Suicides among Black teenagers continue to rise at startling rates. Consider these sobering facts: For the first time, the suicide rate of Black children in between the ages of 5 and 11 doubled between 1993 and 2013 while the rate among white children had declined, according to a 2015 study from the Centers for Disease Control and […]
So much for free speech. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, assistant professor of African-American studies at Princeton University, decided to cancel her public appearances after she received death threats and more than 50 racist emails. Why? Because she dared to call President Donald Trump a “racist, sexist megalomaniac.” And here’s the truth of it: Taylor was right. But […]
FREDERICKSBURG, VA – On the road for eight days — part of a national tour for my new book, Shackles From The Deep – and I’m talking to hundreds of grade-school students about the African slave trade, underwater exploration and a 17th century slave ship known as the Henrietta Marie. It’s Black History Month and […]
Hillary Clinton has secured a major endorsement from a wide-ranging group of prominent politicians that could help her solidify the all-important Black vote in the 2016 presidential election: Fifty current and former African American mayors have rallied to offer Clinton their enthusiastic support. Representing states from California to Florida, more than 50 current and former […]
I’m appalled that 11 Black women – including an 83-year-old grandmother — were abruptly kicked off the luxurious Wine Train in Napa Valley, California for what train officials insist was an egregious railway offense: Laughing too loud. Imagine that? It’s the Wine Train — people drink wine, they laugh; it’s an activity designed for fun […]
As President Barack Obama urges Congress to embrace criminal justice reform, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a scathing report saying the juvenile justice system in St. Louis County, Missouri treats African-American teenagers far more harshly than whites while also violating their constitutional rights. It’s a grim piece of news, but, sadly, not surprising. The […]
My friend’s sister, who serves as Secretary at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, walked out of her office about 6 p.m. on Wednesday, just three hours before a white gunman opened fire inside the historic African American house of worship. She was fortunate that she didn’t stay late this time, but nine of […]
Three weeks before Election Day, Republicans are hoping to rally the GOP faithful and cripple President Barack Obama with a scary, one-word campaign ploy: Ebola. With news that a second health care worker who cared for an Ebola patient at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas has contracted the virus, some Republicans are moving quickly […]
Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice is washed up in the NFL. He finally got what he deserved. Rice was suspended indefinitely by the Ravens — and the NFL — after a disturbing video emerged showing a cold and brutal Rice punching his then-fiancée in the head and knocking her unconscious in a hotel elevator […]
