Freddy, Jimmy And Marty: In Celebration Of The American Counter-Voice

Our nation’s first black president will be inaugurated on Dr. King’s holiday; Myrlie Evers, wife of slain Mississippi human rights activist Medgar Evers, will be giving the invocation. We must remember the American counter-voices that made Barack Obama’s presidency possible.   E Pluribus Unum … Out of many we are one The preamble of the […]

Edward Rhymes
By Edward Rhymes
In this combination of file photos, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. speaks at a peace rally in New York on April 15, 1967, left, and President Barack Obama speaks at an election night party in Chicago after winning a second term in office on Nov. 7, 2012. (AP Photo, File)

Our nation’s first black president will be inaugurated on Dr. King’s holiday; Myrlie Evers, wife of slain Mississippi human rights activist Medgar Evers, will be giving the invocation. We must remember the American counter-voices that made Barack Obama’s presidency possible.   E Pluribus Unum … Out of many we are one The preamble of the

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21st Century Robber Barons: How The Financial Sector Escapes Prosecution For Crimes Committed

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley will pay a combined $557 million to settle federal complaints that they wrongfully foreclosed on homeowners who should have been allowed to stay in their homes. The agreements announced Wednesday, Jan. 9, with the Federal Reserve were similar to deals struck earlier this month with 10 other major banks and […]

Edward Rhymes
By Edward Rhymes
Traders work in the Goldman Sachs booth on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, March 15, 2012. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley will pay a combined $557 million to settle federal complaints that they wrongfully foreclosed on homeowners who should have been allowed to stay in their homes. The agreements announced Wednesday, Jan. 9, with the Federal Reserve were similar to deals struck earlier this month with 10 other major banks and

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The Power Of The Personal Narrative In The Gun Safety Debate

We are now seeing how the powerful personal stories of those who have been impacted by gun violence are being used to argue for saner and safer gun laws. Gabrielle Giffords, Roxanna Green and others are following in the footsteps of Jim and Sarah Brady in using their individual tragedies for the public good. In this […]

Edward Rhymes
By Edward Rhymes
Martina Garcia, right, of the Hispanic Community Organization For Life, speaks about witnessing too much violence in her community during a Harlem march and vigil against gun violence. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

We are now seeing how the powerful personal stories of those who have been impacted by gun violence are being used to argue for saner and safer gun laws. Gabrielle Giffords, Roxanna Green and others are following in the footsteps of Jim and Sarah Brady in using their individual tragedies for the public good. In this nation’s public discourse

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History In Brief: The 150-Year Road Traveled From The Emancipation Proclamation

Jan. 1 commemorated the 150th anniversary of the passage of the Emancipation Proclamation and this past Thursday, Republican Tim Scott of South Carolina was sworn in as an U.S. senator, making him the first black senator from the South since Reconstruction. To date, there have been only seven blacks who have served in the U.S Senate […]

Edward Rhymes
By Edward Rhymes
Civil War re-enactor Andrew Bowman, portrays his grandfather, Andrew Jackson Smith, at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Saturday, Dec. 8, 2012 in Springfield, Ill. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)

Jan. 1 commemorated the 150th anniversary of the passage of the Emancipation Proclamation and this past Thursday, Republican Tim Scott of South Carolina was sworn in as an U.S. senator, making him the first black senator from the South since Reconstruction. To date, there have been only seven blacks who have served in the U.S Senate (only five were

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Unfinished Business: The Great Society And The Forgotten Kerner Report

The economic future of this country is now being debated in Washington and it is still unclear as to what the future may hold. There are many who herald the fact that unemployment is under 8 percent — and for those who are recently unemployed it is good news indeed. Yet, we forget, rather easily […]

Edward Rhymes
By Edward Rhymes
Governor of Illinois Otto Kerner, Jr., meeting with Roy Wilkins (left) and President Lyndon Johnson (right) in the White House, July 29, 1967. (Photo from Yoichi Okamoto via Wikimedia Commons)

The economic future of this country is now being debated in Washington and it is still unclear as to what the future may hold. There are many who herald the fact that unemployment is under 8 percent — and for those who are recently unemployed it is good news indeed. Yet, we forget, rather easily in fact, that unemployment amongst blacks is over 14

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Why We Are So Violent And What Isn’t Called Violence … But Is

“I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a ‘thing-oriented’ society to a ‘person-oriented’ society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important […]

Edward Rhymes
By Edward Rhymes
Friends, colleagues and supporters attend a vigil in Winnipeg, Canada, in memory of six year-old, Ana Marquez-Greene, a victim of last Fridays mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., on Monday Dec. 17, 2012. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Trevor Hagan)

“I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a ‘thing-oriented’ society to a ‘person-oriented’ society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the

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