Category: OPINION

The St. Lucie County (FL) School District has a bullying problem that appears to start with the teaching staff and filter down to the students. The parents of fifth-grader Jonathan Jean have filed suit against the school district, alleging the district allowed their son, a special needs student, to be verbally and physically abused by […]

It’s widely believed that JPMorgan Chase’s recent $2 billion–plus loss proves we need the comprehensive banking regulation called for by the 2010 Dodd-Frank law. That belief is wrong. In thinking about the loss, remember that the future is always uncertain. It’s easy to look back on a bad decision — especially someone else’s bad decision […]

Holiday memories, endless wisdom, home cooking—these thoughts may come to mind when you think about your grandparents. They are thoughts I hope my grandson has of my wife and me. But you may not realize how difficult it is for many older Americansto provide that home- cooked meal, even for themselves. According to the U.S. […]

Of the seven years I was editor of Emerge: Black America’s Newsmagazine in the 1990s, I am proudest of our national campaign to win the release of Kemba Smith, a 24-year-old former Hampton University student who was sentenced to a mandatory 24 ½ years in prison for her minor role in a drug ring. Our […]

A historic, personal “evolution” occurred Wednesday when President Obama became the first sitting president to endorse marriage equality. Civil rights, civil liberties and human rights converged when Obama gave his courageous endorsement of same-sex marriage. Through embracing same-sex marriage, President Obama became an impressive advocate for LGBT rights and equality The president’s journey toward acceptance […]

NEW ORLEANS—{The New York Times Magazine} recently ran a story on my home, the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, a place one of the most powerful newspapers in the world insensitively dubbed a “Jungleland.” Contrary to the article, residents of this community are not reconciled to life in the wilderness and we don’t live […]

Trayvon Martin became a household name for all the wrong reasons. Martin’s death created an international firestorm because George Zimmerman, the person at fault, was not immediately taken into custody by Sanford, Florida authorities. What made things worse is that Martin is black, Zimmerman is part-Hispanic/part-white and the Sanford police chief is white. It is […]

For several years now, I have been assuring everyone I know that Americans will dig our way out of the Bush Recession. The question remains, however, whether we all will be living in our own homes. The answer for many, I fear, lies as much in ideology as it does in economics. We have seen […]

Imagine standing on the side of a river, watching a man drown. He’s not very far from shore, and he’s pleading with you to help. There’s a rope lying on the ground next to you. What do you do? The answer is simple – you throw the man a line. Unfortunately for the African apparel […]

The growth in hate groups and the use of their divisive and negative language in the mainstream political and media arena is cause for national alarm. Already this year several horrendous hate crimes, possible hate crimes, and crimes committed by people with ties to hate groups have received national attention. In the first week of […]

This month marks the 44th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. As we commemorate the life of Dr. King, I am reminded that for people in the education reform movement, the struggle to obtain equal access to a high-quality public education for all of our children is the civil rights issue of our […]