Category: Opinion

THE HUTCHINSON REPORT: By Earl Ofari Hutchinson, Contributing Columnist Los Angeles Wave Mayor Karen Bass called the report “disturbing.” It was more, much more, than that. It was appalling. The Los Angeles Police Department continues to be the runaway leader among the nation’s police departments in the use of deadly force. Other reports show that…

By: Jaidyn McKinnie, Joint Center Research Intern and UCLA Student American democracy is entering a dangerous stage of decline. While coverage focuses largely on the most recognizable signs of democratic backsliding, such as attacks on free speech and the use of state force against peaceful protesters, a quieter crisis is reshaping the foundation of representation…

by The Rev. Dorothy S. Boulware On the night of Dec. 31, 1862, under cover of darkness and winter cold, groups of Americans of African descent — some free, others still enslaved — gathered quietly across the country. As the Civil War raged and their fate hung in the balance, Black men, women and children…

By Stacy M. Brown Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent Tom Brady stepped into the broadcast booth and, without saying a word, said everything. One glove. Not a gimmick. Not nostalgia cosplay. Just a quiet, unmistakable signal that even in a football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Buffalo Bills, the most famous silhouette…

by Tashi McQueen AFRO Staff Writer Amid the holiday cheer, many Americans are juggling financial stress or navigating grief, whether from the loss of loved ones, strained relationships or broader social and communal challenges. And, the uncertainty and divisiveness of the current sociopolitical environmental climate have likely only exacerbated those feelings.  An online survey of…

By Ben Jealous America has a big birthday this year. Here’s a hint: The celebration will not feel much like the last big one in 1976. I still believe our nation’s best days are ahead. But our history—and our headlines—suggest we are facing a familiar test. Another fraught fight for freedom and democracy is already…

by Frances Toni Draper AFRO Publisher As we close the pages on 2025, we do so clear-eyed about the moment we are living in and grounded in the responsibility we carry. Journalism, especially Black journalism, is not simply about recounting events. It is about memory, witness and insisting that what happens in our communities is…

By Constance Carter/Wealth Advocate Einstein called compound interest the eighth wonder of the world. Those who understand it earn it. Those who do not pay it. That is why the Trump administration is floating a 50-year mortgage. They are betting that we will not see the true cost. He, him, and they are framing this…

By Stacy M. Brown Joy Reid had finally had enough. After Stephen A. Smith went on his show and tried to frame her departure from MSNBC as a failure of ratings rather than a collision with an administration working to silence Black voices, she laid out the truth without ceremony. “You got one hundred million…

By Stacy M. Brown As millions of Americans brace for health insurance bills that will soon double or worse, the coming crisis is not the result of confusion or accident. It is the consequence of a long campaign that treated health care not as a human necessity, but as a battleground for grievance, race, and…

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire The battles over the Affordable Care Act were never only about policy or the price of insurance. They were never simply arguments about federal subsidies, individual mandates, or the markets that hold the system together. From the moment America elected a Black president and that president dared to place…

By Eric Arnold The defense in the Kevin Epps murder trial presented just one witness, Dr. Judy Melinek, an eminent forensic pathologist whose testimony appeared to supercede the expert witnesses who had testified for the prosecution earlier in the trial – including San Francisco Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Christopher Liverman. Melinek, regarded as something of…

By Andrea Stevens AFRO Staff Writer In cities across the country, many Black households say rising prices are reshaping their daily routines. Costs for food, housing and health care continue to rise faster than wages. People are now making difficult choices about expenses that once felt ordinary.  According to the September 2025 Consumer Price Index…

Edward Henderson | California Black Media   Kaci Patterson is the founder and Chief Architect of the Black Equity Collective (BEC). This network of funders and nonprofit leaders is committed to investing in the long-term sustainability of Black-led organizations in Southern California.  A graduate of Pepperdine University, Patterson holds an MBA in Organizational Management &…

by Alice T. Crowe Black Americans have struggled to build wealth in America through property ownership. Owning land meant freedom. Government policies like redlining and restrictive covenants cheated Black families and communities out of wealth. Jim Crow’s color-coded paper maps were just one ruse in a trick bag of tactics used to normalize segregation and…

Edward Henderson | California Black Media   Areva Martin is an award-winning civil rights attorney, talk show host, commentator, author, and keynote speaker who offers commentary on politics, women’s rights, children’s rights, disability rights and civil rights.  She is President and CEO of the Special Needs Network, which she founded to advance disability rights and support…

By Niyoka McCoy, Ed.D., Chief Learning Officer, Stride/K12 Swinging side by side with a friend on the playground. Sharing chalk over bright, colorful sidewalk drawings. Hiding behind a tree during a spirited game of hide-and-seek. These simple moments between children may seem small, but they matter more than we think: They lay the foundation for…

By Alexis Taylor AFRO Managing Editor  One of my earliest memories as a child is a night from the early 90s. In my family’s small, but sufficient MacDonald Manor apartment in Chesapeake, Va., a scene plays out. My mother and I are in the living room. It’s the middle of the night, but this night,…

By Stacy M. Brown Forty-three years after “Thriller” hit the world like a lightning bolt, its anniversary still behaves like a global holiday. This weekend the celebration stretched from one continent to the next. In London, a Brixton record stall blasted the bassline of “Billie Jean” as shoppers argued over vintage vinyl. In Paris, a…

By Dori McCarroll “If you were asked to design a school and had no limitations on what you could do and what you could offer students, what would you create?” That was the question our group received during an October gathering in Atlanta of educators, legislators, faith leaders, parents, and other school choice advocates. The…