Category: OPINION

While a Department of Education program embraces “a race to the top,” our nation’s current stance toward our 14 million officially unemployed people represents nothing less than a race to the bottom.  We are content to report, month after month, unemployment rates in excess of 9 percent, to use questionable language to describe tepid performance, […]

Rarely have the divisions in American politics been clearer – or more onerous. In less than a month, on Aug. 2, if Congress refuses to raise the nation’s $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, the United States economy could be thrown into a fiscal tailspin that would eviscerate America’s credit rating, lead to sky-high interest rates, rip […]

If House Republicans were to remake the shipwreck film, Titanic, we would be appalled by the portrayal (on one side of the split screen) of women and children from steerage being tossed into the sea, while rich passengers in formal attire were shown (on the other screen) dancing and enjoying their elegant, 12-course meals. Does […]

(NNPA) — After constant attention on negotiations in the National Football League and the subsequent lockout—where the employers refuse to let the employees work—by the owners, there has been something close to silence.  Recent court rulings have permitted the owners to go forward with their lockout, at least for now.  And, the rest of us […]

Whether making the round of Sunday morning talk shows, giving the Tea Party response to President Obama’s State of the Union address, or announcing her own presidential candidacy, Michele Bachmann does one thing consistently – lie. The Republican congresswoman from Minnesota, who has been described as Sarah Palin with a brain, has enjoyed a dramatic […]

Once again, we celebrate July 4th as the anniversary of the day 235 years ago that we declared independence, founding a nation based on the beliefs that all people are created equal and that prizes liberty and justice. This July 4th finds us with service men and women fighting for those same ideals. They will […]

Long before I knew your face, I had often heard your name. You were the one who could get it done, No matter what stage the game. He must be myth, this “Man for all Seasons,” a stranger could justly assume. Part Man, part Myth, mostly Pioneer, Who never sought such fame. At the age […]

The dark cloud casting shadows of mistrust over elected officials in the District could not have been what Walter Washington, Sterling Tucker and countless others foresaw when they secured passage of the Home Rule Act. Surely, there would be benefits that came with the right to vote for mayor and council members. However, self-enrichment – […]

As he was announcing his second increase in troops for Afghanistan in December 2009, President Obama promised that by July 2011 those troops would begin coming home. As relayed by Bob Woodward’s book, Obama’s Wars, we know the president was skeptical about the United States’ war effort in Afghanistan. In spite of that skepticism, the […]

Even before the financial system’s “meltdown,” the national mortgage crisis and credit crunch, Americans were calling their congressional offices for help with predatory and deceptive financial practices. All too often, these families were being financially strangled by garrotes made of fine print. Their homes were in danger, their credit card debt was nearly unsustainable, and […]

Last week, June 8-11, more than 450 attendees, including 132 HBCU students, came together in Orlando, Fla., for the National Urban League’s 42nd annual Black Executive Exchange Program (BEEP) Leadership Conference. BEEP, the National Urban League’s longest running direct service program, is a partnership involving the business community, government and non-profit institutions which places African-American […]