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Sale of 1st and Only Black-Owned Public TV Station a Wake-Up Call on Media Diversity
The possible loss of Howard University’s PBS affiliate could be a tipping point toward the extinction of black-owned broadcast media, but the Federal Communications Commission has no sense of urgency to fix the problem. That’s not hyperbole. For years, the FCC has watched female and minority ownership of broadcast stations dwindle without much concern for…
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The Voting Rights Act Is 50 Years Old Today. Is It on the Agenda for the Republican Debate?
Tonight’s first Republican presidential debate for the 2016 election falls on the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. Will the Grand Old Party’s candidates blow yet another shot to embrace one of the most popular laws of our time? Every four years we see a new media cycle about the Republican National Committee’s efforts to…
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Supreme Court, Don’t Gut the Fair Housing Act
Before former Sen. Edward Brooke (R-Mass.) died earlier this month, one of his final acts of advocacy was an effort to save the Fair Housing Act—and the Supreme Court should pay close attention to Sen. Brooke’s defense of this landmark legislation as it considers the future of this law. Sen. Brooke was the first African…
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Why Majority Whip Steve Scalise Should Meet With Civil Rights Leaders
Last week, Marc Morial of the National Urban League and I sent a letter to Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, asking him to meet with us to explain his 2002 speech to the white supremacist, anti-Semitic European-American Unity and Rights Organization and to discuss ways to work together for the good of all Americans, regardless…
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Protect Our Communities From Predatory Payday Lenders
For millions of Americans, the financial crisis that robbed them of their homes, retirement savings and jobs is still in full swing. The urgent need to build and rebuild lost wealth is daunting, especially because predatory payday lenders have made it their mission to supercharge debt for the already downtrodden. They do this by trapping…
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Reform Phone Rates for Inmates' Families
(Special to The Root) — After more than 10 years of advocacy, the Federal Communications Commission is finally going to take a stand on the predatory phone rates charged to the families of prisoners. On Friday the FCC will vote on a proposal to reform these rates. The details of the order are not yet…
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Blacks Should Stand With Gays on Marriage Equality
In a Baltimore Sun op-ed, Wade Henderson, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, argues that while the stories of oppression and injustice against gays are different from those of black people, they are just as valid. He says that is why both groups should fight together for civil rights,…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
