I enjoyed the recent (Aug. 8) article in The AFRO on the closing of the Baltimore City Jail. I worked there from 1977 (as Director of Offender Aid and Restoration) – until retirement in 2010. Gov. Hogan’s announcement that he will close the Jail- and which part will be closed?- was a nice sound bite. […]
Category: OPINION
Posted inCommentary
Green is the Color of Justice
This summer’s rollout of President Obama’s Clean Power Plan is great news for the Black community. The plan establishes federal limits on carbon pollution from power plants, slowing climate change and the myriad of negative health and economic consequences. Nearly 40 percent of the six million Americans living close to coal-fired power plants are people […]
Posted inCommentary
Black Philanthropy: When We Give
Kenneth J. Brewer, Sr. If you’ve ever bought a brownie at a PTA bake sale, a chocolate bar wrapped in foil from a collegiate team player, or placed money in a collection plate on Sunday morning, you have participated in philanthropy– the generous donation of money to good causes. Although many black people do not […]
Posted inCommentary
Denial of Pepco/Exelon Merger Limits Opportunities to Diverse Businesses
Dr. Sheila Brooks The decision by the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia Wednesday, August 25 to deny the Pepco/Exelon merger is a devastating blow to the minority business community and residents in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Economic growth is vital to this region’s economy. Minority businesses significantly contribute financial support to […]
Posted inCommentary
Standing Up for 80 Years of Social Security
Congressman Elijah Cummings On August 14, I joined Social Security Commissioner Carolyn Colvin and her colleagues at the Social Security Administration to celebrate the 80th anniversary of that historic day in 1935 when President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act of 1935 into law. From its beginning in 1935, Social Security has been a […]
Posted inCommentary, OPINION
Black, Female, and Afraid
George H. Lambert, Jr. In the year since Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson, MO, the national conversation on race has been mostly about Black men. Indeed, the vast majority of stories about police violence are about young Black men dying at the hands of (mostly) white police officers. But Sandra Bland’s mysterious, troubling death […]
Posted inCommentary, OPINION
The Truth about Foster Care and Homelessness
Shalita O’Neale and Susan Emfinger (Courtesy Photo fosteringchangenetwork.com) Ask anyone in child welfare about foster youth aging out of the foster care system and you’re sure to hear about everything from high rates of incarceration, early parenting, homelessness, unemployment and discussion about mental health issues. There are approximately 6,000 children in Maryland’s foster care system. […]
Posted inCommentary, OPINION
What Must We Do to Get to the Promised Land?
Zach Wood Throughout President Barack Obama’s six and a half years in office, despite inheriting the worst economy since the great depression, facing unprincipled insurgent resistance from Republicans in Congress, and having to deal with the turbulent climate of race relations as the nation’s first Black president, the President has achieved undeniable success: passage of […]
Posted inCommentary, OPINION
ANOTHER GIANT HAS FALLEN
Dr. E. Faye Williams Washington, DC –Many of us woke up this morning (August 16, 2015) to the news that Julian Bond, a hero who was at the forefront of the civil rights movement, had died. Julian was only 75 years old, and as many of us approach that number, we are especially saddened because […]
Posted inCommentary, OPINION
WHAT’S WRONG WITH TALKING?
Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq., President of the National Congress of Black Women (Courtesy Photo) TriceEdney – As I write this, the United States is only hours away from raising our flag over our embassy in Havana, Cuba, formally re-establishing diplomatic relations with the Cuban government. Re-establishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba follows the well-publicized, […]
Posted inCommentary, OPINION
There Is Still Work To Be Done
Elijah Cummings Last week, as our nation marked the 50th Anniversary of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, I recalled our struggles here in Baltimore during that earlier time when I was young. I remembered how Juanita Jackson Mitchell, Esq., of the Baltimore NAACP taught the young people of my South Baltimore neighborhood that we had […]
Posted inEditorial, OPINION
Warning: The Rising D.C. Homicides Threat
(AP David Goldman) As the summer nears its end, the death toll in D.C. is not subsiding. The city’s homicide count, for 2015, currently stands at 91 victims, a 28.2 percent increase, from 71 victims, at the same time last year. Causes for the spike in homicides can be attributed to several different factors, including […]