Obama counsels Black Lives Matter activists: ‘You can’t just keep on yelling’ - The Washington Post

[b]LONDON — President Obama, speaking to young activists and leaders at a town hall meeting here Saturday, offered some unsolicited guidance to those pressing for change back home and had some tough words for the Black Lives Matter movement.

The president was asked about the social movements that made him change his mind about issues in the White House. He credited the campaign for marriage equality for gay Americans for leading him to reverse his position, and then he pivoted to the Black Lives Matter movement.

The young black activists have been “really effective in bringing attention to problems” of the criminal justice system and police violence, Obama said.

But he cautioned that the group’s leaders had been too dismissive of elected officials. “Once you’ve highlighted an issue and brought it to people’s attention … then you can't just keep on yelling at them. And you can't refuse to meet because that might compromise the purity of your position,” Obama said.

Obama met with civil rights activists, including representatives of the Black Lives Matter movement, in February at the White House to discuss criminal justice reform. Aislinn Pulley, one of the co-founders of the group’s Chicago chapter, declined the invitation. “I could not, with any integrity, participate in such a sham that would only serve to legitimize the false narrative that the government is working to end police brutality and the institutional racism that fuels it,” Pulley wrote in an essay for Truthout, an online news organization.

Obama didn’t mention Pulley on Saturday, but he criticized some Black Lives Matter activists who, he said, were unwilling to negotiate with elected leaders.

“The value of social movements and activism is to get you at the table, get you in the room, and then to start trying to figure out how is this problem going to be solved,” Obama said. “You, then, have a responsibility to prepare an agenda that is achievable, that can institutionalize the changes you seek.”

The president also noted that he was speaking from experience. "I started as a community organizer trying to pressure politicians into getting things done," he said. "And now I’m on the other side."[/b]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/04/23/obama-counsels-black-lives-matter-activists-you-cant-just-keep-on-yelling/


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdfRrYgLlYk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWQgpCn2TaI

birdman:
im a little conflicted about this one. Andrew Jackson getting replaced by a black woman in very poetic . Still this feels like one of those pacifiers that has no real bearing on anything

yea I agree but I find it funny and agree with the decision though

oh cool, she has good children making her proud, but I always thought her children were younger. any way it would have been nice if she had a daughter to, a mini bukky.

waistaa:
. Anybody wey dey plan big tour dey die,yyyy

I know, I don't get it either

mablie:
Hello.How do you post youtube videos on nairaland?

You copy the youtube link then paste it on the space you will comment on then post it

naptu2:
Back in the mid 1980s the media did everything possible to create a rivalry between Prince and Michael Jackson. There were all kinds of crazy rumours and stories.

For example, many Nigerians will tell you (back in 1985) that the reason that Prince wasn't on the "USA For Africa" album was because Michael Jackson was there. The rumour was that Prince didn't want to have anything to do with Michael Jackson. Of course that story is false. Prince contributed a track to the USA For Africa album, he just wasn't on the We Are The World song, and that had nothing to do with Michael Jackson.

So, when Chris Rock interviewed Prince in 1997, he couldn't resist asking that question, was there any rivalry between Prince and Michael?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9ZN9nKQqe0

Amen, thanks for the video

2sexycom:
It was around that time I watch the comparison too. I was still very little. I think it was NTA or so that I watched it.

yea, to be honest I don't get why people did that with both of them, it made no sense but I feel they got away with it with prince and micheal because both of them were light skinned and had the same body type, even though only one of them is naturally light skinned.

SunsetAve:
Michael's least song is 100s of miles ahead of prince best song.
Did you know prince only sold 100 million albums in his entire career. Michael's dancing shoe alone is worth more than prince career.

Take that debate some place else, I am not interested. If you feel Micheal is better then Prince then thats fine but as I said before nobody can ever compare them nor did I ever. So I don't know the point of your debate with me

SunsetAve:
Michael's least song is 100s of miles ahead of prince best song.

