theblackbottom

Tony Norman began his journalism career at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 1988 as a clerk. He was promoted to the Pop Music / Pop Culture beat a year later. In 1996, Norman became a general interest columnist for the PG. In 1999, Norman joined the PG’s editorial board. In 2005-2006, Norman took a year from [...]

Source:Colorlines.com
Florida scored a second big victory yesterday (here’s the first one) came in federal judge Robert Hinkle’s decision to strike the 48-hour deadline rule for groups handing in voter registration applications. Before Florida’s HB 1355 law was passed last year, completed registration applications could be turned in within 10 days, allowing for those [...]

Black boys became criminalized. I was in constant dread for their lives, because they were targets everywhere. They still are. ~Toni Morrison
Perhaps, one day, we will think of Trayvon Martin in the same vein we think of Emmett Till. The publicity surrounding Till’s murder so horrified black America that it galvanized a generation to mobilize [...]

Source: New York Times
Suppress the Vote!
By JIM ARKEDIS and LINDSAY MARK LEWIS
The grip of the super PAC on the Republican primary season has been well-documented. They are wrecking balls operating outside the candidates’ direct control, fueled by massive influxes of cash from a handful of wealthy patrons. The millions spent by [...]

Source: Colorlines.com
Wisconsin was considered the state with the strictest photo voter ID law, until yesterday when Judge David Flanagan ordered a temporary injunction on the law until an upcoming trial determines if the law should be scrapped permanently. The lawsuit, brought by the NAACP and immigration rights group Voces de la Frontera, was [...]

State Senator Lena C. Taylor A life-long Milwaukee resident, Senator Lena Taylor is serving her second term in the Wisconsin State Senate, representing the 4th Senate District, including northern portions of the City of Milwaukee as well as parts of Wauwatosa and Glendale.
Source: Milwaukee Courier

African Americans have always had [...]

Politics cannot save, but they might make our lives better. Let’s be clear, politics is no substitute for faith. Religious faith answers the question about life and death. And politics can never answer the great mysteries of our finite days on this earth. Nevertheless, politics are important. Political organization addresses how resources are divvied [...]

Source: Sun-Times
Everybody calls it 26th and Cal, but in the coming weeks the criminal courts building on Chicago’s Southwest Side will become known as “The Honorable George N. Leighton Criminal Court Building.”
Leighton, 99, is a legendary jurist — serving as a Cook County Circuit Court judge, later becoming the first African American to sit on [...]

Source: In These Times
Black teachers in Chicago appear to be receiving pink slips at higher rates than white teachers, according to recent analysis by the Chicago Teachers Union.
According to the Illinois State Board of Education’s 2010 report card (PDF), African Americans comprise 29.6 percent of CPS teachers. But the CTU’s analysis [...]

Faye Anderson is a public policy and social media consultant, and public speaker.

Source: Anderson@Large

As day follows night, black voters are blamed when Democrats lose an election. The 2010 midterm election was no exception.
Election after election, reports show African Americans turn out on Election Day. Democrats’ problem is with white Democrats who don’t show up or [...]