American Morning
Obama marks NAACP's 100th Anniversary
President Obama will be in New York tonight to address the NAACP convention, which marks their 100 year anniversary. It's a major address by the nation's first African-American president.
Just last year as a candidate, Barack Obama was both deferential and defiant before the civil rights group.
"I know there's some who been saying I've been too tough talking about responsibility. I'm here to report I'm not going to stop talking about it."
Taking on some of his African-American critics, President Obama delivered a message of tough love, echoed just last weekend in Ghana.
"We all know that the future of Africa is in the hand of Africans."
The historic election of the United States' first African American president highlights the NAACP's role in fighting for equality and opportunity.
NAACP President Ben Jealous says, "This is a big step that we've taken, having a black family in the White House, ending that 233-year-old color barrier. But there's a lot more work that needs to be done."
This after former President Bush kept the NAACP at arms length, declining their invitations to address them for 5 years.
Commentary: The NAACP at 100: Much more work to do
What do you think? Has President Obama met the Black community's expectations? What is the future of the NAACP? Has it achieved its goals? Tell us your thoughts.
What’s on Tap – Thursday July 16, 2009
Here are the big stories on the agenda today:
- An eighth suspect now under arrest in connection to the shocking home invasion murder of a Florida couple that had 17 kids. Cops traced an accused killer’s steps and tracked her down.
Police say this was carefully planned, but were they the specific target? We’ll talk to the man in charge of the investigation. - Was it the turning point? This morning, for the first time ever, we're seeing video of the Pepsi commercial shoot where Michael Jackson's hair caught fire. And we can guarantee after seeing it, you'll never think of the accident in the same way. We’re taking a look at whether this set the “king of pop” on a path to drug dependency… and his eventual death.
- Will you get sick in the future? And do you really want to know? There's surprising new information on the psychological effect of getting bad news about your health, years ahead of time. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has the pros and cons of finding out you're getting sick – in the future.
- Former DC Mayor Marion Barry says there’s nothing wrong with hiring your girlfriend. He did it. And it could get him in big trouble. He’s here live to defend himself. You cannot miss this one!
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