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New York, March 31 2008. The man with the loop earring and the blue-tinted eyeglasses speaks emphatically. Sitting in his Manhattan office, Clarence Jones, one of Martin Luther King’s closest advisors and his former speechwriter, talks about the late reverend’s legacy in today’s America. In his new book What Would Martin Say?, Clarence Jones uses King’s life and speeches to discuss current issues such as race relations in the United States. When he speaks, Mr Jones waves his hands and does not hesitate to pause to find the right word, the right image. Racism has clearly left some scars on the 77-year old former lawyer. The man who loves Martin Luther King Jr like a brother and defends his role in contemporary American history, sees in Obama a potential president who could improve race relations in America. New York, March 12 2008. Eliot Spitzer’s world crumbled in 48 hours. Two days after the New York Times revealed he had been caught in a sex scandal, the New York Governor announced his resignation on Wednesday March 12. Standing next to his stone-faced wife Silda, he said he accepted responsibility for his personal failings. “I look at my time as governor with a sense of what might have been,” Mr Spitzer said. “There is much more to be done, and I cannot allow my private failings to disrupt the people’s work.” New York, March 9 2008. Barack Obama regained his electoral footing on Saturday. The Illinois senator won the Wyoming caucuses by a wide margin. With 100% of the precincts reporting, the Democratic front-runner had 61% of the vote to Hillary Clinton’s 38 percent. Obama won seven delegates and Clinton won five. In the overall race for the nomination, Obama leads 1,578-1,468, according to AP. 2,025 delegates are needed to win the Democratic nomination. New York, February 28 2008. The Turkish army said in a statement on Monday February 25 it has killed 41 separatist Kurdish rebels, raising the reported death toll in its incursion in northern Iraq to 153 since Thursday February 21. The White House meanwhile hopes Turkey’s latest armed raids against Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) will be short and spare civilians. “We hope that this is just a short-term incursion so that they can help deal with the threat” of Kurdish separatists, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said on Monday. New York. “It’s time to get real”. After 10 defeats in a row against Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton challenged Democratic voters to give her the responsibility to represent in the November presidential election. Despite her string of losses, the former first lady went on the offensive in a speech in New York City. `It’s time we moved from good words to good works, from sound bites to sound solutions.”, she said, claiming that her rival has substituted rhetoric for experience. New York, February 18.. Ahead of the February 19 primaries in Hawaii and Wisconsin, Clinton supporters seem to start questioning the first lady’s strategy to rely on superdelegates to clinch the Democratic party’s nomination if she loses the popular vote. “It’s the people [who are] going to govern who selects our next candidate and not superdelegates,” Charles Rangel said on February 17 at a dinner for the New York State Association of Black and Puerto Rican Legislators conference in Albany. “The people’s will is what is going to prevail at the convention and not people who decide what the people’s will is,” the key Hillary Clinton ally and surrogate added. New York. Is he unstoppable? On Tuesday February 12, Barack Obama swept the presidential primaries in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. With these three new victories in the Potomac area, the Illinois Senator has now won contests in a row against his rival Hillary Clinton. With his native Hawaii and Wisconsin, due to vote on February 19, Obama is favored to win both states and to strengthen his new status as the front-runner in the race for the Democratic nomination. New York. The momentum is now on his side. On February 9 and 10, Barack Obama swept the Democratic presidential primary and caucuses in Louisiana, Nebraska, Washington State and in Maine. He also won the Virgin Islands. Barring a Clinton upset in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia, the Illinois senator is set to win three more contests on Tuesday Feb. 12. New York, February 7 2008. It will be long. It will be tough. After tying on Super Tuesday, Democratic rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton (Photo Daniella Zalcman) are back on the campaign trail. While fighting for the votes, both candidates are looking to raise money to keep their presidential dream alive. Mr Obama’s prospects are currently brighter than Mrs Clinton’s. On Wednesday February 6, Obama’s campaign manager David Plouffe said in a letter to supporters that $3 million was raised the evening after Super Tuesday. On Thursday morning, the rose to $7.1 million, according to the Obama campaign Web site. New York, February 4 2008. Inside the bright orange Ralph and Son barbershop in Harlem, two black men are getting a haircut in a rainy Friday afternoon of early February. Ralph Nixon (photo Daniella Zalcman), the 63-year old owner, moved to Harlem in 1973 and opened his store on Lenox Avenue and 132nd Street in 1983. He still cuts hair for 13 dollars. But, the African-American has seen his world change in the last few years. “Two blocks from here, the just built million-dollar apartments, he says. Rents went up from $550 per month to $1250. People are moving out because they can’t afford to Harlem anymore, And that’s because of Bill Clinton”. |
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