Michael Cottman

Thomas Jefferson’s city-sanctioned birthday celebration has been formally terminated. In a controversial decision during a recent meeting of the Charlottesville, Virginia City Council, local leaders voted to remove an April 13  city holiday honoring former U.S. President Thomas Jefferson, who was widely recognized as a scholar and scientist, an architecture and agricultural enthusiast – and, […]

New Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young has offered an unorthodox and controversial solution to resolve the high rate of homicides in the city: Invite gang members who want to kill each other to put down their guns, lace up a pair of boxing gloves, step into a referee-controlled ring, and duke it out old […]

If you’re Black and applying for a job in the mostly all-white town of Hoschton, Georgia, you may want to reconsider: The Mayor doesn’t want you. According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Mayor Theresa Kenerly told a member of the City Council she yanked the resume of Keith Henry from a group of four finalists “because […]

Blogs

Why are so many black babies in Baltimore dying in their sleep? It’s an alarming and perplexing question for Baltimore health officials who are searching for answers. During December to January, six infants died in six weeks – one baby each week. Five babies were black, and one infant was mixed-race. It’s an unprecedented spike […]

Maryland State Delegate Mary Ann Lisanti should resign immediately. No more empty apologies; no more foolish explanations, no more lies. Racist insults targeting African-Americans certainly should not be tolerated by elected officials. The Maryland House of Delegates voted 136-0 last week to censure Lisanti after she admitted to using the reprehensible N-word at a bar […]

Michael D. Smith is rallying the faithful and following in the footsteps of his mentor: President Barack Obama. As Executive Director of the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, Smith moves from meeting to meeting with an easy smile, a tight handshake and a purpose. He is the engine that drives MBK. Today, Smith is building on […]

Hate groups are on the rise across America, and, according to The Southern Poverty Law Center, President Donald Trump is largely responsible for racists becoming more emboldened – and more violent. The number of hate groups rose to 953 in 2017, from 917 in 2016, according to The Southern Poverty Law Center. Within the white […]

President Donald Trump’s constant verbal assaults on black female journalists is completely unacceptable. Earlier this month, Trump blasted CNN reporter Abby Phillip, CNN contributor April Ryan and PBS reporter Yamiche Alcindor, all of whom are African-American women. Trump called Ryan a “loser” and repeatedly told her to “sit down” during a press conference and criticized […]

“If you want to get a sense of who Barack Obama is, look at the way in which he has come up with, supported, and stays with My Brother’s Keeper. This is something that matters to him.”—Broderick Johnson, MBK Alliance Advisory Council Chair President Barack Obama’s signature program, “My Brother’s Keeper,” is moving forward with […]

“My mother used to tell me, ‘Kamala, you may be the first to do many things. Make sure you are not the last.’” – U.S. Senator Kamala Harris Black women across America are making political history in 2018. As Election Day approaches Tuesday, there are perhaps more Black women running for elected offices than any […]

Six days before Election Day, President Donald Trump stepped-up his criticism of Andrew Gillum, Florida’s gubernatorial candidate, in what some are describing as a racially incendiary attack. Trump called Gillum a “thief” without any evidence whatsoever to support his accusations. Trump also claims Gillum, the mayor of Tallahassee, Florida, is in charge of one of […]

Black women across America are facing a significant health crisis: They are dying disproportionately from pregnancy-related causes. Consider this: Nationally, Black infants are more than twice as likely to die as white infants and Black women are three to four times as likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. According to the Center […]