Category: Opinion

By Brandon Weathersby As we mark another Black History Month, a moment that should honor the resilience and achievements of Black Americans, we instead confront a painful truth: Donald Trump has spent the first year of his second term in office making life harder for Black families, narrowing the pathways to opportunity that earlier generations…

By Julianne Malveaux (TriceEdneyWire.com) – America has rituals for the dead. We lower flags. We dim lights. We ask for moments of silence. In rare cases — former presidents, Rosa Parks — we place bodies beneath the Capitol dome and call it honor. So when congressional leaders declined to extend that honor to Rev. Jesse…

by Rev. Stacy Swimp On the night of Feb. 5, 2026, a video shared to President Trump’s Truth Social account depicted former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as apes. This occurred during the first week of Black History Month, just days after a presidential proclamation praising the contributions of Black Americans. This…

by Michael Eugene Johnson There are some headlines that should never feel routine. Yet across this country—from Baltimore to Chicago to Atlanta—we continue to read the same devastating words: Child injured in accidental shooting.   We call them accidents. But too often, they are acts of adult negligence.  When a child gets hold of a…

By Charlene Crowell Over the past year, the Trump administration took a series of steps to weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Despite broad and bipartisan legislative and consumer support for the agency’s efforts that delivered transparency in financial transactions for consumers, these reversals also ended the kind of data collection, research, and investigations…

By Kisha A. Brown, Esq.  As Black people, we cannot experience the joy and peace of justice without building our own systems and institutions—designed by us, with our liberation, our lifestyle and our real needs in mind. From churches doubling as schools to kitchens doubling as boardrooms, we have started from scratch and built up….

Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson, M.D. | Special to California Black Media Partners   Technology is often sold to us as neutral, objective, and free of human flaws. We are told that computers remove emotion, bias, and error from decision-making. But for many Black families, lived experience tells a different story. When technology is trained on…

By Stacy M. Brown Famed journalist Don Lemon may draw the headlines, but Emmy-winning independent reporter Georgia Fort and Trahem Jenn Crews and Jamael Lydell Lundy were also taken into custody as federal agents moved against four Black journalists whose only apparent offense was documenting protests critical of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Lemon, a…

By Wanda Haynes, Certified Sommelier Finally, there is a product that can keep white and rosé wine cold while drinking! This product can also bring red wines to cellar temperatures in just a few minutes. As a wine lover I’m delighted to share this amazing product. VoChill is a wonderful concept brought to life by…

By Ben Jealous Chicago’s Mayor Brandon Johnson has emerged as a clarion voice for American democracy in turbulent times. The values he represents reflect the voters who elected him. They remind us of the power of the Black community and the White, Asian American, Latino, and Native American voters who believe in multiracial democracy. Together…

Special to NNPA Newswire The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) represents the organized voice, survivor, and power of the Black Press in America. On the eve of Black History Month, we have chronicled the top Black newsmakers of the first quarter of the 21st century to honor Black impact through legacy, liberty, and justice. This…

Joe W. Bowers Jr. | California Black Media    Since California Black Media (CBM) reported that CalMatters asked Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood) whether the Louis Vuitton bag she carried at a Capitol event was “real or fake,” much has been said –just not clearly, or publicly, by CalMatters.  In the two weeks since the question…

by Dedrick Asante-Muhammad “When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “Beyond Vietnam” speech (1967) Dr. King’s words from 1967 summarize today’s political moment, which we have analyzed…

By Dwight Brown NNPA News Wire Film Critic (**1/2) “Do you honestly think that I killed my wife?”  At the beginning of the ground-breaking horror film 28 Days Later, a bicycle courier (Cillian Murphy) is involved in a near-fatal accident, comatose and wakes up in a hospital bed to discover that London is empty. A…

by Megan Sayles AFRO Staff Writer When examining Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s strongest champions, the Black Press stands out as a loyal messenger on the frontlines of the Civil Rights Movement.  During the 1950s and ‘60s, Black newspapers across the country dedicated their pages to broadcasting the African-American struggle for equality. From documenting racial…

By Dr. Frances “Toni” Murphy Draper AFRO CEO and Publisher As the nation marks Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the real question is not how loudly we celebrate — but whether we are willing to live by the values Dr. King demanded. Each January, the nation knows how to celebrate. We mark the day. We…

By Ben Crump We honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. each January with speeches, service projects, and by reciting powerful quotes we know by heart. But too many Black families will spend much of MLK Day the same way they spend most Mondays. With the gas tank hovering near empty, hoping the car can go…

By Gwendolyn Carole Tipton, The Cincinnati Herald Here in 2026, we must not forget His benefits from 2025. We have already received and continue to receive Spiritual Blessings. Apostle Paul declares that God has blessed believers with “every spiritual blessing.” They encompass gifts of redemption, including forgiveness, grace, and the promise of eternal life. These…

Joe W. Bowers Jr. | California Black Media   A question recently emailed to the office of Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood) was not about legislation, policy, or governance.  Instead, it asked whether the “Louis Vuitton bag McKinnor was wearing last night “real or fake?”  This wasn’t just a casual inquiry. Stella Yu, the CalMatters reporter…

by Tashi McQueen AFRO Staff Writer As the fight for civil rights continues to evolve, activists of today are raising questions about how far the nation has come since the era of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and where progress has stalled. Advocates, scholars and policymakers are assessing voting access, economic equity, education and criminal…

by Megan Sayles AFRO Staff Writer More than five decades after his assassination, King’s words still shape how the nation talks about justice and equality. Three activists shared how they believe King would respond to the challenges confronting Black Americans today.  “It’s important to remember that Dr. King spoke of the three evils: racism, militarism…

By Charlene Crowell As 2026 unfolds, affordability, which emerged as a critical issue last year, will become a more pressing concern for most people in America. A comment by a respondent to a recent student loan borrower survey by The Institute for College Access & Support (TICAS) summarized the complexity of the affordability problem for…