Category: Guest Commentary

We believe that the political, monetary and social benefits that the Civil Rights Movement gave us have largely run their course. For African-Americans to continue to advance in our society, we feel that we must bring about another movement. One that will encourage unity and investment in the black community by taking back the following…

They are the faces in my high school yearbook from my freshman year. It was 1993. Headshots of little black faces sprinkled between lighter ones, peering out in cookie-cutter squares on page after page. Some smile affably, others grin close-lipped, a good share look blank-faced and placeless. Youth smiled on them with the bravado and…

Self-respect, pride, dignity and honor are what are being demonstrated by two distinguished African American NFL head coaches Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith. These two coaches truly represent one of the great moments in American history. One black head coach to be coaching in the Super Bowl for the first time would be historical enough,…

According to the inanity dutifully recited by the talking heads of the corporate media, the Middle East is teeming with hordes of “Islamofascist” human incendiary devices lining up to detonate themselves into martyr’s paradise. Fortunately for us highly civilized Westerners, those of us sporting the Y chromosome can channel Nirvana with a mere click of…

The recent arrest of eight former Black Panthers for the 1971 murder of a San Francisco police officer was a news item that did not pass the smell test. On January 23, San Francisco authorities announced that the men, former members of the Black Liberation Army, an offshoot of the Black Panther Party (BPP), were…

Senator Feingold held a hearing on January 20th, and plans to introduce a bill January 31st to end the war by denying the President the money to continue it. Congress Members Lynn Woolsey, Jim McGovern, and Jerrold Nadler have bills in the House to do the same. But the bills are not all the same.…

I can’t get over what People’s Organization for Progress (POP) achieved in Newark on January 20th! Scores of community organizations came together for the “People’s Peace Conference — The U.S. War in Iraq and Our Communities.” This African American-led event drew more than 400 registered participants. The theme of the conference, “Breaking the Silence: The…

State-supported universities in metropolitan areas that charge comparatively modest tuition “are playing an invaluable if unsung role in preparing minorities to enter the legal profession,” a noted legal educator said today. “We need more efforts like theirs because law school tuition at private universities is skyrocketing.” But Dean Lawrence Velvel of the Massachusetts School of…

I suppose a good place to begin would be with reality. It is unrealistic to think this word will just disappear from the face of the earth. It is as much a part of American history as the Boston Tea Party, the Civil War, slavery, etc. and we may as well learn to accept that.…

There’s an upsurge of high-level Asian activities in Africa that Africans in America should note. Most recently, President Hu Jintao of China visited Nigeri, in late April, to sign a $4 billion deal to develop oilfields and infrastructure. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi brought an astonishing 121-member delegation of political and business leaders to Ghana…