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Home Issue: 440

Issue: 440

Sept 8, 2011

Commentary

Hurricane Insurance and Other Disappointments – Leftward-Ho

By Peter Gamble Publisher

We watched the Hurricane Irene news coverage. As the storm moved towards the U.S., those of us in its path wondered if we would be safe and dry and have electricity. Maybe you checked your homeowners insurance policy to see if you were covered. We knew we had hurricane coverage. We relaxed. This was the…

We watched the Hurricane Irene news coverage. As the storm moved towards the U.S., those of us in its path wondered if we would be safe…

Continue reading 3 min

Commentary

New York Fracking in Context – Don’t Wonder Why the Planet is in Mortal Danger

By John Funiciello Columnist

The warnings have been sounded for decades to anyone who would listen, but few have been listening. There’s the melting of the ice in the north, there are fewer fish in the sea for commercial fishing, the coral reefs are receding, the climate is warming and changing, there is an unprecedented rate of extinction of…

The warnings have been sounded for decades to anyone who would listen, but few have been listening. There’s the melting of the ice in the north,…

Continue reading 9 min

Commentary

“Unleashing” Black America: A National Debate on Obama “Accountability”

By Dr. Anthony Asadullah Samad, PhD Columnist

This is the debate our community was waiting to have. It is a “must have.” We will discover everybody’s motives as this conversation shakes out. There are those who claim they’re with Obama, and just want him to “do something” to help black people. Others claim they’re with Obama, and just want to “push him”…

This is the debate our community was waiting to have. It is a “must have.” We will discover everybody’s motives as this conversation shakes out. There…

Continue reading 10 min

Commentary

The Maroon Within Us

By Dr. Conrad W. Worrill, PhD Columnist

Dr. Asa G. Hilliard’s book, The Maroon Within Us: Selected Essays on African American Community Socialization, once again reminds us of a major problem that we, as African people in America, are besieged by. Dr. Hilliard described this problem as cultural surrender. In explaining the problem, Dr. Hilliard wrote, “African Americans remain one of the…

Dr. Asa G. Hilliard’s book, The Maroon Within Us: Selected Essays on African American Community Socialization, once again reminds us of a major problem that we,…

Continue reading 4 min

Guest Commentary

Jobs: Obama and the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Lack Empiricism

By Wilson Riles Columnist

In 1933, in the early part of The Depression, the recommendation of Yale economist Irving Fisher, Harvard economics professor Russell Sprague, and the Undersecretary of the Treasury, Dean Acheson, was put before the President. Their collective recommendation was that President Roosevelt should set up local currencies with a demurrage mechanism across the nation. Pointing to…

In 1933, in the early part of The Depression, the recommendation of Yale economist Irving Fisher, Harvard economics professor Russell Sprague, and the Undersecretary of the…

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Guest Commentary

The US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement: A Partnership in Black Land Dispossession

By Charo Mina Rojas Guest Commentator

As with Afro-descendants in the United States, Afro-descendant communities in Colombia have been losing their lands at an unprecedented rate over the last decade and a half. In the United States, the number of African-American farmers has declined by 98 percent since 1920. By 2001, African-Americans were losing 1000 acres of land per day, with…

As with Afro-descendants in the United States, Afro-descendant communities in Colombia have been losing their lands at an unprecedented rate over the last decade and a…

Continue reading 3 min

Guest Commentary

Tenth-Anniversary Reflections on the WCAR

By Jehan Abad Guest Commentator -

The United Nations General Assembly, made up of 193 member states, will meet on September 22, 2011 at the UN headquarters in New York City to mark the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA). Containing a series of principles and proposals for fighting racism, the 62-page DDPA…

The United Nations General Assembly, made up of 193 member states, will meet on September 22, 2011 at the UN headquarters in New York City to…

Continue reading 10 min

Guest Commentary

Confusion About Racial Identity

By Dave Myers Guest Commentator

I was 13 years old during the summer of 1973, and my friend Howie and I were riding our bikes into downtown Olean, which was a good five mile journey for us. We took Front St. as we were getting into town, which follows a route next to where the railroad tracks are elevated. There…

I was 13 years old during the summer of 1973, and my friend Howie and I were riding our bikes into downtown Olean, which was a…

Continue reading 9 min

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