The United States, as evidenced by electing its first African-American president, has come a long way, President Obama told the nation’s largest and oldest civil rights organization Thursday, but he noted that there is still a long way to go. “What we celebrate tonight is not simply the journey the NAACP has traveled, but the journey that we, as Americans, have traveled over the past 100 years,” Obama told a packed audience at the group’s century anniversary. “Even as we inherit extraordinary progress that cannot be denied; even as we marvel at the courage and determination of so many plain folks – we know that too many barriers still remain.” He pointed out that “the pain of discrimination is still felt in America,” saying that racial and other barriers to success would only be overcome by the same diligence and commitment expended during the Civil Rights Era. “What is required to overcome today’s barriers is the same as was needed then,” he said. “The same commitment. The same sense of urgency. The same sense of sacrifice. The same willingness to do our part for ourselves and one another that has always defined America at its best.” And the Obama administration is doing its part to help progress continue, he said. “These are barriers we are beginning to tear down by rewarding work with an expanded tax credit; making housing more affordable; and giving ex-offenders a second chance. These are barriers that we are targeting through our White House Office on Urban Affairs, and through Promise Neighborhoods that build on Geoffrey Canada’s success with the Harlem Children’s Zone,” he said. “When it comes to higher education, we are making college and advanced training more affordable, and strengthening community colleges that are a gateway to so many with an initiative that will prepare students not only to earn a degree but find a job when they graduate; an initiative that will help us meet the goal I have set of leading the world in college degrees by 2020.” As for the economy, which is drawing increasing concern among lawmakers and the overall public, the president said that his Cabinet has been trying to “lay a new foundation for growth and prosperity.” He said that “one pillar of this new foundation is health insurance reform that cuts costs, makes quality health coverage affordable for all, and closes health care disparities in the process. Another pillar is energy reform that makes clean energy profitable, freeing America from the grip of foreign oil, putting people to work upgrading low-income homes, and creating jobs that cannot be outsourced.”

An elderly man and a woman head the GOP ticket

Republicans made history Wednesday night when they nominated the oldest first-time nominee in history, 72 year-old Sen. John McCain, and the first woman, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, ever to be the No. 2 on a GOP ticket.  Last night, Palin took the time to beat up on Obama – and to introduce the nation to a new, seemingly formidable candidate for the U.S. presidency. Did you watch the convention? What did you think? Read more about the convention at Pamela On Politics.

Gustav is making waves for Republicans.

Sen. John McCain has called for the Republican Party to scale back its convention in Minneapolis , citing Hurricane Gustav’s potential to inflict “a great national disaster” on the people in the Gulf Coast region.

MoveOn.org targets McCain VP pick. The activist political group, which has an uncanny knack for getting on a Republican politician’s last nerve, has turned its sights on Sen. John McCain and his recently announced running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Saying that the American people “need to see” the facts about the new GOP veep, MoveOn.org has taken the Republican Party’s biggest charge lodged against Sen. Barack Obama and turned it against Palin: an apparent lack of experience. The woman McCain has chosen to be “one heartbeat away from the presidency” is “a right-wing religious conservative with no foreign policy experience, who until recently was mayor of [ Wasilla , Alaska ] a town of 9,000 people.” The liberal-leaning political group, established in the aftermath of President Bill Clinton’s impeachment, notes that Palin, who hopes to rein in some of the former Clinton-supporting women who aren’t too hip on Obama, is a staunch opponent of abortion, even in the case of rape and incest. It also points out that Palin was a strong supporter of Pat Buchanan, who has been publicly flogged on more than one occasion for racially insensitive comments. In other examples of extremism, MoveOn.org notes, Palin does not believe humans are responsible for climate change. “How closely did John McCain vet this choice?” the group asks on its Web site. “He met Sarah Palin once at a meeting. They spoke a second time, last Sunday, when he called her about being vice-president. Then he offered her the position.” But what MoveOn.org doesn’t acknowledge is that the 44-year-old governor, the first woman ever to get a major-party nomination as vice president, helped create a new sub-cabinet group of advisers to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions within Alaska . In late-July a state poll showed her with an 80-percent approval rating.

Live from Denver.

