Clinton: 2016 tone enough to make people watch cat GIFs

Hillary Clinton vowed to defend Americans she says have been attacked by rival Donald Trump on Thursday, telling donors at a fundraiser that the campaign's negative tone might make some people retreat to the Internet to watch soothing cat GIFs. Without mentioning allegations of sexual assault against Trump, Clinton said, "disturbing stories just keep on coming" about him.

Identity politics? No, a political identity

Republicans disdainfully call it "identity politics," this outreach by Democrats to the many target audiences that make up what we used to call "the melting pot" but is more accurately described as the patchwork quilt comprising the American people. That's because, when they think of "the voter," "the people," "REAL Amurricans," Republicans have a very clear image in mind: a middle-aged white man with a middle-class job, a wife and kids who are dependent on him, and the grandparents, who are also white and live in the suburbs or a retirement community.

Powerful appeals court gets its first black chief judge

For Roger Gregory, serving as the first African-American chief judge of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond takes on even greater meaning when he thinks of who else has walked the halls of the building he now oversees. During the Civil War, the building that is now the appeals court housed the offices of Confederate President Jefferson Davis while he fought to maintain slavery.

We don’t need a national Latino museum

Should we build a Latino Smithsonian museum? Some Hispanic politicians think so. Piggybacking on the attention garnered by the opening this weekend of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, they have renewed a push for the creation of a National Museum of the American Latino.

American Canyon woman leads trip to new African American Smithsonian museum

Brenda Knight of American Canyon has been to Washington, D.C. many times, but the trip planned for next month is special, she said. The former Napa College Trustee, professional event planner and founder of the Ladies In Red women's empowerment group, is leading 107 group members on a trip early next month to the National Museum of African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian Institution.

To reach millennials, Clinton reserves digital ad time

" Hillary Clinton is reserving $30 million in digital advertising as she seeks to connect with young voters. The campaign said it was investing in digital advertising during the final stretch of the campaign because young people increasingly get their news online, rather than through live television.

Heavy hitters go to bat for slumping Clinton

As Hillary Clinton's once-sizable lead has evaporated in national surveys and must-win swing states, her supporters are speaking out with a new urgency, urging core followers to set aside any qualms and get behind Clinton with enthusiasm. President Obama, in a speech Saturday night before the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, bluntly stated that African-Americans need to affirm his legacy by helping put another Democrat in the White House.

Obama urges black turnout, mocks Trump for missing a civics lessona on Jim Crow

President Barack Obama gestures while speaking at the Our Ocean, One Future conference at the State Department last year. In a fiery speech Saturday night, President Obama said he would consider it "a personal insult" if the African American community does not turn out to vote in great numbers in November and help carry on his legacy by supporting Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

Many black voters skeptical at Trump’s birther about-face

Black voters reacted skeptically Friday to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's admission that he now believes the nation's first black president was indeed born in the United States. Many said the fact that Trump spent years questioning President Barack Obama's national origin was disrespectful, and an insult to all black Americans.

Black Doctors Call on Obama to Ban Menthol Tobacco Products

African-American doctors are calling on President Barack Obama to ban sales of menthol-flavored cigarettes, which government data show are heavily preferred among black smokers. The African-American Tobacco Control Leadership Council, a nonprofit anti-smoking advocacy group, launched a public campaign this week asking Obama to direct the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to remove all so-called mentholated tobacco products from the marketplace.