Young man hungers for your wisdom
When young adults talk about handling their business, most of them don't know what they are talking about. After all, most of them don't have any business to handle.
Sunday, June 20, 2004
Where are the dads when DCFS fails their kids?
Every year dozens of children die months after the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services looks into their lives, the Chicago Reporter has found.
Thursday, June 17, 2004
Blame criminals, not bank, for metal detectors
Without a doubt, Bank One customers who do business at the branch at 81st and Cottage Grove deserve better. They deserve an open, hassle-free entry into the bank, like the Bank One customers who do business at a branch in Glen Ellyn. But is racism the reason why black customers on the South Side branch must pass through a metal detector before they can conduct their banking business? When the Rev. Michael Pfleger took two bus loads of protesters to the bank on Tuesday, I could understand their indignation. The metal detector should be an affront to every upstanding person.
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
Democratic label doesn't fit Madigan this budget season
If House Speaker Michael Madigan gets his way, the state will save a penny but lose a bundle. We all get sick. And when you're uninsured, the state has to help provide health care, anyway. But the state could pay less by expanding the federally funded FamilyCare program, compared with the costs associated with Medicaid. In fact, Illinois would be reimbursed two-thirds of the $66 million it would cost to expand the program to include more working families.
Black pols get it wrong in backing prisons over schools
How could any black elected official support prisons over education? Isn't that the most consistent criticism Democrats have about Republicans? Haven't we heard time and time again that Republicans would rather spend money on prisons than they would on education.
Tuesday, June 8, 2004
Reagan wasn't blacks' choice, but he left valuable lessons
What can you say about the death of a president black people never really embraced? It is only right to give honor where honor is due. Ronald Reagan, America's 40th president, was loved by many. Mourners have flocked to the funeral home and to the presidential library in Simi Valley to leave balloons, flowers, jelly beans, flags and cards.
Cosby gave it to us straight -- and it's a valuable lesson
When I returned to Chicago from vacation this week, the household was abuzz about Bill Cosby. Apparently the philanthropist and entertainer ran afoul of the soul patrol while making remarks at an NAACP event commemorating the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's Brown vs. Board of Education decision. Every thoughtful black person knows the big celebration held in Washington, D.C., was the perfect opportunity to remind white people how unjust they were. The last thing an audience attending the NAACP-sponsored event wanted to hear was Cosby criticizing black youth.
