How people bury their dead tells you something about who and what they valued in life. African American cemeteries are few and far between because often, after Reconstruction and during the era of Jim Crow and segregation, black property was confiscated or destroyed, and sometimes Black cemeteries were covered over to make room for highways and urban development. This makes the presence and preservation of Oberlin Cemetery in Raleigh, NC very special and very necessary.

Ef...

How ironic.

Almost a month ago I participated in the 2016 Carolinas Climate Resilience Conference hosted by Carolinas Integrated Sciences and Assessments. None of us could have predicted Hurricane Matthew would strike the Carolinas. And yet, we shouldn’t be surprised. The effects of global warming and the consequences of radical climate change is a fact. All weather these days is affected by climate disruption. And right after the last presidential debate, David Leonhardt, i...

What really happened during the Sept. 26 debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump?

Lester Holt allowed himself be intimidated by all the pre-media critiques and let Trump have his way. Why not just tell the man, “no” when he kept inserting his comments or take it out of his time for the next response? Instead, Trump was allowed to continue his political strategy of verbal bullying, non sequitur logic and making inappropriate sounds when his opponent spoke.

Without ...

This commentary is part four of a four part series on racism and the over-policing of African-Americans and other people of color. America is not ready for a Kumbaya moment.

And Black and Brown people who are experiencing racism can’t “get over it.” Racism is real. White privilege is real. And these ideologies and practices and structures that have shaped American culture for centuries – and continue today to do so – impact our lives as Black and Brown people in large an...

This commentary is part three of a four part series on racism and the over-policing of African-Americans and other people of color.

Peacefully protesting the injustices by the police towards Black suspects (who have not been convicted of a crime) and seeking equal treatment under the law is the right of every American citizen.

Black Lives Matter cannot be held responsible for the actions of individuals who may use the cover of protests for their own agenda. And it is wrong for law ...

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“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead
NEW YORK –Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith, one of entertainment’s power couples are changing the world (or at least a small segment of it) with the launch of Careers in Entertainment (CIEAccording to Will Smith, the Sept. 21 launch was a simple case of following his grandmother’s advice to “put your money where your...

Racism is not a genetic disorder;
Racism is not a virus.
Racism is not innate.
Racism is learned behavior that is supported by laws and systems.
Racism is the systematic exclusion of one group of people by another group of people from access to strategic resources and the rights of citizenship rooted in the erroneous belief that skin color and “race” ( and today you...

This commentary is part one of a four part series on racism and the over-policing of African-Americans and other people of color.

In mid-July, I was sitting in a truck stop in Jackson, Miss., listening to President Obama’s message to the nation; filled with heart-felt sorrow and pearls of wisdom over the killing of five police officers in Dallas.

Next to me was a table of retired men who congregate to pass the time. They were in their 70s, possibly older. What drew my attention was the realit...

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Amazing what you can find in Iowa.
From July 6 – July 12, nearly 120 Black women law faculty from across the nation descended upon Iowa City, Iowa to attend the 10th Annual Commemorative Lutie A. Lytle Black Women Law Faculty Workshop at the University of Iowa College of Law. 
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Original post: 18 July 2016

Such a conclusion also raises further questions about the Grand Jury ruling that exonerated Darren Wilson in the death of Michael Brown. Be...

The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) Foundation held a ground-breaking summit “Best Practices in STEM” with a Fiber Optics inventor, two NASA Roboticists and a women�...

“There is no American History without Black American History.” Lonnie Bunch, Director, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC)
If it is true that there can be no American history without Black American history, then it is also true that there can be no history of science in America without recognition of the contributions that Africans, African Americans and Hispanics have made to the development of science, technology, engineering and math. Yet these c...

Founded 76 years ago, the NNPA serves as the trade organization for 205 member Black publications and media outlets located across the United States from the nation’s capital of Washington, DC to California.
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Valentine’s Day, Dia de São Valentim (Brazil), or Dia dos Namorados (Latin America) is believed to be connected to the Roman holiday Lupercalia celebrated to ward off evil spirits and purify ...

On hearing the announcement that Julian Bond had passed on to the ancestors, I knew greatness had left us. The event gave me pause and I tried to remember when I first found myself in the sphere of influence of this great American leader. 

People often ask me why I travel. And it's only after I return home that I can truthfully answer that question. Perhaps, like the Eurythmics' lyrics suggest, I am looking for something. And that is true, then what?

Travel, for me, is an adventure. It...

Yes, I admit to rocking a Donna Summer in my afro “do” with bell bottomed jeans, and platform shoes. I even do the Hustle on occasion, if the right jam plays.

The death of the sultry “Queen of Disco” on May 18, 2012 is a different kind of tragedy than that of songstress Whitney Houston.  Donna Summer succumbed to death after losing her battle with lung cancer at age 63.  The singer believed that the cause of her illness was “inhaling toxic particles” after 9/11, according to ...

Irma McClaurin with Dive Master Eric Wederfoort. Photo Credit: ©2011 McClaurin Solutions
 My first memory of moving underwater wasn't real. At 8 years, old I participated in a special science summer program for what we would now call "gifted" children; I wrote a play in which the setting was the sea. The main character was a young girl who finds a seahorse that takes her on a magical journey underwater.

Never mind that I had not even visited the ocean or the sea, and never mind that I...

“First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because

I was not a Jew.  Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak out

because I was not a Communist. …Then they came for me

and there was no one left to speak out for me.”

I am always haunted by these words of Rev. Fredrich Gustav Emil Martin Niemöller, delivered in his last sermon before he was incarcerated by the Nazis in 1937.  They are a reminder of how fragile freedom is, and a warning of what can happe...