Julianne Malveaux
Stories this photo appears in:
Climate change must be dealt with, by Julianne Malveaux
Tuvalu is a tiny Polynesian island nation located midway between Hawaii and Australia. Home to just 11,000 people, it is just 10 square miles. It is smaller today than it was a decade ago. Thanks to world climate change, Tuvalu is sinking, and the evidence is everywhere.
Black women rising despite decades of bias, by Julianne Malveaux
Women won the right to vote a century ago. On Aug. 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment passed. The white women’s equal rights struggle began in 1776, though, when Abigail Adams, the wife of our second president and member of the Constitution-drafting Continental Congress, sent her husband a letter. She urged him to “remember the ladies.” She further wrote, “All men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.”
The enemy within, by Julianne Malveaux
At least six Black children were killed during the “Fourth of You Lie” weekend. They weren’t doing anything wrong, just attending a community picnic, or going to visit a grandmother, or riding in a car.
Can an old black man get the Manafort treatment? by Julianne Malveaux
There were 4,623 incarcer- ated people over 65 in federal prisons during the first week of May. Until May 12, Paul Manafort, President Trump’s one-time campaign manager, was one of them. The 71-year-old petitioned the court for release to home confinement because of his age, heart condition and “fear of coronavirus.”
What do we have to lose? by Julianne Malveaux
A little less than four years ago, the president tried to get black votes with the question, “What do you have to lose?”
The coronavirus and achievement gap, by Julianne Malveaux
The coronavirus has upended our way of life, especially in urban America, where social distancing has replaced the laughter of children playing on the street, the excitement of preparing for graduation and prom and the frenzy of last-minute test preparation.
Who will get the ventilators?, by Julianne Malveaux
The “big and bad” United States is seeing its world dominance recede. We are being van- quished both by a virus and by the ignorance of the commander in chief.
Billions for Boeing; pennies for people, by Julianne Malveaux
The development of the $2.2 trillion stimulus package was extremely flawed.
March Madness to Miserable May? by Julianne Malveaux
Basketball fans were looking forward to March Madness, those weeks when the best college teams face off against each other. Madness is replete this March, but it isn’t on the basketball courts.
Hair discrimination alive and well by Julianne Malveaux
Andrew Johnson, a high school wrestler, was forced to submit to the humiliating act of having his dreadlocks shorn or have his New Jersey team forfeit their match to the opposing team. A gleeful white woman seemed too pleased to invade the young man’s person, and his team won, but at what price? When this happened in December 2018, there was a national outcry and the referee was suspended.
Placing profits over people by Julianne Malveaux
Columnists
Who would have thought that amid the Christmas holidays we would learn that billionaire Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg is using convicted prisoners to make calls for his campaign?
An egregious comparison
Columnists
The hours before the U.S. House of Representatives impeachment vote were a study in contrasts. While Democrats approached the debate leading up to the vote somberly, with all due consideration and with historical references, Republicans seemed to think they were starring in a comedy show.
Calling out the Republicans
When you elect a clown, expect a circus. And this month’s impeachment hearings have been precisely that. Yelling, shouting and disrespectful accusing seem more the rule than the exception.
'Sorry' doesn't always make it right by Julianne Malveaux
Columnists
Billionaire Mike Bloomberg entered the already-crowded Democratic presidential primary with a splash.
Climate change and hurricanes
Columnists
Hurricane Dorian has drowned the Bahamas and devastated the coasts of North and South Carolina. There are trillions of dollars worth of damages to communities that will take years to rebuild.
School supplies donations versus making education a budget priority
Columnists
The event promised to be one of those last-gasp-of-summer events that would raise a little money for a good cause. The young woman who called to tell me about it promised that I’d meet interesting people, enjoy excellent wines and that the cost of attending was modest. “We aren’t charging anything this year,” she said rather breezily. “But please bring school supplies.”
‘Red Summer’: Lessons for today
Columnists
On July 27, 1919, and for 13 days after, Chicago was engulfed in violence. White mobs wantonly attacked black people and black people fought back.
Standing up for mouthy women
Columnists
Mary Turner was lynched on May 19, 1918, because she dared to raise her voice. Her husband, Hayes Turner, was among 13 people lynched in two weeks in and around Valdosta, Ga.
Running for exposure
Columnists
Twenty-four people are running for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States. From where I sit, at least half of them are only running for exposure, for the vice presidential nod, for cabinet secretary, to push a platform or simply to be seen. Their ambitions have made the process turgid and impractical, often amusing and only sometimes illuminating.
Distortions of our history
Columnists
According to some historians, Afrodescendants first entered these United States in 1619 off the coast of Virginia. If we believe that narrative, Afrodescendants have been in this country for 400 years.
Why not eliminate the SAT?
Columnists
The College Board, the organization that develops and administers the SAT, has developed a new “adversity score” to augment the widely used college admissions examination.
Commemorate Brown decision by adequately paying teachers
Columnists
Sixty-five years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Brown v. Board of Education case that the doctrine of “separate but equal” was unconstitutional.
