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Vantage Point Articles

Commentary, Articles and Essays by Dr. Ron Daniels

Toward a Movement to Expand the Public Space and Culture of Rights in America

By Vantage Point Articles

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…

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Commentary, Articles and Essays by Dr. Ron Daniels

A Third Force in American Politics

By Vantage Point Articles

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…

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Commentary, Articles and Essays by Dr. Ron Daniels

Resistance and Organizing to Eradicate “Trumpism”

By Vantage Point Articles

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…

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Commentary, Articles and Essays by Dr. Ron Daniels

Why the President Should Visit Haiti

By Vantage Point Articles

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!

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Commentary, Articles and Essays by Dr. Ron Daniels

Reparations: Eradicating the “Badges and Incidents” of Slavery

By Vantage Point Articles

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.

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