An appeal for human rights
March 2, 2023As the Children’s Defense Fund proudly reinvigorates its Black Student Leadership Network for Children for a new generation, the close of Black History Month provided one more chance to look back at earlier waves of activism that helped bring us this far on the way. When my Spelman College classmate and fellow Merrill Scholar Roslyn […]
“You either care about protecting kids or you don’t”
February 23, 2023“As we sat at our desks working on our computers, we began to hear loud pops…I thought I was going to die. As I laid there, I begged God to please make it fast…My classmates pulled me behind a filing cabinet where I called my mom and my dad and said what I thought would […]
New dangerous assaults on teaching the truth
February 16, 2023When Florida governor Ron DeSantis and Florida’s Department of Education make headlines for banning the new Advanced Placement African American Studies course from being taught in the state’s schools, saying the class “significantly lacks educational value,” we need to pay very close attention. Florida’s move is the latest front in an ongoing war against teaching […]
Our challenge during Black History Month: Resistance to Ignorance
February 9, 2023Each year the Association for the Study of African American Life and History sets a theme for Black History Month. This year the theme is Black Resistance. It is appropriate for a time such as this because it reflects the work we must do in a climate where there has been active retrenchment of our […]
Teacher shortages in high-poverty schools
February 3, 2023There is no way one can put a price on the value of a child’s education. Dr. Martin Luther King said, “Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.” Dr. King’s words remind us that we must fix the root causes behind […]
Milestones show us where we’ve come from, where we need to go
January 26, 2023Two things happened last week — one public, the other personal — that made me reflect on how far we’ve come as a nation, how we got here, and what it will take to keep that journey moving forward. Maryland, my home state, inaugurated its first Black governor, Wes Moore. It’s a description I thought […]
A new tribute to Dr. and Mrs. King
January 19, 2023To celebrate the holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, the city of Boston has a very special gift: a new memorial was unveiled January 13 in Boston Common, the beautiful public park at the city’s center, honoring Dr. King and his wife, Coretta Scott King. The 22-foot-tall bronze sculpture anchoring the memorial, “The […]
Being the first
January 13, 2023Being the first is a solemn responsibility. I would know as the first Black woman elected to the Greensboro City School Board, and as the first Black woman to represent Charlotte and the Piedmont in Congress. When you’re the first woman, first African American, or the first of any group in a prestigious role, you […]
Ready for our Earth shot
January 6, 2023As we greet 2023, I’m feeling more than the typical seasonal optimism. America is primed once again for a historic achievement, call it our “Earth shot.” In the 1960s and early 1970s, the United States spent the current dollar equivalent of just under $300 billion on “landing a man on the moon and returning him […]
COVID-19’s targeted federal aid led to more Black and Latino homeowners
December 30, 2022In a year fraught with financial challenges, going home for the holidays will have heightened significance this year for many Black and Latino families. New research findings reveal that between 2019 and 2021, a period that included COVID-19 pandemic assistance programs, homeownership among Black and Latino families increased. The increase was due in part to […]
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