Commentary

By Tiffanie Drayton for harriet.com I can no longer witness the senseless murder of people of color by the police without breaking down in tears. The recently released video that captured 50-year-old Walter Scott being shot in his back eight times as he attempted to run away from White police officer Michael Slager in North…

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ABOVE PHOTO:  Rand Paul (AP photo) By Earl Ofari Hutchinson Freshly minted 2016 GOP presidential candidate Rand Paul has a few good things going for him. He has talked back to the war hawks. He wants to radically rein in out of control intelligence spying. He wants to chip away at the draconian drug laws…

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ABOVE PHOTO:  Shutterstock/ Diego Cervo By State Rep. Mark B. Cohen On Wednesday, March 25, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Peggy Young, who sued the United Parcel Service for refusing to make workplace accommodations due to her pregnancy-related lifting restriction. UPS claimed that Young was not discriminated against because she was treated…

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ABOVE PHOTO:  Pharrell Williams, Raven Symone (Jaguar PS / Shutterstock.com), Common (Helga Esteb/Shutterstock.com) By Kovie Biakolo michigan chronicle Last year Pharrell Williams, in an interview with Oprah, declared that he was a proud member of the “New Black.” In his contrived version of reality, “New Black” people do not blame “other people” for their problems. Instead, they…

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By Rahim Islam In addition to the structural socio-economic issues that threaten Black people, negative stereotypes with historical foundations have helped to shape public opinion about Black people through the media. It is these stereotypes that explain why Whites show little understanding and responsibility about the conditions that Black people face. As I stated in…

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By Rahim Islam What perception do White people generally have when it comes to Blacks and how much of that perception is passed down from one generation to the next? How many negative and racist stereotypes do Whites foster about Blacks, where did they come from and how do they continue? With just a little…

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ABOVE PHOTO:  Joy Ann Reid By Courtney Taylor forharriet.com In light of rumors about Jessica Williams taking Jon Stewart’s place on “The Daily Show” and MSNBC’s cancellation of “The Reid Report”, there’s a rising need to address the vacancy of Black woman voices in political commentary. It’s an aspect of media in which lack of…

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ABOVE PHOTO:  The Audubon Ballroom stage after the murder. Circles on backdrop mark bullet holes.  (Stanley Wolfson, New York World-Telegram & Sun) By Earl Ofari Hutchinson Five years ago, Thomas Hagan was paroled after having served 44 years in prison for his part in the murder of black nationalist leader Malcolm X. Hagan, who went…

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ABOVE PHOTO:  Pres. Barack Obama (Obama photo by: Ryan Rodrick Beiler / shutterstock.com) By Earl Ofari Hutchinson The ink was barely dry on President Barack Obama’s projected 2016 budget proposal when GOP leaders virtually declared the proposals DOA. The real issue is not the amount President Obama wants to spend on domestic and defense programs, but…

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By Earl Ofari Hutchinson First, it was fallen rap mogul Suge Knight’s arrest for murder. Second, the alleged murder took place in Compton. And third, it was rap. This is the perfect storm of disfunction needed to get the tongues clucking again that Knight, rappers, and by extension young black males are hopelessly ensnared in…

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