On Dec. 29, 2012, I had the honor of giving a speech on Ujamaa, one of Kwanzaa’s seven principles. Considering the economic woes facing the city of Detroit and particularly its citizens, Ujamaa is one of the most important principles we could recognize. ...

The pres-ident is committed to reforming our gun laws; a working group headed by Vice President Joe Biden is considering a broad agenda. The proposals mentioned, not formally announced yet, already are being strafed by politicians in both parties. Before everyone goes to the barricades, it would be worth trying to have a rational discussion. ...

On Jan. 20 at noon, America’s 44th President Barack Obama will be sworn in for his second term. The public celebration of his inauguration will take place Jan. 21, which is also the legal public holiday celebrating the life of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Many see the public swearing in of the first president who is African American taking place on the same day we celebrate the life of one of the greate ...

“We urge that a comprehensive jobs program be developed and executed by way of a partnership that includes government, the private sector and the nation’s nonprofit community,” the National Urban League wrote in a letter dated Nov. 7, 2012 to President Obama, John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi. The December jobs report has confirmed what urban America has known for a very long time: The “fierce urgency of now” i ...

When then-National Newspaper Publishers Association Chairman Danny Bakewell, Sr. asked me to emcee the Black Press Week luncheon at the National Press Club in 2011, I had no idea I would be witnessing history. At the urging of Wilmington Journal publisher Mary Alice Thatch, the NNPA decided to launch a national campaign to win pardons for the Wilmington Ten, a group of activists who were falsely convicted a ...

The new year begins with a bad hangover from 2012’s inane debate over the “fiscal cliff.” The furious debate focused only on how much damage would be done to the economy and who would pay the price, how much and what would be cut, who would pay higher taxes and who would suffer the most. ...

Congressman John Boehner was re-elected speaker of the House of Representatives with a narrow vote. Needing 218 votes, he barely clinched it with 220. His narrow vote reflects the fact that no Democrat would vote for him and that many Republicans are disillusioned of him. Perhaps it also reflects the fact that he has so poorly comported himself that he does not deserve reelection. ...

WDTW (1310 AM) will be off the air completely as of Dec. 31, 2012. I, like others in this area, look forward to waking up to progressive talk radio and having two stations (WDTW and 1200 AM WCHB) to express our left-of-center opinions and have them be listened to and respected. ...

The unelected emergency financial manager at the Detroit Public Schools system has demonstrated dictatorial characteristics. We must preempt the threat of a financial dictator over the city of Detroit. ...

As a person who strongly believes that Black people spend too much time focusing on politics and not nearly enough on maximizing our individual and collective economic resources, I didn’t do any high-fiving or chest bumping over the re-election of President Obama and the appointment of Rep. Tim Scott as U.S. senator from South Carolina. ...