By Ronnie Reese via the Chicago Tribune
Editor’s Note — Nearly two decades ago, nearly 6,000 black Chicagoans had sought the chance to serve their city as firefighters. Their quest dream was at first denied, and then long-delayed before being ultimately vindicated by the Supreme Court in the case of Lewis v. The City of Chicago. This week the first of those candidates were called to begin the first round of testing, as an article from the Chicago Tribune

By George E. Curry
A widening gap between the mega-rich and the rest of society, documented in a recent congressional study, is likely to create even larger economic disparities between African-Americans and Whites.

By Tarice L.S. Gray
For a long time in this country the poor have felt like they were written off.

By Lee A. Daniels
Alabama, whose Republican–dominated legislature in June enacted the nation’s most restrictive law targeting undocumented immigrants — in order, they said, to preserve those and other low-wage jobs for American citizens – is discovering: you can’t.

By John Payton
Editor’s Note: These remarks were delivered by John Payton, President and Director Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Monday to conference of the National Housing Law Project in Washington.

By Tom Fox via The Washington Post
Jacqueline A. Berrien has been the chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) since April 2010. A Harvard Law School graduate, Berrien practiced civil rights law for many years, assisted underrepresented groups as a program officer for the Ford Foundation, and came to the EEOC from the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, where she served as associate director-counsel.

By Kenneth J. Cooper
New federal research shows that African American and Hispanic students are being shortchanged, literally, when it comes to school budgets, in most districts with diverse enrollments.

By The Editors
The U.S. is facing “a silent mental health epidemic” as joblessness lengthens and deepens for millions of once-gainfully employed Americans, a new study is warning.

By The Editors
The Census Bureau’s annual report on the status of Americans’ income, the number of Americans living in poverty, and the number of Americans without health insurance that was released last week did double duty.

By Kenneth J. Cooper
“Place matters for health.” That opening declaration in one of two new reports distills established wisdom that residential segregation is a big contributor to minority health disparities – because segregated neighborhoods tend to have less access to health care and fresh produce, fewer recreational facilities and more environmental hazards.