October 6, 2008 10:53:28 PM CDT
(Newser) – Barack Obama stood firm on his message to blacks of personal responsibility in his speech to the NAACP convention yesterday, reports the Chicago Tribune. The candidate, accused by Jesse Jackson last week of "talking down to black people," revisited his theme of personal accountability while stressing that responsibility also must be demanded from Washington and Wall Street.
Obama told his audience that the gains of the civil rights movement were being jeopardized by urban violence and economic inequality. "It doesn't matter if you have the right to sit at the lunch counter if you can't afford the lunch," he said. To a standing ovation, Obama vowed to appear at the convention again next year, as president of the United States.
Source Chicago Tribune
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Feb 27, 08 5:15 PM CST After a month of shifting signals, influential congressman John Lewis said today he’s switching his support from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Lewis says he’s unwilling to go against the voters in his Atlanta district—and that Obama “has tapped into something that is extraordinary.” The civil-rights leader irked local African-Americans by lining up behind Clinton early. More »
Jan 20, 08 7:50 PM CST On the eve of Martin Luther King, Jr. day, Barack Obama visited the civil rights leader’s old church and repeated his mantra of unity, the Chicago Tribune reports. “If enough Americans were awakened to the injustice,” Obama said, “if they joined together, then perhaps that wall would come tumbling down." Atlanta's mayor attended the event, which coincided with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's endorsement of Obama. More »
Barack Obama • civil rights • African-American voters • black community • African-Americans • NAACP
