Deidra Reese isn't waiting for people to come to her to find out whether they are registered to vote.

With iPad in hand, Reese is going to community centers, homes and churches in nine Ohio cities, looking up registrations to make sure voters have proper ID and everything else they need to cast ballots on Election Day.

"We are not going to give back one single inch. We have fought too long and too hard," said Reese, 45, coordinator of the Columbus-based Ohio Unity Coalition, an affiliate of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation.

Reese is part of a cadre of black women engaged in a revived wave of voting rights advocacy four years after the historic election of the nation's first black president. Provoked by voting law changes in various states, they have decided to help voters navigate the system — a fitting role, they say, given that black women had the highest turnout of any group of voters in 2008.

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African-American women, who number about 20 million in the U.S., have long been the largest group of Democratic voters in the country, said David Bositis, senior research associate with the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

Read more at ABC News.

The U.S. House of Representatives Ethics Committee, following a two-year investigation, has cleared U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) of alleged wrongdoing.

Their finding paves the way for her to become the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee and possibly its chairman if Democrats retake the House in the November election.

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Late last year when U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D., Mass.) announced his retirement, it opened the door for Waters to become the ranking Democrat or possibly chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. It oversees the nation’s economy through the Federal Reserve Board, the U.S. Treasury and the production and distribution of currency.

Dr. David Bositis of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank for black elected officials, said last year that Waters could gain the coveted post if the ethics committee cleared of the charges.

Read more at The North Star News.

t's the Obama speech on race you probably haven't heard.

In June 2007, then-Sen. Barack Obama told a mostly black audience of ministers that the country's leaders "don't care about" New Orleans residents, suggesting the city was neglected in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina because of institutional racism, according to an unedited video reported on by The Daily Caller.

In the address, delivered during the upswing of the Democratic presidential primary season, candidate Obama specifically criticizes in outspoken terms the decision not to waive a federal law known as the Stafford Act that requires communities hit by disasters to match 10 percent of federal aid.

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...at the time of Obama's speech, there were still concerns about federal response to the disaster under the Stafford Act, which governs relief efforts. The Federal Emergency Management Agency was unwilling to waive the law’s 10 percent local match provision for aid, like it did after the Sept. 11 attacks and other hurricanes.

“One reason cited for FEMA’s reluctance to waive the 10 percent match in New Orleans is concern about corruption,” the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies said in a 2008 report on the relief efforts.

That report also noted that then-Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco was pushing in early 2007 for a federal law eliminating the 10 percent match. The House passed the bill, but it stalled in the Senate and President Bush had threatened to veto it.

Read more at FOX News.

While New Orleans has Mardi Gras, Tampa has Gasparilla and New York City owns New Year’s Eve, Washingtonians like to make their parties political, and few come bigger than tonight’s debate-watching festivities all around D.C.

The National Press Club is hosting a party at its headquarters downtown, just two blocks from the White House, starting with the debate at 9 p.m. Nearby, George Washington University College Democrats and College Republicans will watch together at a joint viewing party on campus. Speaking of joint events, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies parties at 805 15th Street NW. The Woman’s National Democratic Club and the Congressional Black Associates, the Urban League, Madyun Group and Cheeky Sasso Entertainment and Marketing Group are also hosting debate parties in the District tonight.

Read more at Bloomberg.

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and its President and CEO, Ralph B. Everett, Esq., will hold a presidential debate watch at the Joint Center offices on Wednesday, October 3, 2012 at 8 PM. Join us for an evening of enlightening political discussion and a viewing of President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney’s debate on domestic policy.

Read more at Politic365.

Both President Obama and Mitt Romney, his Republican challenger, have rejected an invitation from the NAACP and other Black groups, to participate in a forum to discuss issues important to African-Americans.

In late September, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People invited President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to articulate their plans for the Black community at a presidential forum planned for October 9 at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, the nation’s oldest Black degree-granting institution.

