Op-Ed
OP-ED: Omarosa Is Not Your Dog, Trump
NNPA Newswire Columnist Julianne Malveaux says that the systematic denigration of Black people and Black women must be repudiated and rejected. […read more]
Black commentary
Op-Ed
OP-ED: Amazon Prime and Prejudice: It’s Time for Closer Scrutiny of the Online Retailer’s Practice Of Selling Hate
Barbara Arnwine, the founder and president of the Transformative Justice Coalition, says that progressive-minded lawmakers in Georgia should punish Amazon for promoting hatred and bigotry. […read more]
Op-Ed
OP-ED: Racial Mortgage Disparities Persist as Federal Housing Enforcement Lags
Charlene Crowell talks about the role that the Fair Housing Administration played in discriminating against Black homebuyers in the housing market.
[…read more]
Op-Ed
OPINION: Erik Killmonger Is the Real MVP of ‘Black Panther’
The deep conflict between T’Challa and Erik Killmonger has fueled vigorous debate in the Black community. […read more]
Op-Ed
OPINION: I’m Happy the Philadelphia Eagles Won the Super Bowl, but I Refused to Watch It.
NNPA Newswire Columnist Bill Fletcher talks about the blacklisting of Colin Kaepernick in the NFL, President Trump’s critique of the NFL protests against police brutality and NFL injuries. […read more]
Op-Ed
Cavemen Keep Sexism Alive
By George E. Curry NNPA Columnist Women serve in almost every high-powered job in the United States: CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, Senators, university presidents, race car drivers and even astronauts. Yet, there are some male bozos who think women should be treated as Read More
Op-Ed
Beyond the Rhetoric: Diluting Black Business
By Harry C. Alford NNPA Columnist We have these programs from the blood, sweat and tears of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the other giants of the Civil Rights Movement. They saw the vision of having a new and improved civil rights act. Read More
Op-Ed
Blackonomics: Obama Not Singing ‘You Have a Friend’
By James Clingman NNPA Columnist The aphorism, “A friend in need is a friend indeed,” is especially relevant to the conversations being held among Black people vis-à-vis our president and our lack of economic progress in this country. The “friend in need” is the Read More
Op-Ed
Lean in to Leaning In
By Lee A. Daniels NNPA Columnist One would be hard-pressed not to acknowledge that Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook, has had a spectacular business career, the kind that is often described as affirming the claim that America is a land of golden Read More
Op-Ed
CHILD WATCH: Common Sense Gun Safety Laws
By Marian Wright Edelman NNPA Columnist “’I’m learning that milestones are a very difficult thing to get through in this first year . . . Everything has become ‘after Noah’s death,’” said Jodi Sandoval through a stream of tears. Jodi lost her 14-year-old son, Read More
Op-Ed
Don’t let Bank Payday Exploit Seniors and Social Security
By Charlene Crowell NNPA Columnist The term “payday loans” often evokes images of stores with garish neon signs; but these products have moved into the banking sector that is supposed to be more respectable. About half a dozen banks now push payday loans, though Read More
Op-Ed
A Closer Reading of Obama’s Terrorism Speech
By Bill Fletcher, Jr. NNPA Columnist I read the speech. I read it carefully. Again, an excellent speech; as a result, you have to read it closely to see what it is actually saying and what it is not saying. The Obama administration is Read More
Op-Ed
“No’ to 2 Moms and 2 Dads
By Raynard Jackson NNPA Columnist Lately, I have been stressing the importance of preserving the sanctity of the traditional family–mother, father, and children. There is not one example throughout the history of the world of a society prospering without an intact family unit. Susie Read More
Op-Ed
BUSINESS EXCHANGE: Susan Rice’s Discredited Story
By William Reed NNPA Columnist Do you still believe what U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice was saying during her infamous five Sunday show appearances? By now, we all know that these appearances contained “inaccurate information.” Clearly, President Obama and Congressional Democrats went to great lengths Read More
