Category: OPINION

Becoming a father takes work. Before you became a father you were first, now you must learn that it is a father’s place to be last. You must learn to put others needs before your own. If you truly love your child make sure you give them the best you can give. Speak the right […]

On May 17, 1954, in the case of Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, the U.S. Supreme Court ended federally sanctioned racial segregation in the public schools by ruling unanimously that “separate educational facilities were inherently unequal.” At the time of this decision, I was in the third grade at a segregated school […]

“I am fighting for my father. He is undocumented. I am fighting for all of the children who don’t have their mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters.” That was the speech I heard last Wednesday from Yahir Servin, an 11-year-old who participated in a civil disobedience on Capitol Hill with the Fair Immigration Reform […]

During “Public Service Recognition Week,” observed each year during the first week in May, we come together to honor the women and men who serve our nation at all levels of government. Almost without exception, they are proud of their service – and so should we be. Their dedication, talent and tireless efforts have made […]

The 2014 legislative session represents a missed opportunity for Maryland officials to address the constitutional violations cited by Federal District Court Judge Catherine C. Blake in an October 2013 ruling on the Historically Black Institutions Coalition case. The case was not among Gov. Martin O’Malley’s legislative priorities and discussion in the legislature was limited to […]

NBA Commissioner Alan Silver, who replaced David Stern just two months ago, did what we’ve all been waiting for – he showed Los Angeles Clippers bigoted owner Donald Sterling the nearest exit and told him not to look back. On Tuesday, Silver banned Sterling from the NBA for life and fined him $2.5 million, the […]

As is typical of blowhards, Cliven Bundy, the conservative movement’s most recently defrocked hero/criminal, opened his mouth once too often. In doing so, the Nevada rancher revealed who he really is behind all the Stars-and-Stripes flag-waving and man-of-the-West rhetoric. The man who has grazed his cattle on federal land for more than two decades but […]

“The Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia” covers every aspect of soldiers’ grooming and appearance – from fingernail length to tattoos. Last month, the Army proposed updates to this regulation that scrutinize African-American female hairstyles more than ever before. Previously AR 670- 1 only briefly commented on uniquely African-American hairstyles. It banned “dreadlocks” for being “unkempt, […]

Earlier this month Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette charged an organization known as Freedom by Faith Ministries with defrauding over 100 consumers in Southeast Michigan. The alleged crime: foreclosure rescue scams. Unfortunately the circumstances that led to the Michigan lawsuit represent a continuation of a disturbing trend of profiteers seeking to financially exploit the misfortunes […]

With the continued consolidation going on within the media (radio, TV, newspapers), there is never-ending debate over the issue of ownership and diversity. But how do you define ownership? Is ownership the issue or editorial control or both? As members of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) like to remind me, Black media is by […]

It was 20 years ago this month that the monstrous Rwandan genocide unfolded. In less than 90 days, close to 1 million Rwandan Tutsis and their Hutu allies were murdered by right-wing Hutu extremists, instigated by the government of Rwanda. The scale and speed of the genocide defied imagination. Dramatized in the film Hotel Rwanda, […]