Jamala Rogers

There was genuine jubilance for the court-ordered temporary postponement of Reggie Clemons’ execution date last week. The announcement of the stay came the day after actor and human rights activist Danny Glover changed his filming schedule to come to St. Louis on Reggie’s behalf. Glover has been a stalwart champion of the case for years.…

The shocking news of Chris Brown’s physical assault of Rihanna took them from superstardom to domestic violence statistics. I’m pretty sure that Chris didn’t know it was “National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Week” when he allegedly used Rihanna as a punching bag. As shocking as the news was of Rihanna’s beat-down, for those…

The pomp and circumstance of the Obama Inauguration seemed to be a fitting climax to a campaign of many historic firsts. The longest running Obama campaign broke all political contribution records, developed an unprecedented database of supporters; utilized the internet for messaging and fundraising; and the list goes on. In 2009 and before most predicted,…

His was a modest declaration to seek this country’s highest political office almost two years ago. In a crowded field of Democratic heavyweights, the candidacy of Barack Obama was initially not taken seriously. But it happened. Change did come to America on November 4 with all the world watching. Barack Obama became the 44th president…

The day after I arrived in Boston for a meeting, the ACORN offices had been burglarized trashed and computers were stolen. Chris Leonard, with the Boston Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), was clearly being cautious when he dubbed the break-in “suspicious” but not politically motivated. Recently, I wrote about what presidential candidate…

They bounce from city to city looking for their next hustle. The crises in public education have created a diseased gene pool of school superintendents who go from urban district to suburban district. They have the school reform jargon down pat, promising fiscal accountability and higher reading scores. And so I ask you: if they…

As I put the finishing touches on this commentary, four black men have been murdered in my city in a 24-hour period. It is tragic trend that other urban cities are also facing. Recently, St. Louis witnessed thousands of men taking to the streets, organized under the Call to Oneness. The Call was to mobilize…

The Black Radical Congress is celebrating its 10th Anniversary. For some, it’s been a longer journey. I’m not saying this in a pejorative manner; it’s objectively true. The seed for the concept germinated some two years before the historic founding in Chicago, IL. Then came a year of continuation meetings around the country to create,…

Jamala Rogers is Mark’s guest Thursday, May 1, 2008 The recent acquittal of NYPD undercover detectives, Michael Oliver, Gescard Isnora and Marc Cooper, can be likened to throwing a Molotov cocktail in a room full of powder kegs – and missing this time. The incendiary cocktails are the legal justifications by the US courts of…