Barack Obama
Related: About this forumObama Says He'll Continue To Work On Racial Equality After He Leaves Office
May 4 (Reuters) - Following a week of racially charged protests in Baltimore, U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday said obstacles facing minority men from birth put them in a position of having "the odds stacked against them."
Obama said black and Latino men feel that disadvantage, and he credited their sense of frustration about their lives and opportunities for the intensity of recent protests around the country.
He spoke at Lehman College in the Bronx to announce the launch of My Brother's Keeper Alliance, a nonprofit organization that is a spinoff of a White House initiative to increase opportunities for young minority men.
"That sense of unfairness, powerlessness, people not hearing their voices, that's helped fuel some of the protests that we've seen in places like Baltimore, Ferguson and right here in New York," Obama said, referring to demonstrations that followed the deaths of unarmed black men after interactions with police.
Obama said he would continue to work on the issue after his presidency, a possible foreshadowing of his future involvement with My Brother's Keeper Alliance.
Read More http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/04/obama-my-brothers-keeper_n_7207328.html?utm_hp_ref=barack-obama
I knew this is what he would be doing!
Bravo!
leftofcool
(19,460 posts)You will be missed but I know you will do good things.
sheshe2
(87,991 posts)He will be missed as the best President ever, yet he will move on to do many more great things!
leftofcool
(19,460 posts)I am visualizing a Barack Obama Global Initiative on Racial Equality!
guillaumeb
(42,649 posts)I hope President Obama follows the example of President Carter and uses his fame for good. (Unlike Clinton and Reagan.)
sheshe2
(87,991 posts)I think he and Holder will team up on this.
BlueMTexpat
(15,502 posts)Raygun. At all. Ever.
And the Clintons' initiatives are helping to improve lives around the world, just as Jimmy Carter's initiatives are doing. That is just one of the MANY reasons that the GOPers loathe them and keep trying to find something that they can use against them.
The Clinton Foundation https://www.clintonfoundation.org/
Everywhere we go, we're trying to work ourselves out of a job. Whether it's improving global health, increasing opportunity for women and girls, reducing childhood obesity and preventable diseases, creating economic opportunity and growth, or helping communities address the effects of climate change, we keep score by the lives that are saved or improved.
Examples: The Clinton Health Access Initiative https://www.clintonfoundation.org/our-work/clinton-health-access-initiative
The Clinton Global Initiative https://www.clintonfoundation.org/clinton-global-initiative/about-us/cgi-mission
Established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), an initiative of the Clinton Foundation, convenes global leaders to create and implement innovative solutions to the world's most pressing challenges. CGI Annual Meetings have brought together 190 sitting and former heads of state, more than 20 Nobel Prize laureates, and hundreds of leading CEOs, heads of foundations and NGOs, major philanthropists, and members of the media. To date, members of the CGI community have made nearly 3,200 commitments which have improved the lives of over 430 million people in more than 180 countries.
But Rethugs simply want to focus on Foundation donors in other to create another "scandal" based on no more than hot air and projection of their own base motives on everyone else.
Prez Obama could do a LOT worse than follow the Clintons' example. I for one am sure that he'll do even better, whatever his choice may be.
sheshe2
(87,991 posts)Raygun. At all. Ever.
?
BlueMTexpat
(15,502 posts)but rather to that of guillaumeb.
Sorry if there was a misunderstanding.
sheshe2
(87,991 posts)guillaumeb
(42,649 posts)represented a tremendous waste of potential. His Presidency was a continuation in many ways of the Reagan disaster, with a veneer of good old boy charm covering the DLC corporate agenda.
Think about welfare reform, think about NAFTA, think about Sister Souljah, think about Ricky Ray Rector.
After leaving the Presidency, his main goal was to become very rich. He accomplished that. As to the CGI, many rich people set up foundations so they can "give back" to the community. How much is public relations to burnish the Clinton brand?
BlueMTexpat
(15,502 posts)wasted potential with Bill Clinton's Presidency - too much DLC influence, kowtowing to the RW & self-indulgence with relationships. But frankly NAFTA, if managed, implemented and enforced properly by his successor, could have been much less of a disaster than it has been for both the US and Mexico.
Unfortunately, his successor-in-fact was Cheney rather than Bush II (although feckless dim son was no better than Cheney, if not as consciously and deliberately evil perhaps) and eight years of disastrous GOP economic policies exacerbated all of NAFTA's many flaws. This is just one of many reasons why abominations such as the TPP in its current form should not pass - we cannot trust who will be around to implement provisions. If it is any GOPer, it will be an unmitigated disaster for all but the One Percent - nothing less.
