Category: OPINION

Republicans in the House of Representatives recently caved and allowed a simple vote on raising the debt limit of the United States. Their hand-wringing about the debt is disingenuous, but more importantly, it is part of a campaign to confuse America’s workers about the real deficit, which must be addressed urgently: the deficit in jobs, […]

African American History Month is an appropriate time to evaluate the relationship between the Civil Rights Movement and the evolution of Hip-Hop culture and activism. I am aware this may be a strange question to ask given the popular perception of a generation gap between the young and the elders. Yet the issues of consciousness, […]

As we approach the second anniversary of Trayvon Martin’s murder in Sanford, Fla., justice again has been shortchanged in the Sunshine State. It was incredulous that George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watchman and wannabe cop, was found not guilty of murder after killing the unarmed Black teenager who had visited a nearby convenience store to purchase […]

Coppin’s President Neufville gave a glowing report, Feb. 14, regarding the success of a 50-point plan to change the culture at Coppin. The 50-point plan came from a special committee that UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski chaired January 2013. Chancellor Kirwan of the University System of Maryland (USM) created this special committee. May 2013, it reported […]

For most American women, Valentine’s Day is either one of the most loved or hated days of the year. I’ve only been in a relationship maybe three Valentine’s Days in my 41 years. So, I have sincerely been indifferent about the day. As the eternally single, I have not staged boycotts by attending anti-Valentine’s Day […]

With the Super Bowl over, the fantasy football season has ended. But it turns out there is a fantasy league for economists. So, sorry to those of you with Paul Krugman on your team, but I am siding with Joseph Stiglitz in his argument that income inequality is slowing the recovery. Both Stiglitz and Krugman […]

Dr. Anthony Jones has been an AIDS Specialist for more than 15 years. During that time he has become increasingly discouraged as he watched the AIDS epidemic in the San Francisco Bay Area grow among its African-American community. “We’re really at a crossroads with HIV in the Black community,” said Jones. “We have the knowledge […]

To mark the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Dr. Carter G. Woodson’s Association for the Study of African Life and History has chosen “Civil Rights in America” as its overarching theme for Black History Month 2014. At a time when voter suppression, gerrymandered congressional districts and Senate filibusters continue to thwart the […]

There is nothing like doing what you love to do—and it’s even better when others share your vision and goals. Tuesday, Jan. 28 was almost perfect. Along with three key supporters of the U.S. Black Chambers, I started the day off by telling the U.S. Black Chambers, Inc. story on TV One’s “News One Now […]

“Income inequality” has become the political buzzword of 2014. Most recently, in his State of the Union address this week President Obama made it a central theme of his second term. Both progressive Democrats and conservative Republicans in Congress are making the issue a focus of this year’s mid-term elections, and leading voices for human […]

In December, Ohio Congressmen Tim Ryan, a Democrat, and Dave Joyce, a Republican, introduced legislation calling for the award of the Congressional Gold Medal to the famous civil rights reporter Simeon Booker. Booker is perhaps one of the most well-known African-American journalists, and is often called the “Dean of the Black Press.” As Johnson Publishing […]

The state of Maryland faces a stark choice with respect to its treatment of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). A federal court recently ruled that Maryland’s educational policies are unconstitutional and violate the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause because they deprive its four HBCUs of academic programs that are unique, high demand and high […]