'Keep Calm and Carry On?' Not Quite
On my honeymoon in London years ago, an IRA bombing in Regents Park -- across the street from where I was staying -- killed eight soldiers and several horses. A couple of weeks later, my wife and I...
View ArticleThe Death of Kelly Thomas Due to Police Brutality -- A Song by Bryan McPherson
"Kelly Thomas" by Bryan McPherson On Tuesday, January 14, 2014, in an Orange County courtroom in Southern California, a jury laid to rest one of the most publicly controversial episodes of police...
View ArticleOut of the Mouths and Into the Minds: What Children and Dr. Martin Luther...
"Normal is nothing more than a cycle on a washing machine." --Whoopie Goldberg "The most interesting information comes from children." --Mark Twain A day has been set aside in the United States to...
View ArticleThe Real Culture of Income Inequality
Fifty years later and now it looks like Lyndon Johnson's "War on Poverty" wasn't such an abject defeat after all. Several studies have come out to mark the 50th anniversary and make the case that...
View ArticleStone Age Rituals in Modern Society: Let's Move On
The death penalty is difficult justify in any modern civilized society. Forget the obvious left-wing and right wing divide; the issue is greater than partisan politics. A sober evaluation of the costs...
View ArticleClik here to view.
BOTH SIDES NOW: Since Fish Rot From the Head Down, NJ and Fox Have a Problem
By: Mark Green As Bridgegate worsens with 20 subpoenas and a quid-pro-Christie in Hoboken, Alter and Frum discuss whether the Governor lied or merely led a corrupt organization. And has Ailes/Fox...
View Article'America's Most Effective Prophet': Tonal Lessons From Dr. King
James Melvin Washington once wrote that Martin Luther King, Jr., was "America's most effective prophet." He was absolutely right. Among the most enduring legacies in all of American history is the...
View ArticleThe Numbers Don't Lie
As President Barack Obama enters his sixth year in office, the image of a black man against the backdrop of grand marble and the stately appointments of the Oval Office has become quite unremarkable....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dreaming King's Dream Forward: Reflections on America's Psyche
While there are fine essays and books written about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., detailing his words, speeches, history, and impact on American life, law and culture, few focus uniquely on the...
View ArticleDreams Denied: Immigration Bill Would Disproportionately Harm Unemployed...
In anticipation of the January 20 national celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Californians for Population Stabilization launched a television ad that emphasizes that the current Senate and...
View ArticleFlags, Holidays and Heroes
I live in a small southern American community in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley that, in recent years, has struggled with how to simultaneously commemorate the Civil War and civil rights. The...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Shoring the Levy of Civil Rights
On the eve of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a re-post from a friend reminded me what Dr. King actually did. The original post was a very well written piece from Hamden Rice from 2011. A primary point...
View ArticleA Lesson From the Great Debaters: MLK's Dream 50 Years Later
In 1935, Southern Methodist University, an all-white university with ties to the Dallas elite, declined to debate Wiley College, a historically black college made famous in The Great Debaters....
View ArticleDueling Marriage Victories in the Midwest
It's difficult to overstate just how important last week's victory in Oklahoma is. A federal court ruled that preventing same-sex couples from marrying violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dr. King: Social Pioneer
He had a dream.... On August 28th, 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, called for an end to racism in the United States at the now legendary "March on...
View ArticleWhat It Really Means When the Right Attacks Wendy Davis' Bio
A gang of men in Texas are trying to burn State Sen. Wendy Davis on a proverbial stake. Almost as soon as the Davis campaign announced that, over the final six months of 2013, they had raised more...
View ArticleHonoring Dr. King the Man, Not the Icon
Dr. Martin Luther King was a transformational leader who inspired our nation and bent the arc of history toward justice. When we remember Dr. King only by his greatest victories and quotations,...
View ArticleChris Christie: The End Game
Let me go out on a limb here. Chris Christie will not run for president, and he is very likely not to serve out his term as governor of New Jersey. The reason is very simple. Given everything we know...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The History of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the F.B.I.
Most years, I celebrate the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Junior's birthday by reprinting excerpts of his speeches, in an attempt to combat the continued watering-down of his legacy into nothing...
View Article