Michigan is finally feeling the love!  There is so much campaigning going on in the state, the Obama and McCain families should consider renting summer homes on Mackinac Island.

The state’s decision to move its presidential primary to January 15 resulted in a boycott by Democrats and only scant attention from Republicans.  In the last two months, however, the Democrats have piled it on thick with three visits by the presumptive nominee, and appearances by former candidates John Edwards and Hillary Clinton (before she dropped out of the race), former VP Al Gore and hopeful first lady Michelle Obama.  The Republicans are working hard to catch up. 

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The Fourth of July is and has always been a holiday of confliction for me and for many African Americans.  The very first “self-evident truth” of the Declaration of Independence – “That all men are created equal” – was a hypocritical mockery of my enslaved ancestors when that hallowed document was signed in 1776.  Here we are 232 years later, and even with Barack Obama’s Democratic primary victory, Black people still wonder, “Are we really free?”

In deciding what I was going to write for my weekly Street Team ’08 report, Frederick Douglass’ immortal speech “The Meaning of July Fourth to the Negro”, delivered in 1852, immediately came to mind… 

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Since 9-11 anti-Arab and anti-Muslim discrimination is on the rise. In an act that was contrary to his message of change, campaign volunteers for Barack Obama refused to allow two Muslim American women to sit behind the candidate during a June rally at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena. Michigan is home to the largest population of Arabs outside the Middle East. Several young Arab Americans spoke with Nadir about this incident and the tensions they endure every day.

The founders of theUnited Statesincluded freedom of the press in the first amendment because they understood that a people cannot truly be free if they don’t have accurate information about what’s going on in their world. With no access to accurate news and information, 19thCentury African Americans inGalveston,Texasthought they were still slaves, though legally they had been freed. In the 21stCentury we have unprecedented access to tell our own stories, connect and learn from each other, and the ability to change the present and record history as it happens.

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Juneteenth, the Media & History in the Making

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Former presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich defied Democratic Party leaders when he filed 35 Articles of Impeachment against George W. Bush on June 10.  A day later members of Veterans for Peace visited the office of Judiciary Committee Chair John Conyers (D-MI) asking him to hold an inquiry.

The Dem leaders say impeachment would be a distraction from the upcoming election, but thousands of Americans believe the Bush Administration should be held accountable for its crimes against humanity.

What do you think?

Two days after Michigan's delegates were reinstated, and a day before he clinched the Democratic nomination, Barack Obama spoke to an enthusiastic crowd in Troy.

Nadir asked several first time voters what they thought about Obama's message.

Does he speak to the issues they face as young adults in Michigan?

Everyone is complaining about high gas prices, and after my Memorial Day weekend trip down south, I’m no different. My question is: Why aren’t we seeing any real leadership from the presidential candidates on this issue?

Beyond the gas tax holiday debate a few weeks ago, we’ve seen and heard little from the candidates except their assurances that they feel our pain. Sen. John McCain introduced a bill in the Senate proposing the gasoline tax holiday that both he and Senator Hillary Clinton support. The idea of agas tax holiday was a non-starter. 

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