Op-Ed
To Be Equal: Raise the Minimum Wage Now
By Marc H. Morial NNPA Columnist “Despite working a full-time job, many low-wage workers still live in poverty. This isn’t right.” – Rep. George Miller In recent years, there has been a renewed focus on income inequality in America, most notably with the Occupy Read More
Op-Ed
Take a Recess from Closing Public Schools
By George E. Curry NNPA Columnist Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett has announced plans to close at least 50 schools as a cost-cutting measure. But before any other urban school system follows suit, it should take an extended recess and reflect on what Read More
Op-Ed
Putting the IRS ‘Scandal’ into Perspective
By Bill Fletcher, Jr. NNPA Columnist Like too many events since the beginning of the Obama presidency, various attacks on the administration by the Republicans end up being about less than what they at first seemed, though the hoopla that accompanies the initial charges Read More
Op-Ed
In Jobs, we’re in a Race to the Bottom
By Julianne Malveaux NNPA Columnist On May 21, I had the opportunity to testify before a Congressional Progressive Caucus meeting on how federal dollars drive inequality by paying contractors who pay too many of their workers too little. The hearing was driven by a study Read More
Op-Ed
Obama at Morehouse: Black Americans’ Responsibility
By Lee A. Daniels NNPA Columnist Speaking to the newly-minted graduates of Atlanta’s historically Black and all-male Morehouse College May 19, President Obama urged them to use the power and advantage of their diplomas “for something larger than yourself.” “It betrays a poverty of Read More
Op-Ed
Vantage Point : Obama Should Have ‘Audacity’ to End War on Drugs
By Ron Daniels NNPA Guest Columnist The Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW) is gearing up for a Day of Direct Action June 17 in Washington, D.C. to demand an end to the War on Drugs and mass incarceration and call on President Read More
Op-Ed
Beyond the Rhetoric: The EPA’s ‘Sue and Settle’ Scam
By Harry C. Alford NNPA Columnist These are very wild times here in Washington, D.C. We are four big scandals going on that could threaten the entire Obama administration. The biggest appears to be the IRS scandal. Next is the Benghazi cover up. The Read More
Op-Ed
Blackonomics: Demanding More from Ourselves
By James Clingman NNPA Columnist Frederick Douglass’ Read More
Op-Ed
Homeowner Bills of Rights Emerge as Remedies to Foreclosure
By Charlene Crowell NNPA Columnist A few days ago, HUD released data showing that more 620,000 troubled homeowners received more than $50 billion in principal reductions and savings. These actions were the direct result of the National Mortgage Settlement, negotiated by America’s largest banks, Read More
Op-Ed
The Boy Scouts are No Longer ‘Morally Straight’
By Raynard Jackson NNPA Columnist On my honor I will do my best To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; To help other people at all times; To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally Read More
Op-Ed
CHILDWATCH: ‘Numb, Spiritually Dead Nation’
By Marian Wright Edelman NNPA Columnist Ka’Nard Allen has been shot twice in his 10-year-old life. On May 12, he went with his mother to the annual Mother’s Day second line parade in New Orleans. When two gunmen shot into the line of participants—men, Read More
Op-Ed
Endless Entertainment Options
By Cheryl Pearson-McNeil NNPA Columnist Remember back-in-the-day when you used to poke your mouth out, bug your parents (or whatever adult was in charge) about being bored? Well, today’s kids can’t use that tired, old excuse. Neither can we, as grown folks, for that Read More
Op-Ed
BUSINESS EXCHANGE: End the War on Drugs Now
By William Reed NNPA Columnist There is no easy way or walk to freedom; no shortcuts to justice; no quick fix for conceiving and constructing the good and sustainable society and world we all want and deserve. Indeed, to achieve the good we all Read More
