By Wayne Dawkins, Special to the AFRO David E. Talbert, an award-winning playwright turned Hollywood director, told 600-plus Morgan State University graduates May 21 that there were detours along his career journey. He began college as a division III-basketball star at Western Maryland University where he was among two dozen Blacks at the overwhelmingly White […]
Author Archives: Wayne Dawkins
Posted inBUSINESS
Wealth doesn’t make Elon Musk qualified to own Twitter
By Wayne Dawkins Elon Musk’s Tesla car company in fall 2021 paid $137 million to a Black employee who successfully sued for racial harassment and bullying on the job. “N****r, hurry up and push the button,” or “N*****r, push these batteries out of the elevator,” supervisors often ordered Diaz, according to reporting by the Independent . The settlement […]
Posted inCommentary
It’s personal: COVID attacked my family
By Wayne Dawkins For those who say they don’t want to mask or vax against coronavirus, please listen to this personal story. While out of town for work, I received a midnight text from my wife. Her youngest brother, she said, tested positive for COVID despite being vaccinated. She rushed him to an urgent care […]
Posted inOPINION
Op-ed: Beware of a riotous Jan. 6 repeat
By Wayne Dawkins “January 6 [2021] was practice,” announced the latest cover of The Atlantic Monthly magazine. We’ve been warned. Trump true believers, and the poorly educated suckers the twice-impeached 45th president loves, could pull this stunt again this week, if we are asleep. Unconvinced? Here I offer a tick tock, not the social media kind, of the […]
Posted inOPINION
Op-ed: April Ryan to MSU grads: Ready to run the world?
By Wayne Dawkins HBCUs are running the world, Morgan State University alumni April D. Ryan told 500 fall graduates Dec. 17. Hyperbole? Ryan, Class of 1989, has covered the White House for Black-oriented media for at least a quarter century. That’s since the Bill Clinton administration in the 1990s, meaning she has been around Harvard, Yale […]
Posted inHBCU
Op-ed: Swaggering, hip, cool, and a master teacher too
By Wayne Dawkins Baltimore native Kip Branch had swagger. He would talk about his friend “Jimmy.” That is James Baldwin to the rest of us. The iconic American novelist befriended Branch and mentored him. The result was “Gnawing in My Soul,” the pupil’s debut novel. Then there was Branch’s other friend, “Chief.” That is Miles […]
Posted inOPINION
Commentary: Polarized demographics explain GOP wins in Virginia
By Wayne Dawkins Special to the AFRO The Trojan horse, Glenn Youngkin, plowed through the fortress and will now lead Virginia. The Republican businessman upset former Democratic Gov. Terry McAullife 51% to 49%. Multiple polls warned citizens that the Donald Trump acolyte had a good chance of narrowly beating the experienced moderate-liberal moderate, yet there […]
Posted inOPINION
Beware Virginia of Trojan horse candidate for governor
Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate and former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, left, and Republican challenger, Glenn Youngkin, participate in a debate at Northern Virginia Community College, in Alexandria, Va., Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) By Wayne Dawkins Special to the AFRO Regarding the Nov. 2 Virginia elections, what should be a predictable outcome is a […]
Posted inOPINION
History maker Colin Powell’s integrity and service will live on
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell makes a statement to the media after a meeting at U.N. headquarters, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2003. Powell, former Joint Chiefs chairman and secretary of state, has died from COVID-19 complications. In an announcement on social media Monday, Oct. 18, 2021 the family said Powell had been fully vaccinated. He […]
Posted inBooks
Scorned, scrutinized, yet media king on the throne
King Al: How Sharpton Took the Throne,” is a biography by Ron Howell, a longtime New York tabloids reporte rand foreign correspondent. (Courtesy photo) By Wayne Dawkins Special to the AFRO This infamous Black pastor agreed to serve as an FBI informant. Worse, he falsely alleged in 1988 that a 15-year-old Black girl was raped […]
Posted inOPINION
Can new Justice Department leadership clear the air?
United States Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke. (Courtesy photo) By Wayne Dawkins The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights compiled an exhaustive list that reported the U.S. Justice Department during the President Trump years was openly hostile toward civil rights enforcement, specifically affecting people of color. That list singled out indifference or mindful neglect […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Muhammad Ali’ four-part documentary highlights life, legacy of the champ
Muhammad Ali, 1978, during an impromptu news conference at the front steps of New York City Hall. ()By Wayne Dawkins Special to the AFRO “Muhammad Ali,” a four-part, eight-hour documentary by Ken Burns, premiered Sept. 19 on PBS and concluded Sept. 23. “Come for the boxing, the politics, the religion or conflict,” said Burns, who […]