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The Sensible, the Mad, and the Missing

The 2024 presidential race is taking shape. It looks like a choice between the sensible, the mad and the missing. Joe Biden seems intent on running on his record, a sensible route for the incumbent. His major challenger, the inescapable Donald Trump, is replaying his madcap candidacy – his program a mixture of resentment, racism, […]
The post The Sensible, the Mad, and the Missing first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

8 months ago

August 23, 2023

Forward Times Staff

The 2024 presidential race is taking shape. It looks like a choice between the sensible, the mad and the missing. Joe Biden seems intent on running on his record, a sensible route for the incumbent. His major challenger, the inescapable Donald Trump, is replaying his madcap candidacy – his program a mixture of resentment, racism, bluster, and victimization. What’s missing are the big challenges that America can’t avoid and can’t seem to face.

In this first term, Joe Biden has surely exceeded expectations. He has broken with the conservative era’s trickle-down economics, and passed major initiatives to rebuild America’s decrepit infrastructure, to revive manufacturing and move away from our disastrous trade policies, and to launch an industrial policy focused on renewable energy and energy efficiency.

He’s enjoyed record low unemployment even as inflation has plummeted, and real wages have started to go up. He’s voiced his support for unions and equal justice under the law, even if his initiatives in those areas have been blocked by Republicans and a couple renegade Democrats in the Senate. He will run as a competent leader who got things done.

Trump, who dominates the Republican field even as indictments rain down upon him, doesn’t really have an agenda – or rather his agenda is himself – “I alone can fix it.” He promises, for example, to end the Ukraine war in 24 hours, because he says he can. What he offers is grievance and theater. He rails against an America that is a wasteland, three short years after he made it great again. For substance, he offers postures – send troops to the border, get tougher on the Chinese, double down on oil and coal and rollback climate and environmental legislation.

What’s missing in this face-off is the necessary; the set of challenges that we can’t avoid but refuse to face. For example, America’s health care system fails us. It costs nearly twice as much per capita as the health systems of other advanced countries while providing worse care and far worse medical outcomes. Our life expectancy is declining, a stunning measure of its failure. Millions remain without health insurance. Many millions more struggle to afford the care that they need. Private equity barons are merging hospitals, purging nurses, and slashing services. Medicare is rapidly being privatized, even as costs soar and coverage declines.

When I ran for president in 1988, I called for a national health care plan – Medicare for all.

Bernie Sanders repeated the call when he ran in 2016 and 2020. Congressional progressives led by Rep. Pramila Jayapal have introduced legislation and held hearings on a sensible plan that would save money while covering more people and lowering costs to patients.

This issue isn’t in the debate – but health care costs and the crisis of care are escalating rapidly, and it simply cannot be avoided.

Or consider the continuing scourge of children in poverty. The expanded Child Tax Credit that Joe Biden succeeded in passing as part of his American Rescue Plan reached more than 61 million children in 36 million households. Experts estimated that it reduced childhood poverty by 30 percent. Surely it makes more sense and costs less to invest in head start, childcare and day care at the front side of life than welfare and jail care on the backside. Yet, the expanded tax credit was ended after one year – and childhood poverty in America is worse than any other industrial country.

This list can go on. Inequality is at obscene extremes, but passing fair taxes that would enable us to strengthen Social Security and invest in public education faces a Republican Party that is universally opposed to lifting any taxes on the wealthy. College debt is higher than credit card debt and makes it harder for the young to afford marriage or a home. Efforts to reduce it have been blocked.

Our military budget is at record heights, even as the Pentagon remains the greatest source of waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government. Yet our commitment to police the world – to maintain dominance in every region, on land, sea and space – demands even more. We have guided missiles but misguided leaders. The result is endless wars, constant conflict, and ever greater demands to spend ever more.

The sensible, the mad and the missing. Faced with the choice, Americans will no doubt vote for Joe Biden over Donald Trump, the sensible over the mad and maddening. But it is the missing issues that will have the greatest impact on the daily lives of voters. The country desperately needs citizen movements and strong leaders who will expand the debate.

The post The Sensible, the Mad, and the Missing appeared first on Forward Times.

The post The Sensible, the Mad, and the Missing first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Forward Times Staff

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IN MEMORIAM: Ramona Edelin, Influential Activist and Education Advocate, Dies at 78

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Born on September 4, 1945, in Los Angeles, California, activist Ramona Edelin’s early years were marked by a commitment to education and social justice. According to her HistoryMakers biography, after graduating from Fisk University with a Bachelor’s degree in 1967, she pursued further studies at the University of East Anglia in England. She earned her master’s degree before completing her Ph.D. at Boston University in 1981.
The post IN MEMORIAM: Ramona Edelin, Influential Activist and Education Advocate, Dies at 78 first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

4 weeks ago

April 3, 2024

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

Once upon a time, Black Americans were simply known as colored people, or Negroes. That is until Ramona Edelin came along. The activist, renowned for her pivotal roles in advancing civil rights, education reform, and community empowerment, died at her D.C. residence last month at the age of 78. Her death, finally confirmed this week by Barnaby Towns, a communications strategist who collaborated with Dr. Edelin, was attributed to cancer.

Born on September 4, 1945, in Los Angeles, California, Edelin’s early years were marked by a commitment to education and social justice. According to her HistoryMakers biography, after graduating from Fisk University with a Bachelor’s degree in 1967, she pursued further studies at the University of East Anglia in England. She earned her master’s degree before completing her Ph.D. at Boston University in 1981.

