Category: Commentary

For decades the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People fought the good fight against racial discrimination. The organization was instrumental in defeating Jim Crow and discrimination in the workplace; it led the charge in establishing voting rights for all and equal access to quality education. Even now the NAACP does some good work in local […]

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 […]

I will never forget Election Day 2002 – nor will I ever stop fighting to defeat the political forces that would stoop to intimidation or trickery. Back in 2002, I arrived at my local voting place, preparing to vote in the governor’s race.  As I walked toward the school, they handed me this beautiful, glossy […]

A civilized society has to have a strong commitment to equal treatment in the administration of justice even when the topic might be unpopular. One of the roles of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives is to sensitize government officials and others to the problems of the black community and to have the […]

A few weeks ago, tens of thousands gathered at the Lincoln Memorial for the One Nation March on Washington. The purpose of this rally:  jobs and equal access to fundamental human rights for all Americans.  Those who attended were eager to know whether attendance trumped that of Glenn Beck’s (I asked too), and more importantly, […]

I read with great interest Jason Riley’s commentary on historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) [“Black Colleges Need a New Mission,” Sept. 28, 2010] in which he refers to Black colleges as “academically inferior.” Mr. Riley uses data convenient to his case that HBCUs should be shuttered by citing the number of Blacks that now […]

If you start by tying together a bunch of surface observations – and deliberately ignore the causal factors lurking in the background – it’s easy to come up with the conclusions Jason Riley spewed in the Wall Street Journal in his article titled, “Black Colleges Need a New Mission. Once an essential response to racism, […]

Conservatives argue that the liberal social programs of the 1960s destroyed the Black family as the notion of the Black man as the patriarch of his family took a beating. In just a few generations, an intact Black family became so hard to recognize that Blacks ridiculed the 1980s family sitcom “The Cosby Show” as […]

Last week, I chaired an important judiciary subcommittee hearing that I found extremely upsetting and troubling. It focused on the increasing number of violent attacks on individuals who are homeless, a population that is often our most vulnerable. From being beaten to death by a baseball bat to being doused with gasoline and set ablaze, the […]

(NNPA) – Not surprisingly, embattled Bishop Eddie Long turned to the Bible to defend himself against charges by four men who filed suit last week in which they charged that as teenagers, Long showered them with money, expensive gifts, cars, and international travel to entice them into having a sexual relationship with him. On Sunday, […]

Two years ago, we stood up and led as Americans of good conscience came together in an historic effort to elect Barack Obama as president of the United States. Now, once again, we must stand with our president and defeat those who are working to devastate his legislative achievements and block our nation’s progress. Our […]

We need to change the way we think about health in this country, I want us to move from a system based on disease and illness to one based on wellness and prevention. We need to prevent people from getting sick in the first place, to stop illness and disease before it starts. During my […]