Dr. Julianne Malveaux

When unemployment rate data were released on Friday morning, commentators replied joyfully.  Alan Krueger, who heads the White House Council of Economic Advisors, described the creation of 247,000 jobs as a victory, since the predictions were that the economy would only generate 170,000 jobs.  Unemployment rates went down to 7.7 percent, while predictions were that […]

Shelby County, Alabama is suing the Justice Department because they think that Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (and its reauthorization in 1982 and 2006) is unfair.  The facts – the small city of Calera, Alabama, redistricted its boundaries in a way that the sole African American councilman lost his seat.  Section […]

I was among the 33.5 million people who sat riveted to their televisions, parsing every second of the State of the Union Address.  I was stunned to learn, through a Washington Post article by Lisa De Moraes, that viewership was less substantial for this address than last year’s 38 million, and even lower than the […]

There is a Whole Foods store about 3 blocks from my home, and around the corner from my gym. I am enamored by the displays of produce, the red peppers contrasting the yellow ones, the kale, chard, and collard glistening from their morning sprinkle. I love the way the fish gleams back at you, char […]

There is lots of buzz about our nation’s “economic recovery” in these first weeks of 2013. The stock market has been rising, some would say even soaring. We postponed the fiscal cliff crisis, albeit only for a few weeks – March is the new deadline. The tone and tenor of debt ceiling conversations has shifted […]

President Barack Obama has the opportunity, in this second term, to put his feet on history. He won an election that his opponent had essentially claimed, he has been firm about that which he would negotiate on, and he has offered a progressive inauguration speech that offers up a liberal agenda, embracing Social Security and […]

Who is surprised that Lance Armstrong was doping? Who thinks he was the only one? Who is surprised that he used the Oprah Winfrey show as his platform to “come clean”? We are a nation of cheaters and Armstrong is one in a long line of our nation’s cheaters. Indeed the very foundation of our […]

One hundred and fifty years ago, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. It was a flawed document that freed enslaved people in Confederate areas that he did not control. At the same time, it was a progressive document because it initiated discussion about the “freedom” Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteen Amendments. One hundred years later, […]

Congressman John Boehner was reelected speaker of the House of Representatives with a narrow vote. Needing 218 votes, he narrowly clinched it with 220. His narrow vote reflects the fact that no Democrat would vote for him and many Republicans are disillusioned of him. Perhaps it also reflects the fact that he has so poorly […]

How will African American people improve our situation in 2013? Right now, we have higher unemployment than any other population in our nation, less wealth, higher school dropout rates, and more crime in our communities. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said that African American communities had twice the number of negatives and half the […]

I was in a cab just the other day when the driver chided me for not knowing football. He was a big Redskins (I call them the Deadskins because they need to change their name) fan, and was obsessed with RGIII. I must confess that I did not know who RGII was until he informed […]

By now, it’s old news that Kasandra Perkins was murdered by Kansas City Chiefs football player Jovan Belcher, her boyfriend and the father of her daughter.  By now we’ve read about how great a teammate Belcher was, how dedicated to his girlfriend and daughter. We’ve read his hardscrabble story of moving from the University of […]