As for Clinton's becoming rich after his Presidency, there is certainly nothing wrong per se in that. In fact, there is nothing wrong in anyone's becoming rich, if their wealth is obtained honestly rather than by exploiting the vulnerable. And when those who are wealthy recognize that they have responsibilities towards the vulnerable and use their wealth and influence to help those who are vulnerable become less so in any way, then I certainly applaud that. They SHOULD do that. They should also realize, however, that private sector charity is simply not enough - that government policies should also be geared towards improving the lot of the vulnerable and disadvantaged. I believe that Clinton and others do realize that.
I believe that we agree about a lot more than we disagree about. But I do challenge you to explain to me exactly how Bill Clinton's becoming wealthy after his Presidency exploited anyone vulnerable. And I also return to my first comment: considering what he has done with that wealth, how can you honestly conflate him with Reagan in any way at all?
guillaumeb
(42,649 posts)First point: I agree that Bush Jr. is one of the dim sons in the clan. (But I love dim sum)
I would argue that NAFTA, and the GATT, were designed to do what they did. They allowed for the free movement of capital and manufactured goods no matter the cost to US workers. And the fact that, as you point out, we cannot trust many from both parties to protect the workers, indicates to me that all of these trade agreements are benefitting the wealthy.
On your point about becoming rich, no argument. But too many billionaires became rich by underpaying their workers and avoiding and evading taxes. McDonalds Corporation, Wal-Mart, Bill Gates, and many others used this particular business model. That it is "legal" under US tax law merely points out how the rich buy politicians and the bought politicians make law.
As to Clinton, there have been stories about the Clinton Foundation in Haiti that point to Clinton exploiting the country to make money. Specifically, the free trade zones that Clinton was working on that basically rely on Haitian slave labor as a business model.
See the following link for some info. And there is more out there:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/mary-ogrady-bill-clinton-spins-his-haiti-intervention-1411339321
and also:
http://www.coha.org/haiti-research-file-neoliberalism%E2%80%99s-heavy-hand-on-haiti%E2%80%99s-vulnerable-agricultural-economy-the-american-rice-scandal/
and very eye-opening:
http://www.ezilidanto.com/zili/2015/03/clintonminingthieveryinhaiti/
read and see what you think about Clinton.
BlueMTexpat
(15,502 posts)yallerdawg
(16,104 posts)If the Republicans thought he was the anti-Christ in office just wait!
I bet he has a lot to say...
sheshe2
(87,991 posts)Now that is a DUzy, yallerdawg.
brer cat
(26,428 posts)but meeting the new day head on.
K&R
sheshe2
(87,991 posts)And we will still have the BOG~
Did I ever mention to you, how proud I am of this President?
Thanks~
drray23
(8,000 posts)to see what president Obama will do post presidency. he is so charismatic and transformative that he could completely transform society much as mlk did.
mainstreetonce
(4,178 posts)I expect him to be the best expresident ever. Do not forget sensible gun control. Sane people need a voice.
fadedrose
(10,044 posts)He's the only one really qualified to take the lead in the program, My Brother's Keeper,
I am so lucky to have lived this long to see him elected. It was something I never thought could happen, and I'm white. I can only imagine the pride that browns and blacks have in him. When he's not president of ALL the people, he will do more without being accused of favoritism. If he paid too much attention to racial problems, it would spoil the chances of another colored person from winning the presidency. The next one will do more.
sheshe2
(87,991 posts)I do believe they will be working side by side in the near future, faderose.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)sheshe2
(87,991 posts)I am going to savor every moment, freshwest.,
There was something I read, I believe I posted it from smartypants. It was something about Holder and Obama. They may well be teaming up and that will be so awesome.
Ya know something, they may damn well make the change we seek. Yalledog said "Obama Unleashed" Oh, yes!
sheshe2
(87,991 posts)treestar
(82,383 posts)kind of issue.
He will be Carter levels as ex President. I hope he helps with diplomacy too - he is good at that.
steve2470
(37,468 posts)BumRushDaShow
(143,747 posts)And he is the perfect role model for those who have been frustrated and demoralized yet dismissed the idea of running for public office in their own localities to effect the change that could positively impact them. I.e., we saw places like Ferguson where the black population is 67%, yet very few were actually in elective office.
I know that a career in politics is the purview of the few and hardy. But some who might have been moved to activism, might also be corralled to go the next step to find pragmatic ways to channel the frustration into beneficial legislation.