In 2021, the bill to award gold medals to the U.S. Capitol Police officers who responded to the Jan. 6 insurrection passed, despite 21 GOP lawmakers voting against it. The Congressional Gold Medal is Congress’s highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished contributions made by individuals. Surprisingly, party members that pride themselves as supporters of […]

There is an African proverb that says “women hold up half the sky.” Women constitute half the world’s population, but still have not realized half of the world’s potential, received half of the world’s resources, or exercised half of the world’s power. But women have always been the invisible backbone—unseen but strong—of transforming social movements […]

As 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 […]

“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 […]

When 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 […]

Each 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 […]

There 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 […]

Two 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 […]

To 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 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 […]

As 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 […]

In 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 […]

I will not be silent on the issues of racial hatred, violence and prejudice. I am speaking out publicly in support of the recent call by billionaire African American business leader and philanthropist, Robert F. Smith, to stand up against the resurgence of racism and antisemitism in America. Blacks and Jews in the United States […]

In September, lawmakers in Washington rushed through major legislation that would reward massive, legacy media corporations at the expense of smaller community-focused and minority-owned newspapers. While the Journalism Competition Preservation Act (JCPA) is meant to protect publications like those in the National Newspaper Publishers Association, it would ultimately threaten our ability to inform our communities, […]

I am angry at the chorus of armchair pundits who created a dominant media narrative around the red wave with little evidence of it. I’m furious about that because for those of us who do the work on the ground to persuade [people] to vote, it was actually a challenging narrative environment when voters and […]

As I write this, the final few races are being called in the midterm elections that were held weeks ago. It’s clear that that the House will be closely divided, with Republicans holding a very small majority. History shows that in midterm elections, the party that doesn’t hold the presidency typically gains a lot of […]

A lot of good news came out of this month’s elections—and enough bad news to remind us that we can never let our guard down when freedom and democracy are at stake. This year, democracy itself was on the ballot, and voters made an important down payment on its future. In 2020, Americans voted not […]

As the dust settles on the midterm elections and the warnings of a “Red Wave” evaporate, it’s time to take a deep breath and take stock of what we’ve learned. There are many takeaways from the elections this year – and here are a few that top the list for me. If there’s one thing […]

One of the great joys of my life is teaching. I’m fortunate to teach classes on social justice at the University of Pennsylvania, one of the most respected schools in the country. Penn has a longstanding commitment to affirmative action, and I have seen first-hand how diversity in the classroom benefits all my students. There’s […]

As extreme weather caused floods in Kentucky, collapse of the water system in Jackson Mississippi, and the savage destruction of central Florida – to say nothing of fires and drought and a growing water shortage in the West – we ought to agree on two simple realities: America faces a growing challenge from both catastrophic […]