Like I said I am not comparing nor did I ever compare them. All I know is both sang well in their hay day. Take that debate some place else

2sexycom:
Just like Michael Jackson was planning to do and was executed. Prince and MJ have been compared at a point in their career. Such stars' successes aren't ordinary due to the tremendous wild spread sales recorded because they gave something to get those rewards.

True I agree, but I don't know about them being executed though but when I was young I remember someone compared them. As young as I was then in my opinion I felt you can't compare them, I don't see how you can, they have different types of styles, swagger and music maybe because of their skin color

SunsetAve:
I was often amzed when people compare prince To Michael jackson.Pirnce is unworthy to shine michael jackson's shoes. Even the most remote tribes in the most remote islands know and love Michael Jackson.

you need to reread my statement. I am not comparing musicians. I said Nigerians knew Prince like they knew Micheal Jackson, I never said they were in different levels or one was above the other. Take that argument some place else cause nobody can ever replace Micheal Jackson, just like nobody can replace Prince.

SunsetAve:
Many Nigerians are likely not to know who Prince is . Nigerians like pop music . Prince's psychedelic style isn't popular music .

I disagree, many Nigerians knew who Prince was like they knew Micheal Jackson. I was born and raised America but my parents are Nigerian and they have his old records beside micheal jackson, King Sunny ade, Obey, Fela, Marvin Gaye and other top Nigerian and some legendary American singers. It was my parents who even introduce me to his music. so it depends

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NN3gsSf-Ys

silibaba:


is not a new thing.
we all will die one day
a day we do not know
are we prepared for it?

True its a fact of life, how someone is prepared for it is based on the individual themselves and how they lived their life but Prince was still young, he was not in his 70's or anything. Any way who knows what he was going through. Micheal Jackson died in his early 50's as well and it wasn't really his time yet either

abujasingles:
Saw this on instagram taught it was a joke. RIP legend

I thought it was a joke to but once BBC confirmed it, I was shocked. He died to young and there have been rumors that he was planning to do a big world tour soon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mq5hrUDoYo

[b][size=20pt]Harriet Tubman, anti-slavery activist, to be on new US $20 bill[/size]

Anti-slavery activist Harriet Tubman will be the first woman to appear on a US banknote for more than a century.

Tubman, who was born a slave around 1820 and helped hundreds of others escape, will feature on the new $20 bill, the US Treasury announced.
She will replace former President Andrew Jackson, a slave owner.
The Treasury has dropped plans to remove the image of Alexander Hamilton, one of the founders of the US financial system, from the $10 bill.
It had faced a backlash over the plan.
While Ms Tubman will feature on the front of the $20 bill, President Jackson's image will move to the back.
US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said that Harriet Tubman was "not just a historical figure but a role model for leadership and participation in our democracy."
"Her incredible story of courage and commitment to equality embodies the ideals of democracy that our nation celebrates," he added.
Leaders from the women's rights movement - Lucretia Mott, Sojourner Truth, Susan B Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Alice Paul - will be pictured on the back of the $10 bill.

The back of the $5 bill - which depicts Abraham Lincoln on the front - will show prominent leaders from US history including singer Marian Anderson, former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights leader Martin Luther King.
The women last depicted on US notes were former first lady Martha Washington, on the $1 silver certificate from 1891 to 1896, and Native American Pocahontas , in a group photo on the $20 bill from 1865 to 1869.

James Cook, BBC News, North America correspondent

Harriet Tubman is best known in the United States for her role in smuggling slaves to safety via the Underground Railroad.
But her role in the US civil war was just as remarkable.
She operated as a scout for the Union forces, often behind enemy lines, most notably guiding the dramatic armed raid at Combahee Ferry in South Carolina in which three gunboats evaded Confederate positions and liberated more than 700 slaves.
"I nebber see such a sight," said Ms Tubman later, describing how slaves laden with children, pigs and chickens had rushed from the fields towards the boats. "We laughed, an' laughed, an' laughed," she recalled.
In 1863 this was an extraordinary military role for any woman, let alone for an escaped slave.
As for Andrew Jackson, his enduring numismatic role is ironic not only because the slave-trading president has been pushed to the back of the $20 bill by a freed slave but also because he regarded the very existence of paper money as a "deep-seated evil."

