Black History

AFRICAN-AMERICANS ARE NO BETTER OFF THAN 50 YEARS AGO DATA SHOWS

SAN ANTONIO OBSERVER — 50 year serves as a great opportunity to look back and see how far race in America has come and according to Race and Social Policy Research Center Director, Wornie Reed, “the bottom line is that we have not come very far, if at all, since 1968.”

Published

8 years ago

January 2, 2019

By CeCe Leonard

By Cece Leonard, The San Antonio Observer

December 26, 2018 — As 2018 comes to an end, we close out a 50 year period that began with the tumultuous 1968. This was the year Martin Luther King, Jr was assassinated; the year the Fair Housing Act passed; the year the Kerner Commision report revealed the cause of riots; and the same year John Carlos and Tommie Smith gave the Black Power salute at the Olympics.

50 year serves as a great opportunity to look back and see how far race in America has come and according to Race and Social Policy Research Center Director, Wornie Reed, “the bottom line is that we have not come very far, if at all, since 1968.”

Reed notes “Unfortunately, the data show that with all of this progress on the electoral front there was little if any relative improvement in the lives of African Americans. In fact, with the gutting of the Voting Rights Act by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013, made 2018 one of the the worst years for voter suppression of African Americans and other minorities since 1968.”

Quoting Reed

Poverty:

Poor People's Campaign then and now

“This year marked the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s Poor People’s Campaign when MLK put his life on the line to start a very aggressive push to force the country to address the issue of poverty. He said, “I choose to identify with the underprivileged. I choose to identify with the poor. I choose to give my life for the hungry. I choose to give my life for those who have been left out…This is the way I’m going.” We called the rate of poverty an outrage then. It is worse now. The numbers and proportions of people in poverty in the United States have increased since 1968.”

Housing:

AFRICAN-AMERICANS ARE NO BETTER OFF THAN 50 YEARS AGO DATA SHOWS

“In 2008 the National Commission on Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, co-chaired by former Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretaries, Democrat Henry Cisneros and Republican Jack Kemp, investigated the state of fair housing. To assess progress since the Fair Housing Act of 1968, the Commission held hearings for six months in five major cities. They concluded that ongoing discriminatory practices in the nation’s housing and lending markets continued to produce residential segregation.”

“Despite this bipartisan assessment, the current Administration is scaling back fair housing enforcement and moving to make it more difficult to find patterns of discriminatory or predatory lending. They have passed legislation to exempt banks from their obligation to collect and provide data routinely collected on their lending processes.”

Economics:

“The Great Recession of 2007-8 was far worse for African Americans. Black homeowners had a higher percentage of their wealth tied up in home equity, and they were much more likely to be victims of predatory lending during the housing boom. Blacks and Latinos were more than twice as likely as comparable whites to receive high-cost loans. African-Americans have lost over half of their wealth since the beginning of the recession through falling homeownership rates and loss of jobs.”

“African American families are continuing to fall behind whites in building wealth — how much a family has in savings, investments, real estate, and cash, less any debts. White family wealth was seven times greater than black family wealth in 2016. Despite some fluctuations over the past five decades, this disparity is as high or higher than was in 1963.”

“Further, there has been no reduction in labor market discrimination. At the Race and Social Policy Research Center at Virginia Tech, we analyzed the income of all black and white full-time workers in the United States between 1967 and 2005. Controlling for education, we found that for every dollar a white worker earned in 1967 a black worker earned 65 cents. In 2005 a black work earned 66 cents for every dollar that a white person earned, not a real increase.”

Sports:

“During the last 50 years African Americans have become even more prominent in sports, with four current stars arguably considered the best of all time in their respective sports: Simone Biles in gymnastics, Serena Williams in Tennis, Tiger Woods in golf, and Lebron James in Basketball. Nevertheless, just like in 1968 black athletes are protesting racial discrimination. Two years ago Colin Kaepernick took a knee to protest the disproportionate use of police force against African American males and related issues, That protest was joined by other African American athletes, in football and other sports. And some of it continues.”

Kerner Commission Report:

“One month before Martin Luther King was assassinated, the Kerner Commission released its report. This Presidential commission investigated the riots and disorders of the mid-1960s and reported what MLK called a “physician’s warning of approaching death, with a prescription for life.” The Commission offered the most forthright analysis and discussion of the racial situation in America that has ever been done by a high-level commission or committee.”

“The Kerner Commission stated that “White racism is essentially responsible for the explosive mixture which has been accumulating in our cities since the end of World War II.” And they continued, “What white Americans have never fully understood but what the Negro can never forget—is that white society is deeply implicated in the ghetto. White institutions created it, white institutions maintain it, and white society condones it.”

