Black Politics Blog

A message from Chris Owens:

This week, things have gotten a little ugly in the presidential campaign, from threats and innuendo to guilt by association...

I'll take up just one part of this topic with Isabel Macdonald, communications director at Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) and one of the authors of the “Smearcasting: How Islamophobes spread fear, bigotry and misinformation,” a profile of the “Dirty Dozen” 12 worst offenders of smearing American Muslims. http://www.fair.org/index.php

And I'll speak with Van Jones, a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and author of the new book, The Green Collar Economy. We're talking about what "green jobs" really are and what new money Americans could be making when they shift their priorities on the environment.

A message from Chris Owens:

I'm taking apart this week’s big news: the bailout bill and the VP debate.

And, with little over 30 days to the election, tune in for our regular segment on protecting your vote. I’ll be speaking with Sheryll Cashin, a Harvard classmate of Barack Obama’s and now professor of law at Georgetown University. She’s an expert on civil rights, so we’ll be talking about voting and activism, as well as her incredible memoir, "THE AGITATOR’S DAUGHTER: Four Generations of One Extraordinary African-American Family," which reveals her own family's involvement with politics and activism.

She is also the author of "The Failures of Integration: How Race and Class are Undermining the American Dream" (PublicAffairs, 2004) which was an Editors’ Choice in the New York Times Book Review and a finalist for the 2005 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for non-fiction.

A message from Chris Owens . . .

I'm recapping our strange week in politics with Political Strategist, Basil Smikle, who was a top aide to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and joined the Senator’s delegations to Vietnam and Israel for the White House during the Clinton Administration. Smikle teaches at Columbia University’s Graduate School of International and Public Affairs.

And, in our regular segment on protecting your vote: I'll speak with Ryan King, Policy Analyst with The Sentencing Project about how votes are stolen from ex-offenders. "The credibility of our elections and democratic principles are compromised by laws that exclude citizens because of their past failings," King says. www.sentencingproject.org

A message from Chris Owens...

Education and voting, not sexy issues, but they are important to get that "change" we're all talking about:

Paul Tough, from the New York Times magazine, joins me for a fascinating discussion about his new book, “Whatever It Takes.” It’s the story of how and why Geoffrey Canada's Harlem Children's Zone works and the larger ideas behind how to get folks out of poverty and gain skills to succeed.

And Jonah H. Goldman - Campaign Director, National Campaign for Fair Elections - has info on where to go if you're turned a way at the polls in November. We'll be covering this topic regularly, so you don't lose your vote.

For more info call: 1-866-OUR-VOTE or online: http://www.866ourvote.org/

Hi everyone,

Today's hot topics: Palin, Haiti's hurricanes, and your money

As we brace for the hurricane hitting Texas, Haiti is still reeling from four catastrophic storms this summer. Hervé Sabin, Director The Rural Haiti Project, Inc. gives us his report. Find out how you can help at www.ruralhaitiproject.org. (And if you are in New York City, be sure to check out their upcoming benefit, website has details)

CC, host of “The Cutting Edge” at KUDO 1080, Alaska's Progressive Voice in Anchorage, Alaska shares her findings on “trooper gate,” she’s following the Gov. Sarah Palin story.

Jim Carr, Chief Operating Officer for the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) joins me to de-mystify the dealings at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Last time we had Jim on to talk his group’s proof that there are major differences in how people get loans in this country and how unfair lending practices work.

And Deborah McKoy, Executive Director and Founder of the UC Berkeley Center for Cities and Schools at the Institute of Urban and Regional Development will join me later to show how the sub prime mortgage crisis impacts schools.

On this week's show . . . we're airing THE BEST of Black Politics because I’m finally home after an amazing trip across the country.

So, we’re re-airing my interview w/ my friend Melissa Harris Lacewell. She’s Associate Professor, of Politics and African American Studies at Princeton University. You may remember, I spoke with Melissa just before the DNC.

Melissa is also the author of the award-winning book, "Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought" (Princeton 2004). And, she is currently at work on a new book: “For Colored Girls Who've Considered Politics When Being Strong Wasn't Enough.”

Tune in because you’re going to get an earful . . . Plus, and this is NEW, I want to share a few thoughts about my travels these past couple of weeks. Going to the DNC this year was especially meaningful, for a lot of reasons. I can’t get into the whole thing right now, but listen in Saturday morning at 11 am to hear more. . .

And, see me this Monday on GritTV. I'll be on the media roundtable with host Laura Flanders. Check it out Monday evening at http://lauraflanders.firedoglake.com/.