Category: Commentary

Marian Wright Edelman Many children and families eagerly look forward to the end of the school year and the carefree days of summer, playing outside in the warm sun, splashing and swimming in pools and at beaches, and gathering with family and friends for backyard barbeques. But for more than 17 million children, the end […]

Congressman Elijah Cummings Nationally, we now have witnessed more than five years of significant job creation. Unemployment, which reached 10 percent during the depths of the Bush Recession, has been cut nearly in half. Yet, for far too many of our nation’s working families, the positive economic statistics heralding a “recovery” from the Bush Recession […]

Dr. E. Faye Williams President, National Congress of Black Women The debate on Loretta Lynch continues beyond human understanding.  A simple review of politics in Washington since President Barack Obama has been President defies imagination. Cases in point are the 2014 nominations of Loretta Lynch for U.S. Attorney General and Ashton Carter for Secretary of […]

Yosef Alfredo Antonio ben-Jochannan, known to the African world as “Dr. Ben,” believed that education belonged to any member of his race who wanted it. Perhaps that was because of the 20th century tradition of ad-hoc “street universities,” with step-ladder orators as varied as Malcolm X and “Porkchop” Davis, a tradition he understood.  Perhaps it […]

George H. Lambert Jr. It may seem strange, but I have noticed that traditions thrive only when they are allowed to grow and change. Cling to them too rigidly, and they tend to wither and lose their relevance. One clear example that springs to my mind–the Easter Monday festivities at the National Zoo. This year’s […]

Lekan Oguntoyinbo (Courtesy Photo) Long before China and India became the economic wonders of Asia, there was Singapore, a small, diverse country with no natural resources that took the audacious step of breaking away from the Malaysian federation in 1965 to become an independent nation. Lee Kuan Yew, the new country’s founding father, knew that […]

“What the people want is very simple: they want an America as good as its promise.” – Texas Congresswoman Barbara C. Jordan Marc H. Morial There’s no other way to say it.  Black America is in crisis. Over the past year, we have been bombarded with headlines that continue to drive home the longstanding challenges […]

Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. I know from firsthand experience that the criminal justice system today in the United States is in serious and urgent need of reform, repair and restructuring. Millions of families have been devastated by the overcriminalization of people in America. Black American families in particular have suffered and continue to suffer disproportionately […]

Dr. Walter M. Kimbrough During the month of February, the C-SPAN bus traveled to eight historically Black college campuses to provide viewers with insight on these institutions. Since these are my colleagues, I made sure I watched each as this was great exposure not only for their campuses, but for all historically Black colleges and […]

Elijah Cummings Despite being unfair and against the law, far too many women are paid less than men are paid for doing essentially the same jobs for the same employers. It is reasonable to ask how our laws could allow these inequalities in pay.  After all, pay discrimination violates the federal Equal Pay Act of […]

Eddie Bernice Johnson Loretta Lynch, the president’s nominee to replace Eric Holder as the U.S. Attorney General, is poised to become the first African American woman to lead the Justice Department. Ms. Lynch is a Harvard-educated lawyer with a reputation as a tough prosecutor. Her impeccable record includes the successful prosecutions of high profile public […]

Sabrina Dawson This past February, students across the country celebrated Black History Month. They read books by Black authors, wrote research papers on civil rights activists, memorized Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, or watched videos about the Underground Railroad. And if they are being taught honestly, as they learn about […]