Dr. Julianne Malveaux

Forty years ago this month, ten thousand African Americans thronged to Gary, Indiana for the first National Black Political Convention.  They gathered to develop a black agenda, and to influence 1972 presidential politics.  One of the things on the agenda was the development of an independent black political party and to explore the notion of independent black politics.

Tavis Smiley and Dr. Cornel West deserve high props for their summer poverty tour. They started on an Indian reservation, hit the inner city, and looked at poverty, in all of its manifestations. While many dismissed their high-profile tour as a political ploy, I am absolutely convinced of their sincerity. In addition, these two men […]

When I went to Bennett College for Women in 2007, I declared that I was “on fire” for the institution. I still am. And I also yield to the biblical verse that says for everything there is a season, a time for everything unto heaven. I had a season to build four buildings in four […]

I still have not gone to see the movie, The Help.  I read the book and that was enough for me.  I read a book where a white women fully engaged herself in cultural appropriation, putting 21st century voices into 1960s throats.  Which black women, in 1960, would have said that black men left their […]

I am grateful and appreciative of Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the man who claimed Negro History Week, which later changed to Black History Month.  From a week to a month, but we need to rock the year, every year, because there are so many opportunities to celebrate Black History.  The organization that Dr. Woodson founded, […]

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has one hell of a nerve. In an image that has gone viral, she put her finger in President Obama’s face, apparently lecturing him about something…

Newt Gingrich is playing racial politics and he is playing to win.  First he says that black children should get jobs as janitors (why not suggest they get the same consulting contract he did at Freddie Mac – I’m with Mitt Romney here, what did Gingrich tell Freddie Mac that was worth more than a […]

The unemployment rate is falling for the third month in a row, and in December about 200,000 private sector jobs were created. The monthly unemployment report from the Bureau of…

Are Fredom Riders Seeds Bearing Fruit? By Julianne Malveaux Fifty years ago this month, the Freedom Rides began.   While the Supreme Court ruled that segregation in interstate commerce, including bus terminals, was illegal, the laws were not being enforced. Because the law failed to act, people of conscience, courage and determination acted instead.    Resistance to […]

We Have to Raise the Debt Ceiling By Julianne Malveaux A recent Gallup poll found that 47 percent of all Americans oppose raising the debt ceiling.  Only 19 percent support raising the ceiling past its current $12.1 trillion dollar limit.  The remainder of us say we don’t know enough about the debt ceiling to have an opinion. […]

History Hostages By Julianne Malveaux History belongs to she who holds the pen. When the lion is writing, he ate. When the prey is writing (but she didn’t survive) she was eaten but also offered a valiant fight. We celebrate our holidays and milestones through the lens of those who won the war, not through […]