Op-Ed
To Be Equal: Urban League Tackles Unemployment
By Marc H. Morial NNPA Columnist “Too often, our politics aren’t focused on the same things you are. Working hard. Supporting your family and your community. Making sure your kids have every chance in life.” -President Barack Obama If you’ve been watching the news, you’ve Read More
Entertainment
Columnist asks ‘Why USC and not a black college, Dr. Dre?’ [LA Times]
[LA Times] I was in Detroit preparing to give a speech last week when the news came across my Twitter feed: “Dr. Dre and music producer Jimmy Iovine donate $70 million to USC to create new degree.” As one of the first university presidents from Read More
Op-Ed
Obama’s Troubles Aren’t Comparable to ‘Watergate’
By George E. Curry NNPA Columnist The Obama administration deserves to be richly criticized for surreptitiously obtaining the telephone records of reporters for the Associated Press, especially for bypassing court proceedings that would have allowed executives of the news organizations an opportunity to at Read More
Op-Ed
Racists Don’t Like Being called Racists
By Julian Bond NNPA Guest Columnist I have always suspected that racists didn’t like being called out for their racism. Now I have proof. When I told MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts on May 14 that the Tea Party was “the Taliban wing of American politics,” Read More
Op-Ed
Discrimination against the Unemployed
By Bill Fletcher, Jr. NNPA Columnist It will strike many of you as counter-intuitive, but there has been a rising phenomenon of unemployed workers suffering discrimination when they have sought work because…they have been unemployed. This is not an exaggeration. In fact, the situation Read More
Op-Ed
Protecting Black Americans’ Right to Compete
By Lee A. Daniels NNPA Columnist It’s no coincidence that in the next few weeks the U.S. Supreme Court will rule on a challenge to affirmative action in higher education and also a challenge to the most important provision of the Voting Rights Act Read More
Op-Ed
HIP HOP CONNECTION: Respect is a Two-Way Street
By Jineea Butler NNPA Columnist As Memorial Day approaches, I can’t help but think about Miami’s unofficial Urban Beach Week. It’s the largest urban festival in the world, drawing about 350,000 guests to South Beach. Of the 14 years of its existence, I have Read More
Op-Ed
Boy Scouts Should ‘Be Prepared’ to Stick by its Mission
By Dave Steward NNPA Guest Columnist Winston Churchill once said, “to every man there comes a time in his life when he is figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered a chance to do a great and mighty work; unique to him and fitted Read More
Op-Ed
Blackonomics: Common Sense Leads to Common Cents
By James Clingman NNPA Columnist Some people say “common sense is not common,” which may be the main reason Black people are not as far up the economic ladder as we should be. Having been in this country since it started, having provided the Read More
Op-Ed
Michigan: Where Democracy Used to Live!
By Wendell Anthony NNPA Guest Columnist One Hundred- and 80 years ago in his journey across America to report on “Democracy in America,” the great French writer Alexis de Tocqueville said: “There is hardly a political question in the United States that does not Read More
Op-Ed
To Be Equal: We Were Right about Swing Voters
By Marc Morial NNPA Columnist “The findings represent a tipping point for blacks, who for much of American history were disenfranchised and then effectively barred from voting until the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965.” Associated Press Last July, the National Urban League released Read More
Op-Ed
Blacks Schooled to Stay in a Daze
By Raynard Jackson NNPA Columnist I was flipping through the TV channels last week and came across one of Spike Lee’s best movies, School Daze. This was a 1988 film written and directed by Lee. The movie took an inside look at some of the Read More
Op-Ed
Cleveland’s Charles Ramsey: Hood or Hero?
