Black Women for Obama for Change

Black Women for Positive Change Supports Presidential Initiatives on Gun Control and Job Creation in Six States

noreply@blogger.com (BWFO4Change) — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:00:00 +0000

pic stitch by Marilyn Franklin

During the past 6 weeks, BW4PosChange networkers have supported President Obama's events in six states on gun control and job creation. Our networkers have been in the audience, have extended invitations to other local supporters of the Administration and are working to support positive and effective Administration policies.

Activities have included:

Gun Control Event with Moms of Victims of Gun Violence, White House, Washington, DC;

Gun Control Event at Denver Police Academy, Denver, Colorado;

Gun Control Event, Hartford, Connecticut;

Health Affordability Act Event, White House, WDC

Job Creation and Innovation Event, Austin, Texas;

Job Creation and Economic Development Event at Ellicott Dredging, Baltimore, Maryland
African American Leadership Conference, White House, WDC

Other BW4Positive Change Activities have included:

WOL Radio interview with Dr. Carter, President of Johnson C. Smith University to support Anthony Foxx, U.S. Dept. of Transportation Secretary Nominee
WOL Radio interview with Rev. Ronald Braxton, Metropolitan Baptist Church to discuss "Pipeline to Prison." and "By Invitation Only" DC School policy.
WOL Radio interview with Bernadette Tolson, Charter Member, BW4Positive Change to discuss "By Invitation Only" DC Summer School Policy
Endorsement of Curren Price, Los Angeles City Council, 9th District
Endorsement of Justin Fairfax, Attorney General, Virginia

Yes We Can!

President Obama Delivers Morehouse College Commencement Address

noreply@blogger.com (BWFO4Change) — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:12:00 +0000

Tweet Pic

noreply@blogger.com (BWFO4Change) — Fri, 17 May 2013 17:04:00 +0000

remarshall9134 Ruth Marshall

@BKW4PosChange Chris and I following the President's speech at Ellicott Dredges on boosting the middle class. pic.twitter.com/ArS3R9g0gN

A Special Op-Ed by Boston Networker Faye Morrison

noreply@blogger.com (BWFO4Change) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 13:06:00 +0000

Dear Editor~

“Shame on you” words uttered today by an observer in the Senate when a washed down version of gun legislation failed to pass. I didn’t believe it when Senator Reid said taking out the teeth of the legislation, banning automatic “war type” weapons and clips with a greater than ten bullet capacity would make the laws passage more likely.

Unlike Senator Reid I wasn’t willing to trust this version of the GOP, it is their actions that should be judged, so they filibuster forcing the vote to be sixty members not the majority rule like any other piece of law would need.

This is how democracy dies if we are not vigilant, when a majority of polled Americans support it, how does the NRA and a minority of the Senate keep it from becoming a reality? When did we walk through the looking glass in to this Wonderland, where as Senator Rubio said today “I have stuck my neck out for gay marriage and immigration I don’t have the cover to do this”. When do you need cover to do the right thing? When did we let that happen America? How can we allow folks to become life time politicians who represent the funders of their next re election campaign and not “We the People?”

Well for those of you living in MA cheering this set back know this, the efforts of our FBI, BPD, and the Attorney Generals are being hampered because the NRA successfully helped defeat a bill that required taggets in gun powder so it could be tracked back to it’s point of sale.

Yes it appears the NRA is a terrorist’s best friend whether they are wielding a gun or a bomb. Rather than protect us, the Senate has decided to sacrifice us to their greed. Believe me they are making money and at the end of the day you better believe for the NRA that is what it is all about.

Tell your reasons to the Richards who lost their 8 year old Monday in that bomb blast, whose five year old sister lost a leg, whose mother suffered a concussion. Tell that to the seven people who had amputations today. The one hundred and seventy six wounded and the families of the three dead. Why not track gun powder so that our law enforcement under so much pressure to bring people to justice have the tools to do so.

Why not back ground checks for all weapon sales no matter who the buyer or seller is? The GOP is happy to go back when it suits them, won’t consider equal pay for women, gays should have no rights and should march back to the closet, abortion, head start, social security turn all of that back. But go back and reinstitute the automatic gun ban of the ninety’s that they can’t hear.

Well we need to speak louder and vow not to give up on this fight, 2014 is coming and we need to know how everyone voted and do our best to help the opponent of the ones who got it so wrong today.

