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Issue: 729

February 15, 2018

Cover Story

A Parade? What’s Next?

By Dr. Julianne Malveaux, PhD Editorial Board

parade sounds like a show of muscle, but to what end? Even the inhabitant of the world’s smallest country must know that the US has the world’s “greatest” military. So why do we need to show off? Because 45 is a show-off, a blowhard, and an Electoral College-selected buffoon.

Our 45th President wants a parade. He wants it in November, probably before the mid-term elections, as a way of mobilizing his base and glorifying himself…

Continue reading 4 min

Color of Law

Study Claims Class Trumps Race As Main Factor In Mass Incarceration Disparities

By David A. Love, JD Executive Editor

The report (pdf) presented by the People’s Policy Project, notes that left-leaning analyses of mass incarceration interpret the institution as either a racist system stemming from segregation or a capitalist system designed to control the poor, and concludes that the backstory behind prisons is a matter of race and class, with class as the predominant factor at play.

What role does race play in mass incarceration? With 5 percent of the world’s population and one-quarter of its prisoners, the United States is the world…

Continue reading 6 min

Commentary

Black History Month – What the Black Man Wants – A Speech

By Malcolm X - December 1962

You have to have a knowledge of history no matter what you are going to do; anything that you undertake you have to have a knowledge of history in order to be successful in it.

(This speech by Malcolm X is a part of Black History in America. It is important to learn about the evolution of the thinking of Malcolm.…

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Guest Commentary

The Day the Music Died: Malcolm X’s Assassination, Feb. 21, 1965

By Roland Sheppard Guest Commentator

In that instant, as Malcolm died before my eyes, I suddenly realized how big he was and I realized that he was a giant in stature and in the world. This vision of Malcolm X, being assassinated, has haunted me ‘til this day.

(This commentary was first published by the San Francisco Bayview ) Malcolm X in 1964, flashing the infectious smile that drew people to him In the…

Continue reading 8 min

Commentary

Honoring Mildred Loving this Valentine’s Day

By The Reverend Irene Monroe Editorial Board

"Marriage is one of the ‘basic civil rights of man,’ fundamental to our very existence and survival. … Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the state."

For Black History Month on Valentine’s Day 2018, I’m showing my love for Mildred Loving (1942-2008). She’s often overlooked in the pantheon of African American trailblazers…

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Commentary

It’s No Surprise that Trump is Privatizing the United States

By John Funiciello Columnist

When his destruction of social programs to save money for his military and defense is complete, he will have a much bigger purse to hand over to the private corporations, which are waiting in the wings to take over only the most lucrative functions of government. The military is one of the biggest and he is making that purse bigger.

This week, commentators are concentrating on Donald Trump’s plan to improve the nation’s infrastructure, with his fervid hope that Corporate America will take up its opportunity…

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Commentary

Democrats’ Pluses, Trump’s RASAH Gang, and the 2108 Races

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

Rapists, Abusers, Sexual Assaulters and Harassers (RASAH) have played central roles in the Trump administration. RASAH is a tight knit group of White House staff, outside advisers and sounding boards, and other white males, bound by abusive acts against women and girls.

Democrats have several pluses as they head into the 2018 midterms. Foremost among them is the outing of President Trump’s gang of Rapists, Abusers, Sexual Assaulters…

Continue reading 7 min

Sharp n’ Blunt

Black Olympians The Time is “Now” for Black Power Salutes . . . Seize the Time

By Desi Cortez Columnist

The time is now for “Black Power” to rise-up and be heard. We Black folks must get comfortable with “Black Power” - it’s both acceptable and logical to want it, and use it. It’s ok to throw your fist up, for we are a people under attack, in a hostile land.

Donald Trump’s extremely “White” House has deliberately turned a deaf-ear, blind-eye, and cold-shoulder to the plight of Americans of color. There is a legitimate concern throughout…

Continue reading 4 min

Guest Commentary

Black Americans Mostly Left Behind by Progress Since Dr. King’s Death

By Dr. Sharon Austin, PhD, The Conversation Guest Commentator

In some ways, we’ve barely budged as a people. Poverty is still too common in the U.S. In 1968, 25 million Americans — roughly 13 percent of the population — lived below poverty level. In 2016, 43.1 million – or more than 12.7 percent – do.

On Apr. 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, while assisting striking sanitation workers. That was almost 50 years ago. Back…

Continue reading 6 min

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