“The Kerner Commission concluded that the United States had three options for dealing with the situation. One was to do nothing, which was not acceptable. A second option was to work on improving black ghettoes, which was useful but not desirable. The third was to integrate cities, suburbs, and transportation to workplaces (factories and plants). Many Americans thought we would choose the third option and be on our way to a better America. However, one month later Martin Luther King was assassinated, blacks rioted all over America, and the narrative changed—from correcting what white society had wrought to blaming it all on the problematic culture of black folks. To this day we have not overcome the political and policy effects of that narrative.”

About Reed

Reed is the Director of the Race and Social Policy Research Center at Virginia Tech. He is an expert on race, ethnic health disparities, social policy, criminal justice and his research focus is on criminal justice, discrimination, healthcare, and labor. Reed’s expertise has been featured in Huffpost, CTV (Toronto, Canada), WBFO (Buffalo, NY NPR Affiliate), WFAE (Charlotte, NC NPR affiliate), WCVE(Richmond, VA PBS member station) and WVTF (Virginia NPR affiliate).

This article originally appeared in The San Antonio Observer.

By CeCe Leonard

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Nuna Phillips-McKee Celebrates 100 Years: ‘A Century of Faith, Family and God’s Amazing Grace!’

OAKLAND POST — Nuna’s life has been one of Christian service. A longtime member of Wings of Love Maranatha Ministries, now Incredible Church, she serves as director of Community Services and is actively involved in the church’s Food Ministries.

Published

33 minutes ago

September 14, 2026

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Nuna Phillips-McGee, far right, will be celebrating her 100th birthday with sisters (l. to. r.) Donna Hayes, Ida Williams, Sandra Phillips and Enis Harrison. Photo by Carol Dossman.

By Special to The Post

Nuna Phillips-McKee will reach an extraordinary milestone on Sept. 24 —her 100th

birthday, marking a century filled with faith, family, service, laughter and the amazing grace of God.

Born Sept. 14, 1926, in Oakland, Nuna has witnessed a world of change during her lifetime, yet the values that have guided her remain constant: a deep faith in God, devotion to family, a strong work ethic and a heart for serving others.

She enjoyed a distinguished career as a civil servant for more than 40 years, demonstrating the dedication, dependability and strength that have characterized so much of her life.

Nuna’s life has been one of Christian service. A longtime member of Wings of Love Maranatha Ministries, now Incredible Church, she serves as director of Community Services and is actively involved in the church’s Food Ministries.

Through the years, she has continued to help meet the needs of others—not merely with food, but with kindness, compassion and a genuine desire to serve. Her ministry reflects a simple principle by which she lives: when God blesses you, you bless others.

Nuna is the proud mother of one son, whose memory she carries in her heart, and the beloved grandmother of three grandchildren, as well as six great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

At 100, she has the rare blessing of seeing several generations of her family carrying forward a legacy that began long ago.

She remains the loving, intelligent, witty, and, when the occasion calls for it, delightfully sassy Nuna that her family and friends know so well. Her contagious laugh, quick wit and youthful spirit have endeared her to generations of relatives, church members and friends.

Nuna was born into the large and loving Phillips family of seven sisters and one brother, with bonds that formed in childhood and have remained precious throughout the decades. Their shared love, faith, and family traditions have continued to be a source of joy, strength and countless treasured memories.

As family and friends gather for this special occasion, they will celebrate far more than a number. They will celebrate 100 years of prayers prayed and answered; 100 years of lessons learned and wisdom shared; 100 years of family, faith, laughter and love; 100 years of serving God and serving others.

Most of all, they will celebrate a life that stands as a testimony to God’s faithfulness through every season.

Nuna’s century-long journey can be summed up in the words chosen to commemorate this remarkable occasion: “100 years of God’s amazing grace.”

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Black History

BOOK REVIEW — Curved Air: A Biography of Sickle Cell Anemia and the Quest to Cure the First Molecular Disease

OAKLAND POST — Over decades, researchers worked haphazardly. Papers were written, treatments were tried, used, or discarded. Doctors discovered that genetic testing could prevent new cases, a heartbreak for would-be parents. Researchers discovered that “a perfect storm” of confluence spread SCD: malaria, human population, and mosquitoes.

Published

2 hours ago

September 14, 2026

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By Kevin Davies

Copyright: c.2026, Publisher: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, SRP: $29.95, Page Count: 338 pages

Four weeks of testing, and you’re exhausted.

Two gallons of blood, maybe three, have been removed. No lie. You’ve laid on tables, slid through machines, been scanned so much you lost count and finally, your doctors have a diagnosis. As in the new book “Curved Air” by Kevin Davies, you have hope there’s a what next?

Though the disease was known in parts of Africa and likely existed here in the United States for hundreds of years, sickle cell disease (SCD) is a relative newcomer in disease research.

Says Davies, “Sickle cell was first identified more than 120 years ago” and it was considered as a “Black disease.” Because of that, discrimination followed “sickle cell warriors” and research was scant, though white people can and do get SCD.

