A new year is supposed to usher in hope and new possibilities. Sadly, there is little in the St. Louis region’s history that exudes the promise of change. I am the eternal optimist only because I put my faith in everyday people, not the corrupt and incompetent people who thrive off power and…

All holidays in the U.S. are highly commercialized. Christmas is the most commercialized to the tune of $475 billion, according to National Retail Federation estimates. Lost in those billions is a big portion of the $1 trillion-plus spending power of black folks. Our consumerism rarely comes…

The fate of Coach Trey Porter has finally been determined. Some would say the determination had little to do with his violation of the social media policy. Others would say the decision had nothing to do with enriching the lives of the students at Roosevelt High School. I side with the latte…

For months now, Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner has suffered defensive wounds from those attempting to prevent her from carrying out a justice agenda. While voters didn’t elect Gardner to spend needless resources and time fighting against racist and sexist attacks, Gardner knew it would co…

For months, House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi was reluctant to move forward amidst calls for impeachment before, during and after the Mueller investigation. Pelosi’s reasoning seemed to be that impeachment would be divisive for the country and support was lacking from the American people. H…

“American holds onto an undemocratic assumption from its founding: that some people deserve more power than others.”

Every week, we are forced into the scary and erratic world of Trump. The 45th president has kept late-night TV hosts supplied with unlimited material for comic relief. With each passing day, the Trump administration is less comedic and the nation in need of serious, rather than comic, relief.

The carnage of black bodies this summer, especially children, took a toll of all of us who care about humanity and who tirelessly work for racial justice. What compounded this bloody summer’s negative impact is the way some chose to respond to the crisis.

A community report-back on the Cure Violence assessment of St. Louis will be held 6 p.m. Thursday, September 12 at the Deaconess Center for Child Well-Being, 1000 N. Vandeventer Ave., sponsored by the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression.

The U.S. Supreme Court just didn’t pass the buck on the issue of gerrymandering. It refused to carry out its duty to uphold basic constitutional protections. The ruling makes the passage of Missouri’s Amendment 1 last November even more significant.

Since the Ferguson Uprising in response to the murder of Mike Brown, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department has been exposed from the inside and out. The exposes have affirmed for some citizens, and bolstered beliefs in others, that the department is racist, incompetent and corrupt and…

"Historical ignorance.” That was the poignant phrase expressed at the second installment of trilogy held recently at Washington University. Dr. Cornell W. Brooks delivered a powerful address that wove together black and American history, biblical scriptures and contemporary issues. The trilo…

Did you know the president signed the historic act for African Americans back in January 2018? Oh, I guess you didn’t hear about the 400 Years of African American History Commission Act designed to acknowledge the four centuries plus of Africans being forced into U.S. chattel slavery. And yo…

I told you some years ago that these conservative folks would make being a “gleam in yo’ daddy’s eye” the start of conception. Fast forward and we see the aggressive attack on abortion rights by Republican lawbreakers. Several southern states have just passed “heartbeat” laws, a draconian me…

Over the 25 years of writing my column, readers have told me what they learned from my columns. I know that we don’t always have time to read many different viewpoints to come up with our own conclusions, so I work hard to present both information and knowledge. The goal is once readers have…

Local control is under attack, in rural and urban Missouri

Daily we see how Trump plows through our fragile American democracy – unaware or uncaring of the laws, principles, structures and protocols he tramples. While his destruction happens on a national and international stage for all to see, similar actions are also happening on the local and sta…

Writing for The St. Louis American for 25 years, a reoccurring question from readers is how I come up with ideas for my column. That can be easily answered most weeks.

The March 5 election results revealed some important insights that could be misread or ignored by elected and appointed officials, future candidates and the powers that be. There is an emerging electorate that is more informed and strategic. They will not be taken for granted.

The March election results revealed some important insights that could be misread or ignored by elected and appointed officials, future candidates and the powers-that-be. There is an emerging electorate that is more informed and strategic. They will not be taken for granted. 

Dear white people,

The year marks my 25th year of writing for The St. Louis American. I know, where did the years go?

It’s that time of year where one of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s most famous speech will permeate the air. “I Have a Dream” is often quoted – even by the perpetrators of greed, racism and injustice. If half of us were truly carrying out the principles of Dr. King, the world wouldn’t be such …

Recently Michael Butler convened a gathering of black community stakeholders. The former Missouri state representative had the audacity to run against long-time politico Sharon Carpenter and the campaign savvy to take her job as St. Louis recorder of deeds. Butler’s main goal for the conveni…

A month past the November election, North Carolina’s election board has refused to certify the results in the 9th Congressional District. The bi-partisan board is investigating voter irregularities and possible criminal deviations around absentee ballots. Once the smoke finally clears, it co…

A month past the November election, North Carolina’s election board has refused to certify the results in the 9th Congressional District. The bi-partisan board is investigating voter irregularities and possible criminal deviations around absentee ballots. Once the smoke finally clears, it co…

Every so often the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department gives the community a gift. Sometimes that unplanned generosity is at cost of some poor soul – usually black in skin color. Such is the case of Luther Hall.