Harriett Tubman was born into slavery in the 1820s. After suffering a serious head injury, she escaped and helped to free more than 70 slaves through the "Underground Railroad", a network of anti-slavery activists and safe houses.
Ms Tubman was the winner of an online poll run by campaign group Women On 20s.
Its executive director, Susan Ades Stone, told the BBC that the "freedom fighter" was "a fantastic choice."
"She is really quite remarkable," she said, noting the irony of moving Andrew Jackson to the back of a bill which would feature a freed slave on the front.
"It's not what we envisioned but I think that it will make for an interesting narrative and it will keep alive a lot of the history lessons that we can learn from his actions and his policies," said Ms Ades Stone.
Other potential candidates for the spot included Eleanor Roosevelt, civil rights activist Rosa Parks and leader of the Cherokee nation Wilma Mankiller.

Alexander Hamilton staying on the $10 bill was due in part to the popularity of Broadway musical "Hamilton".
Cast members visited the White House and spoke to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew in March.
After the meeting, Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of the Broadway show, tweeted that Mr Lew told him he would be "very happy" after they announced changes to the US notes.
The Treasury Department also put out a statement after the meeting that reiterated Mr Lew's "commitment to continue to honour Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill".[/b]
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-36096151


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOmjLqqhNAc

Interesting but the way Africans claim totality and want to be king or queen has reduce the significance of royality in Africa to a extent, so this story is not surprising to me

kingsman66:
French MPs on Tuesday approved a new law
that proponents say will protect sex workers by
shifting the burden of the offense onto clients,
but some prostitutes are crying foul.
The French union of sex workers (Strass, its
acronym in France) called on members and
supporters to protest the “repressive” bill
outside the National Assembly, where
lawmakers adopted the reform into law.
The legislation outlaws paying for sex, imposes
fines for clients and overturns the existing ban
on solicitation. In an unprecedented move, the
bill also makes available €4.8 million per year
to help sex workers quit the trade.
The comprehensive approach, which envisions
an eventual eradication of prostitution, has
earned support among other French
organisations that assist and defend sex
workers.
The law comes after more than two years of
political wrangling, spurring heated debates -
even among prostitutes - on the controversial
topic.
'Change mentalities’
The bill was authored by Socialist MP Maud
Olivier – who represents the Essone department
near Paris – who has made the fight against
prostitution her personal crusade.
"Prostitution is violence", the lawmaker states
on her website, adding: "This poorly-understood
violence is alone in not being recognised as
such in law".
Olivier says the law will help authorities tackle
pimping and human trafficking, protect victims
and help them escape the sex trade. It will also
help better educate young people and clients of
the harm caused by prostitution.
"The goal is to diminish [prostitution], protect
prostitutes who want to quit, and change
mentalities" she told France’s Le Monde
newspaper on Tuesday.
Underfunded
Strass and other French advocacy groups
disagree. This week the sex workers union
accused Olivier and other lawmakers of
upholding an "essentially repressive" reform.
The new law does nothing to help sex workers -
of whom there are around 30,000 in France,
according to official estimates - and even makes
them more vulnerable, according to Strass.
Around a dozen organisations, which included
Strass, but also Doctors of the World and
France's leading AIDS advocacy group, further
argued that the measures to help sex workers
transition to a new life was misguided and
underfunded.
The law stipulates people have to stop
prostituting themselves in order to qualify for
cash stipends and other aid. "How can someone
stop sex work without residency papers [which
allows someone to legally live in France], long-
term housing, or sufficient cash allocations?"
the group asked in a statement, highlighting the
fact that up to 80% of prostitutes in France are
foreigners.
'Real alternatives'
The law nevertheless represents a historic leap
forward, according to other rights groups.
Le Mouvement du Nid (Movement of the Nest),
a group that advocates for the abolition of
prostitution, but also helps sex workers access
medical attention, legal counsel and defends
them from harassment, has mounted a detailed
and impassioned defence of the legislation.
It has hailed France for joining other European
countries that have shifted the criminal burden
from prostitutes to clients.
"Sweden, Norway and Iceland have already
ended this historic injustice, which consists of
punishing the victims of the system, while
defending the impunity of those who impose
sex through economic power", le Mouvement du
Nid said in a statement.
The group said the law was unprecedented in
its "ambition to offer real alternatives to people
who are looking to leave prostitution behind".
Free to work the street
The only thing supporters and detractors seem
to agree on is that the law could fundamentally
impact the way prostitutes work.
The change will come at a time when traditional
prostitutes are already struggling to adapt to
the new Internet-based business models, and
facing new forms of exploitation.
As the industry moves onto the Internet, a
growing number of people are offering to work
as intermediaries between prostitutes and
clients on the web, according to observers.
Critics of the law say it will push prostitution
further toward the Internet business model,
making it harder to police.
"Prostitution on the street is already starting to
disappear because of the Internet", Mylene
Juste, a Paris prostitute lamented in a recent
interview with FRANCE 24.
She is among the sex workers who have rallied
in the French capital in recent months to
protest the new law. "This is the way I want to
live my life. I want to be free to work as a
prostitute, even on the street. I don't want to be
on the Internet", she said.

