Politics

  • Mr. President, Simply Avoiding Mistakes Is Not a Foreign Policy 

    International crises, ranging from a Malaysia Airlines passenger flight being shot down by Russia-backed Ukrainian separatists to Israel’s escalating military intervention into Gaza, have highlighted the Obama doctrine’s political and policy limitations. And at a time when the world is crying out for bold, decisive leadership from the White House, President Barack Obama has appeared…

  • Cory Booker: 3 Signs the Selfie Senator Has Big Plans

    Jay Z may have waxed himself into hip-hop immortality with “99 Problems,” but Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) is drowning himself in 99 selfies. Somehow the New Jersey-bred genie has maneuvered his legendary social media savvy into political Similac for bipartisanship. Driven either by a pitch for Guinness World Records or genuinely convinced that he can…

  • For African-American Women—and All Women—Let’s Make Every Day Equal Pay Day

    When we talk about the gender pay gap, most of us are already familiar with the fact that women make just 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. While this remains true, not all women are even that fortunate. For African-American women the wage gap is even larger. African-American women make just 64 cents…

  • 46,000 Federal Drug Sentences Could Be Cut

    Almost half of the nation’s 100,000 federal drug inmates could spend less time behind bars following a decision Friday by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, the Washington Post reports. In a unanimous vote, the commission decided that 46,000 federal drug offenders in prison are eligible for reduced sentences, the report says. The decision, the Post says,…

  • If AFSCME Breaks With Black Colleges Over Koch Money, It’s Not Being Principled, It’s Grandstanding

    Let’s say, hypothetically, that a charity that serves veterans, based in my home state of Texas—where 23 percent of folks polled believe that President Barack Obama is Muslim—accepts a sizable donation from the Obama family. But after the Obamas’ donation becomes public, the charity winds up losing significant financial support from some of its conservative…

  • We Stand Together—Black and Brown—for the Young People of Chicago and Central America

    Last week The Root’s Keli Goff wrote about the child refugees fleeing violence and poverty in Central America and seeking refuge at our border. Unfortunately, she argued that we shouldn’t protect these brown children and supports deporting them—while claiming that we have our own black children to care about first, citing recent violence in the streets of…

  • The Children Crossing Our Border Just Want a Better Life—Let’s Treat Them as Our Own

    I’m not sure if people of color in a country like ours can afford to be in the position of looking down on children—undocumented or otherwise—for trying to flee violence in their home countries. And although I can appreciate a different point of view, I see the issue of children from Central America making a…

  • You Want President Obama Impeached, Sarah Palin? For What?

    If you’re familiar with the oeuvre of the late conservative Internet provocateur Andrew Breitbart, you’ll know that he’s remembered among his admirers for the cri de coeur that he offered right before his death: “Apologize for WHAT?” It’s become as much a part of Tea Party lore as Rick Santelli’s CNBC rant or South Carolina…

  • 10 Years in Prison for Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin

    Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin found out at his sentencing on Wednesday that he will spend approximately the next 10 years of his life in prison, USA Today reports. The businessman-turned-politician, who is expected to turn himself in at a federal prison in early September, was also ordered to cough up $82,000 for charges…

  • Yes, Immigrant Kids Are Fleeing Violence, but So Were Kids in Chicago Last Weekend

    Incensed by President Barack Obama’s plan to deport thousands of immigrant children who have arrived in the U.S. illegally in recent months, activists have taken to the streets to chide the president. Many protests have included children. At one, a young boy can be seen carrying a sign that reads, “No deportation of children fleeing…