It’s no secret that Barack Obama is a huge music fan.  He has celebrated great musicians like Stevie Wonder at the White House, talked to Vibe and Rolling Stone about who’s on his iPod (Coltrane, Aretha Franklin, and Springsteen to name a few), brushed his shoulder off Jay-Z style in response to criticism, and like every other brother, fessed up to having a crush on Beyonce.  So what are his thoughts on the untimely death of pop legend Michael Jackson?

“I talked to him about it this morning,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in a press briefing on Friday.  “Look, he said to me that obviously, Michael Jackson was a spectacular performer, a music icon.  I think everybody remembers hearing his songs, watching him moonwalk on television during Motown’s 25th anniversary.”

Obama gave Jackson praise where praise is due, while acknowledging to Gibbs that the pop star’s life was very troubled. “But the President also said, look, he had — aspects of his life were sad and tragic,” Gibbs continued.  “And his condolences went out to the Jackson family and to fans that mourned his loss.”

Gibbs said that the White House will not release a written statement on the death of Michael Jackson, and that he is unaware of whether the President called the Jacksons to personally express his condolences.

Should the President have done a little more?  Tell us here.

Image courtesy of chinadaily.com

(*The views contained herein are solely the views of their respective authors, and do not express the views of TV One.  TV One does not take responsibility for their content.)

While election protests in Iran have been all but squashed, the heat on President Obama to react is getting higher.

Though he had previously released a statement on the matter, the President took to the airwaves to address Iran, as well as health reform and the economy.

So what did he say when pressed by Chuck Todd of NBC’s Nightly News to give a firm stance on punishments for Iran’s violation of human rights?

“I realize you are on a 24-hour news cycle — I am not. . . . we do not yet know how this will play out.”

For the moment, President Obama has chosen to stand back and allow Iran to govern itself as outraged Iranians have hit the streets and internet with calls that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s recent victory was rigged. Many Republican critics have said that the President is going soft on Iran.  What do you think Obama should do?  Should he step in or step back?

What do you think Obama should do?  Should he step in or step back?Video courtesy of cnn.com

(*The views contained herein are solely the views of their respective authors, and do not express the views of TV One.  TV One does not take responsibility for their content.)

This year is proving to be truly historical for African Americans. Not only are we witnessing our first Black president, but the United States government is officially apologizing for slavery and Jim Crow.

On Tuesday, The House of Representatives passed a nonbinding resolution that states “African-Americans continue to suffer from the consequences of slavery and Jim Crow — long after both systems were formally abolished — through enormous damage and loss, both tangible and intangible, including the loss of human dignity and liberty, the frustration of careers and professional lives, and the long-term loss of income and opportunity.”

While the U.S. government has apologized for other human rights grievances, it has previously only been states like Virginia that addressed American slavery.

Most notably, in 1988, Congress apologized and paid out reparations to the 120,000 Japanese-Americans who were interned in a WWII detention camps.

The slavery apology has no mentions of slavery reparations.

QUESTION: Are you satisfied with the government’s apology? Should we get reparations for slavery?

Image courtesy of nashvillescene.com

(*The views contained herein are solely the views of their respective authors, and do not express the views of TV One.  TV One does not take responsibility for their content.)

“I told you I’m not going to criticize my successor…I’ll just tell you that there are people at Gitmo that will kill American people at a drop of a hat and I don’t believe that — persuasion isn’t going to work. Therapy isn’t going to cause terrorists to change their mind” former President George W. Bush said during a speech to business leaders in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Though he’s been relatively quiet since leaving office, former President G.W. Bush has finally spoken out against the Obama administration.  Unlike former Vice President Dick Cheney, he isn’t “criticizing” President Obama, he is instead politely opposing and disagreeing with several Obama driven policies.  Among closing Guantanamo Bay, Bush also disagrees with Obama’s universal health care and economic recovery plan.  Bush stated, “I know it’s going to be the private sector that leads this country out of the current economic times we’re in.  You can spend your money better than the government can spend your money.”

This sounds all well and good but judging from Bush’s eight year record, our issues peaked during his stay in office.  What do you think?  If Bush had the better ideas, how did we get where we are today?Image courtesy of google.com

(*The views contained herein are solely the views of their respective authors, and do not express the views of TV One.  TV One does not take responsibility for their content.)

Tickets to a standing-room-only, intimate jazz performance featuring the legendary Marsalis family surely would be worth a pretty penny – if you could even get your hands on them. But a chance to watch their performance up close and personal and then take music lessons from them? Priceless.

First Lady Michelle Obama treated over 140 students from across the country to such a once-in-a-lifetime, never-forget-it opportunity, when she hosted them Tuesday at the first White House Jazz Studio. The students attended interactive educational workshops, dancing and playing their own instruments, as they learned about the history of jazz and the African Americans who created it. They also enjoyed performances by Grammy Award winner Wynton Marsalis, his father Ellis Marsalis and brothers Jason and Branford Marsalis, Paquito D’Rivera, Tony Madruga, Zach Brown, Kush Abadey and Elijah Easton, who is a high school student at the Duke Ellington School of Music in Washington D.C.

“Today’s event exemplifies what I think the White House, the people’s house, should be about,” Mrs. Obama said. “This is a place to honor America’s past, celebrate its present and create its future…. And what better example of this is there than jazz, America’s indigenous art form?”

The President and the First Lady have made it no secret that, unlike their predecessors, they plan to infuse the White House with art and cultural events that celebrate all races represented in the American population. To that end, Mrs. Obama noted that jazz was created “through the African American experience” and is now “performed and listened to by people of all ethnicities, backgrounds, ages and creeds.”

Mrs. Obama also shared the story of her introduction to jazz as a young, African American girl growing up in Chicago. Her grandfather, who went by the nickname “Southside,” blared jazz from speakers in every room of his house as loud as the volume dial would let him. Hoping to pass on an appreciation for jazz to her family’s next generation, the Mrs. Obama brought daughters Sasha and Malia to the Jazz Studio to make them “aware of all kinds of music, other than hip-hop.”

What do you think of Michelle Obama’s efforts to include African American performing arts like jazz in White House events? What effect will this have on the greater American public’s perception of African Americans and appreciation of African American contributions to our nation?  Tell us here.

-Megan Cosby, tvoneonline.com White House Correspondent

Megan Cosby is the fouder of Polichicks: The It Girl’s Guide to Politics, a nonpartisan political website for women.