Commentary

Jesse Hill, Jr., former Publisher of Atlanta Inquirer

Thursday, 20 December 2012 12:28 John B. Smith, Sr., Publisher Atlanta Inquirer

The passing of Jesse Hill, Jr. leaves a huge void in the body politic and societal fabric of Atlanta, the state of Georgia, the nation, and the world. Mr. Hill gave of his seemingly boundless talents and energy to causes great and small that changed the quality of life for communities and individuals alike.

Dear God! When will it stop?

Thursday, 20 December 2012 10:15 Marian Wright Edelman

The horrendous news from Newtown, Connecticut has pierced our hearts. A black-clad man in his 20s armed with two semi-automatic handguns entered the Sandy Hook Elementary School and made an elementary school for kindergartners through fourth graders the scene of the worst mass shooting in a public school in American history. Twenty children were shot and killed. Seven adults were shot and killed. We don’t yet know how many were wounded. We do know dozens of parents are experiencing the worst nightmare any parent could imagine. We do know more than 500 young children in the school are traumatized.

What about Kasandra Perkins?

Friday, 14 December 2012 10:45 Julianne Malveaux, NNPA Columnist

By now, it’s old news that Kasandra Perkins was murdered by Kansas City Chiefs football player Jovan Belcher, who was her boyfriend and the father of her daughter. By now we’ve read about how great a teammate Belcher was, how dedicated to his girlfriend and daughter. We’ve read his hardscrabble story of moving from the University of Maine, hardly a football powerhouse, to a coveted slot in the NFL. Belcher has been humanized, even enshrined, as his friends have talked about him not having a violent bone in his body.

Determined to make a difference

Friday, 14 December 2012 10:41 Marian Wright Edelman

This year New York is facing the worst homeless crisis since the Great Depression. The city homeless population included a record-breaking 42,888 children. The many ways poverty scars a child today and long into the future are well-documented. Children who have to navigate the harsh reality of homelessness on top of poverty often fall through our already porous safety nets and disproportionately drop out of school and then too often drop into the prison pipeline.

Remarks by UN Ambassador Susan E. Rice at Howard University convocation

Friday, 07 December 2012 10:40 Ambassador Susan E. Rice , U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, At Howard University’s 145th Convocation, September 28, 2012.

In my own family, that legacy of oppression overcome weighed on my late father, Emmett Rice. He was a brilliant, proud man-an economics professor a senior official at the Treasury Department and the World Bank, and a Governor of the Federal Reserve Board. But his life of service came despite ferocious odds. My dad grew up between the wars in segregated South Carolina, and he never forgot the sting of separate and unequal.

A smarter way to grade America's High Schools

Wednesday, 05 December 2012 11:11 John Chubb

Everyone agrees that America's high schools need to do a better job of preparing students to be "college- and career-ready." But the big problem is, how do we get them to do that?

Social entrepreneur and 2012 Bush Fellow

Friday, 30 November 2012 10:19 Tene Wells

I am a social entrepreneur and business owner with an office in my home. I live and work in North Minneapolis. I help small businesses, nonprofits and people in my community create wealth.