Roland S. Martin's Blog, page 305

WASHINGTON WATCH: White House Christmas Tour With The First Family’s Dog Bo (VIDEO)

White House Christmas tour with the First Family’s dog, Bo.

Spike Lee: “Django Unchained” Is “Disrespectful”

Source: Jessica Derschowitz / CBS News Spike Lee won’t be among the movie-goers seeing “Django Unchained” when it arrives in theaters on Christmas Day. The “Red Hook Summer” director has spoken out against Quentin Tarantino’s ultra-violent spaghetti Western-style film about slavery, and says he will not see it. “I cant speak on it ’cause I’m not [...]

Down To The Fiscal Cliff Wire, With No Solution In Sight

Source:  Brianna Keilar, Dana Bash and Tom Cohen / CNN Call it a bigger, bolder version of the deadline-driven congressional stalemates over taxes and spending that have come to define Washington dysfunction of the past two years. The latest edition of political “blinksmanship” pits President Barack Obama and Democrats against Speaker John Boehner and Republicans on how to avoid [...]

WASHINGTON WATCH: President Obama Announces Multi-Agency Gun Violence Policy Review (VIDEO)

The President announced this gun review panel. Vice President Biden is going to lead it. Obviously, we have so many other issues on the table. Again, will the moment go by? And should the President also demand that this conversation be even broader? Because I think if it’s just about guns and laws, that’s one [...]

WASHINGTON WATCH ROUNDTABLE: Will Political Leaders Have The Courage To Confront Gun Violence And Gun Control? (VIDEO)

The issue of gun control and mental health is complex, but as the President said earlier this week, “The fact that this problem is complex can no longer be an excuse for doing nothing. The fact that we can’t prevent every act of violence doesn’t mean that we can’t steadily reduce the violence and prevent [...]

WASHINGTON WATCH: Will Clarence Aaron Finally Receive Justice? (VIDEO)

We have reported in the past on the devastation that the War on Drugs has had on the black community. Every once in a while, a story comes along that highlights the rank injustice that we know goes on in our criminal justice system. The story of Clarence Aaron is one of them. At 24, [...]

WASHINGTON WATCH: Confronting Gun Violence And Gun Culture In America (VIDEO)

The funerals this week of the children gunned down at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, still have the nation focused on the tragic consequences of our culture of gun violence. The horrible massacre of 20 six- and seven-year-old children in a suburban Connecticut school has jump-started a long-overdue debate on gun violence [...]

WASHINGTON WATCH: Damaging Images Of Black Women In Reality Television (VIDEO)

Roland Martin talks with writer and image activist Michaela Angela Davis about the damaging images of black women in reality television. MR. MARTIN:   Welcome back. If you’ve watched this show on a regular basis, you know how much I hate reality shows like this. [VIDEO CLIP OF SQUABBLING, SWEARING BLACK WOMEN FROM VH1’S “BASKETBALL WIVES [...]

2 Firefighters Shot, Killed While Battling New York Blaze

Source: Catherine E. Shoichet and Chuck Johnston / CNN At least two firefighters died when they were shot at the scene of a blaze in upstate New York on Monday, police said. Two other firefighters were injured, police in Webster, New York, told reporters. Authorities believe one or more shooters took aim at the firefighters after they left [...]

ROLAND S. MARTIN: America Should See The Newtown Carnage

By Roland S. Martin Editor-in-Chief RolandMartinReports.com “One of these mothers from Connecticut should do an Emmett Till moment; show the picture of their child dead in the classroom.” That’s a text I received earlier this week from my TV One show producer. When I got it, a chill immediately went through my body just thinking [...]