Category: OPINION

I call it the hip hop dilemma. The symptoms are all around us. You hate the new direction hip hop is going in and you hate that the young boys are wearing tight jeans. Still, hip hop has a tremendous pull, something that you can’t ignore. And if it’s a dilemma for our younger generation, […]

For someone who seems to revel in being silent during the Supreme Court’s traditionally lively oral arguments – when a public display of his professional competence would be appropriate – Clarence Thomas’s out-of-court comments are extraordinarily revealing. They show a man whose exalted position has brought him no inner peace, a man who continues to […]

It is time for the Congress to take action that addresses the linkage between unacceptable levels of unemployment and our federal budgetary policy. As I had hoped, my 16th Annual Job Fair last month was a tangible success for many of the 3,500 job-seekers, more than 60 employers and 40 workforce investment experts who participated. […]

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – A trip to South Africa provides painful reminders of the protracted struggle to establish democracy, how the United States propped up the White minority-rule government and the courage Black South Africans demonstrated to win their freedom. A key aspect of the struggle is vividly captured in the Hector Pieterson Memorial Museum […]

“No more hurting people. Peace.” – Eight-year-old Martin Richard, a victim of the Boston Marathon bombing Acts of terror like the ones committed in Boston are reprehensible and without moral or logical explanation. They rock us to our core. They also unite us in common purpose. Victims and their families seem to become our own. […]

Reflecting upon the past 50 years since the 1963 March on Washington we must pay homage to our civil rights leaders for their hard work, strength and endurance in the fight for equality and justice in America. Their unwavering commitment to The Movement made it possible for a Black man named Barack Hussein Obama to […]

So here’s the ugly truth about the flap over the recent trip to Cuba by Beyoncé and Jay-Z. The whining of three Cuban-American lawmakers who object to the couple’s recent visit to Havana has little to do with keeping American dollars out of the coffers of Cuba’s communist government and a lot to do with […]

After my nephew Christopher was shot and murdered in a home invasion, I mourned the loss of his young and precious life and committed myself to doing everything in my power to make sure that these tragedies would be halted. Yet, I must acknowledge that two years after Christopher’s death, my passion was beginning to […]

Last week, Facebook was abuzz with comments on the Boston Marathon bombing. My newsfeed was filled with prayers and well wishes for the city of Boston and all affected by the blast that took three lives including that of an 8-year old child. Like 911, Americans were united again… or so I thought… until I […]

I am approaching another City College class reunion. It has been 50 years since I along with all the other young men of the Class of 1963 graduated from the 33rd and Alameda “Castle on the Hill.” It will be my second class reunion; the first one I attended was the 30th reunion in 1993. […]

When bombs went off at the Boston Marathon on April 15, three people, one an 8-year-old boy, were tragically killed and over 160 were wounded. As a result, there was an urgent need for a national emergency response of the federal government, Massachusetts state government, and local officials in Boston and surrounding cities. Almost immediately, […]