Bill de Blasio Knows: Affordable Housing is a Civil Right
Sixty years after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of school integration, a review by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) found that "Schools remain segregated today because neighborhoods in which they...
View ArticleAn Unexpected Meeting on the Campaign Trail
Knocking on doors is not the favorite activity for most candidates; few in my district do it much at all. It's probably only slightly more pleasurable for many than fundraising-call time. I, however,...
View Article'Injustice Anywhere': A Philadelphia Story of Justice Denied
It's now been more than six years since the night that Dagma Rodriguez, a 33-year mother of three from the rugged neighborhood of West Kensington, said that she was sexually assaulted. Her assailant,...
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Michael, Moms, and the NRA
Michael Bloomberg, the mega-rich former Mayor of New York, announced last month he's spending $50 million bucks to fight the NRA with an army of moms. He spent $12 million last year trying to get...
View ArticleMothers Are Feminists Too
Mothers are feminists too. Why would anyone doubt that? Back in 2012, a debate in the New York Times was printed under the headline, "Motherhood vs. Feminism." Really? We have to make a choice? Writing...
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The Hedge Fund that Ate Chicago
There's a battle royale raging in Chicago. It pits hedge funds, the Chicago financial exchanges, real estate interests and Mayor Rahm Emanuel on the one side, against public employee unions and...
View ArticleA Mother's Place Is in the House (and Senate)
Sunday marks 100 years since President Woodrow Wilson signed a resolution recognizing Mother's Day as we know it today. What has become synonymous with heartfelt cards, floral bouquets, and brunch...
View ArticleSleepless in Europe
At the height of her political dominance, Mrs. Margaret Thatcher famously portrayed sleep as another form of inefficiency. Given that her political ideology turned on combating inefficiency with the...
View ArticleThe Gay Community Is Fighting Godzilla With a Slinky Toy
Wednesday night, I fell into an awful, soul-numbing depression. Two very mild tranquilizers and a short nap later, I can finally articulate why. It's simple really. The lgbt community is fighting...
View ArticleThe Opportunity Gap
In the spring of 1954, like so many Black families, mine waited anxiously for the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision. My father and I talked about it and what it would mean for my...
View ArticleWomen Rights and Gender Equality
Last week, in a speech marking Women's Day, President Hassan Rouhani made international headlines by condemning any form of sexual discrimination and advocating for equal opportunities and rights for...
View ArticleCommon Core -- Curriculum or Not?
So is the Common Core a national curriculum or not? The Common Core is not a national curriculum, because it is not a curriculum at all. It is only a set of standards, and that's completely different...
View ArticleOhio Rights Group Feels Good About Signature Gathering Efforts
Campaigners for legalizing marijuana for medical dedications in Ohio believe they've successfully gathered more than enough signatures that are required in order to have their measure placed on...
View ArticleBenghazi ad Nauseam.
As an American citizen, I feel lucky to be able to voice my concern and write about the issues haunting me as a human being. One thing in the news of late is the continuing debate over the events that...
View ArticleChina Tests American Resolve: More Trouble in the South China Sea
"What would America fight for?" exclaimed The Economist, as it cautioned the Obama administration against strategic retreat and neo-isolationism. It dismissed President Obama's foreign policy as a...
View ArticleThe Best Mother's Day Gift We Can Give: A More Secure Social Security
When my mother was born in 1908, women didn't have the right to vote--that right wasn't won until 1920. My mother was fairly ambitious for someone of her era. Certified to teach music and working as a...
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The Russia/Ukraine Mess Is More Than Just Putin
A lot of people in the Washington foreign policy establishment are asking a simple question: what is Russian President Vladimir Putin thinking? Only a select few within Putin's inner sanctum can...
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Friday Talking Points -- Benghazi Frenzy!
OK, I fully admit I wrote that headline with the express purpose of putting two "Z" words next to each other, just because. I did (in my own defense) reject "Lazy-Crazy Benghazi Frenzy!" as too...
View ArticleTurn the Talking Points into Far-Reaching Action on Climate
The most important news of the week had nothing to do with celebrities behaving badly or who will occupy the White House after President Obama. The most important news this week is about the precarious...
View ArticleJeb's Love Revolution
Hillary Clinton's January 2017 coronation has been complicated by Jeb Bush's love revolution --his recent, public, admission that the undocumented among us are not all criminal miscreants. The former...
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