‘Belle:’ What a Movie!
These days, the old saying about “art imitating life” is more commonly applicable to motion pictures rather than old form stage plays. I have had the opportunity to see a lot of movies and consider myself a pretty good judge ...
The Politics of State Mitosis
Since California became a state in 1849, there have been attempts to divide its territory into smaller areas: In those days, the major issue was to have a non-slave state North California, and a slave state South California. That battle ...
Remembering Maya Angelou
Many people will remember Maya Angelou for her phenomenal career. She was a true renaissance woman–an author, teacher, dancer, performer, radio personality and a producer. I will remember her as a sister friend, and a wise “auntie” who didn’t mind ...
Child Watch
“Foster care is not fun for anyone,” says 24-year-old law student Amy Peters, who entered Nebraska’s foster care system at age 12 and remained until she “aged out” at 19.
Dishonoring our vets
The last Monday in May, Memorial Day, was designed to honor those who died in service to our country. It is tragically ironic that around the same time we are honoring and remembering the dead, we are learning about deficiencies ...
The Promise of Colombia
Where do I begin to tell the story of our trade mission to the beautiful nation of Colombia? It had been in the planning stage for more than 14 years. It began when Oscar Gamboa, who works for the government, ...
Indenturing our young people
The young in America are being forced into cruel levels of debt, and this debt is already curbing their life prospects. Its economic effects are damaging to everyone. Yet with Washington frozen, the debt burdens on the young are likely ...
The 60-year journey from segregation
Because I was a horribly ill-behaved child, I found myself shipped from San Francisco to Moss Point, Miss. in August 1969. My mother’s plan was that I’d spend my junior year in high school there and live with my schoolteacher ...
Sixty years after Brown v. Board of Education
Editor’s note: Beverly Daniel Tatum is the president of Spelman College in Atlanta and the author of “Can We Talk About Race?” and “Other Conversations in an Era of School Resegregation.” The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those ...
Boko Haram and the thrust of radical Islam
“In Nigeria, the extremist group Boko Haram conducted a suicide car-bombing in late August against the UN building in Abuja, marking Boko Haram’s first known lethal operation against Westerners.”
The Politics of Troubling African Waters: Part II
’m usually a strong supporter of President Barack Obama. I’m sure when all is said and done, he will go down in history as one of America’s best presidents. Of course, how well the Democrats organize their base to get ...
‘Nodding’ on Nigeria
Years after he stepped down from his presidency, William Jefferson Clinton acknowledged that he should have intervened in the conflict in Rwanda. Hundreds of thousands perished from the genocide that shaped the country. In his zeal for international peace, President ...
Kidnappings highlight need for better U.S. policy toward Nigeria
An outrage against decency—the kidnapping of more than 270 young girls in northeastern Nigeria by the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram—has brought Nigeria international attention, however unwanted.
Fighting Silence
The cold facts stare us in our face: Fact 1: More than 300 girls were abducted from the rural northeast region of Nigeria on April 15 while attending secondary school; 276 are still believed to be held captive.
Cold Winter or Stalled Recovery?
During 2013, the U.S. economy experienced a reasonable level of growth. The 3.4 percent growth rate in the second half of the year represented a solid growth rate, not enough to trickle down to those who live on the periphery ...
