By Lee A. Daniels
The gateway to understanding the optimism blacks feel even in the face of an alarming deterioration of their economic position can be put in one word.

Faith.

Byron Halsey spent 19 years in prison for the brutal rape and murder of his girlfriend’s two children in 1985. Halsey, who has a sixth-grade education and severe learning disabilities, was interrogated by New Jersey Police for over 30 hours before confessing to the crime. Halsey’s neighbor, Clifton Hall, was initially suspected, since his whereabouts at the time of the murders could not be confirmed, but he was ignored once Halsey confessed. Spectators at Halsey’s trial jeered loudly when he was convicted and “only” sentenced to life in prison, since he was not eligible for the death penalty.

By Maggie Astor
While the brunt of public fury has rightly fallen on BP, quite a bit of blame has been pinned on President Obama as well. This is not entirely surprising, given the time-honored American tradition of blaming the federal government for almost everything. But we could do with a more levelheaded look not only at what Obama can realistically accomplish here, but also at where he fits in the long history of presidential responses to environmental disasters.

By Lee A. Daniels
The nation’s unemployment rate in June declined slightly, as did the number of people counted as being out of work.

But no one’s happy about it.

By Kevin Eason
Kevin Eason is a freelance editorial cartoonist and Illustrator from NJ. His brand of satire covers news events in politics, entertainment, sports and much more. Kevin’s work features include: TVOne, NABJ, WBLS_107.5FM, EURweb and various newspapers & magazines throughout the country.

By Stacey Patton This past Wednesday, New York Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy stood at the U.S. Capitol holding up a long wooden paddle as she introduced the “Ending Corporal Punishment in Schools Act” – a bill that would ban corporal punishment in all public and private schools that receive federal assistance.

By Bruce Watson
In the summer of 1964, the civil rights movement was stalled.

A decade had passed since the team of attorneys from NAACP’s Legal Defense and Educational Fund had won Brown v. Board of Education, yet much of the South was still defying the landmark decision. Bombs, police dogs, and fire hoses had repelled marchers from Birmingham to St. Augustine, Florida. Martin Luther King, Jr. was reaching new heights of eloquence but he could not be everywhere at once. Something startling was needed to revive the movement. That something was Freedom Summer.

By John Payton
I realize when I say we’re a very racially diverse democracy, sometimes I say it in a way that makes it sound like a triumph; in fact, it’s a challenge.