Category: Commentary

Submitted to the AFRO by Dr. Elizabeth Primas The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines standards as, “something established by authority, custom, or general consent as a model or example. For example,” the Egyptians established the 365-day calendar, recording 4236 BC as the first year in recorded history. Around 1100 AD in England, it was determined that the […]

Submitted to the AFRO by Dr. Ken Morgan Recently, the local daily paper reported that the Downtown Partnership “will place unarmed security guards at selected downtown intersections next week to stop squeegee window washers’.  Many are teenage black youth.  Most of the complaining commuters are white suburbanites.  These complaining commuters view these young black people […]

Submitted to the AFRO by Wim Laven Early voting started in Georgia on Oct. 15. I arrived at my polling place at 1:56 p.m. and completed voting at 4:19 p.m. It is reported that county officials were not prepared for the turnout. That’s what I observed and experienced. There were not enough barriers to queue the […]

Submitted to the AFRO by Charlene Crowell, NNPA Newswire Contributor Across the nation and multiple generations, student loan debt now surpasses $1.5 trillion. The anxiety shared by borrowers from all walks of life seeking ways to lift this unsustainable consumer debt affects multiple life dimensions. In some cases, these burdensome debts threaten the future of […]

Submitted to the AFRO by Elijah Cummings After 22 disheartening months of the Trump presidency, the Pew Research Center released a national survey,  Sept. 26, with encouraging news for the future of our democracy. With just weeks to go before Americans elect a new Congress, the polling data from the non-partisan Pew organization   confirmed […]

Submitted to the AFRO by Julianne Malveaux Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson turned 77 on Oct. 8. Nobody has led a less storied life. He first took a public stand for civil rights when he was just a kid attempting to use the library in his hometown of Greenville, S.C. His activism brought him to the […]

Submitted to the AFRO by Jessicah Pierre Nike’s latest “Just Do It” ad campaign includes a number of A-list athletes: LeBron James, Serena Williams, Odell Beckham Jr. — and most controversially, Colin Kaepernick. In case you’ve been living under a rock, Kaepernick — who played quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers — famously knelt during […]

Submitted to the AFRO by James L. Walker Jr. Bill Cosby will spend the next three years in a Pennsylvania prison as a state judge declared justice’s time had come.“It is time for justice. Mr. Cosby, this has all circled back to you. The time has come,” loudly proclaimed Montgomery County Judge Steven T. O’Neill […]

Submitted to the AFRO by Alayna Washington I teach in a city that is known for its architecture, cuisine and diversity; but also for its pronounced racial segregation, inequity and violence. A place where students strive to get accepted to Selective Enrollment schools in order to have expanded access to resources and opportunities. A place […]

Submitted to the AFRO by Elijah Cummings Recently, a wonderful neighbor I met at Johns Hopkins Hospital gave me a real-life message that our nation and its government should hear. “Congressman,” she told me, “the doctors here have saved my life for now, and I thank God for that – but I can’t afford the […]