In this month of his martyrdom when we and the world turn to talk about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929—April 4, 1968) in honorific and praiseworthy ways, we, as a people, have a special responsibility to be in the forefront of…
It was 44 years ago today that an assassin took the life of Martin Luther King, Jr.. It was April 4, 1968. He gave his life implementing a plan for a better future. He had a plan then. We should have a plan now. Here is a plan – educating our way to a brighter future.
When the tête-à-tête between Ta-Nehisi Coates and Jonathan Chait over black culture, the “culture of poverty,” President Obama, Paul Ryan and American racism started, it was somewhat fascinating, but has become what Tressie McMillan Cottom described as “a nasty piece of cornbread.” It has left a rotten taste in my mouth. That’s mostly because, as congenial as the two have been toward one another, I detect in Chait’s argument one of my greatest pet peeves: a white person attempting to talk a black person down from their justifiable rage.
The resistance to the Affordable Care Act in the United States is a manifestation of how a certain segment of the electorate has been captured by the extreme right.
Under President Barack Obama, the concept of affirmative action has fallen flat. Those who thought their fortunes would be better under a Black president are advised to support a role model such as Callie House.
Last week, a bipartisan George Washington University Battleground poll made national headlines [3] when the top Democratic researcher, Celinda Lake, said that ballot questions on marijuana could increase young voter turnout.
April 4th will be forty-six years since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was gunned down on a balcony in Memphis. Black America and people of goodwill in the nation and the world were stricken by grief, frustration and anger at the murder of this great man of justice and peace. Indeed, rebellions erupted in urban centers across the nation by people who could not fathom how an apostle of non-violence could be struck down so viciously and violently. It was clear that America was at yet another cross-road in the quest to achieve racial, economic and social justice.
I remain unapologetic in my support for, and advocacy on, the issue of reparations for the victims of genocide of the indigenous people of the Caribbean and the inhuman trade in African people.
In 2013 Caribbean Heads of Governments established the Caricom Reparations Commission [CRC] with a mandate to prepare the case for reparatory justice for the region’s indigenous and African descendant communities who are the victims of Crimes against Humanity [CAH] in the forms of genocide, slavery, slave trading, and racial apartheid.
In 2012, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that New York City would be the site of a new experiment very dear to his billionaire’s heart.
Among opinion writers, Jonathan Chait is outranked in my esteem only by Hendrik Hertzberg. This lovely takedown of Robert Johnson is a classic of the genre, one I studied incessantly when I was sharpening my own sword. The sharpening never ends. With that in mind, it is a pleasure to engage Chait in the discussion over President Obama, racism, culture, and personal responsibility. It’s good to debate a writer of such clarity—even when that clarity has failed him.
Supporters of legalized marijuana light up at exactly 4:20 p.m. in Civic Center Park April 20, 2012, in Denver.