test to graduate 8th grade? You had to memorize the Amendments to the Constitution...and there were groups, the two most distinct being: 1st 10 - Bill of Rights, and then the 13th, 14th, 15th Amendments, which you could shorten to SLAVERY (13), CITIZENSHIP(14), RIGHT TO VOTE(15).

So, I watch from the sidelines, as the folks on the right keep on bringing up REPEALING the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.

AND the silence from our so-called ' leaders'.

WHY does the right care about this Amendment?

THEY SAY, it's because the children of illegal aliens, born in this country, and are U.S. Citizens, is a perversion of the Amendment.

So, what exactly does the 14th Amendment say:

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Section 1 is what deserves the focus.

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Republican-driven lawsuits against health care reform will particularly hurt blacks

Here’s just a sampling of the sorry state of black health in America from Kaiser’s Key Facts: Race, Ethnicity & Medical Care. People living in poverty are more likely to report being in only Fair or Poor health. Regardless of education, African Americans lead the nation in infant mortality. African American men and women have highest death rate due to heart disease. African Americans even lead in death rates by breast cancer, lung cancer and colorectal cancer. Twenty-three percent of working African Americans are uninsured.

Read the rest at The Loop.

President Obama Holds Townhall with young African Leaders.

hat tip-W.E.E. See You

President Obama Holds Townhall with young African Leaders.







Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s address to the forum this morning


US President Barack Obama greets participants after a town hall meeting with Young African Leaders in the East Room at the White House in Washington, DC, on August 3, 2010. Obama said he was "heartbroken" over the situation in Zimbabwe, and that President Robert Mugabe was not "serving his people well." The event brought 115 young leaders from civil society and the private sector from more than 40 countries across Africa to Washington to meet with their American counterparts and US government officials.
----JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images


WASHINGTON - AUGUST 03: U.S. President Barack Obama arrives in the East Room of the White House for a town hall meeting with young African leaders August 3, 2010 in Washington, DC. During the town hall meeting, Obama took questions on economic issues, health issues and foreign relations between the United States and African nations.
----Win McNamee/Getty Images


WASHINGTON - AUGUST 03: Young African leaders listen as U.S. President Barack Obama answers questions n the East Room of the White House during a town hall meeting August 3, 2010 in Washington, DC. During the town hall meeting, Obama took questions on economic issues, health issues and foreign relations between the United States and African nations.
----Win McNamee/Getty Images


WASHINGTON - AUGUST 03: Young African leaders listen as U.S. President Barack Obama answers questions in the East Room of the White House during a town hall meeting August 3, 2010 in Washington, DC. During the town hall meeting, Obama took questions on economic issues, health issues and foreign relations between the United States and African nations.
----Win McNamee/Getty Images


WASHINGTON - AUGUST 03: Young African leaders try to ask U.S. President Barack Obama a question during a town hall meeting in the East Room of the White House August 3, 2010 in Washington, DC. During the town hall meeting, Obama took questions on economic issues, health issues and foreign relations between the United States and African nations.
----Win McNamee/Getty Images

Youth's passion for learning beats the odds

hat tip-W.E.E. See You

Youth's passion for learning beats the odds
Atlantan succeeds while he overcomes family tragedy, other obstacles.
By Mark Davis

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The trophies are impossible to ignore. At least 37 fill the living room of the south Atlanta apartment Deonte Bridges shares with his mother. Thirty-six extol the teenager’s academic achievements at Booker T. Washington High School.

The 37th trophy? Bridges, 18, smiled. “Basketball,” he said. Turns out he played the sport in ninth grade but gave it up. The game got in the way of more important things.

Such is the focus of Deonte 
Kivon Bridges, a kid who still marvels at what he’s accomplished at such long odds.

Bridges is Washington High’s first black male valedictorian in more than a decade, a rising freshman at UGA, the winner of scholarships totaling more than $1 million.

And this: A YouTube posting of his graduation speech, nearly five minutes long, has been viewed more than 80,000 times. He has nearly 1,600 Facebook friends who live all over the world.

Bridges reset the academic bar at Washington, despite his mother’s cancer, his brother’s death, an armed hold-up and peer pressure to put down his books and embrace the street life.

With a 3.9 grade point average, he’s the recipient of 26 scholarship offers. Emory University tossed a $201,000 scholarship at his feet, which he declined in favor of an all-expenses-paid education at the University of Georgia, courtesy of the $360,000 Gates Millennium Scholars Program. The award, given by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, will pay for his undergraduate and graduate education.

Read the rest of his story at the link above.