I'm surprised there wasn't a law against it in the first place however France culturally are not conservative when it comes to sexuality and romance so I guess it makes sense

[b]WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Wednesday it will redirect $589 million in funds to prepare for the Zika virus before the mosquito that carries it begins to emerge in the continental United States, but urged Congress to act quickly on its request for more money.

White House budget director Shaun Donovan said the use of money previously provided for fighting another health crisis, the Ebola virus, was only a temporary fix for Zika funding.

Donovan said some measures to fight Zika would have to be delayed, curtailed or stopped unless the U.S. Congress approves more than $1.8 billion in emergency funds requested by the Obama administration in February.

The Zika virus, linked to a growing number of cases of the birth defect microcephaly in Brazil, is spreading rapidly in Latin America and the Caribbean and heading north as the weather gets warmer.

"We should not play with fire here," Donovan told reporters on a conference call.

Without full Zika funding, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell said mosquito control and surveillance may have to be delayed or stopped, vaccine development could be jeopardized and development of faster diagnostic tests could be impaired.

Most of the $589 million will come from $2.7 billion in funds set aside for public health projects aimed at the Ebola virus. West Africa was stricken by a two-year Ebola epidemic that killed more than 11,300 people starting in December 2013 and led to a small number of cases in the United States.

The Republican-controlled Congress has said the White House should draw the money needed to fight Zika from the Ebola funds.

Chairman Hal Rogers and other top Republicans on the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee said in a statement they would "monitor the changing needs resulting from this unpredictable crisis" to ensure that needed funds are available.

"Republicans are going to look back on this time that they've had to act on the Zika virus and deeply regret it," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.

Burwell said a recent flare-up of Ebola in West Africa shows the United States cannot shortchange its work in the region.

"We face two global health challenges, Ebola and Zika, and we don't have an option to set one aside in the name of the other," Burwell told reporters.

Burwell said there were 672 confirmed cases of Zika infections in the United States, including 64 pregnant women. She said there was one confirmed case of Zika-related microcephaly in Hawaii.

The World Health Organization has said there is a strong scientific consensus that Zika can cause microcephaly as well as Guillain-Barre syndrome, though proof may take months or years.

Microcephaly is a condition defined by unusually small heads in babies that can result in developmental problems. Guillain-Barre syndrome is a rare neurological disorder that can result in paralysis.

