The August 23 police shooting of an unarmed Black man in Kenosha, Wisconsin, triggered yet another round of community protests and national news coverage of a Black man. On August 28, the National Action Network served as a major organizer for a Commitment March, rededicating the yet unaddre…
On the last night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Billy Porter reprised a song from the 1960s, “For What It’s Worth.” The song is better known by its iconic lyric, which seems to be as relevant at this moment as it was for the moment when it was recorded by Buffalo Springfield in…
Star athletes and politicians have one major thing in common: they seldom know when to retire or when the game is, literally, over for them.
I want to commend former state representative Joshua Peters for his commentary “Black politics in a time of revolution” in The St Louis American. Peters’ cogent insight into the emergence of new Black political leadership that will change the character of Black politics as an effect of the B…
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sitting here staring at the image of 16th Street in Washington D.C., I can only view it with pride. The reason is because I am hoping that the events of the last couple of months, along with these words leading right up to the White House, is an indicator of future systemi…
Late Sunday afternoon in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Jacob Blake was the victim of another disgusting act of police brutality. Within full view of his three children seated in the backseat, Blake was shot seven times in the back while walking away from police officers and opening his car door.
This week, the Republican National Convention convened and devolved into a series of scare tactics meant to rile up President Trump’s base and be so outrageous that the rest of the country looks away from his and other Republican officials’, like Governor Mike Parson’s, disastrous, bumbling,…
We are a group of Brown School students writing to express our concern about the planned return to campus. Although we all wish that we could safely return to campus, we believe it is in the best interest of the students and the St. Louis community for the Brown School and Washington Univers…
We need Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to condemn the armed militias that killed two people in Kenosha yesterday while working in tandem with local police. These militias are domestic terrorists looking to incite a race war. “Protecting private property” is just cover for their agenda.
Many of us have had to either delay or completely forgo our summer vacations. Instead of suffering from cabin fever, as St. Louisans, we are fortunate to have many things to re-explore responsibly from our restaurants to our hotels to attractions and more. I have so many favorites in St. Lou…
Aristotle often linked the politician to a craftsman. The analogy is vague because politics, in the strict sense of legislative science, is a practice of practical knowledge, while a craft like architecture or medicine is a form of productive knowledge.
Since George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis Police officer on May 25, school districts across the United States have taken decisive action to protect the wellbeing of their students by cutting ties with local police departments.
In the middle of a pandemic, the so-called leaders who are supposed to guide us through this deadly virus – one that is disproportionately infecting and killing Black Americans, capitalizing on years of systemic inequalities – are spending their time trying to lock up kids, attacking Black p…
Since we are facing a rise in the COVID-19 virus in the St. Louis and Metro East areas, we need to follow health experts’ recommendations. These include wearing face masks, maintaining social distance (remaining 6 feet apart), and washing our hands frequently.
One hundred years after the 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote, we have an opportunity to not only look back at the stories of the suffrage movement, but to contextualize that history, re-examine it, and connect it to the lives of women today.
I am from St. Louis, 15 years old and a sophomore attending Riverview Gardens High School. Learning about our African culture is my passion for my future. Triumphs and tragedies that are going around in my environment play a big part in me.
When the Continental Congress appointed Benjamin Franklin as the first Postmaster General, our nation had not yet been founded. The Bill of Rights would not be drafted for another 16 years. Yet nearly two and a half centuries later, the United States Postal Service’s ability to provide every…
As the nation’s double dose of health and economic crises continue, many consumers believe that federal assistance to make ends meet has virtually disappeared. While the $600 weekly federal supplement to augment state unemployment benefits expired July 31. And the Paycheck Protection Progr…
“The Constitution requires the President and the Postmaster General to faithfully execute the laws and to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution and the rights guaranteed therein. The constitutional and statutory rights of Americans to vote are among the most sacred of those laws. De…
When St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell recently announced that there would be no indictment of former Ferguson cop Darren Wilson, it ignited a range of emotions from outrage to disappointment. For many, the historic election of Bell as the county’s first African-American prosecutor wou…
Why does it seem like all good things must come to an end? Summer has been a whirlwind and hopefully it’s been as safe and fun-filled as possible during this health crisis. Covid-19 has unfortunately taken the world by storm, forcing us all to become accustomed to this new normal—face masks …
August is Black Philanthropy Month. The national theme this year is “Foresight 20/20.” It arrests me because of all the things I could have never foreseen on my journey that seem so well-ordered in the rearview mirror.
Recently, Governor Mike Parson announced that his continuing efforts to involve federal law enforcement in state matters through Operation LeGend will expand to St. Louis. Operation LeGend is supposed to be a federal anti-crime program. According to the United States attorney, it launched in…
As a young lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union, I had the opportunity to show the impartiality of the First Amendment by representing plaintiffs whose outspoken views on racism made them my polar opposites. In Carroll v. Town of Princess Anne, I was defending the First Amendment as …
We are a group of Brown School students writing to express our concern about the planned return to campus. Although we all wish that we could safely return to campus, we believe it is in the best interest of the students and the St. Louis community for the Brown School and Washington Univers…
LJ Punch, MD, is a trauma surgeon, community advocate and St. Louis County Commissioner. Punch sent this letter to St. Louis County Police Chief Mary Barton on July 28. The St. Louis American is publishing the letter in its entirety.