Faye Morrison

Snapshot!

noreply@blogger.com (BWFO4Change) — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 02:00:00 +0000

Dr. Stephanie E. Myers and Senator Curren Price, endorsed candidate for 9th District, at event in Los Angeles, CA.


President Obama and Vice President Biden meet with Moms of gun violence victims at White House, March 28, 2013. Members of BW4Positive Change helped reach out to Moms and attended event.

Snapshot: 2013 White House Black History Month Reception

noreply@blogger.com (BWFO4Change) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 19:52:00 +0000

Stephanie Myers, National Co-Chair and Karen Carrington, Events Co-Chair chat with Stevie Wonder

CBS' March Toward Redemption

noreply@blogger.com (BWFO4Change) — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 14:16:00 +0000

ODE To The 44TH

noreply@blogger.com (BWFO4Change) — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 12:06:00 +0000

By Ruth Marshall, BW4PosChange/DC

Thank you, Mr. President, for being a family man

To your two little girls and your beautiful wife

And in showing compassion every way you can

While encouraging others to do what’s right

Thank you, Mr. President, for taking on the task

When other elected officials wanted to ignore

The preservation and expansion of the middle class

As a sturdy ladder for many of the poor

Thank you, Mr. President, for closing 2 wars

Allowing our brave soldiers to come home

To join their families as never before

Even though at times you had to stand alone

Thank you, Mr. President, for your acknowledgment

That so many citizens are unduly weighted down

By thoughtless and unnecessary actions by our government

Adverse to our country’s economic rebound

Thank you, Mr. President, for what you’ve put in place

From affordable health care, repeal of DOMA,

Safeguarding prisoners with morality and grace

To making it easier to earn a diploma

Thank you, Mr. President, for your ability to understand

The effects of global warming on the entire planet

The importance of bringing jobs back to our land

And promoting acceptance of young immigrants

WE thank you, Mr. President, for all you’ve done

To restore America’s image internationally

As a gentleman, a scholar and a statesman

Your governance as POTUS is the model we need

Thank You, Mr. President!

Twitter: The First Lady's New Do and Birthday Celebration!

noreply@blogger.com (BWFO4Change) — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 23:07:00 +0000

The First Lady just met with Inaugural citizen co-chair David Hall ahead of #MLKDay of Service: 2013pic.org/service twitter.com/FLOTUS/status/…
— FLOTUS (@FLOTUS) January 17, 2013

Op-Ed: ENOUGH!

noreply@blogger.com (BWFO4Change) — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 14:26:00 +0000

Dear Editor:

Parents and Grand-Parent’s I am talking directly to you now. I know that you are feeling that numb sickness in the pit of your stomach. You’re angry about how easy it was for a young man to kill so many so easily.

Your heartbroken because some of you put children and grand-children on their school buses yesterday and at no point did you think you would never see that little face again, what if you lived some where in this country when that indeed is your fear?

Who could or who wants to imagine such a thing? Some in this country don’t have a choice and unlike the tragedy that Newtown is feeling today it is their new normal. However today we are all forced to think and feel that loss, again for how many times this year alone we will have the gun conversation.

These guns were bought legally, no theft, no fake ID, and like the hijackers of those planes on 9/11 the rules of the day were followed, but we made changes none the less afterward. So I don’t understand the push back to making changes today after this shooting, there are real things that could be done that might have assisted in keeping guns out of the hands of someone who is now being described as “having mental problems”.

How a gun is bought, like a box cutter doesn’t keep it from evil intent, we as human beings need to set the boundaries that do that. Children are murdered all over this country everyday and none of those shootings should be any more tragic than the mass murder on Friday, and all should be condemned so that solutions of common ground can be found, and find it we must, this needs to end.

To the second amendment and the argument against doing ANYTHING! I say we will follow it to the letter you are all entitled to the weapons of the day when that document was ratified. No where in it does it give you the right to own an automatic weapon with a 20-50 ammo clip. To my hunter friends I say if you need that kind of weapon to hunt you are involved in the wrong hobby seek another. Those kinds of multi kill weapons were not designed to hunt animals and it is time we were all honest about that fact.

The time for common sense gun control is upon us and we need to band together now as a nation and make that happen. It should never be said how can this happen here my fellow Americans this shouldn’t be happening any where! That is the zero tolerance we need to have and must have, gun violence needs to be class and color blind. Here is a fact that none of us should live with “in the years 2008-2009 more pre-school children were killed by guns than uniformed police officers”. Look it up do your homework and then join us in the reality of how civilized nations do and should behave.

