November 24, 2016 

By JOSH LEDERMAN and DARLENE SUPERVILLE 

Associated Press 

President Barack Obama said Sunday he doesn’t intend to become his successor’s constant critic — but reserved the right to speak out if President-elect Donald Trump or his policies breach certain “values or ideals.”

Offering a rare glimpse into his thoughts on his post-presidency, Obama suggested once he was out of office he would uphold the tradition of ex-presidents stepping aside quietly to allow their successors space to govern. He heaped praise on former President George W. Bush, saying he “could not have been more gracious to me when I came in” and said he wanted to give Trump the same chance to pursue his agenda “without somebody popping off” at every turn.

But Obama suggested there may be limits to his silence.

“As an American citizen who cares deeply about our country, if there are issues that have less to do with the specifics of some legislative proposal or battle or go to core questions about our values and ideals, and if I think that it’s necessary or helpful for me to defend those ideals, I’ll examine it when it comes,” Obama told reporters.

Obama, who has consistently praised Bush for the way he's handled his ex-presidency, faces a conundrum about how to handle his own. Though he’s vowed to ensure a smooth handover of power, Obama is keenly aware he's being replaced by a new president who holds antithetical views on issue after issue.

The president spoke out vigorously throughout the campaign against Trump’s calls for banning Muslim immigrants, deporting millions of people living in the U.S. illegally, repealing “Obama­care,” and canceling the Paris climate deal, to name a few. Those policy proposals and others like them have stoked fear for many Americans who oppose Trump and are hoping vehement opposition from Obama and other Democrats might prevent Trump from implementing them.

Though Obama didn’t specify what might trigger him to break silence, he left himself a broad window of possibilities. His comments suggested he’d be most inclined to weigh in if Trump violated basic principles Obama has tried to uphold, such as minority rights, equal protection and respect for civilian life. Obama has long warned that Trump might impulsively use nuclear weapons, and has cast a dim view on ideas like a Muslim registry, which Trump’s incoming chief of staff declined on Sunday to rule out.

Yet Obama suggested that while he might not always hold his tongue, his goal wasn't to spend his time publicly disparaging his replacement.

“My intention is to, certainly for the next 2 months, just finish my job,” Obama said. “And then after that, to take Michelle on vacation, get some rest, spend time with my girls, and do some writing, do some thinking.”

Bush, like many ex-presidents, strictly avoided opining on politics during Obama’s eight years. Former President Bill Clinton, after leaving office, focused his attention on global humanitarian issues, especially as his wife entered politics. Former President Jimmy Carter was more vocal in his views in his post-White House years, occasionally stirring up controversy with comments critical of Israel.

Obama’s remarks at a news conference in Lima offered some of his most specific indications to date of how he feels Democrats and Trump opponents should handle the next four years. Asked whether Democrats in the Senate should follow Republicans’ example of refusing to even consider a Supreme Court nominee, Obama said they should not.

“You give them a hearing,” said Obama, whose own Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, has lingered for more than half a year due to the GOP's insistence that no Obama nominee be considered. Obama said he certainly didn't want Democrats to adopt that tactic spearheaded this year by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

“That’s not why the American people send us to Washington, to play those games,” Obama said.

He declined to weigh in explicitly on whether House Democrats should stick with Rep. Nancy Pelosi as minority leader, arguing it was improper to meddle in the vote. But he said of the California Democrat, who faces a challenge for the ­leadership post: “I cannot speak highly enough of Nancy Pelosi.”

Obama’s remarks came as he concluded his final world tour as president. For Obama, it was the last time he’d take questions on foreign soil, a staple of his overseas trips that his administration has seen as an important symbol of America’s commitment to a rigorous free press.

On his final day in Peru, Obama chatted briefly with Russian Presi­dent Vladimir Putin about Ukraine and the Syria crisis, though Obama said the U.S. accusation that Moscow tried to influence the U.S. election didn’t come up. The four-minute conversation, likely their last face-to-face interaction, came amid intense speculation about whether Trump’s election might herald a more conciliatory approach to Russia

Putin, speaking later in Lima, said he and Obama had a difficult working relationship but “always respected each other’s positions — and each other.” He said he’d thanked Obama and told him he’d be welcome in Russia “at any time.”

Questions about Trump trailed Obama throughout his final overseas trip, as anxious world leaders quizzed him on Trump’s stances on trade, foreign policy and the NATO alliance. Obama sought to reassure the leaders of Australia, Canada and other U.S. allies their longstanding ties with America wouldn’t falter under Trump.

November 24, 2016 

By Lauren Victoria Burke

NNPA Newswire Contributor 

A low key, but solid strain of references to current affairs was heard in the eulogies for much loved and respected journalist Gwen Ifill at her funeral on November 19.

The name of the next president of the United States was never spoken, but the subtext of her death six days before the end of an unstable political season was a repeated refrain. Several eulogists noted that her passing was the end of a career featuring clarity and objective reason, qualities that journalism is desperately in need of at this moment. 

Ifill was a former reporter for “The New York Times” and “The Washington Post” before joining NBC News and then PBS in 1999 as host of “Washington Week” and the “NewsHour.”

