Politics, economics and violence brought the good, bad and ugly to Blacks in America in 2012.

While the re-election of President Barack Obama ranked highest for many among news stories affecting the Black community, people were just as concerned about finances and senseless violence typified by the shooting of a Florida teen, Trayvon Martin.

On the political front, the Black community’s aggressive response and opposition to right wing efforts to suppress their vote impressed Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League. He also feels the presidential re-election was a huge event for 2012 and will have major impact in 2013.

“Voter suppression was a big story. In many respects we either stopped it in the courts, stopped it with the Justice Department, stopped it politically, or in most cases, people responded with due passion, saying we will not be prevented from voting. Strong African American voter turnout played a decisive role in many states,” Mr. Morial told The Final Call.

Blacks voted more than any other minority group this year for the first time in history, and may have voted at a higher rate than Whites, according to a recent study (“The Growing Electoral Clout of Blacks Is Driven by Turnout, Not Demographics”) by the Pew Research Center, a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan group.

In turn, Blacks need President Obama to address the most important issues of joblessness and unemployment, Mr. Morial said. The National Urban League has encouraged President Obama to reintroduce his American Jobs Act, which he introduced in 2011. It aimed to increase jobs without increasing the federal deficit, but was blocked in the Senate, Mr. Morial noted.

“I think it’s too early to predict specifics, but I do think that what we’re trying to do from an Urban League point of view is bring to the president ideas for support and endorsement ... but I also think we’ve got to put pressure on members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans, to elevate the priority,” Mr. Morial stated.

“It was a very tough environment for a president to be running for re-election. Romney and all those outside groups called him everything, all sorts of smears. But he had a campaign organization and his support was solid among the groups that support him and he was able not just to win, but to win impressively,” noted Dr. David Bositis, senior research fellow at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

Read more at The Final Call.