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Governor Martinez’ Family Matters

The Editors — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 03:19:11 +0000

By Lee A. Daniels
New Mexico’s new Republican Governor Susana Martinez has drawn significant national attention not only because she’s the first Latinato hold that high office in the U.S., but also because she’s pushed a hard-line against undocumented immigrants—most of whom, of course, are from Latin America.

The Schools’ Crucial Ingredient: Parental Involvement

The Editors — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 19:18:32 +0000

By Kenneth J. Cooper
A decade after the No Child Left Behind Act became law, the achievement gap still yawns as schools across the country reopen for a new year.

America’s Mass Incarceration Policy: Bad for Children

The Editors — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 21:11:29 +0000

By Lee A. Daniels
America’s policy of mass incarceration – under which the number of black state and federal inmates especially has exploded over the past three decades – has had a starkly negative impact on the lives of millions of black children, and is contributing to “an intergenerational transfer of racial inequality” on a massive scale, two scholars assert in the current issue of an academic journal.

New Jersey Passes Historic “Civil Rights” Bill for Adoptees

The Editors — Wed, 11 May 2011 02:19:42 +0000

By Stacey Patton
On Monday, the New Jersey State Assembly approved a measure that will allow adults who were adopted as infants to get a copy of their birth certificate showing the names of their biological parents.

LDF Joins Civil Rights Coalition in Issuing ESEA Accountability Principles

The Editors — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 11:41:01 +0000

Last week, LDF joined more than a dozen civil rights organizations in authoring a letter urging Congress to incorporate key accountability provisions as it reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).

Racial Bias Not Real Culprit In Black Child Abuse Cases

The Editors — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 14:46:15 +0000

By Stacey Patton
Once again, National Child Abuse Prevention Month is here and the conversation on the physical safety and welfare of children is taking place amid blazing headlines over the controversial issue of paddling in schools.

A Page from Black History: The 1897 St. James Dispensary Riot

The Editors — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 21:45:00 +0000

By Stacey Patton
The St. James Dispensary Riot of 1897 has been given no attention in the history books and most people have probably never heard anything about it.

Birthright Citizenship: The Political Games Continue

The Editors — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 13:09:14 +0000

By The Editors
It’s deeply ironic that amidst the considerations of Black History Month and of the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, some conservative pundits and legislators continue to be obsessed, at least, rhetorically speaking, with legislatively repealing the 14th Amendment.

Black Crusade Addresses Growing Crises Facing Black Children

The Editors — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 21:40:17 +0000

By TaRessa Stovall
“Black Children and Families are Facing the Worst Crises Since Slavery,” was the campaign tagline when the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) launched its Black Community Crusade for Children (BCCC) nearly 20 years ago. The focus then, as now, was fighting child poverty.

The Scapegoating Frenzy

The Editors — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 17:31:43 +0000

By The Editors
Have you noticed that it’s getting difficult to keep up with whom to blame for America’s ills?

Déjà vu All Over Again

The Editors — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 00:38:04 +0000

By The Editors
Amid the surprising display last month of productive bipartisan cooperation between the Obama administration and the Democrats and Republicans in Congress, there was one glaring failure: The Senate rejected the DREAM Act, legislation which proposed to grant citizenship at the end of a ten-year period to children of undocumented immigrants who successfully earned post-secondary degrees or entered military service.

The Threat of Persistent Child Poverty

The Editors — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 16:47:52 +0000

By Lee A. Daniels
Data accumulating in a growing pile of reports map the devastating consequences of the Great Recession on millions of Americans.

Among the most recent is a study from The Urban Institute, the Washington, D.C.-based think tank, full of alarming statistics and findings about the “threat” to America’s social fabric of the persistence of child poverty.

In it to Win it: At Age 12, Justus Rules the Boards

The Editors — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 01:24:01 +0000

By TaRessa Stovall
The 12-year-old Bronx resident may be shy and soft-spoken, but his fierce drive and unwavering confidence are earning him celebrity status in a sport not often associated with urban youth. He earns top grades, loves math, obeys his parents, avoids junk food and oh yeah, is the youngest black chess player ever to reach the level of master.

In the world.

Kinship Caregivers Struggle for Support in an Unsupportive Economy

The Editors — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 02:00:20 +0000

By Tarice L.S. Gray
It’s not a new phenomenon – children being raised primarily by their grandparents or other close relatives. About six million are, according to the Kinship Care Legal Research Center, an initiative of the American Bar Association.

Yes We Can Solve the Crisis of Black Males in Public Schools

The Editors — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 19:00:04 +0000

By The Editors For more than a quarter-century, there’s been an intense national discussion about the crisis in educating black boys in the nation’s public schools. In the meantime, despite numerous successes of programs in individual public, private and charter schools, and scattered community efforts, the crisis has only gotten worse.

Teaching Black Kids to Cope with Racism

The Editors — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:04:49 +0000

By Tarice L. S. Gray Families are where children find acceptance, which is key to healthy growth and development.

Biloxi Schools Controversy: Punished for Achievement?

The Editors — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 19:05:13 +0000

By Stacey Patton
When school begins this Wednesday, 267 of Biloxi’s top-performing elementary students will be attending a new school less than a mile down the road. But some parents and city residents feel that move will threaten the student’s continued high scholastic achievement.

Facing Fears: Many Minorities Need Encouragement to Get in the Swim

The Editors — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 01:02:40 +0000

By Tarice L.S. Gray While at a swim meet two weeks ago in Canada, World Record Holder and 2008 US Olympic Swimmer Cullen Jones got some heartbreaking news: Another child of color had drowned in his United States.

Ending Corporal Punishment Act An Important Step Since ‘Brown v. Board of Education’

The Editors — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 00:59:44 +0000

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.

Harris County Texas Sends Strong Message to People Who Hit Kids

The Editors — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 02:16:59 +0000

By Stacey Patton Good news in the battle against corporal punishment in schools! But not everyone, especially some in Houston’s black community, agrees.

The Immigration Crisis: Now, The ‘Anchor Baby’ Bills

The Editors — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 02:13:02 +0000

By Lee A. Daniels
The Arizona politicos who produced that state’s SB1070 law – the racial profiling bill – as their answer to the country’s confused immigration procedures now want to deny U.S. citizenship to the children of undocumented immigrants born in the state.

8 Year-Old Girl’s Hair Triggers Cries of Racism But Are We Jumping the Gun?

The Editors — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 19:12:46 +0000

By Stacey Patton
When I finished the full story, I came to the surprising conclusion that this latest interaction between a white teacher and black child’s hair just might not be a racist incident after all.

Dear Glenn Beck: Apology Not Accepted

The Editors — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 03:07:12 +0000

By The Editors
Is anyone surprised anymore at the depths Glenn Beck will sink to?

Almost immediately the vicious, mocking tirade he unleashed last week against Malia Obama provoked such a fierce reaction that Beck, no doubt carefully gauging how far beyond the bounds of decency he could venture for long, issued a carefully worded statement that the more credulous have taken for an apology.

Time to Ban Physical Punishment of Students in all Schools

The Editors — Fri, 21 May 2010 20:50:28 +0000

By Stacey Patton The recent beating of a 13 year-old boy, captured on a cell phone by a student at the Jamie’s House Charter School in Houston, is yet another horrifying example of why corporal punishment ought to be permanently banned in all schools nationwide.

A Powerful Voice: Not Stilled, Still Heard

The Editors — Mon, 17 May 2010 23:17:21 +0000

By Vernon E. Jordan, Jr.
In New York State Thurgood Marshall Day --appropriately -- also marks the anniversary of a great American milestone.