(Photo: Commercial Appeal/Landov)

By Andre Showell

An executive order aimed at improving outcomes and advancing educational opportunities for African-Americans sounds like a great idea at first glance, but will the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans really make a difference in eliminating the education gap between Blacks and other groups?

The White House asserts that improving education outcomes for African-Americans will provide substantial benefits for the country and potentially increase college completion and employment rates.

But, according to President Obama during his address before an audience at the National Urban League’s convention in New Orleans this week, success comes with a price. He said, “Of course, that means all of you all have got to hit the books. America says we will give you opportunity, but you’ve got to earn your success.”

But the White House has already established similar initiatives for Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, Hispanics and Native Americans. Why has one only now been established for African-Americans who have, for generations, lagged behind other groups in school? And what has been the concrete measure of success for those other White House initiatives?

The Congressional Black Caucus’ chair Emanuel Cleaver, II released a statement regarding the executive order saying, “The President has made providing a complete and high-caliber education for all Americans a top priority, and the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans is a critical component to ensuring that all students have equal access to quality education.”

I’m sure the African-American achievement gap is important to this administration, but the timing, just a few months before an all-important election that will hinge on Black voters, is worth noting.

(Photos from left: AP Photo/Evan Vucci, REUTERS /KEVIN LAMARQUE /LANDOV)

By Andre Showell

Very often, in covering politics, we can almost predict the behavior of the candidates. But every now and then, even the most experienced journos encounter something that causes us a healthy degree of surprise.  I was prepared for partisan rancor after we were alerted that President Obama and former  Gov. Mitt Romney would be making dueling statements today following the massacre in Colorado that left at least 12 dead and dozens more injured in a nonsensical killing spree in an Aurora movie theater.

Friday night, James Holmes, opened fire in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater at Friday’s midnight showing of the final film in the Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises, killing at least 12 people and wounding 58. Holmes also booby-trapped his home.

I was already braced for each candidate to take full advantage of the heightened attention and guaranteed free TV time to posture and to position themselves in a race to appear more “presidential.” But that was just not the case and it appears that decorum and tact prevailed, at least for today.

First, the president made a last-minute change in his hectic schedule to address the tragedy that has stopped communities across the globe dead in its tracks. He spoke in Fort Myers, Florida, calling for the country to band together and recognize the fragility of life.  He said “Our time here is limited and it is precious.  And what matters at the end of the day is not the small things, it’s not the trivial things, which so often consume us and our daily lives.”

There was no mention of the need to enforce gun laws or to use the moment as a time to reinforce even tougher restrictions.  And there was not even a peep about Romney or Republican-backed measures that would ease gun access in the country.

Romney appealed to his audience, not as a White House candidate, but as a father. He said to his audience in New Hampshire, “Each one of us will hold our kids a little closer.” He said, “I stand before you today not as a man running for office, but as a father and grandfather, a husband, an American.”

And while the bitter battle for the White House is still lurking in the wings, at least for this Friday, the rivals are in agreement in their move to bring the nation together under one umbrella as Americans.

The president said something that I believe sums up the sentiment for the day.  He said, “I am so moved by your support.  But there are going to be other days for politics.  This, I think, is a day for prayer and reflection.”

(Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

By many accounts, the polling data pitches the upcoming presidential lesson as too close to call to declare a definitive front-runner. The country is so narrowly divided that there is no discernible way to know who the likely victor will be. In the African American community, President Barack Obama continues to enjoy a sizeable if not, mammoth lead over his republican rival, Gov. Mitt Romney.

No doubt many of those in our largely African-American audience will be consumed with coverage about what it will take for President Obama to win the White House. But I wonder, if the polls are reflective of a truly tight race, what lessons can be learned if the election goes to Obama’s opponent. What is the lesson? What can be learned?

If Obama loses, I guess the first lesson is that it is lonely at the top and the tide can quickly turn. Just four years ago, the president was considered to be the media darling, the “rock star of the Senate.” Fast forward to 2012 and the president now faces an electorate that is noticeably more critical and vocally skeptical.

Another lesson is that “changing Washington” may be easier to say than it is to do. The Obama campaign’s “change” mantra piqued the idealistic leanings of the youth vote and the hopeful aspirations of Obama’s under-served supporters. But one thing the Obama administration soon found out when it came to White House is that the Washington machine is just that, a machine. This machine serves a purpose and while it can be upgraded or serviced, dismantling it, without an alternative, is simply not an option. If the engine doesn’t work, the car won’t move.

A third lesson to be learned in the event of an Obama loss, is tied to communicating with the American people. It’s not enough to believe that the people will intrinsically know a president’s intent. You have to tell them. Policy talk makes people tune out. But a political narrative that relates to voters’ lives, makes their ears perk up. Even the president admitted to learning this lesson recently during a CBS News interview. He said, “The mistake of my first term — couple of years — was thinking that this job was just about getting the policy right. And that’s important. But the nature of this office is also to tell a story to the American people that gives them a sense of unity and purpose and optimism, especially during tough times.”

So until there is a clear and decisive front-runner, it is not a bad idea to think about what’s next; to consider each moment, whether victory or defeat, as a moment to take note, grow and hopefully make life better in the process.

(Photo by John Gress/Getty Images)

By Andre Showell

Think about this question and try to come with an honest answer: Do you believe that, as a race, African-Americans vote at the same rate as their white counterparts? I asked that question in the barbershop recently and just let people explain the reasons behind their answers. Overwhelmingly, the pool of African-Americans from different age and socioeconomic groups had the same answer: As a whole, they believed that we vote at significantly lower rates than our white counterparts.

Interestingly enough, they were wrong. Amid the tide of grim, and often downright discouraging, statistics we hear about the state of Black America, the one area we tend to do pretty well in is in voting and political engagement. According to the Pew Center for Research, in 2008 65.3% of eligible blacks voted, nearly equal to the 66.1% of eligible whites who voted. And in some sub-groups, African-Americans actually out-voted whites.

And the historic surge in the number of young people who came to the polls in 2008 is largely attributed to the increase in young black voters who turned out for President Barack Obama. In fact, while African-Americans make up nearly 13 percent of the population, they comprised nearly 18 percent of young voters.

I completely understand why this fact is not widely known, because as a community, African-Americans don’t fall into many of the categories that would make one more likely to vote. For example, people with higher incomes and education levels who don’t live in the Southern part of the country tend to be more likely to vote.  However, in the Black community, we make less, have less education and tend to live in the South in large numbers. Also add to this the large number of Black felons who may not be able to vote or who are less likely to exercise their right to politically engage.

The fact of the matter is that, despite all of these barriers and obstacles that would stand in their way, Black people are voting. And, while there is still room for improvement, it’s time for us to be proud that we are performing our civic duty. Now, with so much at stake in the upcoming presidential election, is no time to rest on our laurels. We need to maintain the groundwork that has already been laid and turn up at the polls!