By George E. Curry NNPA Columnist When some of us saw the first video of Charles Ramsey, the colorful Black dishwasher in Cleveland who is being celebrated as a hero for rescuing three White women captives from horrid conditions in a Cleveland house, we Read More
Op-Ed
HIP HOP CONNECTION: The Hip Hop Dilemma
By Jineea Butler NNPA Columnist I call it The Hip Hop Dilemma. The symptoms are all around us. You hate the new direction Hip Hop is going in and you hate that the young boys are wearing tight jeans. Still, Hip Hop has Read More
Op-Ed
Blackonomics: The Mythical Black Economy
By James Clingman NNPA Columnist Although the dictionary calls it archaic, the “management of a household” is one of the definitions listed for the word “economy.” Another definition is “a saving or attempt to reduce expenditures.” Yet another is “a system of interacting elements, especially when Read More
Op-Ed
The Economy’s Invisible People
By Lee A. Daniels NNPA Columnist Suppose one of the key committees in Congress scheduled a hearing on one of the country’s most debilitating economic problems – the long-term unemployment that’s ensnared millions – and none of the committee members showed up? That’s almost Read More
Op-Ed
BUSINESS EXCHANGE: Reparations Movement Should be Revived
By William Reed NNPA Columnist Ask anyone you know and you’ll find most Americans don’t see the validity of the issue of reparations for Blacks and don’t connect the dots to see how the injustice of the past shapes everyday life in America. The Read More
Op-Ed
Black Leaders Have Sold Out
By Raynard Jackson NNPA Columnist Once again the Black community has been shown how irrelevant they have become in the U.S. Most of the blame can be laid at the feet of the media appointed Black leadership for selling out their people. And we’ve Read More
Op-Ed
Student Loan Borrowers Need Enforcement and Repayment Flexibility
By Charlene Crowell NNPA Columnist Earlier this year, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) asked for public comments on private student loan debt affordability. By the April 8 deadline, more than 4,300 organizations and consumers answered. The volume of these requests suggests that the Read More
Op-Ed
Beyond the Rhetoric: The Abortion Holocaust
By Harry C. Alford NNPA Columnist Let me first say that I believe a woman should have the right to an abortion. It is the law and each person has their own decision to make. However, since the court decision, Roe V. Wade, the amount Read More
Op-Ed
To Be Equal: Integrated Inequality: A Tale of Two Americas, Part 1
Marc Morial NNPA Columnist “Our nation is moving towards two societies, one black, one white – separate and unequal.” – 1967 Kerner Commission In 1963, more than a quarter-million people gathered in Washington, D.C. for the historic Great March for Jobs and Freedom. This was Read More
Op-Ed
African Leaders Avoid U.S. Blacks
By Raynard Jackson NNPA Columnist Two weeks ago, President Obama met with three African presidents—Koroma (Sierra Leone), Sall (Senegal), Banda (Malawi), and Prime Minister of Cape Verde Jose Maria Pereira Neves. This was the White House’s way of rewarding these leaders for their examples Read More
Op-Ed
Supreme Court Determined to Kill Affirmative Action
By George E. Curry NNPA Columnist A decade after carefully ruling in two University of Michigan cases – striking down the undergraduate admissions procedures and upholding those implemented by the law school – the U.S. Supreme Court seems on course to strike down even Read More
Op-Ed
Payday Lending Drains Nearly $1 Billion from Communities
By Charlene Crowell NNPA Columnist One of the worst ironies of the nagging economic recession is that consumers with the fewest financial resources have lost the most. Now, a new report finds that payday loans not only strip much-needed income from low-income families, but Read More
Op-Ed
The 1963 March on Washington, Black Labor and Today
By Bill Fletcher, Jr. NNPA Columnist August 2013 represents the 50th anniversary of the historic March on Washington. Publicly associated with Dr. King’s famous “I have a Dream” speech, this march brought more than 250,000 people to Washington, D.C. to demand freedom and jobs. Initiated Read More
Op-Ed
Medical Condescension Can be Deadly
By Julianne Malveaux NNPA Columnist Anna Brown, a St. Louis-based homeless woman, needed treatment for a sprained ankle. She went to three emergency rooms seeking treatment. In the third hospital, St. Mary’s Health Center, Brown was emphatic about needing care. Instead of being treated, Read More
Op-Ed
CHILD WATCH: The NRA is Afraid of the Truth
By Marian Wright Edelman NNPA Columnist Why is the National Rifle Association so afraid of the truth? There are many misconceptions about guns and gun violence swirling around in Americans’ minds—and in many cases, this misinformation is no accident. For years the NRA has Read More
Op-Ed
To Be Equal: Voting is a Fundamental Right, not an ‘Entitlement’
By Marc Morial NNPA Columnist “No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on Read More
Op-Ed
Republicans Have Learned a Lesson
By Raynard Jackson NNPA Columnist Several of my readers of have questioned why I am writing positive articles about my Republican Party. The simple answer is that they deserve it. In the past, I have been very critical of my party because they have Read More
Op-Ed
Can March on Washington’s Unity be Duplicated?