With “agonizing” pain as a major symptom, “SCD is one of roughly seven thousand genetic diseases” currently known to science. When someone has SCD, a genetic mutation causes their red blood cells to curve and get stuck in blood vessels, rather than flowing freely as they should. This diminishes the oxygen supply “to various parts of the body… which causes inflammation and pain,” jaundice, stroke, and damaged organs. Anemia, Davies says, can leave a patient fatigued and short of breath. Anticipating pain crises causes anxiety and PTSD.

Says Davies, “More than forty million people carry” one copy of the genetic mutation that causes SCD, and “five hundred thousand affected” babies are born with the disease per year, worldwide.

Over decades, research was done haphazardly. Papers were written; treatments were tried, used, or discarded. Doctors discovered that genetic testing could prevent new cases, a heartbreak for would-be parents. Researchers discovered that “a perfect storm” of confluence spread SCD: malaria, human population, and mosquitoes.

There was always hope that someday, sickle cell disease might be cured.

Then, Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) gene-editing therapy was approved by the FDA, and a brave volunteer named Victoria Gray stepped forward…

So, you want to – need to – learn more about sickle cell disease? Is it imperative for you? Then, this is your book. But there are things you’ll want to know before you dive into “Curved Air.”

Because author Kevin Davies is the editor of The CRISPR Journal, you can expect up-to-date, cutting-edge information; but that’s a two-sided coin: the information is heavy-duty, not always easy to grasp, and it’s burdened by acronyms that can be overwhelming. Yes, that’ll inform you, but it may also send you elsewhere for further understanding, which really should’ve come from this book.

And yet, if you or someone you love has SCD, this is your book. It explains where the disease came from, why it hasn’t been completely cured yet, and what kind of hope you can hold. It’s a good start on a path to comprehension.

Also, be aware that the narrative here is sometimes padded with journalistic fluff that might annoy you if you’re eager to get to the science. Indeed, “Curved Air” will teach you. Then again, it also might test you.

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Black History

Henry O. Flipper: A Trailblazer at West Point and Beyond

OAKLAND POST — Flipper’s promising military career ended abruptly in 1881 when he was accused of embezzling commissary funds. A court-martial acquitted him of embezzlement, but convicted him of conduct unbecoming of an officer. The Army dismissed him in 1882. The circumstances surrounding his punishment would later be widely regarded as unjust and influenced by the racial discrimination of the period.

Published

5 hours ago

September 14, 2026

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By Tamara Shiloh

Henry Ossian Flipper’s life is a remarkable story of insistence, achievement, injustice, and ultimately vindication. Born enslaved on March 21, 1856, in Thomasville, Georgia, Flipper rose from the restrictions of slavery to become the first African American to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point. His accomplishments extended far beyond military service; he later became a respected engineer, surveyor, author, translator, and government official.

After the Civil War, Flipper’s family settled in Atlanta, where education became central to his future. He attended schools established for African American children by the American Missionary Association and later studied at Atlanta University. In 1873, Congressman James C. Freeman of Georgia nominated Flipper for admission to West Point. He entered the academy that July.

Flipper’s four years at West Point were extremely difficult. Because of racism, he experienced harassment and almost complete social isolation from many of his fellow cadets. Nevertheless, he succeeded academically and graduated on June 14, 1877, ranking 50th in a class of 76. His graduation represented a historic breakthrough for African Americans in the United States military.

Commissioned as a second lieutenant, Flipper was assigned to the 10th U.S. Cavalry, one of the famed African American regiments known as the Buffalo Soldiers. At Fort Sill in Indian Territory, now Oklahoma, Flipper served as an engineer, surveyor, construction supervisor, quartermaster, and commissary officer. One of his most lasting engineering accomplishments was a drainage system that eliminated pools of stagnant water around the fort and helped reduce mosquito-breeding areas. The system became known as “Flipper’s Ditch,” and portions of it remain associated with Fort Sill today.

Flipper’s promising military career ended abruptly in 1881 when he was accused of embezzling commissary funds. A court-martial acquitted him of embezzlement, but convicted him of conduct unbecoming of an officer. The Army dismissed him in 1882. The circumstances surrounding his punishment would later be widely regarded as unjust and influenced by the racial discrimination of the period.

Rather than allowing his dismissal to define his life, Flipper built an extraordinary civilian career. He became a civil and mining engineer and surveyor, working extensively throughout the American Southwest and Mexico. He established an engineering office in Nogales, Arizona, became knowledgeable about Spanish and Mexican land law, and later worked for the federal government, including service connected with the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior.

Flipper died in Atlanta in 1940, but efforts to restore his reputation continued for decades. In 1976, the Army changed his dismissal to an honorable discharge. Then, on February 19, 1999, President Bill Clinton granted Flipper a posthumous presidential pardon.

Today, Henry Ossian Flipper is remembered because his life helped open doors for generations of African American military officers, engineers, and public servants who followed him.