A major television network anoints him “The New Conservative Folk Hero.” A Wall Street Journal editorial and a T-shirt available online hail “Ben Carson for President.” Well, maybe not for president, but some in Maryland Republican circles are dreaming of a gubernatorial candidacy for Dr. Ben Carson, the preeminent Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon. He is, after […]
Author Archives: Adrienne T. Washington
Posted inEditorial
Blacks and Gun ControlBe Careful What You Ask For
It took Harry Belafonte, the esteemed elder statesman, to raise the prickly questions during the celebratory atmosphere of the NAACP Image Awards last month. As the great debate rages about gun ownership and control and white Americans rail and rally in huge numbers against any stricter laws being proposed nationally and locally, the accomplished actor […]
Posted inEditorial
Tough Love is Not Enough
The fundamental question today is how do you teach children, and even some adults, the value of life, theirs and others? Maybe we wouldn’t have to endure pedantic and polarizing debates about who should get a gun, when and why, if we lived in a society in which civility, decency and sanctity of life were […]
Posted inEditorial
Bungling the Telling of Black History
If you relied on Hollywood’s revisionist historical docudramas, you’d think that White men fought to the death to win freedom for America’s Black slaves while they sat passively and sang spirituals until liberty was granted at the benevolent hands of White folks. Not the case at all. Abraham Lincoln, for example, the Great Emancipator? Not […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
D.C. Voting Rights: Long Overlooked, Long Overdue
So now what? What’s the latest hypocritical excuse for why the capital of the free world, the District of Columbia, cannot enjoy equal democratic rights? What’s holding back the president, the House of Representative and the Senate from doing the right thing? What did you wager whether D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray, a Democrat, would be […]
Posted inEditorial
Signs of an O’Malley Presidential Run?
In the whirlwind mania leading up to the Super Bowl last week, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, appearing on a CBS morning show from New Orleans, was asked not only about the Baltimore Ravens’ prospects of winning the big trophy, but also about his own prospects of taking a run at the presidency. Grinning from ear-to-ear […]
Posted inEditorial
Washington View
“Be vigilant, for nothing one achieves lasts forever,” cautions Moroccan poet and writer Tahar Ben Jelloun. Though he didn’t say these words, this was the creed of my dearly departed friend, civil and voting rights warrior Lawrence Guyot. He cherished the franchise. He was nearly beaten to death by Southern whites in the 1960s for […]
Posted inInauguration 2013
Washington View
Great are the expectations of President Barack Obama, the historic first African-American president who was inaugurated for his second term on Jan. 21. The momentous hopes and aspirations are especially strong for the African American supporters whose votes made a critical difference in his victorious bid for reelection in 2012. But what will be the […]
Posted inCommentary
Adrienne T. Washington…No Supermanor SuperwomanNeeded to Fix D.C. Schools
Let’s get one thing straight from the outset: D.C. School Chancellor Michelle Rhee fired herself. No surprise that Rhee’s resignation was announced two weeks ago at a press conference staged by outgoing D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty and presumptive mayor and current D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray. “One City,” Mr. Gray’s campaign cry, may take a […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
FDA Fails to Reach Conclusion on Genetically Altered Salmon
Following two hearings, the Food and Drug Administration could not reach a conclusion on whether to permit the sale of genetically altered salmon. On Sept. 20, an 11-member advisory panel told AquaBounty, the developer of the altered seafood, that there is not yet sufficient data to determine whether genetic modification is safe for the fish […]
Posted inCommentary
Adrienne T. Washington…District’s ‘Bush v. Gore’ Redux
Could the Democratic primary in two weeks turn out to be “Bush v. Gore in D.C.?” Maybe no hanging chads or midnight Supreme Court session, but with an unprecedented number of “disputed” provisional or “special ballots” predicted to be cast, D.C. Board of Elections officials will be hard pressed to declare a definitive winner in […]
Posted inCommentary
Adrienne Washington…Reclaiming Civility
Sneers, jeers, and outright outrageous shouting. That is the ugly tenor that mars most political forums during this critical mayoral campaign. It seems that what one lesser-known candidate called “the steamroller of gentrification” demolished Southern gentility along with Washington, D.C.’s “Chocolate City” moniker during this steamy campaign season. With barely six weeks to the Sept. […]