Faye Morrison
Ayer, MA

Bo Inspects the 2012 White House Holiday Decorations

noreply@blogger.com (BWFO4Change) — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 10:08:00 +0000

Top 10 Reasons Why Communities Of Color Should Focus On The “Fiscall Cliff” And Potential Sequestrian

noreply@blogger.com (BWFO4Change) — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 10:05:00 +0000

1. Deep cuts to the unemployment provision will disproportionately impact people of color. More than 2 million Americans could lose unemployment benefits unless Congress reauthorizes federal emergency unemployment help before the end of the year.

2. An average tax increase of $3,500 per household will adversely impact low-income and middle-class families of color. According to the Tax Policy Center, low-income families will be hit the hardest, with a couple making between $20,000 to $30,000 annually seeing a tax increase of $1,408. This tax hike will be particularly hard for the 16.7 percent of African Americans living in poverty and the 27.8 percent of Latinos who are near poor. Middle-class families of color will also experience a tax increase. The average tax increase for middle-class families is $2,000 each year.

3. Workforce-development programs that are vital to communities of color, like YouthBuild, face significant cuts. YouthBuild, a program connecting low-income youth to education and training, could be cut by about 8 percent. Coupled with previous cuts, the program could see about one-third of federal funding cut between fiscal year 2010 and fiscal year 2013. In 2010, 54 percent of YouthBuild participants were African American and 20 percent were Hispanic.

4. Federal budget cuts under sequestration would quickly mean cuts to federal, state, and local public-sector jobs, which disproportionately employ women and African Americans. In 2011 employed African Americans were 20 percent of the federal, state, and local public-sector workforce, and women were nearly 50 percent more likely to work in the public sector.

5. Early child care funding could be cut by more than $900 million, impacting the thousands of children of color who benefit from these programs. Such cuts will mean 96,000 fewer children in Head Start, a federal program where 60 percent of program participants are children of color.

6. Programs that directly help the most vulnerable families and children are on the chopping block in the fiscal showdown negotiations. Child nutrition programs such as the Women, Infants, and Children Supplemental Nutrition Program (WIC) could be cut by $543 million—a devastating loss to the more than 450,000 people of color who utilize its services.

7. Education funding cuts will hurt the 66 percent of students who borrow to pay for college. Pell Grants, which provide need-based grants to low-income students to offset the cost of college, face severe cuts. In 2011 the Pell Grant program provided financial aid to more than 9 million students, many of whom are students of color.

8. Cuts to vital health services such as Medicaid will hurt the 60 million people who depend on it for health insurance coverage. People of color will be hit particularly hard by cuts to Medicaid, with Latinos accounting for approximately 29 percent of program enrollees and African Americans accounting for 20 percent. In 2010, 57 percent of people on Medicaid were people of color.

9. Since 2010, funding for housing has been cut by $2.5 billion, meaning any additional cuts would significantly hurt low-income families and communities. Many housing programs, such as Section 8 Housing Assistance, provide vouchers to low-income families for affordable housing in the private market. In 2011 the program aided more than 2 million low-income families across the country, with 44 percent and 23 percent African American and Hispanic, respectively.
10. Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, which helps bring down the cost of heating for low-income households, will be cut. The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which helped about 23 million low-income people pay for winter heating bills, is in jeopardy of being cut in FY 2011.

SOURCE: CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/news/2012/11/29/46369/the-top-10-reasons-why-people-of-color-should-care-about-the-fiscal-showdown/

"I'm Really Proud of All of You"

noreply@blogger.com (BWFO4Change) — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 01:54:00 +0000

Obama’s “Four more years” most retweeted tweet ever

noreply@blogger.com (BWFO4Change) — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 01:30:00 +0000

Four More Years!!!

noreply@blogger.com (BWFO4Change) — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 07:55:00 +0000

President Obama's Final Rally in Iowa

noreply@blogger.com (BWFO4Change) — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 18:46:00 +0000

Election Photos!

noreply@blogger.com (BWFO4Change) — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 18:42:00 +0000

Enjoying GOTV Concert--Gaylene Kanoyton, Vice Chair, Virginia Democratic Party and Daun S. Hester, Candidate 89th District, VA State House of Delegates.