Trump and death of democracy
Democracy is defined as government “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” Who are the people who support our contemporary status quo? And how, in marginalizing the will of the people, is democracy destroyed?
Raising the minimum wage
It is unfathomable that the federal minimum wage has not been increased in more than a decade, since 2007. It is also unfathomable that the minimum wage, at $7.25 per hour, has remained flat through recession and recovery, through extremely high unemployment rates and much lower ones.
Calling out white terrorists
An Australian white nationalist who says he hates immigrants acted out his hate by murdering at least 49 people and seriously injuring dozens more last week. He
Young people and vaping
Nearly half a million people die every year from complications from smoking. About a tenth of them never put a cigarette to their lips; they die from exposure to second-hand smoke.
Confronting racism, patriarchy
Our nation was founded on the principles of racism and patriarchy. They are reflected in our very Constitution, where enslaved persons were counted as a fraction of a person and only men of property were allowed the right to vote. The filthy inequality at the foundation of this nation now has bubbled up and boiled over, polluting every aspect of our lives.
White House war against federal workers
The economy is doing well, crows the pugilist-in-chief, complaining that he doesn’t get enough credit for the things that he has done to “make America great again.”
Nomination puts rights in jeopardy
Senate Republicans hope to get Judge Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump’s nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, confirmed before Oct. 1. Senate Democrats hope to hold off any vote until after the November elections, when Democrats have the possibility of taking a majority in the U.S. Senate and giving Republicans a dose of their own medicine.
Attack on education
The effort to repeal and replace health care insurance is generating headlines, and the attempt to investigate our 45th president’s Russia connections is of high importance. The specious claim that former President Obama wiretapped Trump Tower, too, has generated interest, largely because it is unprecedented for one president to accuse another of a felony, and because 45 has absolutely no proof that President Obama has done any such thing.
‘Hope for best; plan for worst’
The economic philosophies of Democrats and Republicans are drastically different. While neither party is interested in dismantling the predatory capitalism that extracts surplus value from workers, Republicans are more interested in reinforcing predatory capitalism and “free markets,” while Democrats are more interested in ameliorating the effects of predatory capitalism and regulating markets in ways that produce somewhat more equitable results than so-called free markets.
Creative disruption in the age of Trump
When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. envisioned the Poor People’s Campaign in 1968, he envisioned all kinds of people descending on our nation’s capital, bringing demands to federal agencies. He envisioned people pushing for affordable housing, for quality education, for better health care, for minority business development programs and more.
Why support the D.C. Women’s March?
“Ain’t I A Woman? I have ploughed and planted and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain’t I a woman! I could work as much and eat as much as a man — when I could get it — and bear the lash as well. And ain’t I a woman? I’ve bourne thirteen children and seen most all sold off and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain’t I a woman.” — Sojourner Truth
Bitter pill to swallow
When Donald Trump was running for president, he specifically targeted the white working class, telling them he would prevent their jobs from leaving the country, bring back manufacturing jobs and revive the oil and steel industries. He hasn’t taken office yet, but he already has celebrated the fact that Carrier, a heating and air conditioner manufacturer in Indianapolis, Ind., has agreed to keep jobs in the United States, even though the company had announced earlier that it would move jobs to Mexico.
Get ready now for midterm elections
The apprehension that I felt upon Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election has only increased as he has announced the appointments of his chief of staff, strategist and cabinet members.
Poverty lost during campaign
There is no question that Hillary Clinton won the Sept. 26 presidential debate. She was knowledgeable, composed, unflappable and occasionally even funny. Her opponent, who had the temerity to criticize her “stamina,” seemed to lack stamina of his own. By the time the 90-minute debate was over, her rude, sniffling, frequent water-sipping opponent Donald Trump looked like a candidate for enforced bed rest.
Make America ‘great’ again?
Our American exceptionalism allows us to shimmer too fully in our greatness. We are the biggest and the baddest. We are the best armed and the most influential. We win the most Olympic medals, and we have the most nuclear weapons. America, the greatest! We are so great that we wave our flags and shout, “USA! USA!”
How far we’ve come; how far yet to go
With a woman heading the Democratic Party’s presidential ticket, it may be challenging for us to remember that women have had the right to vote for less than a century — and black folks less than that.
Corporate leadership needed on racial justice
When North Carolina passed laws eliminating anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, and passed its “bathroom bill” mandating that transgender people use the bathroom of their birth gender, they experienced almost immediate backlash.
Literacy warriors needed
The Dictionary defines warrior as “a person who fights in battle and is known for having courage and skill.” In “Roots,” reimagined Kizzy Kinte tells her dad, “Reading is my way of being a warrior, my way of feeling free inside.” Teaching enslaved people to read and write was illegal in most Southern states, so reading was an act of resistance, an act of rebellion, a warrior act that could get you sold or worse. Reading material described as “subversive,” such as David Walker’s “Appeal,” could get you killed.