BET News is at the Democratic National Convention in Denver to bring you the latest in this historic presidential race. Find out when to tune in, catch live coverage and analyses and see election specials here.

You(th) Vote. Rapper Daddy Yankee’s endorsement of Sen. John McCain raises a few questions for many of you. Check out video and comments – then let us know what you think here.

Hillary calls for party unity and throws her support behind Obama

Sen. Hillary Clinton left little room for people to question whether she is a “team player” when she took to the stage in Denver last night to throw her support behind the first African American who will win an endorsement from a major party. It was a speech that will take a rightful place in history. Hear more of her speech here. Get the latest reaction from the floor of the convention at Pamela On Politics.

Delegate is called “Uncle Tom” … ready to fight.

What did you call me?!  Democratic National Convention Committee press secretary Delmarie Cobb was ready to fight after being called an “Uncle Tom.”  Cobb said the racially loaded slur came from  Illinois Senate President Emil Jones while discussing her support for Clinton Saturday night. “I was called an ‘Uncle Tom’ by Emil Jones in the lobby of the hotel, right in front of aldermen Freddrenna Lyle, Leslie Hairston and Latasha Thomas,” Cobb, a member of Clinton’s Illinois Steering Committee, told The Chicago Sun-Times. “I walked over to him and asked him, ‘What did you just call me?’” Jones, who is also Black, denies the slur. He says he was referring to Cobb and other Clinton supporters as “doubting Thomases.”  But Cobb doubts that explanation. She says when she confronted Jones, he did not indicate that she had misunderstood him. Cobb told the newspaper that those are “fighting words” and unacceptable.

Live from Denver. BET News goes to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colo. for this historical event. Check out BET’s complete political coverage at BET.com/News.  

Two powerful speeches with one message: Elect Barack Obama!

 Sen. Edward Kennedy and Michelle Obama opened the Democratic National Convention Monday night with a message of party unity, calling for the American people to elect Sen. Barack Obama as the next president of the United States. Get the latest at Pamela On Politics. Talk about Michelle Obama’s speech here.

History in the making at the Democratic National Convention

There is no way one can ignore the historic event today, as the Democratic National Convention prepares to nominate its first Black party nominee.  Do you think Obama will become the first Black president? More at Pamela On Politics.

Were the “supers asked to switch?

Could it be true that a group of Sen. Hillary Clinton’s supporters have been soliciting super-delegates to switch their vote during the role call at the Democratic National Convention next week? Find out more at Pamela On Politics.

Darren “Bo” Taylor gave up his life with the Crips to foster harmony
Darren “Bo” Taylor, a one-time gang-banger who survived the mean streets of Los Angeles to bring about peace between rival gangs following the 1992 L.A. riots, lost a battle with cancer on Monday. He was 42. The former Crips member was perhaps the most unlikely peace activist. “Through his UNITY One organization, Taylor worked painstakingly to reduce street violence and to teach life skills to inmates. You don’t find many in the gang-intervention world who can be effective in the street, effective in the courtroom, effective at City Hall and effective in the prisons,” civil rights attorney Connie Rice told The Associated Press. “He could calm everyone down and make us work together.” Survivors include his wife, Marlene Oglesby-Taylor, and mother, Charlene Taylor. (Photo/ Los Angeles Times).

Don’t count on Jesse or Colin in Denver.

Secretary of State Colin Powell downplayed reports that he’d be standing next to Sen. Barack Obama at the Democratic Convention in Denver later this month. During the primaries, Powell had kind words for Obama, stoking speculation that the first African-American secretary of State might throw his support behind potentially the first African-American president. Go to BET.com/News for more..

Second noose is found on Tennessee construction site. For the second time this month construction workers at the BlueCross BlueShield building site in Tennessee Thursday found a noose at the worksite in Cameron Hill. It was constructed of plastic building material, FBI Agent in Charge Ed Galloway told The Chattanooga Times Free Press. He said his office is investigating. Skanska, the company in charge of the construction project, is offering diversity and sensitivity training, the newspaper reports. “We’ve added a tremendous amount of security at the site,” John Reyhan, general manager for the project, Reyhan said. “And at our job-wide meeting every morning we are encouraging anyone to come forward with any reports of intimidation.” The first noose was found last week.