Carter G. Woodson wrote the seminal “Education of the Negro” in 1933. He critiqued the educational system of the day and the totality of its devastating impact on black people. The spirit of Dr. Woodson was evoked when I read a commentary on University City schools by Tom Sullivan.

The Democrats flipped the U.S. House of Representatives in the midterm elections. Now we have a divided Congress because the GOP has control of the Senate. And while political pundits proclaimed the elections were a referendum on Trump and his Republican Party, it was as much a referendum on…

It is poetic justice that both Prop B to raise the minimum wage in Missouri and Amendment 1 to clean up Missouri politics are on the same ballot statewide on November. The two seemingly unrelated ballot initiatives are undeniably connected at the hip. For proponents of both measures, it has …

My first encounter with pot was in college. This may be surprising, but I never saw drugs being used or sold in my working-class community; therefore, my parents never gave me the “Just say No!” speech. It was 1968, and I was on my way to becoming a black radical. I wanted no parts of mind-a…

Since my early days of political awareness, all the administrations of U.S. presidents have been tainted with racism and corruption, from John F. Kennedy to Trump. (I’ll take the first black president out for obvious reasons.) Former Congressman Bill Clay gives us the all the proof we need i…

I love working on citizen-led ballot initiatives that will improve the lives of many and not a few. That’s because you get to talk to voters at the onset to persuade them to sign a petition that gets the issue before voters. One such ballot initiative is Amendment 1, also known as CLEAN Miss…

U.S. courts and black folks. Wow and whoa. Friend and foe. A blessing and a curse. What a tangled and complex relationship we have had with a judicial system set up to favor white, property-owning males.  

The state of Missouri was red as a beet when Donald Trump won the state in 2016, beating Hillary Clinton by a half-million votes. There were only a two blue dots in the sea of red, and those were the two urban centers of Kansas City and St. Louis. Boone County, home of the University of Miss…

I have been thinking about the Ferguson Uprising a lot – the conditions that led to it, what lessons have been learned, where the region is going, where the country is headed.

The defeat of St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch is long overdue. As the highest-paid elected county official, McCulloch has used this office and taxpayers’ money to abuse his authority and avenge his father’s death. This prosecutor is an absolute barrier to achieving any meaningful r…

There are so many reasons why Missouri voters should say no to Prop A that I don’t know where to start.

We who believe in justice are doing the right thing to raise hell on behalf of the children being torn from their parents based upon inhumane policies and racist attitudes. However, it’s a lack of historical knowledge that, when some declare that such a racist policy is un-American, or is in…

For the last several years, the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression has been facilitating a community engagement campaign on “Re-envisioning Public Safety.” In the town halls across the city, citizens were asked to think about what they would do with the portion of the city revenu…

Midyear in 2000, I got a call asking me to serve on then-Attorney General Jay Nixon’s Racial Profiling Task Force.  Oh no, not me. The idea of regularly traveling to Jefferson City to rub shoulders with white, rural sheriffs and small-town police chiefs was not the least bit appealing.

How ironic. On the same day the National Football League owners announced their decision to ban player protest during the national anthem, the video exposing the barbaric behaviors of Milwaukee police was released. Sterling Brown, Milwaukee Bucks player, was tased and arrested for a parking …

Prior to 1973, it was almost impossible for a person of color to prove racial discrimination in the workplace. The burden was on the poor soul to damn near prove that racism was in the heart of his or her employer (proving intent). The landmark case of Green v McDonnell Douglas Corp., which …

After 2004, I had a few ounces of respect for Bill Cosby, mainly as a humanitarian for his generous support for education, particularly for Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs). Advancing black culture including exposing and financing black artists, creating career opportun…

Pervasive and persistent racial profiling of African-American men is only part of their reality. When Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson entered a Philly Starbucks for a business meeting, it took all of two minutes for the police to come and arrest them for trespassing. (It took Cleveland poli…

“So my bet is on the young people who are in motion based upon the latest mass shooting. The students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School have lit a prairie fire.”

I’m a bettin’ woman, so my bet is on the young people who are in motion based upon the latest mass shooting. This could finally be the time that some reform in gun laws gets traction. No matter how small that change is, it will be the action that cracks the door for more and bigger actions. …

There is a lot of hoodwinking and shell-moving tactics going on by the Trump administration as it tries to paint a rosy economic picture for the country. The president has touted low employments rates, including for African Americans. Then there’s the “biggest tax cut” ever that made big cor…

U.S. citizenship for a wall. Really? This is the current reality for those coming from Mexico to seek the American dream. Instead, they’re facing a nightmare.

Many think the City of St. Louis has ushered in a new period for public safety. Maybe. Maybe not. We now have a black police chief, John Hayden, and a black Public Safety director, Jimmie Edwards. Both men have lengthy backgrounds in public safety, at least from the view of crime and punishment.