Category: Opinion
OP-ED: Proposition 40: It’s Time to Play Chess, Not Checkers
By Paul Cobb, Publisher, Oakland Post I understand the frustration driving Proposition 40. I share our labor partners’ concerns about protecting health care and essential services at a time when working families are already under enormous pressure. But labor itself is divided over Proposition 40, and there is good reason to look carefully at what…
Op-ed by Ben Jealous: Three Months, No Charges
By Ben Jealous Months after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine, no one has been charged. He was 25. He was Colombian. He had a 3-year-old daughter. He had a federal work permit. Homeland Security says its officer feared for public safety. Senator Angus King’s…
OP-ED: Washington Has a Chance to Save Veterans’ Lives
BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — I became paralyzed watching young Marines go outside the base, thinking about their families and whether they would see them again. I began hallucinating that wounded Marines I cared for were walking toward me in the war zone. I now recognize that, alongside my own PTSD, I was carrying secondary PTSD from…
Republicans Speak with a Forked Tongue
Hardy Brown As a Co Founder of Westside Action Group (WAG) with the late Bob Parker, I worked with Alton Garrett, the current President of WAG and his Political Committee to produce a Slate or Election Guide for the Black Voters in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties to consider for the November 3, 2026 Election….
COMMENTARY: The Audacity of Joyce Beatty
By BlackPressUSA Newswire Standing up to a bully requires more than slogans, press releases, or carefully staged outrage. It requires looking power in the face, refusing intimidation and saying, plainly, no. Congresswoman Joyce Beatty has that courage. The Ohio Democrat and former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus is standing virtually alone inside the Kennedy…
OP-ED: How Does Your State Rank for Pre-K?
By National Institute for Early Education Research Georgia’s state-funded pre-k program for 4-year-olds was recently recognized as the largest state-funded preschool program in the nation to meet all 10 quality benchmarks, and the first universal program to do so. Georgia’s recognition is the top finding in the National Institute for Early Education Research’s new 2025…
OPINION: AI Needs to Know Who Is the Boss
By BlackPressUSA Newswire OAKLAND POST — AI is software running on computers. However startling the conversation may feel, the machine does not have my childhood, my mother, my father, my mistakes, my embarrassments, my loves, my grudges, my Filipino American history, my aging body or my accumulated sense of what matters and what doesn’t. I…
Leadership Amid ‘the Perfect Storm’: Expert Shares Fundamentally Different Approach
NEW YORK, Sept. 4, 2026 — Today’s business leaders are being asked to guide their teams through the most complicated workplace environment in decades — one that global leadership strategist Thom Dennis refers to as “the perfect storm.” “There are many factors here all coming together, and it just creates anxiety, it creates fear, and if…
COMMENTARY: How Much of Our Community Are We Expected to Give Up?
By BlackPressUSA Newswire SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY – SOUTHERNDIGEST — A new controversy has arisen over changes to the African American Cultural Center, prompting Black students to question the facility’s future. This follows a previous situation involving Unity Field. Students are concerned about the implications for culturally significant spaces intended to celebrate Black community and history on…
COMMENTARY: America’s Reading Crisis Demands More Than Concern. It Demands Action.
