By JoAnn Watson The state of Michigan claims that “establishing Belle Isle as a state park provides financial relief to Detroit … brings … restoration and enhancements to the park, and guarantees a beautiful place for Michigan residents to enjoy for decades to come.” However, the proposed lease guarantees zero dollars in compensation to the city of Detroit for a 30-year lease of Belle Isle with two automati ...

By Julianne Malveaux Trice Edney News Wire We have learned that African American unemployment rates stayed level last month with an absurdly high official unemployment rate of 14.1 percent. Unemployment rates for African American men fell, while those for African American women rose. These rates are way too high and understate the extent of pain that exists in the African American community. The philosopher ...

By Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Trice Edney News Wire Nearly 50 million Americans now are in poverty. One in four children will grow up in impoverished households. Redressing poverty is a national emergency and a moral imperative. In our money-drenched political debate, the poor receive little attention. Yet, they could be the key swing vote in this election. Mitt Romney invoked the poor as part of his attack on B ...

By Harry C. Alford NNPA Sometimes the best intentions can be shattered by unforeseen consequences. Such is the case with the Washington, D.C.’s Department of Small and Local Business Development. One of its missions is to increase the participation of D.C.-based businesses, particularly small and minority-owned firms. It has become popular for this department to encourage minority/majority joint venture con ...

By George E. Curry NNPA #15 — Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (Mo.): “Congress is unable to do the work of the American people because too many politicians believe that compromise means capitulation. This must change, because just as bees cannot sting and make honey at the same time, members of Congress cannot simultaneously make passionate enemies and expect political progress.” #14 — Rep. Barney Frank (Mass.): “When ...

By Julianne Malveaux NNPA The 2012 Democratic National Convention was an exuberant celebration of President Obama, his accomplishments and the many ways his presidency has made us better off than we were four years ago. Between a stirring and incandescent speech by First Lady Michelle Obama and an impassioned charge by former President Bill Clinton, the delegates were roused and the pressure was high for Pr ...

Reality Check By A. Peter Bailey Trice Edney News Wire The only speaker whose performance I watched at the Republican National Convention was that of former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. I mainly wanted to see the spin she would deliver to her brothers and sisters from another mother. I actually laughed when she said that though her father couldn’t take her to the local movie theatre because of ...

By George E. Curry NNPA The primary goal of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. this week is to highlight the sharp contrast between the policies of President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, his Republican opponent. In the past, political conventions were used to count delegates to determine each party’s respective presidential nominee. That has changed in recent years, with the ballot outco ...

CHILDWATCH By Marian Wright Edelman NNPA “I often say to people who come to the Schomburg that the crisis of today is a consequence of not one, but two generations born after the Civil Rights Movement who have been deliberately kept from their history.” — Khalil Gibran Muhammad, June 2012 When Khalil Muhammad speaks, people listen. He is a scholar, historian and the director of the New York Public Library’s ...

By Julianne Malveaux NNPA The Republican National Convention’s theme was “We Built This.” One of the speakers was Sher Valenzuela, a Delaware businesswoman who happens to be Latina. She touted the success of her upholstery business and implied it thrived because of her hard work. That’s only partly true. She also thrived because she started out with a $2 million loan from the Small Business Administration, ...