"Virginia Rocks for Obama"




BWFO4Change with Congressman Bobby Scott

Poll Update

noreply@blogger.com (BWFO4Change) — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 03:00:00 +0000

Obama unlikely to win by anything like his post-DNC margins. But Romney has no momentum, Obama's state polling is robust, and time is up.
— Nate Silver (@fivethirtyeight) November 5, 2012

Obama is up by 3 in the Pew Poll for likely voters...It's a modest lead, but it could be higher with the not likely voters.

http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/11/pew-obama-re-takes-national-lead.php?ref=fpa

PPP

Obama is over the 50 mark (no way Romney can win without Ohio)

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/ppp-ohio-poll-obama-52-romney-47

86.3% Likely Obama win at 306.4 Electoral Votes

http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/author/nate-silver/

Princeton Election Consortium has an Obama win at 98.4% 303 Electoral votes

http://election.princeton.edu/

and Ireland is already paying out for an Obama win.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/bookie-paying-out-to-obama-punters-16233802.html#ixzz2BId6m3uv

21 Things Every Woman Should Know Before Voting‏

noreply@blogger.com (BWFO4Change) — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 19:21:00 +0000

The choice for women in this election is clear. Here are just a few reasons why:

1. The first bill President Obama signed into law was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, making progress in a decades-long struggle for equal pay. When asked for his position, Romney has repeatedly refused to say whether he would have signed it into law.

2. Nearly 75 million women had received tax cuts under President Obama, who has put an average of $3,600 back in the pockets of the typical working family.

3. The President has repeatedly fought back against Republican attempts to defund Planned Parenthood, one of the largest providers of women's health services in the country. Mitt Romney has promised to "get rid of" Planned Parenthood funding.

4. Mitt Romney would overturn Roe v. Wade and even said he'd be "delighted" to sign a bill eliminating a woman's right to choose.

5. President Obama has stood up for a woman's right to make her own health decisions -- while Mitt Romney and the Republican Party would let employers and politicians limit her access to birth control coverage.

6. As the son of a single mother and the father of two daughters, President Obama understands that women aren't a special-interest group -- and that when women make less than men for the same work, it hurts the whole family.

7. The Affordable Care Act puts an end to insurance company abuses, including charging women more than men for the same coverage. Mitt Romney says he would repeal the law on "Day One."

8. The President cut taxes 18 times for women-owned small businesses across the country.

9. President Obama has tripled the number of women on the Supreme Court -- for the first time in history, three women sit on the nation's highest court.

10. Under President Obama, our economy has added back 5.4 million private sector jobs in 32 consecutive months of growth -- and he has a plan to keep adding jobs and strengthen the middle class.

11. The President believes we're at our best when everyone has a fair shot and a chance to get ahead. Mitt Romney's message to those struggling to get ahead? "You're on your own."

12. President Obama reversed the global gag rule, ending the ban on government aid for international groups that provide abortion information.

13. The Republican Party platform, which was written at the direction of the Romney campaign, includes a human life amendment that could ban abortion nationwide, without exceptions for victims of rape or incest.

14. The Affordable Care Act covers women's preventive care -- including mammograms, cancer screenings, and birth control -- with no co-pays or deductibles.

15. President Obama created the White House Council on Women and Girls to support fair treatment in all matters of public policy.

16. The Obama administration has invested in educational and career opportunities for women and girls in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) -- he would recruit 100,000 math and science teachers as part of his plan to create jobs and support the middle class.

17. The President supports the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would give women additional tools to help fight pay discrimination, but Romney refuses to reveal his position.

18. President Obama is working to make college more affordable. That's why he doubled funding for Pell Grants and established the American Opportunity Tax Credit, which helped 9.4 million students and their families afford higher education in 2011. Mitt Romney would let the tax credit expire and slash funding for Pell Grants.

19. President Obama is working to preserve and protect the secure retirement that seniors have earned -- while Mitt Romney would turn Medicare into a voucher system ending guaranteed benefits.

20. Thanks to Obamacare, millions of young women have the security of knowing they can stay on their parents' health plan until age 26.

21. President Obama launched a broad effort to protect victims of domestic violence and reduce violence against women, including increased funding to enforce the Violence Against Women Act.

Forward

The Case for Obama: Why He Is a Great President. Yes, Great.

noreply@blogger.com (BWFO4Change) — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 19:32:00 +0000

By Jonathan Chait

I decided to support Barack Obama pretty early in the Democratic primary, around spring of 2007. But unlike so many of his supporters, I never experienced a kind of emotional response to his candidacy. I never felt his election would change everything about American politics or government, that it would lead us out of the darkness. Nothing Obama did or said ever made me well up with tears.

