Category: Opinion

By Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., NNPA President and CEO Washington, DC — No one questions the fact that for the past six decades, African Americans have overwhelmingly supported and voted for Democratic Party candidates for the United States Congress. In the upcoming 2018 midterm elections, African Americans by the millions will once again cast the…

By Samuel Innoncent I’m a veteran of the U.S. Army. So it may come as a surprise that the day I read about NFL players kneeling during the national anthem, I could not have been prouder. I was proud because after serving my country for seven years, it felt like someone was finally looking out…

Submitted to the AFRO by Karsonya Wise Whitehead I have been a Baltimore City resident for close to fifteen years. My husband and I are raising our sons here and teaching them how to navigate city life. I have worked as a middle school teacher, at one of the most persistently dangerous schools in Baltimore,…

BlackPressUSA , Lauren Victoria Burke Saying his subject was “Aretha the Queen of Soul,” Rev. Jasper Williams of the Salem Bible Church in Atlanta gave the audience gathered for Aretha Franklin’s funeral a few unexpected memories laced with political commentary.     Though he began simply, referring to the history of soul music and gospel,…

Submitted to the AFRO by Elijah E. Cummings More than half a century ago, my parents and a wonderful teacher named Mr. Hollis Posey followed their hearts and championed my right to learn.  As a result, I received the empowering education in our City’s public schools that would transform my life. Although I am grateful…

By Nate Davis (CEO and Board of Directors Chairman, K12 Inc.) Our nation’s graduation rate is at an all-time high. The national figure shows 84 percent of young people, overall, graduating from high school within four years after first entering the 9th grade, a trend that has been on a consistent upswing since the 2010-2011…

By Julianne Malveaux (NNPA Newswire Columnist) I am no fan of Omarosa Manigault Newman, the mononymous diva who dominates the airwaves whenever she wants to. Her new book, “Unhinged,” which I won’t read, is billed as a tell-all on “45’s” White House and its shenanigans. In making the rounds, “Omierosie” (my nickname for her) has…

By Dr. Elizabeth Primas (Program Manager, NNPA ESSA Public Awareness Campaign) The latest data from the Center for American Progress shows that the average salary for an attorney is more than two times that of elementary and middle school educators. The Washington Post reported last week that nearly 1 in 10 hosts who rent out…

By Bill Fletcher, Jr. (NNPA Newswire Columnist) There has been a strange response by many White conservatives to the separation of migrant children from their parents. Whether we are discussing undocumented migrants or those requesting asylum, there has been rightwing pushback to the larger chorus of condemnation of the Trump administration for its zero tolerance….

By Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. (President and CEO, NNPA) Amid the rush to comprehend the ramifications of a full-scale international trade war initiated by the errant and backward tariff policies of the Trump Administration, there are results of the tariffs that need to be challenged by Black America. The financial sustainability of the Black…

By Kay Coles James (President, The Heritage Foundation) I’m sure President Obama’s heart was in the right place. A few years ago, his Department of Education, in conjunction with the Department of Justice, studied school discipline data and came to a troubling conclusion: African American students in the 2011-12 school year had been suspended or…

By Congresswoman Robin Kelly (D-Ill.) Black mothers are dying and it’s time to do something about it. Every year, more than 700 American mothers lose their lives to pregnancy or birth-related complications. Some medical professionals estimate that at least half, if not more, of these deaths are entirely preventable. While the deaths of 700-plus American…

By Bruce Fuller, Opinion Contributor/NNPA/ESSA Bruce Fuller, a sociologist at the University of California, Berkeley, works on how schools and civic activists push to advance pluralistic communities. He is a regular opinion contributor to edweek.org where he trades views with Lance Izumi, on the other side of the political aisle. This blossoming spring of teacher…

By Jesse Jackson April 4 will mark the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, shot down on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. At the time, we had come to Memphis to support striking sanitation workers seeking a living wage and a union. Dr. King was focused on…

The future of DACA remains uncertain, but students are stepping up By Bruce Fuller NNPA  ESSA Newswire Bruce Fuller, a sociologist at the University of California, Berkeley, works on how schools and civic activists push to advance pluralistic communities. He is a regular opinion contributor to edweek.org where he trades views with Lance Izumi, on…

By Julianne Malveaux (NNPA Newswire Columnist) All too often, our “history” month turns into a tribute to the past. And while the past is an important place to lift up it is, indeed, a tributary, a stream that flows into the larger stream of an unbounded future. The future must always be greater than the…

By Lynette Monroe (Program Assistant, NNPA/ESSA Public Awareness Campaign) I don’t remember my grandparents assisting me with homework beyond holding up flash cards for me to recite. They could have, I just don’t remember. I do remember Lil’ Bow Wow’s release of “Beware of Dog” in 2000 followed by my incessant pleading to hang his…

By Wade Henderson (Founding Board Member, Center for Responsible Lending) From attacks on voting rights to police killings of unarmed civilians and growing inequities in earnings and wealth, the civil rights gains of the past six decades are facing threat after threat. But one front in the fight for full equality—meaningful access to higher education—is…