Condi Rice, Valerie Jarrett and Lesley Stahl on, inevitably, ‘having it all’
Do women separated by party, principle and vocation have more in common than not? When the conversation turns to the challenges faced and rewards gained when working toward leadership roles, it seems so. Or perhaps, as one of the high-powered women in a discussion on “CBS This Morning” offered, women strive for consensus. In Wednesday’s installment of the show’s “Eye-Opening Women” series, Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state for President George W. Bush and CBS contributor, Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser to President Obama, and “60 Minutes” correspondent Lesley Stahl were joined by interviewers Norah O’Donnell and Gayle King, who added thoughts of their own. Charlie Rose sat this one out.
Mar072013
Keeping it Positive: Dynamic Women Giving Back to Charlotte
It’s a great week to highlight the women in the community who are giving back in so many ways. From two Women of the Year, working to educate young people in the community to a prom project that gives young women a special evening. They inspire all of us to do our part, as well.
Mar062013
Artur Davis – Democrat turned GOP stalwart – has a plan for Republicans
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – On the announcement, his picture was squeezed between images of Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan, former presidents the GOP can get behind. Artur Davis was in North Carolina, where Republicans rule in the state house and legislature. It’s a place where the party that is suffering setbacks elsewhere could relax for a triumphant evening. At least, that’s what I think the folks at the 2013 MeckGOP Lincoln-Reagan Day Dinner were doing Saturday night. Luckily, before the closed-press event, featured speaker Davis previewed his remarks and why his inclusive message matters to the GOP’s future.
“I think the conservatives have to understand that we’ve got to talk about not just the government we want to repeal but how we’re going to make the government that exists work better,” Davis told me. As the parties spar over sequester, appointments and more, it seemed a timely message.
Mar052013
In her 100th year, is it time to take Rosa Parks off that pedestal?
Just the memory of Rosa Parks can still get the job done. In this case, 100 years after her birth, the late civil rights icon is bringing together the president and the Democratic and Republican leaders of both the House and the Senate. In the partisan atmosphere of Washington, D.C., that’s close to a miracle. The lineup of speakers was scheduled for Wednesday’s dedication of a statue in Parks’ honor in National Statuary Hall of the United States Capitol.
As an image is being revealed, it’s past time to correct the false one in America’s imagination: That Rosa Parks was a meek, humble seamstress, who refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Ala., bus that day in 1955 – because she was tired – and spontaneously sparked a more than yearlong boycott and a movement. The Rosa Parks sold to the public was what was accepted for a woman, particularly a black woman, but it hid her full measure. She was the respectable symbol that was needed at the time, even though the flesh-and-blood activist was far more interesting.
Feb272013
Keeping It Positive: Try Something Different for CIAA Week in Charlotte
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) basketball tournament is in full force all around the Queen City! Both Charlotte and the association are hosting a number of events in honor of the annual event. Today’s Keeping it Positive explores the celebrations that not only involve games and parties but also observes Black History Month. Here are highlights of a few happenings around town that are rich in culture and enjoyable for all to attend.
Feb272013
The House now turns to the Violence Against Women Act
Even as most of the headlines coming out of Washington these days contain the word sequester, another bill is moving along, making progress without quite so much drama. But the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), passed in the Senate and due for action in the House, is no less important.
House Republicans last week released their own version of the legislation and are prepared to take it to a floor vote this week. While House Republicans are confident of the effectiveness of their bill, it has not resolved disputed differences with the Senate proposal.
“I cannot say enough about the revolution that was the Violence Against Women Act,” said Sarah Tofte, director of policy and advocacy for the Joyful Heart Foundation. “Those of us who work on these issues, who care about these issues, see it as forming the core of our country’s response on violence against women and girls.
Feb252013
In North Carolina, a civilized gun debate fails to change minds
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – In a mostly blue city in a mostly red state, a crowd of several hundred filled a theater for a community conversation called “Voices in the Gun Debate.” It was cordial, which is more than you can say for much of the national dialogue that has NRA leadership and gun control advocates giving little ground in language or policy. But at evening’s end, there weren’t many conversions, either.
Feb212013
‘The Whipping Man’ sheds new light on slavery in America
In the program for “The Whipping Man” — a play that runs at Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte through March 9 — a guide translates phrases from Hebrew and defines Civil War-era terms. So, what’s going on? The work grew from the discovery by playwright and Civil War buff Matthew Lopez of a historical document that mentioned Passover beginning just after Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. Through the story of two former slaves and their former master sharing Passover Seder while discovering the meaning of family, the Actor’s Theatre production lets audiences take a journey through a seldom explored aspect of the Civil War.
“It’s emotionally difficult but uplifting at the same time,” said director Chip Decker.
Feb212013
