By Dr. Julianne Malveaux, Ph.D, Forward Times Staff The recent massacre of three students and three adults in Nashville is alarming. How and why did a former student invade the school locked and loaded with an automatic weapon and ruthlessly kill innocent students and their caretakers? While it is useless to speculate on the thought […]
Category: OPINION
Posted inCommentary
Summer 2023 is coming- ready or not
By Maxine J. Wood, Ed.D, Special to the AFRO Winter in the Maryland, Virginia, Washington D.C. areas in 2022–2023 was moderately kind, with no real extreme weather challenges. Spring entered rather quietly on March 20, and will end June 20, with the arrival of summer. Ready or not, those perennial expectations, events, activities– and behaviors […]
Posted inCommentary
The obesity crisis is not a hopeless fight for Black America
By Benjamin F. Chavis, Ph.D Whether we accept it or not, obesity continues to be a complex, chronic disease that kills thousands of Black Americans every year. Indeed, nearly half of Black Americans live with obesity, so we cannot afford to ignore this national emergency any longer. The public discourse around weight loss that has […]
Posted inCommentary
It’s time for gun laws to make sense, not casualties
By Catherine Pugh There are laws in every state that should be modified or repealed, either because they are outdated or just don’t make sense. Some laws are not enforceable or provide convenience for legislators. Other statues are not justly applied and can be seen as discriminatory. The question for all states is not only […]
Posted inOPINION
Mistrust Is Ripping America Apart
By Janice Ellis, St. Louis American On an almost daily basis we are confronted with the choice of continuing to believe in the role, value and integrity of our government or conclude that it is irretrievably broken. At a minimum we must seriously ask: Are we at risk of succumbing to what appears to be […]
Posted inWord In Black
Commentary: Air pollution impacts us all — but not equally
By Margot Brown, Word in Black Access to clean air is a fundamental human right. Unfortunately, not everyone has access to clean air. Across the U.S., air pollution threatens the health and safety of millions of Americans, and those threats are not felt equally. Your race or zip code should not determine your life expectancy […]
Posted inOPINION
Clarence Thomas does not belong on the Supreme Court
By Svante Myrick It’s been over 30 years since Justice Clarence Thomas was confirmed to the Supreme Court seat once held by the great Thurgood Marshall, and it’s safe to say that his reputation for unethical behavior – which was poor to start with – has only gotten worse. What are we supposed to think […]
Posted inOPINION
The investment in our planet that we need
By Ben Jealous The theme for the 53rd Earth Day last Saturday was a timely one: Invest in Our Planet. This country has just begun to do that through the infrastructure and clean energy packages that President Biden and Congress approved in 2021 and 2022. We will be spending more money transforming our economy in […]
Posted inCommentary
Baltimore’s Black homeowners deserve an equitable property tax system
By Margaret Henn Mayor Brandon Scott pledged to cancel the looming tax sale scheduled for May 15 for owner-occupied properties at Monday’s State of the City address. While this is a critical lifeline for many homeowners in tax sale right now, it is a band-aid on a much larger issue that the mayor still has […]
Posted inCommentary
Commentary: National Women’s Studies Association won’t be overshadowed by White nationalism
By Dr. Kaye Whitehead, Special to the AFRO Like many of you, the National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA) has been alarmed, angered and frustrated by the legislative efforts of the Republican party to limit our academic freedom, censor the teaching of African-American, gender and queer studies. They place us in an untenable situation where we […]
Posted inNational News
To Be Equal # 17 – Deceptions By Supreme Court Justices Warrant A Stringent, Enforcable Code Of Ethics
By Marc H. Morial, President and CEO, National Urban League “Justice Thomas has betrayed a fundamental duty of high office: the duty of transparency. This disgraceful lawbreaking is precisely the sort of thing Congress has charged the attorney general with responsibility for addressing. It would be an absolute dereliction of duty if the Department of […]
Posted inOPINION
Ensuring our right to invest in the next generation’s future
By Ben Jealous If a public opinion poll done last month is right, more than half of you won’t know what I mean by the initials “ESG,” and fewer than one in 10 will understand what they mean for financial markets. But listening to some self-interested politicians, many of whom have ties to our dirtiest […]