Category: OPINION

John R. Hawkins III Protecting the people of the United States from and defeating an organization such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant or ISIL, is only made more difficult and dangerous for those charged with accomplishing the mission, when rhetoric such as that calling for the “…total and complete shutdown of […]

Dr. E. Faye Williams, President of the National Congress of Black Women, Inc. TriceEdney — A wise sage once said, “A lie can run around the world before the truth has gotten its shoes on.”  Assessing the performance of Republican presidential candidates in the current campaign,” I can only assume that those responsible for their […]

Dr. Natasha C. Pratt-Harris During Melvin Williams’ (“Little Melvin”) home going service on Saturday December 12th, 2015, the Rev. Dr. Jamal Harrison Bryant shared a story about a woman who needed help to find her son who went missing during a blizzard. She turned to law enforcement and the community to find him. She was […]

George E. Curry In arguably the most important civil rights case the U.S. Supreme Court will hear this term – a case that could ban or limit the consideration of race in public employment, government contracting and higher education – Clarence Thomas, the lone Black justice, was silent. Of the justices hearing the case, only […]

Chris Stewart It’s hard to imagine where exactly Justice Scalia was going during yesterday’s Fisher v. University of Texas arguments in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. Citing points from an anonymous amicus brief, Scalia suggested that placing Black students in a scholastic environment such as that at the University of Texas could hurt them because they […]

Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq., President/CEO of the National Congress of Black Women, Inc. TriceEdney — The last name I wanted to mention in my column this week or during this “Season of Peace” was Donald Trump!  I consider it a travesty, especially at this time of the year, to give platform to a xenophobic, […]

Maj Gen US Army (ret) John R. Hawkins III, JD, MPA is President and CEO of Hawkins Solutions Intl. Many Black and other United States leaders believe the transfer of large amounts of military equipment to local police forces is ill advised and needs to be lessened since the violence in Ferguson, Missouri and places […]

Reverend Robert G. Childs Recently more than 100 District residents flooded a community hearing at the Public Service Commission to urge them to approve the Pepco – Exelon merger settlement. Residents from across the District came wearing buttons and carrying signs praising the “affordability, reliability and sustainability” the merger would bring. The purpose of the […]

George E. Curry As more information emerges in connection with Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke’s fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald on October 20, 2014, the more it appears that not only was an unjustified murder committed by a person who had sworn to uphold the law, there was a cover-up at every level.  […]

Dr. E. Faye Williams TriceEdney— Despite racist vitriol characterizing Blacks as “dirty,” most of us were reared in an environment where “Cleanliness was next to Godliness.”  Many, if not most, of us know the virtues of keeping our minds, bodies and belongings clean.  With the hectic pace of our world, these lessons still guide our […]

Congressman Elijah Cummings Last year, U.S. prescription drug prices jumped 13 percent, the biggest increase since 2001 – and we already were paying the highest prescription drug prices in the world. As a result, nearly 35 million of our countrymen and women were unable to fill at least one prescription because she or he could […]

Maj Gen US Army (ret) John R. Hawkins III, JD, MPA is President and CEO of Hawkins Solutions Intl. A few days before Thanksgiving this year, a well-meaning friend asked me, “Why does President Obama think all Americans should be concerned about the plight of the French?” At first glance such a statement makes sense […]