The NAACP collaborated with the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), MSNBC-TV, the Grio, and American Urban Radio Network in preparation for the forum. Veteran, award-winning journalist Lester Holt had agreed to moderate.

Jerry Lopes, president of American Urban Radio Network, said on Monday that both candidates had declined to appear, citing scheduling conflicts.

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This year, CNN chief political correspondent and host of “State of the Union” Candy Crowley will become the first woman in two decades to moderate a presidential debate. Crowley has big shoes to fill. Simpson also holds the record for the highest number of viewers for a presidential debate at 69.9 million.

Although the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a nonprofit organization that advocates for public policy reform to improve communities of color, applauded the CPD for selecting Crowley to moderate one of the presidential debates, they questioned the commissions rationale for denying Univision’s request for a fourth debate in a letter written to Janet Brown, executive director for the Commission on Presidential Debates.

The commission argued that the general election debate focuses on “issues of national interest that affect all citizens, including Univision’s audience.”

Read more at The Seattle Medium, The Charlotte Post, or The New Pittsburgh Courier.

In the hours leading up to the first face off between President Obama and his Republican challenger Wednesday night, a primary question was which Mitt Romney would show up. But in the end, analysts and viewers were left wondering: Where was Obama?

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During a viewing party hosted by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies that included a largely African-American audience, Obama elicited many positive responses, but in a discussion after the debate, it was clear that they felt that his performance was lackluster.

"He seemed soft," said one attendee.

Read more at BET.

Even though the First Baptist Church of Georgetown was having a revival meeting a visiting pastor abbreviated his message so that people attending the service could get home to watch the debate.

But when Carol Butler returned home and started watching the event the 50-year-old trade association executive was shocked to see Republican challenger Mitt Romney hold his own against President Obama.

"I am disappointed that Romney did so well," said Butler, whose comments mirror other supporters who watched the contest. "I didn't expect him to come across so compassionate. It was obvious that he was well prepared and that he had being studying Obama."

The Rev. Nathaniel Thomas, pastor of Forestville New Redeemer Baptist Church, still is supporting the president, but he said it wasn't a good night. "It was quite obvious that Obama lost the debate but I am looking for him to do better the next debate. He was too passive."

From the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies to the Ward 5 Democrats, groups across greater Washington, D.C. area had debate parties because it was the political equivalent to the Super Bowl and in a town that has a professional baseball and football team fighting hard to win many say the president needs to amp it up.

Read more at The Washington Post.

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and its President and CEO, Ralph B. Everett, Esq., will hold a presidential debate watch at the Joint Center offices on Wednesday, October 3, 2012 at 8 PM. Join us for an evening of enlightening political discussion and a viewing of President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney's debate on domestic policy. Featured guests include:

• Regena Thomas, DNC Director of Faith & Constituent Services
• Armstrong Williams, RNC Operative and Syndicated Radio Host
• Corey Dade, Correspondent, National Public Radio

This event is presented in conjunction with IMPACT, Politic365, the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, the National Policy Alliance, and the National Technology Adoption Advisory Council.

Space is limited. Please RSVP by October 1, 2012 to debatewatchevent@jointcenter.org.

When developing asset-building policy agendas, coalitions need to consider both the predisposing factors within their states and the desired or promising features of asset-building programs.  Predisposing factors may include things such as the socioeconomic status of residents, the legislative/political structure, the tax structure, and the existing statewide advocacy network.  Promising features of asset-building programs would include, for example, using Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program funds to provide the match in state IDA programs.

Join the Joint Center and the Howard University Center on Race and Wealth for a webinar with Lucy Mullany of the Illinois Asset Building Group and Melbah Smith of the Coalition for a Prosperous Mississippi as they highlight and discuss the models used by their respective state coalitions to develop asset-building policy agendas, and the role that predisposing factors and promising features have played in the process.

To register for this webinar, click the button in the box to the right.

Listed webinar start time is Eastern Standard Time.