Race matters in the United States, and virtu­ally throughout the world. Throughout U.S. history, race and racial conflict shaped and reshaped the categories into which all identities were classified. Since its beginning, the ra­cial struggles at the heart of U.S. society created the nation’s politics and cul­ture. Winnant argues that although race matters, it is as problematic a concept today as ever. He calls the current period one of “uni­versal racial dualism.” ... read more »

“It is confidence in the men and women who administer the judicial system that is the true backbone of the rule of law.” — Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, 531 U.S. 98, Bush v. Gore [Dissent], December 12, 2000 ... read more »

But if there is any legacy or uplifting lessons left by the 60s, it is that we must resist these new forms of unfreedom and falsification of history and continue to wage struggles of liberation on every level of life. For these struggles are clearly the indispensable way we understand, free and fulfill ourselves and the aspirations of our ancestors.  Indeed, these are struggles demanded by our inherent right to freedom, our natural need for justice and our irrepressible longing for a liberated life. And it is a struggle for and longed for life that yields ordinary and special spaces in which the human spirit is nurtured and constantly renewed, and we and other human beings know ourselves as sacred and at the center and subject of every day and hour of history we make. ... read more »

Kofi Annan made his transition in August. The seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations, he worked up from the lower ranks (starting at age 24) of the international organization, to serve as head of peacekeeping operations, and four years into his term as UN Secretary-General, earning the Nobel Peace Prize. ... read more »

President Trump led the outcry against the protesters, slurring any player who takes a knee as a “son of a bitch.” The league owners panicked. One result was that Kaepernick — one of the most talented quarterbacks in a league that suffers a shortage of skilled players in that position — found himself locked out of a job. ... read more »

When I think about faith, I can share the faith I had to have while my mom and I were homeless. We had to rely on faith as our daily food. ... read more »

If you could choose one artist to embody the African American experience of the 20th century, it would have to be the incomparable Miss Aretha Franklin. ... read more »

If you leave aside for a moment the horrendous assaults that Trump and his Republican allies have been conducting against American workers and their unions, it is still difficult to see how Trump’s views on trade are helping American workers. ... read more »

For years, and particularly in recent months, major news outlets have heralded the nation’s robust economic recovery. From rising corporate profits, to lower unemployment, or rising stock prices on Wall Street, many consumers might conclude that financial stability not only returned after the Great Recession but continues to climb. ... read more »

Many Blacks, perhaps most, initially considered challenging Obama’s decisions sacrilegious, and   more than a few continued to regard him as an icon to be neither properly                                           critiqued nor criticized. Although   increasingly concerned with his decisions, Blacks also needed to be concerned about ineffective Black leadership in general, especially in light of the daunting challenges in the 21st century. ... read more »

Omarosa Manigault Newman, the president’s former aide, claims there is a tape of him using the vile racial slur. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said she “can’t guarantee” that a tape doesn’t exist. Trump tweeted, “I don’t have that word in my vocabulary.” The press pursued the question as if this would establish for one and for all whether Trump is a racist. ... read more »

Even without understanding it in the depth that would come later, we were in, 1965, a new generation building on centuries of sacrifice and struggles of all those who preceded us, those who cleared firm and sacred ground on which we stood and still stand and who opened essential and upward ways on which we would continue the unfinished struggle for liberation and ever higher levels of human life. In speaking of this history, Mary McLeod Bethune told us we are heirs and custodians of a great legacy," but we were not always able to recognize and rightfully respect the historical and cultural ties of life and struggle that bound us with each preceding generation. ... 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 »

Today’s increasingly competitive global economy requires and recruits those who are highly-skilled and knowledgeable. People understand and accept that higher education is a means to become employable, marketable, and competitive. ... read more »