Possibly for that same reason, I have never felt even a bit of the crushing sense of disappointment that at various times has enveloped so many Obama voters. I supported Obama because I judged him to have a keen analytical mind, grasping both the possibilities and the limits of activist government, and possessed of excellent communicative talents. I thought he would nudge government policy in an incrementally better direction. I consider his presidency an overwhelming success.

I can understand why somebody who never shared Obama’s goals would vote against his reelection. If you think the tax code already punishes the rich too heavily, that it’s not government’s role to subsidize health insurance for those who can’t obtain it, that the military shouldn’t have to let gays serve openly, and so on, then Obama’s presidency has been a disaster, but you probably didn’t vote for him last time. For anybody who voted for Obama in 2008 and had even the vaguest sense of his platform, the notion that he has fallen short of some plausible performance threshold seems to me unfathomable.

Obama’s résumé of accomplishments is broad and deep, running the gamut from economic to social to foreign policy. The general thrust of his reforms, especially in economic policy, has been a combination of politically radical and ideologically moderate. The combination has confused liberals into thinking of Obamaism as a series of sad half-measures, and conservatives to deem it socialism, but the truth is neither. Obama’s agenda has generally hewed to the consensus of mainstream economists and policy experts. What makes the agenda radical is that, historically, vast realms of policy had been shaped by special interests for their own benefit. Plans to rationalize those things, to write laws that make sense, molder on think-tank shelves for years, even generations. They are often boring. But then Obama, in a frenetic burst of activity, made many of them happen all at once.

Determination

noreply@blogger.com (BWFO4Change) — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:48:00 +0000

Challenges and Character

noreply@blogger.com (BWFO4Change) — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 22:48:00 +0000

Op-Ed: The President Not the Candidate Showed Up On Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (BWFO4Change) — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 13:56:00 +0000

Dear Editor:

I am thrilled at the number of people who watched the debate on Wednesday I hope they are all going to vote and it gives me faith that people are paying attention as the stakes are so high. It is no secret nor do I want it to be who I am supporting on November 6^th when I vote.

I am sending Niki Tsongas back to the House of Representatives, because as a person of color and a woman I know she is the one who will have my back on issues not try to send me back with ideology that should not govern.

We will not only send our first woman to the Senate with Elizabeth Warren’s election but we will send someone who won’t play at middle class while home while voting for the richest 1% in DC. Who speaks with righteous indignation about equal pay when on the stump here at home but votes against it and with his party every single time, as Brown has done.

Last but never least the President of the United States, so back to Wednesday some even in his own party have been all too quick to criticize him as not being as pushy and rude as his opponent, well I for one am happy about that. He is the President of the United States as well as Candidate Obama he still has to act like a President no matter what he is doing.

Some say he looked tired, and I am willing to admit that he may truly be tired, he is not pretending to be a President he really is, and I can only imagine how much it must take out of you to do the work and run for the office so why criticize that. Fact checkers have already done their work so I will leave you to look for the results, but all have found our President to be truthful and direct with the American people, the same could not be said for his opponent.

Ryan the VP candidate likes to beat his chest about how the President has added debt, what he is not honest about is, it is debt we already had and accumulated for two unpaid for wars and tax cuts to the wealthy. President Obama just put those figures on the books and above the table so they could be seen and the American people would have a full understanding of what not budgeting for things costs.

It is that thoughtful smart measured man I voted for and will vote for again, I am not afraid of him being smart it is what I seek from my elected officials, and sending Niki Tsongas and Elizabeth Warren down to help in a real way with our recovery will be my honor.

Faye Morrison

Ayer, MA

The Power of Our Voice

noreply@blogger.com (BWFO4Change) — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 19:09:00 +0000

BWFO4Change Is Honored To Endorse The Following Candidates for Public Office:

noreply@blogger.com (BWFO4Change) — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 11:01:00 +0000

Congresswoman Karen Bass


Candidate Daun Hester


Candidate Amelia Ross Hammond


Congresswoman Terri Sewell


Congresswoman Gloria Tinubu


Congresswoman Niki Tsongas U.S Congress, 5th District, MA


Congresswoman Dr. Ella Ward, U.S. Congress, 4th District, Virginia