Category: OPINION

These are the words of an 18-year-old who recently graduated from high school in a high-poverty neighborhood in the nation’s capital: “Where I live, which is Ward 7, everyone is the same . . . If you follow the crowd, you’re going to end up dead or in jail because that’s where most of them […]

Richard Cordray, Director of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, tells the sad story of a man who, needing emergency car repairs, borrowed $500 from a so-called “payday lender.” After nine months of relentless payments, he had paid out $900, and he still owed another $312. That is an outrageous rate of return on a […]

There was a lot of talk around the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington last week that Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream remains unrealized. The march, of course, was for jobs and freedom, and commentators and activists alike rightly noted that much work remains on both counts. The Supreme Court this summer struck the […]

In April of this year, I was asked by Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government to share my thoughts on the upcoming 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s seminal “I Have a Dream Speech” at the Lincoln Memorial, August 28, 1963. Just as Americans of all backgrounds will share our nation’s destiny, I observed, we must […]

The current tracking of Congress’ popularity shows that only 15 percent of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing. Now, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) struck another tone deaf moment at a political fundraiser in Idaho when he warned that when Congress returns in September, he will lead Republicans in holding up the government’s […]

(Originally published August 26, 1983) We marched in 1963 to redress old grievances and to help resolve an American crisis. That crisis is born of the twin evils of racism and economic deprivation. They rob black and poor people of dignity, self-respect and freedom. They impose a special burden on blacks who are denied the […]

As the nation celebrates the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, many are discussing what Dr. King would say to the nation and world today. But his message to us today is as clear as it was 50 years ago if only we could hear, heed, and follow his warnings about what we need […]

As America commemorates the 50th anniversary of the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom I am compelled to ask the following question: Would Dr. King be invited to speak at upcoming events to commemorate the March? If you get past the marketed “Dream” reference in the “I Have a Dream” speech and understand […]

History is a political enterprise. All who set out to chronicle the past are motivated by ends that some are honest enough to disclose, and others are deluded enough to deny. I prepared for the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Feedom by reading serious works of history. David J. Garrow’s […]

Now that we’ve had two events at the Lincoln Memorial to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington, it is important to remember a few things about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. beyond his “I Have a Dream” speech.   The question is always asked: What happens after the marches are over? […]