Politics
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Obama’s Powerful Words on Racial Injustice Should Be Matched by Bold Policy Measures
President Barack Obama’s announcement Monday of the nonprofit group My Brother’s Keeper’s Alliance, during a speech at Lehman College in the Bronx, N.Y., reflects the power of the racial protests and uprisings that have gripped the nation, most recently in Baltimore. With national polls in the wake of urban rebellions indicating Americans are more pessimistic…
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Why Should Ben Carson Care About Black Voters? They Don’t Vote Republican
Black people have an awful lot to say about Ben Carson, even if President Ben Carson is pure fantasy. No reason to think otherwise: The legendary neurosurgeon’s bizarre quest for No. 1 gives us little confidence he’s pulling this one off. His Monday announcement in Detroit (you have got to watch it), including an offbeat circus…
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I Heart Hillary
“President Hillary Rodham Clinton” has a nice ring to it. No matter what’s going on in the ongoing debate over whether or not America is ready for a “third” Clinton term, Clinton fatigue has never been among my afflictions. I’m beyond a Hillary supporter; I’m a fan. And when I think of Hillary Clinton, I…
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Baltimore’s Slow Burn of Poverty and Hopelessness
Among the more annoying habits of a society appalled by social unrest is its casual dis of the poverty that causes it. Discussing, dissecting and debating police violence and the angry reaction to it (now a weekly exercise) is the easy part. But the harder conversation means grappling with the devil in the socioeconomic details.…
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Black Men Are Missing: Tell Us Something We Don’t Know
The tragic and spiraling plight of black men in American society has reached such epic proportions that the national paper of record, the New York Times, is discussing the “disappearance” of African-American men from civil society. “The stigmatization of blackness presents an enormous obstacle,” it notes, “even to small boys.” The editorial, “Forcing Black Men…
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Eric Holder in Pictures
Called the “people’s attorney” by President Barack Obama, Eric Holder has made a lasting legacy in Washington, D.C., and not just by being the first African-American attorney general. As he prepares to step down, here’s a look back at some of his career highlights during his time as attorney general. A Historic First Eric H.…
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Departing Attorney General Eric Holder Was Controversial—and a Black Political Superhero
There’s quite a bit of truth to the old folks’ maxim that if they’re not talking about you, it means you didn’t bring much to the table in the first place. Just ask Eric Holder. You could never be, arguably, the most impactful attorney general since Robert F. Kennedy if your name weren’t mentioned as…
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Confirmation Vote on Loretta Lynch Expected Today
After 166 days of waiting—longer than the last seven nominees for U.S. attorney general combined—Loretta Lynch is expected to finally receive a confirmation vote by the U.S. Senate this afternoon. If she is confirmed, Lynch, 55, would be the first female African-American attorney general in history, and only the second woman to serve as…
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Listen: Michael Eric Dyson’s Interview on His Break With Cornel West
It was personal. In Michael Eric Dyson’s takedown for the New Republic of his friend and mentor Cornel West, he has a come-to-Jesus moment that is neither pretty nor kind, but painfully blunt. The realization comes to Dyson that West is a parody of the intellectual he once was, that his vicious and often personal…