By Zekeh S. Gbotokuma, PhD As an international student in the 80s in Rome, Italy, I watched, for the first time “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” a drama/comedy originally released in the USA on December 12, 1967 (Starring: Spencer Tracy; Sidney Poitier; Katharine Hepburn; Katharine Houghton. Directed by Stanley Kramer). After watching the film, I […]
Category: Commentary
Posted inOPINION
Op-ed: A Plea for Baltimore City Public Schools to keep Dr. Bernard Harris Elementary School Open – and Work with the Community
By Cory V. McCray and Nathaniel J. McFadden While just about each and everyone of us are reimagining what school reopening and closure, and virtual instruction may look like amidst the new Omicron variant, my mind is also on the routine school closures that happen each year in Baltimore. These closures typically occur due to […]
Posted inOPINION
Letter to the Editor: We need to protect our voting rights
By Lisa Hansel Dear Editor, One year ago, we witnessed an attack on our country: an insurrection by political extremists at the U.S. Capitol. A mob of violent rioters defaced the Capitol Building and threatened the lives of the elected officials and staff working there—the core of American democracy. This was a pivotal moment […]
Posted inOPINION
Best AFRO editorial cartoons of 2021
By AFRO Staff The year 2021 was eventful: a grueling additional twelve months and counting in a global pandemic; a terrorist attack on the U.S. Capitol leading up to the transference of power to the Biden Administration; racial and social tension skyrocketed across the country as more incidents of police brutality and other injustices were […]
Posted inOPINION
Letter to the Editor: Our Democracy Is in Danger
By Sharon Williams It is time to get involved in our democracy because our democracy is in danger. On January 6, 2021, the day of the Insurrection, when the Electoral College votes were being certified by Congress, our democracy was almost destroyed by Republicans and far-right extremists when they violently tried to stop the process […]
Posted inOPINION
Let’s Do Truth in 2022
Submitted by Norman Franklin It’s 2022. I’m usually a little pensive at the start of a new year. I look over my shoulder at the past twelve months, assess my progress, and the progress and direction of the nation. I made some missteps. As a nation of Christians, we made a few as well. The […]
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 inNEWS
2021: Highlights of the 117th Congress
By Congressman Kweisi Mfume One year ago, I took the oath of office to begin the 117th Congress. The initial coronavirus strain and COVID-19 pandemic were as they are now, in full throttle. Likewise, Donald Trump was contesting the November 2020 election results, we were days away from the January 6 violence at the U.S. […]
Posted inOPINION
Commentary: How to avoid seasonal depression or ‘holiday blues’
By Alphonso Gibbs Jr. Well, here we are again, the last few weeks of the year. Those weeks that include Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s—collectively called “the holidays.” If you’re reading this article, it means that you have survived the last two years, which have included an election, social unrest and oh that darned pandemic! […]
Posted inOPINION
Commentary: Remembering Desmond Mpilo Tutu
By Deborah Bailey Special to the AFRO Of all the many assignments Bishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu was entrusted to handle on this earth – outspoken opponent of the South African Apartheid system; dedicated advocate of non-violent resistance; Nobel Peace Prize Recipient; principled defender of justice for all people – it was Tutu’s work in chairing the […]
Posted inOPINION
Editorial: As The New Year Begins
By Dr. John E. Warren, Publisher, The San Diego Voice & Viewpoint The end of a year or a day is often a time of reflection on both what has been done and what could have been done better. While we can’t redo yesterday, there is much ahead that we can plan for and impact […]
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 […]