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Home Issue: 656

Issue: 656

June 02, 2016

Commentary

‘Epicenters’ for Corporate School Choice: Milwaukee, Washington, D.C., and Montclair, New Jersey

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

the current privatization assault on public education escalated on January 29, 2009 when a representative of the corporate education reform Cartel (the Koch Bros.; Gates, Bradley, Walton, Broad, foundations, et. al.; and Wall Street financial firms) met with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office and handed him and his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, a fully developed copy of legislation for Race to the Top (RTTT) that instituted the national infrastructure for the dismantling and privatization of K-12 public education.

On March 22, 1990, Milwaukee, Wisconsin became the epicenter of school choice in the modern era when the Wisconsin legislature passed a bill signed by Gov.…

Continue reading 6 min

Commentary

Dylann Roof Does Not Deserve the Death Penalty

By Dr. Julianne Malveaux, PhD Editorial Board

We don’t kill white supremacist hate by killing Dylann Roof. We don’t eliminate the ugly sentiments that propelled this extremely sick young man into a church with a gun by taking his life.

Dylann Roof, the unrepentant racist who killed nine people at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina is, no question, a monster. He prayed…

Continue reading 4 min

Commentary

Forbes Economic Columnist Could Not Be More Wrong on the Minimum Wage

By John Funiciello Columnist

What Trump was saying is the same thing that Right Wing politicians, pundits, and economists have been saying for years that, to be competitive, we need to lower wages, cut benefits, and eliminate things like health insurance and pensions. And, that’s what corporations big and small have been busy doing for the past 30 years.

There are some comments made about workers and unions and the minimum wage that cry out for refutation, and that’s the case of a Forbes magazine…

Continue reading 8 min

Guest Commentary

Blacklash: Missouri State Legislature Responds to Ferguson Uprising

By Christine Assefa Guest Commentator

In the past two years, Missouri has been a significant site of resistance in the resurgence of a new iteration of the Black Liberation Struggle - the Movement for Black Lives.

Your lives don’t matter. It was the implicit anthem of conservative lawmakers in the Missouri state house throughout this year’s legislative session, concluding last week. Through…

Continue reading 4 min

Guest Commentary

Why I Refuse To Grieve for Bill Cosby

By Arica L. Coleman Guest Commentator

to add insult to injury, he once again abused his power by hopping upon his pseudo moral high horse and denigrating the black underclass openly for all of white America to see. Grieve for Cosby? I don’t think so.

On May 24, 2016, Pennsylvania judge Elizabeth McHugh ruled that there is enough evidence for legendary comedian Bill Cosby to be criminally tried for the 2004…

Continue reading 11 min

Commentary

A Message to African American Graduates

By Dr. Conrad W. Worrill, PhD Columnist

I am challenging you as you make this rite of passage to prepare yourselves to become committed to the struggle for the just and common cause for the liberation and redemption of African people worldwide.

Once again, I am sharing my annual graduation speech in hopes that it will help African people in America understand the real meaning of these rites…

Continue reading 5 min

Guest Commentary

After California, an Immodest Proposal for Bernie!

By Dr. Carlos Russell, PhD Guest Commentator

Can you imagine? The former Co-Chair of Hillary Clinton’s prior presidential bid, serving as Chair of the DNC. Fair you say? O.K. There is a bridge for sale in Brooklyn.

I believe that I am, perhaps, one of the few old “Black Guys” – emphasis on the old - who, from day one, was, and continues…

Continue reading 2 min

Color of Law

America Needs Free College for All

By David A. Love, JD Executive Editor

when the U.S. wants to get things done, it manages to find the resources to make it happen. For example, the Pentagon’s wasteful F-35 weapons system, a boondoggle if ever there was one, is $200 billion over budget, with a lifetime cost of $1.5 trillion — enough to pay full college tuition for all Americans for the next decade.

Whatever your thoughts on Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, one issue that he has brought to the fore is the crippling cost of a college education,…

Continue reading 5 min

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