Politics

Since late afternoon on Jan. 12, images of human suffering in Haiti have been at once wrenching and overwhelming. One senses the need and feels compelled to help in the moment, confident that every little bit helps. When the lens pulls back, the enormity of the challenge takes on intimidating dimensions. The reality that many…

DOWN TO THE WIRE TO REPLACE TED The U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts has become a referendum on President Obama’s health care reform plan. Voters went to the polls today to elect a replacement for Sen. Edward “Ted” Kennedy and what had been viewed as a routine election has turned into a close race with…

Three days after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that sent Haiti from a developing nation to a flattened one, President Barack Obama addressed a statement directly to the people of Haiti: “You will not be forsaken, you will not be forgotten.” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who cut short a trip to Southeast Asia and traveled…

The pantheon of historic African-American leadership is full of brilliant and courageous individuals who sacrificed personal gain to enrich the lives of others. From Harriet Tubman and Nat Turner, to Ida B. Wells and Martin Delaney, Mary McCleod-Bethune and Frederick Douglass, all the way to Medgar Evers and Fannie Lou Hamer, black leadership has been…

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a man that was moved by the spirit to move a nation toward a better way of life. Dr. King was a man that used his connection to the Holy Spirit to dare to have the dream. At the same time, my fellow Americans, he also had action items, and…

America’s jobs crisis is hurting everyone. But for African-American communities, it’s a catastrophe. Unless America takes immediate steps to create jobs now—jobs where the people are—the damage will become even more entrenched, threatening generations of African Americans. So many of the communities we live in were in economic freefall before this recession even started. The…

An arresting Damon Winter photo of a Haitian child graces the cover of the Sunday New York Times. A boy of about 10 wearing a bright red, oversized Polo shirt is caught mid-stride by the camera, dashing through the streets of Port-au-Prince, eyes gazing purposely ahead, gripping a white plastic bag. The caption gives a…

Haitian-born hip-hop star Wyclef Jean has launched a vigorous defense of his foundation, the Wyclef Jean Foundation, also known as Yéle Haiti. The foundation was the subject of criticism  over the weekend after the celebrity web site The Smoking Gun published documents indicating that a large part of the foundation’s expenses have been payments to…

1492: Dec. 5, Columbus lands on a large island he names Isla Española (Spanish Island), later changed to Hispaniola. It is inhabited by Taino and Arawak Indians. 1503: First Africans brought to Hispaniola for labor after pleas from a Spanish priest who wants to save the Indians from extinction. 1592: Spanish governor executes Queen Anacaona,…

Somali terrorists tried to blow up Barack Obama’s inauguration. Internet yahoos threatened to “lay him out in a box.” He requested Secret Service protection for himself earlier than any presidential candidate in history. And on Christmas, the botched plane bombing by a Nigerian allegedly claiming al-Qaida affiliation exposed America’s security vulnerabilities like never before. Nevertheless,…