By BlackPressUSA Newswire SEATTLE MEDIUM — A national literacy crisis is evident as nearly 40 percent of fourth graders read below the basic level, and approximately one-third of eighth graders perform below basic, marking the highest share recorded. This decline, highlighted by New York City’s scores despite extensive literacy reform efforts, threatens economic opportunity, educational…
COMMENTARY: An Informed Vote Is a Powerful Vote
By BlackPressUSA Newswire For African Americans, voting has always represented more than simply choosing a name on a ballot. It is an opportunity to participate in decisions that can shape education, employment, public safety, housing, health care, economic opportunity, and the future of our communities. Being politically liberal, conservative, independent, or somewhere in between should…
COMMENTARY: Big Mama Said ‘Don’t Let Grief Break the Bank’
ORLANDO ADVOCATE — Inspired by his grandmother Lucille “Big Mama” Allen’s financial wisdom, the author examines the intersection of grief and money following a close friend’s family funeral planning. He details how emotions, vulnerability, and a desire to honor a loved one can lead to excessive spending, noting how wants can easily be mistaken for…
A Wedding Party That Looked Like a Funeral
Next June marks 60 years since Loving v. Virginia. My parents did not wait for it. By Ben Jealous This month my parents are beginning their seventh decade of marriage despite a law that tried to stop them. Sixty years ago they were married in a church in Washington, D.C. They had to leave Maryland…
COMMENTARY: Urgency to Decrease Energy Power Bills
By Rev. Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. Every month, mothers in Southeast Washington, DC, as well as other mothers from across the nation, open their electric bill. They do the math they have done a hundred times before: What gets paid, and what gets pushed to next month. Throughout this country, in underserved Black, Brown,…
Opinion: California Globe’s Biased Attack on Assemblymember Corey Jackson Exposes How Politics and Partisanship Are Corroding Journalism
Hardy Brown | Special to California Black Media Publishers Assemblymember Corey A. Jackson is my friend. An outspoken advocate for equity, fairness, public health, and social service resources for our Inland Valley community, I have come to admire and respect Jackson’s grit and his work as a legislator. However, I don’t always agree with his…
Young Black Men Suffering in Silence A curse that can be Broken
By Dominic Boston As a young Black man, this topic is personal to me. When people discuss mental health, they usually don’t picture someone who looks like me. Instead, Black men are often seen as strong, tough, or able to handle anything life throws at us. Growing up, I was taught exactly that. My elders…
Making November 3rd The True No Kings Day
During the last two years, we have seen millions of Americans from all walks of life turn out to participate in the “No Kings Day” protest marches across this nation. The demonstrations have been against the illegal practices and activities of President Trump in violation of the Constitution and all democracy stands for. We have…
Chef Sharon Lee Blends Culinary Excellence, Education and Empowerment
By Carla Thomas Lee’s professional training took her to New Orleans, where she worked at Restaurant August and expanded her knowledge of Cajun, Creole, and French cuisine under the guidance of internationally recognized chef John Besh. When she returned to San Francisco, Lee was part of the kitchen staff that helped reopen the remodeled Cliff…
MALDEF Appeals Ruling In Pasadena Unified School District School-Closure Case, Files Opening Brief
(LOS ANGELES) – A Latino civil rights organization representing Latino parents and students is appealing a state trial court judgment in favor of the Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) in a case challenging the district’s 2019 -2020 elementary school closures. In December 2022, MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) filed suit against PUSD…
Why Black-Owned Businesses Can’t Afford to Be Invisible to AI
By Rob McManus Many people use AI tools to search for products and services instead of search engines. If Black-owned businesses aren’t easy for AI to find, they end up losing potential customers. Let AI help you gain the trust of people who are considering your business for the first time so your brand can…
AFL-CIO Report Shows Top CEOs Made 312 Times Workers’ Pay in 2025
(Washington, D.C.)—S&P 500 CEOs took home an average pay of $22.8 million in 2025 and made 312 times the wage of the median U.S. worker, up from 285 times in 2024, the AFL-CIO’s 2026 Executive Paywatch report showed. While working Americans are struggling over every bill, every purchase and every paycheck, corporate CEOs are doing…
Kimberlé Crenshaw: A Voice for Justice
THE POSITIVE COMMUNITY — Kimberlé Crenshaw is an American civil rights scholar, lawyer, and professor known for developing the concept of intersectionality. This framework explains how different forms of discrimination can overlap, affecting people in distinct ways, particularly evident in her legal scholarship concerning Black women. Kimberlé Crenshaw is an American civil rights scholar, lawyer,…
OP-ED: One by One: The Slow Disappearance of Black Voices in Mainstream Media
By Stephen Oduntan Stephen A. Smith rarely struggles for words. One of the most recognizable voices in sports media, he has built a career on passionate opinions and unfiltered commentary. But when ESPN parted ways with Ryan Clark, Smith’s reaction was strikingly simple. “It hurts. It really does,” Smith said. Smith called Clark “arguably the…
Why Black Families Pay More for Cars and How to Stop It
By The Black Press USA Roosevelt opens The Color of Our Money Is Green with the conversation every Black family needs to have before their next vehicle purchase. In Episode 1, Roosevelt covers the federal data documenting why Black borrowers pay significantly higher auto loan interest rates than white borrowers with similar credit profiles, exactly…




