Rep. Elijah Cummings, always a gracious legislator, declined to say whether he felt disrespected after Republican Rep. Darrell Issa rudely turned off Cummings’ microphone during a congressional hearing this week. Issa, perhaps the most contentious Republican on Capitol Hill, ignored Cummings, abruptly adjourned the hearing, turned his back on Cummings, and stormed out of the […]
Black students at the University of Michigan are describing their college experience at the prestigious Ann Arbor institution with one provocative word: Racism. “Our list of demands came out of a tense racial climate that is being experienced not only at Michigan, but at college campuses around the United States,” Tyrell Collier, the president of the […]
“I’m reaching out to some of America’s leading foundations and corporations on a new initiative to help more young men of color facing especially tough odds to stay on track and reach their full potential.” – President Barack Obama President Barack Obama is determined to empower young black men. And today, America knows it, too. […]
It’s an unprecedented mass ceremony at the White House that will correct decades of racial prejudice. President Barack Obama, perhaps pondering his legacy as America’s first black president, will award the Medal of Honor to 24 Army veterans who were systematically overlooked because of their racial and ethnic backgrounds. It’s a gutsy decision by the […]
Earlier this week, I wrote a column about how black parents are talking to their sons about race in America after the murders of Black teenagers Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis, both gunned down in Florida by white men who claimed self-defense under the state’s controversial Stand Your Ground laws. While it’s necessary to have […]
A friend from Chicago, a black female physician, had a sobering conversation with her three school-age sons days before a Florida jury failed to convict Michael Dunn of the premeditated murder of Jordan Davis, a black teenager, in a dispute over loud music. “I presented the concept of “Strange Fruit” to them through poetry, music […]
Claudia Alves, the principal of Poulsbo Elementary School in Poulsbo, Washington, should be fired for using the N-word to describe African Americans while teaching her black, fifth-grade students. Instead, Alves has been placed on a leave of absence while the school district investigates her use of the N-word. Any use of the N-word is intolerable […]
President Barack Obama may not be interested in playing golf with Republicans. But he doesn’t mind playing hardball. Sitting inside the White House several hours before Obama delivered his State of the Union Address to the nation, I listened to a White House senior adviser discuss the president’s vision for moving America forward — with […]
RABAT, Morocco — The aroma of Arabic spices hung in the air as we ambled through the winding maze of markets in downtown Rabat. Speaking Arabic in a neighborhood that dates back to the 12th century, men dressed in long, colorful Moroccan robes called out to tourists from narrow stalls packed with jewelry, leather goods, […]
I met Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg, South Africa on November 14, 1991. We met one year after Mandela was released from serving 27 years in prison for attempting to overthrow a cruel government that practiced widespread apartheid, physical abuse and racial discrimination against South Africa’s black citizens. Mandela died Thursday. He was 95 years old. […]
I hope Bill Cosby is successful with his new media venture because prime-time television needs a strong family-values program now more than ever. Cosby, 72, said he wants to offer viewers a new family comedy that explores relationships between children and their parents, a powerful and timely subject that is sorely missing from evening television. […]
It’s called the “Knockout Game,” a violent and deadly amusement for teenagers who identify an unsuspecting victim and deliver a cold-hearted sucker punch that is so forceful, it renders the person unconscious. As a black man, I am horrified, saddened and angry. Police say this deeply troubling trend that so far seems to be linked […]
