Cynthia Gordy is the Washington Correspondent for Essence magazine. Her “Obama Watch” blog covers the policies and activities of the White House and Congress. Named the National Association of Black Journalists’ 2009 Emerging Journalist of the Year, she previously served as the News Editor for Essence and writes a monthly roundup for the magazine called "Ten Things We're Talking About" on the 10 most-buzzed news stories on African-Americans.

Blog Entries by Cynthia Gordy

Sometimes, Black Leaders and Obama Agree on Jobs (Really!)

Posted December 23, 2009 | 11:23 AM (EST)


President Obama has been on a pre-holiday media blitz, with radio and TV interviews. This week he spoke to radio personalities Tom Joyner and April Ryan of American Urban Radio Networks. During her interview, Ryan asked the President about the Congressional Black Caucus campaign for the White House...

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Too Much Compromise on the Public Option?

3 Comments | Posted December 10, 2009 | 12:40 PM (EST)


President Obama has given his stamp of approval on the new healthcare plan agreed upon by Democratic Senators. The support signals that it's a wrap on the idea of creating a government-run public insurance option--but the deal that the senators reached, which the President called "a creative new framework," is...

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Addressing Race at the White House Jobs Summit

8 Comments | Posted December 3, 2009 | 11:54 AM (EST)


The White House is kicking off its Jobs Summit today, bringing together business executives, finance experts, economists, small business owners and labor leaders to discuss ways to spark job creation. President Obama announced the summit last month, after the latest jobs report showed that unemployment shot up to 10.2 percent...

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Senator Roland Burris "Not Playing Games" On The Public Option

10 Comments | Posted November 30, 2009 | 01:23 PM (EST)


As the Senate gears up for floor debate on its health care reform bill, Illinois Senator Roland Burris says he's through making concessions. "I've already compromised because, you see, I was for a single payer system," he says plainly from his Capitol Hill office. Now he insists that he will...

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Will Obama Set a New Tone in Africa?

3 Comments | Posted July 10, 2009 | 06:35 PM (EST)


When Air Force One touches down in Ghana on Friday evening, it's sure to be another goosebump moment of the Obama presidency. The rich symbolism in Barack Obama, the son of a Kenyan immigrant, visiting Africa as the President of the United States, and Michelle Obama, the descendent of enslaved...

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Is the Climate Change Bill An Assault on the Poor?

47 Comments | Posted June 25, 2009 | 06:22 PM (EST)


In the opening remarks of his news conference on Tuesday, President Obama mentioned a climate change bill working its way through the House of Representatives, hailing it as "legislation that will finally spark a clean energy transformation that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and confront the carbon pollution...

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Holding the President (and Everybody Else) Accountable

3 Comments | Posted June 12, 2009 | 04:20 PM (EST)


Vice President Joe Biden has been hustling to plug the Recovery Act. On Thursday he went to Pennsylvania and Kansas, for the groundbreakings of bridge and highway projects funded by federal stimulus money, and Friday it was Kalamazoo, Michigan, for a ceremony marking interchange reconstruction.

The trips are the...

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