Death penalty too good for Roof
Dylann Roof, the unrepentant racist who killed nine people at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., is — no question — a monster. He prayed with people before reciting racist cants and annihilating people. After his heinous acts, it was discovered that he was a rabid racist who had wrapped himself in the Confederate flag. Does he deserve the death penalty? No.
Clinton crime bill in context
Former President Bill Clinton mixed it up with Black Lives Matter activists last week as he defended his presidency and his 1994 crime bill while campaigning in Philadelphia for his wife, Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton. Hillary fans will say it isn’t fair that the Black Lives Matter folks keep raising issues from the Bill Clinton presidency. But the Clintons campaigned in 1992 by asserting that they were a “two for one” presidency, so raising those issues is at least somewhat fair.
Women peace activists
Some words seem rarely mentioned in this highly toxic political season. We’ve heard about bombs and walls, but very little about peace. One is almost tempted, when some of the candidates are speaking, to burst into “Give peace a chance.” In this Women’s History Month, it makes sense to reflect on women and the peace movement and especially on the African-American women who have played a significant role in this movement.
Standing on sacred ground
Three unarmed black men encountered a group of white men walking down a dirt road in Slocum, Texas, on July 29, 1910. Without warning, and with no reason, the white men opened fire on the black men. And, for two days, white men simply slaughtered black people. Eight deaths have been officially acknowledged, but historians who have studied the Slocum Massacre say that it is likely that dozens more were killed, with some saying as many were killed in Slocum as in Tulsa, Okla, in 1921, and those numbers range into the hundreds.
Real ‘Woman of the Year’
Jannie Ligons is an Oklahoma City grandmother who left a friend’s house to drive home. She collided with Daniel Holtzclaw, the rogue police officer who seemed to think it was part of his duty to sexually abuse black women. He raped them because he could. They did not accuse him because they feared they could not. Some of the women had criminal records — they had been involved with drugs or had other skirmishes with the law. They felt both vulnerable and violated, and they thought nobody would believe them.
Eloquence and arrogance
On the same day that President Obama gave a stirring and historically grounded commemoration regarding the 150th anniversary of the passage of the 13th Amendment that “abolished” slavery, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia chose to disregard tenets of equality and opportunity from the bench during the Fisher v. University of Texas hearing when he suggested that African-American students would benefit more if they went to “lesser track” schools. His verbatim comments:
Let your spending reflect your values
The buildup began right after Halloween, when the newspapers got thicker, the advertising inserts longer and emails touting shopping bargains coming more frequently.
Another government shutdown
Congress must approve a budget by Oct. 1, or our government will shut down. That means that people will not be paid and, technically, government departments will cease to operate. Social Securitypayments, veterans’ benefits and more will cease to be paid. Literally, government will shut down.
Legalized torture of prisoners
Freddie Gray is neither the first nor will he be the last person to die in police custody. According to a 2011 report from the U.S. Department of Justice, 4,813 people died in police custody between 2003 and 2009 (the most recent data, reported in 2011). However, not every state reports their data, so the number is probably higher. A new report is scheduled to be released this year or next.
Black women’s lives matter, too
You know their names — Eric Garner, Michael Brown and Tamir Rice — because these African-American men were unarmed and killed by law enforcement officers. Their names have been part of a litany invoked when police shootings are discussed. Their deaths have been part of the impetus for the Black Lives Matter movement, especially because the police officers that killed these men — and a little boy — have paid no price for their murders.
Tests cheat students out of education
Eleven Atlanta teachers have been convicted of altering student test scores on standardized tests. They are charged with racketeering and conspiracy. The much-celebrated superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools, the late Beverly L. Hall, was among the indicted but was too ill to stand trial. She died March 2.
Dems need winning formula
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel just got spanked. Despite a campaign war chest of more than $15 million and the support of President Obama, the former congressman and White House chief of staff could not avoid a runoff in the non-partisan election. Garnering 45 percent of the vote to runner-up Jesus “Chuy” Garcia’s 34 percent, he did not clear the 50 percent bar for victory. Mr. Emanuel, the darling of the mainstream Democratic Party, has earned the dubious distinction of being in the first Chicago mayoral runoff in nearly 20 years. He also runs the risk of being the first incumbent mayor ousted since Harold Washington beat Jane Byrne in 1983.
Real realities of poverty
The racial differential in the poverty rate is staggering. About 12 percent of the people in the United States, one in eight people are poor. Depending on race and ethnicity, however, poverty is experienced differently. Fewer than one in 10 white people are poor; more than one in four African- Americans and Latinos are poor. Differences in occupation, income, employment and education are considered the main reasons for poverty, with current and past discrimination playing a role in educational, employment and occupational attainment. We see the discrimination when we consider that African-American women with a doctoral degree have median earnings of about $1,000 a week, compared to about $1,200 a week for black men and white women, and $1,600 a week for white men. White men earn 60 percent more than African-American women, and a third more than black men and white women.