Ifill’s co-anchor on the PBS “NewsHour,” Judy Woodruff, said her on-air partner was needed “more than ever” in light of current events. Her cousin NAACP Legal Defense Fund President Sherrilyn Ifill, mentioned the importance of the immigrant experience. Gwen Ifill was the daughter of immigrants from Barbados. After Sherrilyn Ifill spoke the words, “she was the daughter of immigrants” the crowd in the packed church delivered a standing ovation.

Before those words former Attorney General Eric Holder told the crowd full of journalists of the importance to live in the principles Gwen Ifill demonstrated in her journalistic career. Warning against losing principles and avoiding asking tough questions and instead choosing to sell out those principles for “access maintenance.”

Ifill died at age of 61 on November 14 at a hospice in Washington, D.C. after battling endometrial cancer for a year. The faces and themes of her funeral were a tribute to a well-connected, busy life full of shared experiences with close friends.

Ifill's jarring death was another substantial loss in the African American journalistic community just 86 days after the sudden death of former NNPA Editor in Chief George Curry on August 20. Many of Ifill's friends and co-workers were seen crying during and after the sometimes sober but often jovial service and the historic Metro­politan A.M.E church a few blocks from the White House. 

The funeral was the second part of a series of tribute events for Gwen Ifill.  The veteran journalist was a member of Metropolitan A.M.E. since 1989.  Leaders of the historic church honored her by announcing the dedication of a pew in the seventh row of the church.

Ifill was eulogized by her friends including Woodruff, Holder and former New York Times senior editor Richard Berke and “Face the Nation” host John Dickerson. She was also eulogized by the first African American woman to be hired as a reporter at “The Washington Post,” Dorothy Gilliam.

First Lady Michelle Obama, Mayor Muriel Bowser, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett and Assistant to the President Broderick Johnson also attended.

Also in attendance during the memorial on November 18 and at her funeral the next day, were interim DNC Chair Donna Brazile, ­journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault, Vernon Jordan, New York Times columnist David Brooks, Federal Housing Finance Association Director and former Congressman Mel Watt, Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH), NBC News’ Chuck Todd, Ifill's close friend Michelle Norris and Michele Martin, former CNN anchor Bernard Shaw, former ABC News producers Lynne Adrine, Rocci Fisch and Karen DeWitt, FCC Board member Mignon Clyburn, Omorosa Manigault, journalist Roland Martin, former NPR executive Madhulika Sikka, journalist Richard Prince, Children’s Defense Fund President Marian Wright Edelman and PBS correspondent Jeffrey Brown.

The funeral ceremony ended with a “ceremony of the sistahood.” The ceremony was a silent prayer circle of seven of Ifill’s female friends who held hands around an urn containing Ifill's ashes. At the end of the ceremony, the participants cried and hugged marking the end of the almost three-hour service.

Lauren Victoria Burke is a political analyst who speaks on politics and African American leadership. She can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and on Twitter at @LVBurke.

November 17, 2016 

By CAROLYN THOMPSON 

Associated Press 

With teary eyes shaded by a World War II veterans cap, Wallace Higgins accepted  the Congressional Gold Medal on Friday for his service more than 70 years ago in the Tuskegee Airmen, the Army Air program that trained African-Americans to fly and maintain combat aircraft during the war.

He was followed on the stage at the National Warplane Museum by Herbert Thorpe, who earned B-25 pilot's wings in 1945 and was one of the military's first black pilots. Thorpe accepted his own medal and another on behalf of his late brother, Richard Thorpe, who completed fighter pilot training but died in a crash in Italy in 1945.

“I don’t cry easy, but I do today,” Higgins said inside the museum’s hangar against a backdrop of historic military planes. The Veterans Day ceremony fell on his 91st birthday.

“I didn’t know about segregation growing up,” he said, describing a childhood in upstate New York. “Even when I went into service, I couldn’t quite believe – Squadron F? – until I was sort of led over there. I learned fast.”

The Tuskegee Airmen refers to pilots, bombardiers, maintenance and other support staff who trained as a segregated unit at an air base in Tuskegee, Alabama.

Higgins completed primary flight training but saw his flying career end with the war’s wind down.

Relatives of two other Tuskegee Airmen accepted medals on their behalf from congressman Chris Collins during Friday’s ceremony, which was attended by about 200 people. Flight Officer Leland Pennington, a member of the 301st fighter squadron, died while returning to base after a 1945 bomber escort mission in Austria. Robert Johnson also was killed in action in 1944.

“These brave men undoubtedly laid the foundation for change so future generations can serve in our armed service no matter their race or ethnicity,” said Collins, whose late father was a World War II veteran.

President George W. Bush presented the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award given by Congress, to the Tuskegee Airmen as a group in 2007, entitling individual members to receive bronze replicas.

“Tuskegee Airmen often came home to stares of disbelief when they told what they did in the war,” said Michael Joseph, a historian with Tuskegee Airmen Inc. “We have a heritage to protect. A heritage and a legacy we must pass on.”