The White House may soon issue an executive order that would require drug companies to manufacture certain essential medicines here in the United States. Lawmakers in both parties are pushing for more domestic manufacturing of drugs and medical products.
Throughout the history of this nation, Black women have been at the forefront of moving us toward a more representative and unified society. From the voting booth to grassroots movements, Black women have fought for and uplifted this country with their vote and voice.
The selection of U.S. Senator Kamala Harris to be the Democratic vice presidential nominee represents many “firsts”: the first Black woman, the first person of South Asian descent, and the first HBCU grad to be nominated on a major party ticket.
Max Ehrmann reminds us in “Desiderata” (1927) that, whether or not it is clear to us, the universe is unfolding as it should. That thought came to mind when I saw that Joe Biden had selected U.S. Senator Kamala Harris to be the Democratic nominee for vice president of the United States. I di…
On behalf of over 300,000 members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., I congratulate U.S. Senator Kamala Harris on being selected as running mate for Joe Biden. This is a great day for our country, a great day African Africans and for women.
“The issue of inability to pay, poverty, and unemployment – that existed pre-COVID-19,” said attorney Raphael Ramos of Wisconsin's Eviction Defense Project. “The difference between now and then is that the pandemic has shifted the line of poverty. There are more people at risk than before.”
As an educator and as an activist with the Metropolitan Congregations United Juvenile Task Force, I have witnessed the atrocities in education and the community at large that do not favor the immaturity of children’s brain development at such a young age as 14. Moreover, children of color ar…
The quarantine from COVID-19 has transformed public education as we know it and put the job of educating St. Louis’ children squarely (and at times, solely) into the hands of their families. We’ve risen to the challenge and quickly converted our living spaces into learning ones. But in-betwe…
Throughout the history of this nation, Black women have been at the forefront of moving us toward a more representative and unified society. From the voting booth to grassroots movements, Black women have fought for and uplifted this country with their vote and voice.
Growing up in rural Mississippi, I watched people set fire to the land. Scorching the earth to cultivate the acreage — to improve its health and make way for future crops to grow beautifully, stronger, and in abundance. I was a young girl when I learned of this “prescribed burning” but the n…
In the wake of cascading public health emergencies – first the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, then the murder of George Floyd and the violent police response to mostly non-violent protests for Black Lives – communities across the country are reexamining their relationships with policing a…
The selection of U.S. Senator Kamala Harris as Joe Biden’s running mate on the Democratic ticket is unprecedented and wise.
Republican leadership in Jefferson City proposed an outrageous, anti-democratic amendment to allow the governor to remove St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner from office for nearly any reason. They have also introduced a bill that gives jurisdiction to the Attorney General’s Office t…
After years of working to bring Cure Violence to St. Louis and seeing that it is implemented properly, the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression (CAPCR) has resigned from the Cure Violence Community Advisory Steering Committee. This decision has become necessary to maintain the inte…
I have been an at-risk youth mentor in the City of St. Louis for going on three years now, and I have seen a lot concerning the troubled teens in our region. Some of the particulars include disturbing environments, lack of safe havens, illiteracy, trauma and abuse, mental health neglect, und…
Black women are many things. We are business executives, political strategists and elected officials, philanthropists, and activists. We are health and wellness practitioners. We are entertainers and faith leaders. We are wives, mothers, daughters, educators, and students. We set and shift c…
As someone who has said throughout the campaign that VP Joe Biden needs to choose a Black woman VP, the urgency for that pick has gone from something that SHOULD happen to something that HAS to happen. It disgusts us that Black women are not just being vetted in this VP process but unfairly …
As the United States entered the COVID-19 pandemic, some cities such as St. Louis and Kansas City already struggled with increased violence in under-resourced communities. The ensuing shutdown forced many out of work, and the few community resources – such as boys and girls clubs, community …
"Harlem was home; was where we belonged; where we knew and were known in return; where we felt most alive; where, if need be, somebody had to take us in. Harlem defined us, claiming our consciousness and, I suspect, our unconsciousness.” – Actor and activist Ossie Davis
On August 4, Missourians will have the opportunity to vote to expand our Medicaid program to cover 230,000 residents in need. Expansion would cover individuals making up to $18,000 per year, offering so many of our neighbors the financial protection we need now more than ever. It would allow…
On August 4, St. Louis city voters have a choice between two Democratic candidates to represent us as Circuit Attorney. Many voters already know who they will choose on Election Day; others remain undecided. As a civil rights and criminal defense attorney, I would like to share with you why …
St. Louis changed forever in mid-September 1920 as thousands of women lined up at polling places all around the city to ensure they could finally make their voices heard on Election Day. Congress had formally ratified the 19th Amendment about a month prior, officially giving women the voting…
The health of mothers and babies has long been a key indicator of the well-being of communities, and a reflection of a state’s priorities. In Missouri, where the rate of maternal mortality—the numbers of moms who die in or related to childbirth—is double the national level, pregnancy is a ma…
There is no question that communities of color in our nation face significant health disparities. African Americans have higher rates of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and maternal mortality than their white counterparts. The life expectancy of an African American is almost four years lower…
Commented