Brazil said it has confirmed more than 940 cases of microcephaly, and considers most to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil is investigating nearly 4,300 additional suspected cases of microcephaly.[/b]
https://www.yahoo.com/news/white-house-redirects-money-fight-zika-urges-congress-152801476.html

umehmj:
what in the name of baby jesus have we got to do with how hip hop is affecting the American black community? I'm more concerned about the unending fuel scarcity in my dear country Nigeria

Understood but I feel this story should be known to Nigerians so they can know how a music culture can damage a community & learn from it

birdman:
I weaned myself off most of hip hop a long time ago. I noticed that when these recording studios produce music for other genres like rock, country, even pop, the beats are complex, the songs have variety and full of meaning. But when its hip hop, its a simple beat, sometimes only one instrument, with a wack rapper talking about nothing. Obviously someone either thinks very little of the intelligence of hip hop listeners, or they want to dumb us down.

I have no problem with adult subjects, murder, drugs, prostitution..whatever, we know these are facts of life. I was a fan of pretty much any rapper out of the atl, htown or new orleans. But these days it seems like there is a concerted effort to release dog food to black people in general.

Me, nah, Im not playing that. Got into it with a couple of folks just some weekend ago - they were vibing to something that sounded like a a drunk rapping a nursery rhyme, and there was no beat for about half the song. If they werent uhm lol, I might have smacked 'em

I have the same feeling, I mostly listen to coldplay and etc now a days

Zoharariel:
I am convinced that Aliko Dangote is teaming up with Bill Gates to extirpate 11 million children from the North. We know what their end-game is - population control.

Well, as long as they do not bring their killer vaccines to the South - we would be just fine.

If you think Bill Gates cares so much about the health & welfare of the African children, then you need a brain transplant. Read this article below:


Bill Gates’ Polio Vaccine Program Caused 47,500 Cases of Paralysis Death


1.) In India, Monsanto hired Bollywood actors to promote genetically engineered cotton seed to illiterate farmers. Nana Petakar became a brand ambassador for Monsanto. The advertising has been called “aggressive, unscrupulous and false.”

Bill Gates, heavily invested in Monsanto’s GMOs as well as in vaccines, hired the most beloved of Indian actors, Amitabh Bachchan, to promote the oral polio vaccine.

Here is one example of the ads Bachchan created. Here is Bachchan and use of Bollywood itself to promote the vaccines, and here is another ad, in which Bachchan employes his acting skills.

Monsanto used Bollywood actors and succeeded in selling India’s farmers Bt cotton seeds. Profits for Monsanto rose. When yields were less than promised, farmers incurred massive debt, leading many to suicide, in what is considered “the worst-ever recorded wave of suicides of this kind in human history.” To date, the number of suicides has surpassed 250,000.


2.) How is Gates’ other investment – vaccines – faring?  Mimicking Monsanto’s PR, Gates used Bollywood actors to strongly promote his vaccine campaign to ‘eradicate polio’ across India. Vaccines ware given to Indian children. Have they brought health?

“In 2011 there were an extra 47500 new cases of NPAFP [non-polio acute flaccid paralysis]. Clinically indistinguishable from polio paralysis but twice as deadly, the incidence of NPAFP was directly proportional to doses of oral polio received. Through this data was collected within the polio surveillance system, it was not investigated.”

The Oral Polio Vaccines were given to Indian children. The CDC dropped the OPV from its vaccine schedule in the US because it was causing polio.

Did Gates not know the OPV had been dropped in the US as he suggested he wanted to bring the same good health to third world countries as Western countries enjoyed? If he did not know, is he pushing vaccines on the world’s children without such basic and truly critical information?

nsnbc.me/2013/05/08/bill-gates-polio-vaccine-program-caused-47500-cases-of-paralysis-death/

Remember - The opposite of whatever Amerika says is always the truth.

If Amerika says good morning, then know that it is night.

