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Issue: 653

May 12, 2016

Guest Commentary

West Point Black Power Salute

By Dr. Harry Edwards, PhD Guest Commentator

Given the challenges that cadets - and female cadets in particular - must surmount to progress and graduate from West Point, the very notion, the presumption that the raised fist gesture among these young adult African-American women is freighted with any of the odious and utterly objectionable implications and imagery as the Nazi salute is insanely ludicrous.

If the current turmoil over the meaning and appropriateness of a photographed gesture made by uniformed African-American female West Point cadets is to be rationally considered,…

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Color of Law

When President Obama Told Howard Graduates to ‘Be Confident in Your Blackness,’ This Is What Some White Conservatives Heard

By David A. Love, JD Executive Editor

In the twilight days of the Obama presidency, now is a perfect time to reflect on what it means to be Black. While some observers proclaimed eight years ago, however prematurely, that the dawn of the age of Obama would signal a post-racial America, we have witnessed exactly the opposite.

In his speech to the graduating class at Howard University on Saturday, President Obama gave a lecture on unapologetic Blackness, while also providing a mix of…

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Commentary

What Happens After All the Hateful Rhetoric?

By Dr. Julianne Malveaux, PhD Editorial Board

How has meanness and racial resentment become the order of the day? Whatever happened to civility? What happened to the adage that if you have nothing kind to say, say nothing? What happened with being glad for a young person who has been admitted to college?

Malia Obama deserves congratulations. Admitted to Harvard University, she has decided to take a gap year, a mature choice that many students make when they want…

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Commentary

Populism – What Does That Mean in Today’s Politics?

By John Funiciello Columnist

Often, the word populist has been used as a pejorative, as a way of accusing candidates of pandering to the people, of telling the people what they want to hear without having any intention of actually developing programs that will provide what the people want and need.

The word “populist” has been heard often during this presidential political campaign season and it has been applied to the final three candidates, as well as…

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Commentary

Trenton, New Jersey Educators’ and Citizens’ Standoff with Cartel, Gov., Mayor, and School Board

By Dr. Walter C. Farrell, Jr., PhD, M.S.P.H. Columnist

What is at stake here is the future of Trenton’s system of public education. There is a mad rush by the Christie administration to privatize and dismantle it before the end of his term in 2017 in payment for the Cartel’s support (more than $50 million) of his three political campaigns: two for governor and one for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

May 15th is D-Day for public education in Trenton, New Jersey. A rally of pro-public education advocates will take place at the New Jersey state capitol…

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Commentary

African Liberation Day Celebration: Part II

By Dr. Conrad W. Worrill, PhD Columnist

The challenges facing Africa and African people worldwide require that we remain dedicated to the cause of Africa’s redemption and liberation. One way we can continue to showcase that dedication is to actively participate in all of the African Liberation Day activities throughout the world.

This is the second of a two part series discussing the origin and development of African Liberation Day. The month of May is very important in…

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