“What is so rare as a day in June,” asks one poet. Nothing would be the answer, if that day is Father’s Day.

Throughout the nation Father’s Day continues to gain recognition since its inception in 1910. When the custom began over a century ago the White father was basically viewed as sole breadwinner and master of all his possessions–that included his wife and children. Continue reading Redefining the role of fatherhood →

Earlier this year, in praise of President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda, some people suggested that he was like the second coming of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. To which Congressman James Clyburn demurred. He said that Biden should not be like FDR. Perhaps he should be more like President Truman.

Many people were surprised at Clyburn’s statement. After all, was not FDR the reason African Americans switched from the Republican to the Democratic party? Continue reading Biden, Be Like Truman →

by Patrick Chura, Ph.D.,
University of Akron

Novelist Grace Lumpkin was born in 1892 to a once-prestigious Georgia family that had lost its fortune during Reconstruction. Her father was a white supremacist who raised his children to adopt his views. In her childhood Lumpkin attended Klan rallies and participated in celebrations of the romantic splendor of the “Lost Cause” of the Confederacy.

Lumpkin’s first novel, To Make My Bread (published in 1932), includes revealing glimpses of racist rituals, drawn from her early memories. Continue reading Grace Lumpkin Faced the Facts of Racism. Schools Can Too. →

by Ben Jealous,
President of People For the American Way and People For the American Way Foundation

During the civil rights movement’s struggle against discrimination and voter suppression in Jim Crow America, the Black Church was a source of refuge and resolve. Today, a new wave of voter suppression laws is targeting Black voters, and new generations of Black clergy are bringing their moral authority to a campaign to defend the Black vote. Continue reading Black Churches have Moral Authority to Defend the Black Vote →

This period of Spring is historically marked by an ever increasing number of graduations throughout the city, state and nation. To the once prevalent graduations only from elementary and high schools within public (and a few private) school systems prior to earning various degrees from institutions of higher learning, the practice has now escalated to add pre-school, junior high and any number of intermediate graduations through the years. Continue reading The inevitable progression of graduations →