By George E. Curry NNPA Columnist In five months, we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. In 1963, the March was jointly called by the Civil Rights Movement’s “Big Six” – A. Philip Randolph, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Roy Wilkins, Whitney Read More
Op-Ed
Can We All Just Get Along?
By Julianne Malveaux NNPA Columnist I never considered the late Rodney King anything of a philosopher, but as one observes Washington shenanigans, especially around fiscal matters, it seems that Brother King had a point. Can we all just, maybe, get along? In the wee Read More
Op-Ed
Stopped and Frisked–and Innocent
By Lee A. Daniels NNPA Columnist Every year for the past decade, under the agency’s “stop-and-frisk” program, New York City police officers have stopped 500,000 to nearly 700,000 citizens on the city’s streets. Nearly 90 percent of those stopped are Black and Hispanic men, Read More
Op-Ed
Business Exchange: Black Leaders Fail to Hold Obama Accountable
By William Reed NNPA Columnist How many African Americans know that the president of the United States (POTUS) recently met with their leaders? How many among the African-American population know what the meeting agenda entailed, who was there, and what was accomplished at, or subsequent Read More
Op-Ed
White Media Masquerading as Black
By Raynard Jackson NNPA Columnist Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, released his long awaited report last week called the Growth and Opportunity Project. It is basically a post mortem of last November’s election results and lessons learned. The report stated the Read More
Op-Ed
To Be Equal: The Empowerment of Women
By Marc Morial NNPA Columnist “So please ask yourself: What would I do if I weren’t afraid? And then go do it.” Sheryl Sandberg In a stroke of marketing genius befitting the Chief Operating Officer of the social media phenomenon, Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg chose Women’s Read More
Op-Ed
The Rich are Treated Differently
By George E. Curry NNPA Columnist F. Scott Fitzgerald got it right when he said the rich are different. We are witnessing that in the sequester fiasco and we heard it in another form last week when Attorney General Eric H. Holder offered an Read More
Op-Ed
Beyond the Rhetoric: Detroit Unable to Outrun its Past
By Harry C. Alford NNPA Columnist I visited Cleveland a few years ago. As I was heading towards downtown I noticed a sign that showed pictures of blighted structures. There was a quote at the bottom of the sign which read, “Cheer up – Read More
Op-Ed
Keep Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act
By Marc Morial NNPA Columnist “I risked my life defending that right. If we are ever to actualize the true meaning of equality, effective measures such as the Voting Rights Act are still a necessary requirement of democracy.” Georgia U.S. Rep. John Lewis In commemoration of Read More
Op-Ed
Blackonomics: More Wealthy Black People than you Know
By James Clingman NNPA Columnist Who is the first Black person that comes to your mind when you think of wealth? Probably 99 out of 100 of us think of Oprah Winfrey, followed by Bob Johnson and his ex-wife, Sheila Johnson, and then on down Read More
Op-Ed
CHILD WATCH: An All-American Crisis
By Marian Wright Edelman NNPA Columnist “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” –Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote those words in Read More
Op-Ed
Where is the American Dream?
By Gary L. Flowers NNPA Columnist At the banquet table of nature, there are no reserved seats. You get what you take and you keep what you can hold. If you can’t take anything you won’t get anything, and if you can’t hold Read More
Op-Ed
Onion’s Apology is Not Accepted
By Julianne Malveaux NNPA Columnist In the midst of the Academy Awards drama on Sunday, February 24, one of the Onion’s writers (we don’t know who he is – I doubt a “she” would have stooped so low), described the lovely and talented child Read More
Op-Ed
Beyond the Rhetoric: Shielded by Legal Shield
By Harry C. Alford NNPA Columnist Legal Shield was first known as PrePaid Legal and that is where this story begins. This is a story of a relationship between the National Black Chamber of Commerce and this network of top legal Read More
Op-Ed
BUSINESS EXCHANGE: Time to Repeal the War on Drugs
By William Reed NNPA Columnist Why do Black Americans allow the war on drugs’ unfair toll on people of color to continue? Instead of putting a stop to the racial disparities and arrests, prosecutions, imprisonments, and lack of rehabilitation programs, Blacks have unknowingly allowed the status Read More