http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/annette_john-hall RSS Feed for Inq Col Annette John-Hall en-us Fri, 25 May 2012 13:54:00 GMT 2012-05-25T13:54:00Z en-us http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/annette_john-hall/20120525_Annette_John-Hall__Creating_a_new_way_to_fight_voter_suppression.html Faye Anderson has advocated relentlessly for voters’ rights for over 20 years. She’s a founding member of Election Protection, the nation’s largest nonpartisan voter-protection group, and a member of the Pennsylvania Voter ID Coalition. In 2001, PBS aired Counting on Democracy, a documentary Anderson co-produced that examined Florida’s voting fiasco during the 2000 presidential election.And now, outraged by the possibility of another stolen election with controversial Voter ID laws like Pennsylvania’s spreading like wildfire, she is trying to ratchet up her activism in a big way. Anderson is developing a web-based Cost of Freedom app, a one-stop site for voter ID information in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Cost of Freedom not only will give voters the information they need to cast their ballots, but will show them how to get it. Fri, 25 May 2012 13:54:00 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/annette_john-hall/20120525_Annette_John-Hall__Creating_a_new_way_to_fight_voter_suppression.html 2012-05-25T13:54:00Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/annette_john-hall/20120522_Who_rsquo_s_the_real_drain_on_society__Poor_mothers_or_privileged_hardheads_.html I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The poor get no love from the Corbett administration. Just look at the governor’s proposed budget cuts. Come July, life is bound to get even rougher for poor, disabled, and disenfranchised Pennsylvanians. Tue, 22 May 2012 19:16:30 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/annette_john-hall/20120522_Who_rsquo_s_the_real_drain_on_society__Poor_mothers_or_privileged_hardheads_.html 2012-05-22T19:16:30Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/annette_john-hall/20120518_Donna_Summer__a_disco_diva_who_defined_an_era.html The news of Donna Summer’s passing Thursday at age 63 shook me to my dancing shoes. Of all the so-called disco divas, I thought Summer would be the one to live forever. Ah, disco. The pulsating beat exploded onto the music scene in the mid-’70s like the inferno the Trammps sang about. A mirrored, rotating cherry bomb that just as quickly flamed out. Those one-hit wonders it produced, so relevant then, forgotten now. (Alicia Bridges? Dorothy Moore? Somebody? Anybody?) Fri, 18 May 2012 07:00:00 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/annette_john-hall/20120518_Donna_Summer__a_disco_diva_who_defined_an_era.html 2012-05-18T07:00:00Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/annette_john-hall/20120515_Community_College_a_ticket_to_freedom.html When I think of the new life the Community College of Philadelphia infused into Whitney Lopez and Dawn-Stacey Joyner, the famous line from the age-old poem “The New Colossus” pops up. You know, the one that’s mounted on a plaque at the Statue of Liberty that reads: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. ...” It may sound corny, but freedom is what CCP provided for Lopez and Joyner, who graduated with associate’s degrees last week. Lopez, 26, earned a full ride to Bryn Mawr, and Joyner, 45, has been accepted to the University of Pennsylvania. Wed, 16 May 2012 03:38:12 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/annette_john-hall/20120515_Community_College_a_ticket_to_freedom.html 2012-05-16T03:38:12Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/annette_john-hall/20120511_Hallelujah_for_President_rsquo_s_stance_on_gay_marriage.html So, President Obama finally — how do I say — came out in support of same-sex marriage. Hallejuah! Let the church say amen, including socially conservative black churches, which I predict won’t turn against the president because he supports what is fair and just. Fri, 11 May 2012 16:43:44 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/annette_john-hall/20120511_Hallelujah_for_President_rsquo_s_stance_on_gay_marriage.html 2012-05-11T16:43:44Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/annette_john-hall/20120508_.html Before Philadelphia’s invited movers and shakers even arrived at the red-carpet premiere of Changing the Game, Rel Dowdell’s urban tale of corruption and redemption, moviegoers were instructed to leave their smartphones in their cars or turn them over to security before entering the Van Pelt Auditorium at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. After all, it took Dowdell seven long years to birth his baby, and to miraculously land a nationwide distribution deal. He wasn’t about to risk some lowlife in a tux recording his movie and turning it into a bootleg before it even hit cineplex screens. Wasn’t going to happen. Tue, 08 May 2012 11:57:39 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/annette_john-hall/20120508_.html 2012-05-08T11:57:39Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/annette_john-hall/20120504_Annette_John-Hall___Rodney_King_finds_peace.html Rodney King makes a dashing first impression when we meet in the lobby of an Old City hotel to discuss his new memoir, The Riot Within: My Journey From Rebellion to Redemption. Tall, strapping, and disarmingly good-looking, King initially projects a confident tranquillity, as though he’s at ease with himself and the people around him. I’m thinking, this guy has got it going on. Fri, 04 May 2012 11:24:05 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/annette_john-hall/20120504_Annette_John-Hall___Rodney_King_finds_peace.html 2012-05-04T11:24:05Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/annette_john-hall/20120501_Annette_John-Hall___Lessons_of_the_Food_Stamp_Challenge.html I’ve learned plenty of lessons while taking the weeklong Food Stamp Challenge. Talk about a roller-coaster. A weekly food budget of only $35 had my feelings running the gamut, from hunger to resentment, pressure to determination, and finally just plain ole orneriness. But no matter how hollow and angry I got, the one permanent takeaway I’ll have is a profound sense of gratitude. Tue, 01 May 2012 10:37:53 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/annette_john-hall/20120501_Annette_John-Hall___Lessons_of_the_Food_Stamp_Challenge.html 2012-05-01T10:37:53Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/annette_john-hall/20120428_Annette_John-Hall__His_mother_would_be_proud_of_his_acts.html It was Joyce Parker's final wish. As the original Miss Tootsie - whose premier soul-food restaurant at 13th and South bore her nickname - lay dying of pancreatic cancer last year, she made her son, Keven, promise to "get the work done." Sat, 28 Apr 2012 09:09:11 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/annette_john-hall/20120428_Annette_John-Hall__His_mother_would_be_proud_of_his_acts.html 2012-04-28T09:09:11Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/annette_john-hall/20120427_His_mother_set_the_example__and_now_he_follows.html It was Joyce Parker’s final wish. As the original Miss Tootsie — whose premier soul-food restaurant at 13th and South bore her nickname — lay dying of pancreatic cancer last year, she made her son, Keven, promise to “get the work done.” Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:40:54 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/annette_john-hall/20120427_His_mother_set_the_example__and_now_he_follows.html 2012-04-27T13:40:54Z