This is jonetta rose barras's page
jonetta rose barras has more than 20 years experience reporting and commenting on national social, political, and cultural trends. She is the author of Bridges: Reuniting Daughters and Daddies (Bancroft Press 2005), the bestseller Whatever Happened to Daddy's Little Girl: The Impact of Fatherlessness on Black Women (Ballantine 2000, hardcover2001, paperback), The Last of the Black Emperors: The Hollow Comeback of Marion Barry in the New Age of Black Leaders (Bancroft Press 1998), and The Corner Is No Place For Hiding (Bunny and the Crocodile Press 1996).
Her weekly column in the Washington Examiner newspaper is delivered to more than 200,000 households.
Washingtonian Magazine has rated Ms. Barras one of the Top 50 Journalists in Washington. She is a frequent contributor to the Outlook section of the Washington Post. Her writings also have appeared in the Washington Times, USA Today, the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Essence magazine, the New Republic, the American Enterprise magazine, the Washingtonian, Crisis magazine (published by the NAACP), and Blueprint, published by the Democratic Leadership Council. She has also been quoted in front-page articles of The New York Times. She has appeared as an analyst on such national programs and networks as NPR, CBS (60 Minutes), C-SPAN, CNN, PBS (This is America with Dennis Wholey and Think Tank with Ben Wattenberg), and Fox News Channels The OReilly Factor, as well as on such local stations as WUSA-TV (CBS-owned and -operated), NBC-TV 4 (the network owned and operated affiliate in Washington, D.C.), and WHUT-TV.
Ms. Barras has lectured widely on the subject of African-American politics and political leaders, social-cultural trends, and the importance of family in twenty-first century societies, particularly on how father absence affects daughters.
She is a resident of the District of Columbia but still calls New Orleans home.
District politics hit its nadir last week.
A legislative session was called to consider a request to extend the summer youth jobs program and vote on a Board of Elections and Ethics nominee. Some council members, led by Chairman Vincent C. Gray, demonstrated during that meeting that they’ll do whatever it takes to slay Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, including pitting residents against each other and sullying an ordinary citizen.
There’s a reason the majority of the council want At-large Councilman Kwame Brown as their next chairman. It isn’t just that opponent Vincent Orange, a former Ward 5 councilman, has been on the outside for the past three years. Brown–the man, who posted at polls life-sized portraits of himself and presidential candidate Barack “Change-we-can-believe-in” Obama—has promised more of the same. No changes to committee structures and no changes to council rules.
“[D.C. Council members] act like mini-mayors,” D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles said, responding to my question about Mayor Adrian M. Fenty’s relationship with the legislative branch.
That comment raised the hackles of those who heard it. Nevertheless, his assessment rang true.
NOW, it’s easy to understand why Comcast donated $10,000 to the D.C. Democratic State Committee through Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray. The cable company’s license soon will be up for renewal; it may need some help from its friends.
Politicos may enjoy a good relationship with Comcast. But some customers are taking a beating:
WHILE government officials and executives at BP have looked to affix blame for delays in reacting to one of the worst man-made environmental accidents in the country’s history, I and others, who were born in Louisiana and still call it home, ache.
ANYONE who has watched for the past several years the series of revelations in the District about either the mismanagement or theft of tens of millions of dollars, shouldn’t be surprised to learn the city’s Office of Risk Management Office failed to pay life insurance premiums for more than 1,000 employees receiving disability compensation, and that $10 million in a special purpose fund was missing. As in the past, all roads lead to Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi.
MAYOR ADRIAN M. FENTY submitted this week qualifying petitions bearing the signatures of 21,000 Democratic voters, according to his campaign. The submission far exceeded the amount required to get his name on the ballot for the September Primary.
But Fenty can’t get too excited. He lost a recent straw poll taken at the D.C. Democratic Committee convention Saturday June 12. D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray racked up 703 votes to Fenty’s 190. Leo Alexander received 75 votes.
Cecily E. Collier-Montgomery, director of the District’s Office of Campaign Finance, and her general counsel, Kathy Williams have launched a full-scale investigation into D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s solicitation of private foundations grants to finance a pay-for performance plan. That should make D.C. residents question their competency.
VINCENT C. Gray has revived for his mayoral campaign the “One-City” slogan he used three years ago during his council chairman’s race. But, instead of uniting people, his rhetoric frequently exploits divisions and promotes victimhood.
Folks who went Saturday to the Carnegie Library on Massachusetts Ave. NW, hoping to hear specifics about D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray’s mayoral platform, surely were disappointed. The nearly 30-minute kickoff speech–flatly delivered, despite aid of a teleprompter–was a broad outline of the usual issues and a series of attacks on incumbent Mayor Adrian M. Fenty.
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