Category: OPINION

As chairman of the House Coast Guard Subcommittee, I have been deeply involved in determining how and why the Gulf oil spill occurred and – equally important – what we must now do to assure that such a disaster never happens again. Recently, I returned to the Gulf for a second on-site congressional briefing. We […]

The nomination of Elena Kagan, the 50-year-old solicitor general, deserves a much closer look when her Senate confirmation hearings begin June 28. Americans, particularly African Americans, cannot allow our judgment of her slim record be clouded by a knee-jerk desire to see historic President Barack Obama do well. Kagan’s record includes questionable hiring practices while […]

(NNPA) – “The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer.”  […]

The nomination of Elena Kagan, the 50-year-old solicitor general, deserves a much closer look when her Senate confirmation hearings begin June 28. Americans, particularly African Americans, cannot allow our judgment of her slim record be clouded by a knee-jerk desire to see historic President Barack Obama do well. Kagan’s record includes questionable hiring practices while […]

There is an old saying: “Knowledge is power.” This is true about many aspects of life, but is of paramount importance when it comes to the crisis of HIV and AIDS in the Black community. As an African-American medical expert, I know the single biggest factor fueling the AIDS epidemic in our community is that […]

What happens when a prominent critic of the District’s governing body takes on two of its lead decision makers? He comes out a clear winner – at least, in the case of this week’s mayoral forum held at Trinidad Baptist Church in Northeast Washington. Small business owner and former TV reporter Leo Alexander outweighed Mayor […]

I am an assistant coach on my middle son’s youth football team. Football practice begins in August and I have spent the last two weeks reading up on defensive alignments, surfing coaching websites, and sending e-mail to some of the high school coaches in the area begging for coaching tips. If I watch one more […]

As Americans continue to watch the failure of BP to turn off the oil spigot caused by the Deepwater Horizon explosion, we are distressed by the loss of life and sickened by the destruction to our Gulf Coast. Americans also are concerned about potential damage that could be caused as currents carry the oil eastward […]

True to expectations, Artur Davis’ quest to become the first Black governor of Alabama made history. But contrary to expectations, Davis’ stunning defeat provides a sharp – yes, historic – example not only of the cost of political arrogance, but also the underscoring for all candidates, and the national Democratic Party establishment, the sophistication and […]

On the streets of Baltimore – and in the halls of Congress – the struggle to rebuild our economy continues, as it must. No other goal touches so many lives. Americans desperately want to work – an economic and psychological imperative that reveals why the Great Recession, triggered by the policy failures of the last […]

The summer travel season has started and many air travelers are planning ahead for what they may encounter. Unfortunately, over the years air travelers have become all too familiar with the additional fees that are often tacked on for traveling. From the cost of food to headphones to blankets, the number of amenities that often […]

Was it only yesterday that professor Frances L. Murphy made a fateful call on my behalf to her sister Bettye Moss, then general editorial supervisor at this paper? While it might seem like just yesterday, it’s been 40 years since that afternoon in May 1970. Sitting in Frances’ news bureau office at Morgan State, I […]