-
The Problem Is the Abuse of ‘Broken Windows,’ Not the Policy
The irrepressible “broken windows” debate is a battle between two camps: the scientific one that questions whether it works and the practical one of old-fashioned common sense. But in the movement to do away with broken windows, let’s not get comfortable with the notion that we suddenly don’t need police in communities that still need a police…
-
The Root’s 7 People to Watch in 2015
In 2015, rubber will meet road as a new Republican-dominated Congress convenes, state legislatures open for business, and the grind of political process forces fresh legislative and legal decisions. Of course, there will be countless players on the field. The Root narrows it down to seven; nothing biblical or metaphysical about that number, just a…
-
2015 Predictions: Will Protest Reach Its Promise and Hillary Clinton Decide to Run?
It’s that time of the year to start making sense of the next: predictions. And there is no subject about which this timeworn tradition is as corny but necessary as politics. As one year of agendas, elections and narratives closes, another year dogs us with uncertainty and nervousness. In the end-of-year reflections, we force ourselves…
-
A Black Man Says Good Riddance to 2014
When 2015 arrives with its usual Times Square revelry, you might find one group celebrating harder than the rest: black men. With a relentless string of tragedies and disappointments befalling brothers, 2014 will stand out as a particularly morbid year. Black male deaths at the hands of men in blue hit headlines with dizzying frequency:…
-
As Conservatives Gear Up for a Crackdown, Some Advice for the Movement
As a nation ingests the tragic double slayings of two Brooklyn, N.Y., police officers, there’s little shortage of hot-headed Republican pols in open search of fresh liberal bogeymen to blame. With a resurrected civil rights movement now in our midst, we should have seen this coming. A perfect storm is brewing: A familiar, and mostly…
-
Something’s Got to Give When Grand Juries Aren’t Working in Police-Violence Cases
Should we just get rid of grand juries altogether? That’s a big question many folks are rightly asking, from average citizens marching through streets for justice on freezing days to thought leaders and activists searching for next steps as frustrations boil over. The question isn’t new, either, especially in discussions of police brutality, misconduct and excessive force.…
-
Medicaid Fight: Why So Many Black Folks Are Stlll Uninsured
It’s no secret that we’re witnessing a reverse black exodus to the South, forced by recession, gentrification, reconnected family ties and hipster racism. Yet while three-quarters of black population growth in the U.S. is happening in the heart of Dixie, the health care numbers show a different story: It’s also home to the highest rates of…
-
5 Things You Should Know About the US-Cuba Breakthrough
In a stunning display of mic-dropping, post-midterm comeback, days before the holiday recess set in, President Barack Obama announced the first massive thaw in tensions between the United States and Cuba in more than half a century. The implications of the move are, no doubt, enormous and far-reaching. Not only did the embattled POTUS completely…
-
The CIA Torture Report: Tell Us Something We Didn’t Already Know
It’s not as if state-sanctioned torture is anything new. Include the last 400-odd years of black victimization and you just created a library exclusively devoted to the subject. So when the Senate Intelligence Committee recently dropped its findings on brutal CIA “interrogation techniques,” watching the outrage from pundits and politicians was like struggling through a badly…
-
In the Next Congress, Will Obamacare Really Be in Danger?
We’re not even halfway to the next presidential election cycle, and here we go again: Obamacare. Forcing that derisive nickname down our throats, Republicans are pushing President Barack Obama’s signature legislative achievement as their primary political target in the new Congress, while Democrats are too scared to own it—leaving the American public scratching their heads…
