To readers of my column 'African World':  I wanted to send this note of apology for not having written anything for BC in quite some time.  

I have been asked to write a book by Beacon Press and i have a very tight deadline.  

The combination of my day job plus writing this manuscript have been simply overwhelming and i have had to cut back.  This has meant that i have had to put my columns for BC on hold, as well as decline several unrelated invitations to speak and to write.  

This has been very difficult for me since i love BC and i love writing for it.  But i realized that if i did not take this step that it would be impossible for me to complete the manuscript.  The manuscript concerns labor unions and it is written for a broad audience of readers.

After i know that the manuscript passes the straight-face test with my publisher and we are into real editing i will have more to say about it.

I hope to get back to BC soon, in either case.  Love to you all.  Keep the faith.

- Bill Fletcher, Jr.

BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board member, Bill Fletcher, Jr., is a Senior Scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies, the immediate past president of TransAfricaForum and co-author of Solidarity Divided: The Crisis in Organized Labor and a New Path toward Social Justice (University of California Press), which examines the crisis of organized labor in the USA. Click here to contact Mr. Fletcher.