Vantage Point by Dr. Ron Daniels — The headline in the February 13th edition of the New York Times front page was glaring: “Needs of Public A Low Priority in Rebuilding.” The headline was in reference to President Trump’s long awaited, so called infrastructure plan. The essence of this much ballyhooed “plan” is a dramatic shift in how the federal government has traditionally approached the construction of public highways, tunnels, bridges, harbors, railways, airports and other vital pieces of the nation’s infrastructure. In the past…
The Final Essay in a Series of Three on the Impact and Consequences of the 2016 Presidential Election – The season of resistance to “eradicate the virus of Trumpism” is unfolding with a fury. The Women’s March on Washington may well be remembered as one of the great moments of resistance and calls for transformation in American history. And, Trump’s ill-conceived and awkwardly rolled-out, Islamophobic ban on Muslims was met with massive demonstrations…
In my first essay, Trump Will Be Like Reagan on Steroids, I attempted to demonstrate that “elections matter,” particularly in moments of grave crises and danger– that the consequences of apathy, inaction or misdirection can be devastating in terms of the impact on the lives of ordinary people and the direction of the nation. Nothing that we have witnessed thus far persuades me that Donald Trump and Trumpism is anything short of one of the most radical rightwing, reactionary political viruses in the history of this country…
Elections Matter Trump Will Be Reagan on Steroids The first of Three Essays on the Impact and Consequences of the 2016 Presidential Election During the months leading up…
By Dr. Ron Daniels — January 1st marked the 213th Anniversary of the Haitian Revolution which spawned the world’s first Black Republic; the first time in human history that an…
The Epidemic of Violence and Fratricide in Chicago and America’s Dark Ghettos The tragic death of Nykea Aldridge, the cousin of basketball star Dwayne Wade, has once again called the…
Vantage Point Articles and Essays by Dr. Ron Daniels What Next for the Progressive Movement Beyond Cautious, Calculating Hillary Author’s Note: The article was initially scheduled for release just prior…
February 8, 2016 I recently penned an article in which I encouraged President Obama to visit Haiti before the end of his term, to pay tribute to the unique history/heritage…
Recently much attention has been made of President Obama’s “bucket list,” those things he would like to accomplish before the end of his term. Among the items on his list is a visit to Cuba. This would be a dramatic event, climaxing one of the signature achievements of his presidency – breaking the decades- long diplomatic and economic isolation of Cuba to usher in a new era of normalized relations. The site of an American President, the first African American President, being welcomed in Cuba, an Afro-Hispanic nation, would be stunning and historic!
2015 marks the 150th Anniversary of the adoption of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, during the Reconstruction period after the Civil War. The Amendment officially abolished slavery, completing a process begun with the “partial” Emancipation Proclamation which only “freed” enslaved Africans in those states that were at war with the Union. It would be the first of three Reconstruction Amendments which would abolish slavery, establish citizenship and grant the right to vote to the formerly enslaved Africans. The 13th Amendment is also noteworthy because of the pledge to “eradicate the badges and indications of slavery.” President Obama and members of Congress hailed the Amendment as one of the great achievements of racial justice at a ceremony in the nation’s Capital.
June 5, 1995 I set foot in Haiti for the first time, leading a delegation of twenty African Americans eager to learn about the history, culture and state of development…
Queen Mother Audley Moore was an indefatigable teacher, advocate and organizer for Reparations, the fundamental idea that Africans in America are due compensation to repair the physical, cultural, spiritual and mental damages inflicted by the holocaust of enslavement.