Nothing sets our priorities straight like a tragedy. The day before yesterday, when I was contemplating topics for this blog, high on my list was a discussion about whether the word “Negro” was demeaning, and who, if anyone, should be able to use the term. Then the news of the earthquake in Haiti hit, and […]

Next Monday, my two-hour special with Chris Matthews, “Obama’s America: 2010 and Beyond,” airs on MSNBC because in 2010, not only are we still bogged down with the issue of race; we’re still stuck on color! Turn on the news, and everyone is talking about Sen. Harry Reid’s comments about President Barack Obama, saying the […]

Next Monday, Jan. 18th, I will co-host a televised town hall meeting with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews called “Obama’s America: 2010 and Beyond.” It will take place on the campus of historically black Texas Southern University in Houston. Along with a panel of people and a live audience, Chris Matthews and I will be discussing some […]

It doesn’t fail. When we go on vacation, shiggity happens. I mean, don’t get me wrong; it happens when we’re working too. But when we’re on vacation, we can’t talk about it on the air, and that sucks. Like, for example, you may have heard the interview I did with President Barack Obama that aired […]

As we get closer to Christmas, New Year’s and Kwanzaa and prepare for two weeks off for vacation, my plan was for this blog to reflect on some of the biggest stories of 2009. On my list was President Obama’s inauguration; Chris Brown and Rihanna; the death of Michael Jackson; the two black astronauts calling […]

The beauty of historically black colleges and universities since their inception has been their practicality. There was a need for black people to be trained to become professional teachers like nurses and doctors, and these institutions were created to fulfill that need. It wasn’t about a lot of the things that higher education later came […]

Few things are more comforting than being welcomed back to a loving home. Whether you’ve been away at school, in the military, on the road working or just spent too many hours past your curfew, it feels good to know that you were missed, and nobody’s mad at you. You may have not made the […]

We live in such a fast-paced world, it’s hard to get people to think about anything that happened yesterday, let alone seven months ago. Since the horrific earthquake took place in Haiti in January, a lot has happened internationally, nationally, locally and in our own personal lives. Before we left for vacation, I got a […]

I never hate on anyone who makes a move in order to try to improve his or her station in life. When I’m asked to do commencement speeches each year, I urge the graduates to feel free to move away from their hometowns if another part of the state, country or the world has something […]

Yesterday, we talked to Alvin Greene, a candidate for Senate from the state of South Carolina. Between the questions asked by Roland and Sybil, it was clear that they were not with this brother at all. They fired off a barrage of really tough questions, like “Where did you get the money to run?” “Where […]

It could have been different. Before the accusations, before the scandal, before the apologies, there were the makings of a good mayor and a good man. Kwame Kilpatrick was born into a powerful Michigan political family. His mother, Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, a good friend of our show, spent years as a Michigan legislator and from […]

One of my favorite J. Anthony Brown impersonations is President Lyndon Johnson addressing the American people to tell them that he’s decided not to run for a second-term. The broken down, beaten down Chief’s words began with “tonight, I come to you with a heavy heart….” I like J’s impersonation, not just because it’s good, […]