African Americans experience high levels of stress and may be especially likely to experience serious depression ... read more »

“This is a discriminatory state law that is antiquated and almost equates to the laws that discriminated against racial minorities decades ago when they were required to pay a poll tax in order to vote…” — Sheila Jackson Lee ... read more »

As we wait for law, policy and practice to catch up to the public’s savvy and changing mores on policing, Black lives will be saved from this blue menace if civilians adopt a page from the police playbook and invoke their own talismanic chant: “I’m Not Resisting.” ... read more »

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 their apartments, homes and spaces on Airbnb are teachers. Low salaries, compared with other college graduates, may inhibit highly-effective professionals from pursuing a career in education; specifically for people of color who currently make up just seven percent of public school teachers. ... read more »

I am so proud of the Freedom Schools scholars who have learned they are following in the footsteps of children and youths who were the foot soldiers and infantry of the Civil Rights Movement. Some of their stories from the Movement are well known: six-year-old Ruby Bridges in New Orleans walked through White mobs to attend school—even praying for those jeering at her; the Little Rock Nine; the four little girls killed in the bombing of Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church. Thousands of children were on the frontlines of history. Whether sung or unsung heroes, we owe all of them a debt of gratitude. ... read more »

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 played tapes that seem to corroborate at least some of her allegations about “45.” More importantly, her tapes are evidence that the game captured the hunter. In other words, Omierosie took a page from “45's” book and trusted fewer people than even “45” did. ... read more »

Even as overall graduation rates improve, Black and Hispanic students continue to lag behind that curve. Graduation rates for African American students are 76.4 percentage points—8 percentage points behind the national average—and Latino students are at 79.3 percent. Native American students fare even worse at just 72 percent graduation. Meanwhile, White and Asian students are anywhere from four to six points higher than the national average. ... read more »

If passed, SB 1156 will severely limit the ability of charitable organizations from providing financial assistance to dialysis patients in need. These are the charitable organizations whose financial assistance allows for access to treatment and care for thousands of patients suffering from kidney failure in California, including many minority patients. For these patients, charitable assistance is the sole reason they are able to continue paying for their costly and life-sustaining dialysis treatment. ... read more »

Just over four years ago, on August 9, 2014, 18-year-old Michael Brown was murdered by police officer Darren Wilson. He was shot six times, and might have survived some of the shots, but was fatally wounded when he was shot in the head. Wilson claimed he shot in self-defense, but Michael Brown was unarmed. St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch took his time convening a grand jury and announced in November 2014, three months after Brown's murder, that the grand jury voted not to indict Wilson. ... read more »

A new generation of Democrats, such as New York congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is challenging the party’s establishment, writes Jesse Jackson, and the party’s goal should be to embrace the “moral center.” ... read more »

In a few weeks, the Senate will decide whether a D.C. Circuit Court judge named Brett Kavanaugh should be the nation’s next Supreme Court justice. And from my office window, I can already hear the battle cries. ... read more »

Recently, Vivint Solar—one of the largest sellers of solar panels in this country—was sued in California by a Black employee who alleges that his superiors likened him to a monkey; used a racial epithet against him; and that his coworkers used cardboard boxes to build a fort around their desks that was marked as “White only.” The complainant's lawyer provided pictures of this absurd and abhorrent cardboard façade to the media and The Sacramento Bee published the photo. ... read more »

Without being given much direction, Black youth have seemingly taken matters into their own hands, relative to their future here in America, by strategizing, organizing and mobilizing. ... read more »

It’s a challenging time in the fight for racial equity and justice for anyone paying attention to the status of Black workers in America right now. It’s tiring and depressing.  ... read more »

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