Category: OPINION

James Clingman One thing is for sure: Black folks are enjoying this latest political mating dance with Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. Sanders is discovering Black people in South Carolina and Georgia, and Clinton has reopened the “leading Blacks” vault to rediscover their loyalty and willingness to present her to the Black electorate one mo’ […]

Kimberle’ Crenshaw and Luke Charles Harris (Twitter Photos) In American society, we claim to support freedom of speech as a cornerstone of our democracy. Yet, when it comes to certain kinds of information, the freedom celebrated by many first amendment absolutists mysteriously disappears. If materials threaten the basis for White supremacy, censorship suddenly becomes justifiable. […]

George E. Curry President Obama has announced that despite threats from Republican leaders, he plans to nominate someone to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Antonin Scalia.  I hope he ignores the advice of Vice President Joe Biden who wants him to select someone who isn’t staunchly liberal.  Biden said, “… […]

Dr. E. Faye Williams TriceEdney — Like most Americans, I was shocked to learn that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had died. His decisions and many of his remarks showed us to be polar opposites in political and social thinking.  The nature and substance of the controversy and debate between Justice Scalia and his detractors […]

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump answers questions from reporters. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate who is maintaining his frontrunner status, has recently been reported as attracting White supremacists to his racially-incendiary campaign. Here is how it has been reported as working: White nationalists groups will carry a newspaper with a Donald […]

John R. Hawkins III As I reflect on Black History Month 2016 many things come to mind. Many, unfortunately get stuck on the fact that the official Black History month happens to be the shortest month of the year; implying some sort of national conspiracy. However, Negro History Week, as it was originally called, was […]

Elijah Cummings As we celebrate Black History Month and learn from our past, we cannot help but acknowledge the truth of Asa Phillip Randolph’s insight.  As the famous labor and civil rights organizer once observed, our struggles for civil rights and economic justice have always been inextricably linked. It was Mr. Randolph’s leadership, after all, […]

Dear Sheriff Jim DeWees, Dr. Natasha C. Pratt-Harris I sympathize with you and every member of the law enforcement community. It’s been one week since we lost two of Maryland’s heroes and Harford County Sheriffs – Senior Deputy Patrick Dailey and Senior Deputy Mark Logsdon. Their service to the people of Harford County and their […]

Every man has a place In his heart there’s a space And the world can’t erase his fantasies Take a ride in the sky On our ship, fantasize All your dreams will come true right away And we will live together Until the twelfth of never Our voices will ring forever, as one — “Fantasy,” […]

Marian Wright Edelman Transforming movements towards social justice depend on the work of a core group of committed and persistent and not always frontline soldiers – women and men who seize the moment and choose to stand up for what is right. My beloved friend and longtime Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) board member Winifred Green, […]

Lee A. Daniels With last week’s primary in New Hampshire, this year’s momentous presidential contest has now begun in earnest. At last, the political world has actual votes in actual ballot boxes to focus on. But looming behind all the critical issues of policy and process that are — and are not – going to […]

George E. Curry Now that we have gotten the first two political anomalies out of the way en route to electing a new president – mostly White Iowa and New Hampshire – the primaries and caucuses are moving to states that are more representative of a diverse America and the outcomes will be heavily influenced […]