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We cannot accept mass murder
Once more the horror. Three mass shootings in California – 11 killed at a ballroom dance hall in Monterey Park, seven killed at Half Moon Bay, and a week earlier, a 16-year-old mother and four others shot in a California farming community – are tragic and grotesquely routine. The savage beating and murder of Tyre Nichols by five Memphis police officers was criminal, and one more incidence of police brutality that too often is unleashed on African American men.
Our Democracy Depends On a Free and Fair Vote
In North Carolina, the State Board of Elections has thrown out the election results in its 9th congressional district for fraudulent activity -- probably the first time in U.S. history this has happened. The fraud was committed by a campaign, not by voters, and by a Republican, not a Democrat. For years, Republicans have campaigned for voting restrictions claiming, as Donald Trump has repeatedly, that voter fraud is widespread. In fact, it's not ineligible voters distorted election results, but rather the fraudulent efforts of an embattled Republican Party to rig the rules that has led to election irregularities.
Prince of Peace Summons the Better Angels of Our Nature
On Tuesday, hundreds of millions celebrated Christmas across the country and around the world. For many, the holiday is a joyous time: Families gather, music in the air, lights drape trees and lampposts; presents are exchanged; blessings are shared.
Christmas Is Literally the Mass for Christ, Marking the Birth of Jesus
On Friday, millions of people across the world will celebrate Christmas. Here and abroad, safety -- staying home, social distancing, wearing masks, being sensible -- requires limits on the gatherings and parties. Yet the bells still ring, music is in the air, lights on homes and lampposts shine, blessings are still shared. For too many, this holiday is a difficult time: the cold and hungry, those separated from families, those alone or imprisoned or sick.
RIP Frank Watkins
When we think about movements that change the course of history, we naturally think of their leaders. Yet every movement is dependent on unsung heroes - creative, dedicated and passionate people who devote their energy to the cause, beneath the glare of the camera. With the passing of Frank Watkins this week, RainbowPush lost one of the greatest of its heroes - and I lost a piece of my soul. Frank was more than a friend; he was my brother for 52 years in the struggle.
Anniversary of Selma Reminds Us of How Democracy Is Defended
Politicians for both parties loudly praise the courage of Ukrainians defending their democracy from the Russian invasion. Yet, bipartisan defense of democracy disappears when the question is democracy at home. March 7 marked the 57th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, when the police attack of a peaceful march of Blacks seeking the right to vote in Selma, Alabama, stirred the outrage that led to passage of the Voting Rights Act. Today the right to vote is once more in question.
The Fraudulent 'voter fraud' Commission
There's a branch in philosophy called epistemology that deals with the theory of knowledge. How do we know what we know? How do we know what is true? What is believable? And what are the criteria we use to tell whether something is true or not? Considering his constant refrain of "fake news," maybe President Donald Trump should enroll in such a course.
Those Who Do Nothing On Gun Control Fail Our Children
The United States is failing in what surely is the first duty of government -- protecting our children from threats that they cannot deal with themselves. Voters and politicians are failing our children.
Simple justice: The Tulsa Massacre, Restitution and Reparations
On its 100th anniversary, the 1921 massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma has finally come to national attention. The history of the massacre is now known. The damage inflicted clear. The question is what is to be done to repair the damage?
Racial gerrymandering and the GOP House win
There is a bitter fruit from the 2022 congressional elections: the bare majority Republicans won in the House of Representatives is the direct result of racial gerrymandering. A new Jim Crow is back, empowered - as was the original Jim Crow - by partisan right-wing justices on the Supreme Court. Americans voted for democracy in 2022, even as the Supreme Court voted to undermine it.
Right-wing SCOTUS justices are not acting alone
The right-wing gang of six justices on the Supreme Court just ruled that affirmative action in university admissions at Harvard and the University of North Carolina violates the Constitution. Do not be fooled. This ruling is not limited to the elite universities that seek to ensure diversity in their student bodies. It is not limited to education. The right-wing majority on the Court is escalating war on the reconstruction that was launched by the civil rights movement.
Donald Trump's Dangerous Delusions On Police Brutality
Donald Trump often seems more shock jock than president. He likes to shock, say or tweet outrageous things, prove that he's not just another politician. But now he is president; his words have impact, and his posturing can be dangerous.
After Harvey And Irma, We Must Rebuild Responsibly
We have suffered brutal direct hits. Over half of the state of Florida is without power, in the dark. It is too soon to know what the losses are. Houston, America's fourth largest city, suffered the most extreme rain event in U.S. history. Casualties are mounting; damages are estimated at a staggering $125 billion.
New Generation of Protest Holds Great Promise for America
The inspiring rise of a new generation protesting against racial injustice is driving a new era of change in America, like the generation that emerged 60 years ago to build the civil rights movement of that time. July 16, 1960 is marked in my memory: that is the day I joined seven other friends to walk into the whites-only Greenville Library, and be arrested for violating the segregation laws.
The New Jim Crow
In Georgia, Donald Trump's big lie that the election was stolen has now been turned into bad law -- an election law designed to make it harder for minorities and the young to vote. This is, as President Joe Biden stated, the new Jim Crow a blatant attempt by Republicans to suppress votes so they can hold onto power.
A Continuing Terror, The Murder of Ahmaud Arbery
Today there is a national outcry about the murder of Ahmaud Arbery. The public condemnation has forced a belated response. Those accused of his murder have finally been arrested. His murder has become a global embarrassment for whites. For blacks, however, it is another humiliation, a continuing terror. It is the normal silence, however, that condemns thousands of African Americans to unjust deaths and millions to shattered lives. When the camera turns away, the savage injustice that embarrasses us becomes simply business as usual.
Remembering Brown v. Board of Education
Last Sunday marked the 66th anniversary of the landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision, Brown vs. the Board of Education. The Brown decision addressed consolidated issues from four different cases involving racial segregation. The issues emanated from Kansas, South Carolina, Delaware, and Virginia. The unanimous opinion of the court was written by Earl Warren, Republican President Dwight Eisenhower's newly appointed chief justice. The Court declared that forced segregation of public-school children violated the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and was therefore unconstitutional.
The Right to Vote Is the Essential Foundation of Democracy
The right to vote is the essential foundation of democracy. Yet today, across America, there is a systematic campaign by one party to curtail the right to vote, targeted particularly at minorities and the young. As the Brennan Center for Justice reports, Republicans have introduced more than 250 legislative bills in 43 states that would make voting more difficult.
The Right to Vote Again Under Siege
The fundamental right in a democracy -- the right to vote -- is once more under siege. In state after state, across the country, Republican legislators have introduced literally hundreds of bills designed to suppress voting.
How Trump and Company Are Gutting Protections
Trump's serial scandals -- Stormy Daniels, the Russian investigation, the Paul Manafort verdict, the Cohen guilty plea, the juvenile tweets -- fill the headlines. Beneath the noise, however, Trump's appointees and the Republican Congress are relentlessly pursuing a radical right-wing agenda that is gutting basic protections for workers, consumers and the environment.
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