If Amerika says rain is falling, then know that the sun is blazing.

If Amerika says she is planning to invest $600Million in Nigeria, then know that she is actually planning steal $600Million from Nigeria - using submarine to steal oil from our coastal waters.

If Amerika says the sky is blue, then know that the sky is red.

If Amerika says she will help you combat & defeat Boko Haram, then you should expect rise in multiple bombings across your states.

I don't think Bill Gates is perfect but he is better then some African leaders today that do nothing but steal government money meant for its citizens and put it in their pocket to build houses and fund their multiple girlfriends


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35o_L7jCaHI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2jHpyJAHCU

[b]Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote and the tech billionaire Bill Gates have announced plans for a $100m (£70m) scheme to cut malnutrition in Nigeria, the continent’s most populous nation.

Dangote said the partnership between his Dangote Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation would address the problem, which affects roughly 11 million children in northern Nigeria.

The announcement was made in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, a day after both men signed a deal to ramp up immunisation programmes in the northern states of Kaduna, Sokoto and Kano, where Dangote is from.

The US philanthropist Gates, who also met President Muhammadu Buhari, said Nigeria’s key resource is its young population. About 44% of the country’s population of 170 million are aged under 14. The Microsoft founder said their prospects would be “greatly damaged if we don’t solve malnutrition”.

The new scheme will fund programmes to 2020 and beyond, using local groups in the north-west and north-east. The north-east has for the past seven years been ravaged by Boko Haram’s Islamic militant insurgency.

Dangote and Gates have previously worked together on polio eradication programmes, which resulted in the country being taken off the global list of endemic countries last year.

Nigeria is Africa’s leading economy and number one oil exporter, but poverty remains acute for all but a fraction. Average life expectancy is 52 – five years fewer than the overall rate for sub-Saharan Africa – and mortality rates for infants and children under five are high. About 31% of Nigerian children under the age of five were deemed underweight in 2013, the 12th worst record in the world.[/b]
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/jan/21/aliko-dangote-bill-gates-in-100m-drive-malnutrition-nigeria


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKiOzbaaKjY

Fulaman198:


The well-traveled British and French do know better. Especially the French, heck they even have a separate word for Fulanis "Peul" which they learnt from the Wolof in Senegal (Wolof call Fulani Pel which is similar to Peul).

There are many traveling Europeans who go and see the Wodaabe Fulani geerwol because of its uniqueness. So trust that they do know the difference. Forget Americans, they think all Africans are the same.

well I was talking about americans and Canadians, but I get what you mean about Americas though. When it comes to Europeans, it depends

Wulfruna:


The only thing wrong here is that nairaland's culture section has a troll problem. A lonely, mentally ill Somali needs Nigerians' attention to stay alive. When one moniker stops getting the attention he needs, he gets another one and tries again. That's what is wrong.

Amen, took the words out of my mouth

40oz:



Thanks for posting a pic of Dangote (richest man in Africa ) with a big nose, big lips black face and hard hair he can still buy your poor god forsaken country looool

Lol my ancestors weren't slaves little poor Somali, the ones you're looking for are in America, their ancestors may have been slaves but they're faaaaaaaaaaaar richer, more beautiful, more intelligent, more popular and more relevant than poor hungry Somalis lol. Their slave ancestors were better off than you poor Somalis of today. The only thing you hungry savages are known for is knaan, piracy and poverty

I'm not hating I'm saying the truth stop claiming to be Ethiopian/Eritrean poor Somali pirate run along and go eat some worms before your canoe sinks

Don't forget you're the one on a Nigerian site not the other way around

LMAO, is the OP ayanle?

this somali dude needs medication quick

Fulaman198:


You will be looked at in a funny manner if you mention "Hausa-Fulani" in any African country outside of Nigeria. They are two very different groups with only religion in common. Cameroon, Niger Republic, Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, Guinea, Guinea Bissau all know the difference.

thats true with other african countries because they know better but outside Africa its another story