Edelin’s contributions to academia and activism were manifold. She was pivotal in popularizing the term “African American” alongside Rev. Jesse L. Jackson in the late 1980s.

Jackson had announced the preference for “African American,” speaking for summit organizers that included Dr. Edelin. “Just as we were called Colored, but were not that, and then Negro, but not that, to be called Black is just as baseless,” he said, adding that “African American” “has cultural integrity” and “puts us in our proper historical context.”

Later, Edelin told Ebony magazine, “Calling ourselves African Americans is the first step in the cultural offensive,” while linking the name change to a “cultural renaissance” in which Black Americans reconnected with their history and heritage.

“Who are we if we don’t acknowledge our motherland?” she asked later. “When a child in a ghetto calls himself African American, immediately he’s international. You’ve taken him from the ghetto and put him on the globe.”

The HistoryMakers bio noted that Edelin’s academic pursuits led her to found and chair the Department of African American Studies at Northeastern University, where she established herself as a leading voice.

Transitioning from academia to advocacy, Edelin joined the National Urban Coalition in 1977, eventually ascending to president and CEO. During her tenure, she spearheaded initiatives such as the “Say Yes to a Youngster’s Future” program, which provided crucial support in math, science, and technology to youth and teachers of color in urban areas. Her biography noted that Edelin’s efforts extended nationwide through partnerships with organizations like the National Science Foundation and the United States Department of Education.

President Bill Clinton recognized Edelin’s expertise by appointing her to the Presidential Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities in 1998. She also co-founded and served as treasurer of the Black Leadership Forum, solidifying her standing as a respected leader in African American communities.

Beyond her professional achievements, Edelin dedicated herself to numerous boards and committees, including chairing the District of Columbia Educational Goals 2000 Panel and contributing to the Federal Advisory Committee for the Black Community Crusade for Children.

Throughout her life, Edelin received widespread recognition for her contributions. Ebony magazine honored her as one of the 100 Most Influential Black Americans, and she received prestigious awards such as the Southern Christian Leadership Award for Progressive Leadership and the IBM Community Executive Program Award.

The post IN MEMORIAM: Ramona Edelin, Influential Activist and Education Advocate, Dies at 78 first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Stacy M. Brown

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Tennessee State University Board Disbanded by MAGA Loyalists as Assault on DE&I Continues

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Recent legislative actions in Tennessee, such as repealing police reform measures enacted after the killing of Tyre Nichols, underscore a troubling trend of undermining local control and perpetuating racist agendas. The new law preventing local governments from restricting police officers’ authority disregards community efforts to address systemic issues of police violence and racial profiling.
The post Tennessee State University Board Disbanded by MAGA Loyalists as Assault on DE&I Continues first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

4 weeks ago

April 3, 2024

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

Tennessee State University (TSU), the state’s only public historically Black college and university (HBCU), faces a tumultuous future as Gov. Bill Lee dissolved its board, a move supported by racist conservatives and MAGA Republicans in the Tennessee General Assembly, who follow the lead of the twice-impeached, four-times indicted, alleged sexual predator former President Donald Trump. Educators and others have denounced the move as an attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) and a grave setback for higher education.

Critics argue that TSU’s purported financial mismanagement is a manufactured crisis rooted in decades of underinvestment by the state government. They’ve noted that it continues a trend by conservatives and the racist MAGA movement to eliminate opportunities for Blacks in education, corporate America, and the public sector.

Gevin Reynolds, a former speechwriter for Vice President Kamala Harris, emphasizes in an op-ed that TSU’s financial difficulties are not the result of university leadership because a recent audit found no evidence of fraud or malfeasance.

Reynolds noted that the disbanding of TSU’s board is not an isolated incident but part of a broader assault on DE&I initiatives nationwide. Ten states, including Tennessee, have enacted laws banning DE&I policies on college campuses, while governors appointing MAGA loyalists to university trustee positions further undermine efforts to promote inclusivity and equality.

Moreover, recent legislative actions in Tennessee, such as repealing police reform measures enacted after the killing of Tyre Nichols, underscore a troubling trend of undermining local control and perpetuating racist agendas. The new law preventing local governments from restricting police officers’ authority disregards community efforts to address systemic issues of police violence and racial profiling.

The actions echo historical efforts to suppress Black progress, reminiscent of the violent backlash against gains made during the Reconstruction era. President Joe Biden warned during an appearance in New York last month that Trump desires to bring the nation back to the 18th and 19th centuries – in other words, to see, among other things, African Americans back in the chains of slavery, women subservient to men without any say over their bodies, and all voting rights restricted to white men.

The parallels are stark, with white supremacist ideologies used to justify attacks on Black institutions and disenfranchise marginalized communities, Reynolds argued.

In response to these challenges, advocates stress the urgency of collective action to defend democracy and combat systemic racism. Understanding that attacks on institutions like TSU are symptomatic of broader threats to democratic norms, they call for increased civic engagement and voting at all levels of government.

The actions of people dedicated to upholding the principles of inclusivity, equity, and justice for all will determine the outcome of the ongoing fight for democracy, Reynolds noted. “We are in a war for our democracy, one whose outcome will be determined by every line on every ballot at every precinct,” he stated.

The post Tennessee State University Board Disbanded by MAGA Loyalists as Assault on DE&I Continues first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Stacy M. Brown

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Braxton Haulcy and the Expansion of Walker|West Music Academy

May 24, 2023 – Walker West Music Academy gets an early start on expansion. Join us for a Wednesday episode of The …
The post Braxton Haulcy and the Expansion of Walker|West Music Academy first appeared on BlackPressUSA.