June 10 marked the Democratic primary in New Jersey. One key race on primary day was the race for Camden City mayor. In a city with a majority Democratic population, the primary serves as the de facto election, as whoever wins in June is likely to win in November. The winner was the current incumbent, Victor Carstarphen, over challenger Theo Spencer.

Beware of any politician, particularly a liberal politician, who articulates our social and economic problems as a product of class warfare, absent a proper analysis of race and how race is intertwined with class. In other words, beware of Sen. Bernie Sanders. He appeared on Andrew Schulz’s Flagrant podcast, where he discussed the necessity of prioritizing class-based issues over identity politics, code for race, which is to blame (in Sanders’ opinion) for the recent failures of the Democratic Party.

Is there a Black leader? Or such a thing as a Black leader? Target seems to think so, and they believe that it is Rev. Al Sharpton. They reached out to have a meeting to discuss their decision to end DEI initiatives. I suspect that, even more than that, they wanted to discuss the Black faith community’s current boycott of their stores. Since the start of that boycott, Target has been impacted. Foot traffic in Target stores has declined for 10 consecutive weeks, translating into declining sales. Target’s market value has plummeted by $12.4 billion. So, you call Al Sharpton? Al Sharpton didn’t even call for the boycott of Target initially. Rev. Jamal Bryant of New Birth Baptist Church called for the 40-day Target fast. But White folks don’t know who Jamal Bryant is. They know who Al Sharpton is.

Last week, Donald Trump signed a new executive order: Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History, which says: “Once widely respected as a symbol of American excellence and a global icon of cultural achievement, the Smithsonian Institution has, in recent years, come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology. This shift has promoted narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive.” The order names the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s exhibit, “The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture.” It represents that race is a social construct and that the United States used race to establish and maintain systems of power, privilege, and disenfranchisement.

Dear Democrats, I read the other day an opinion piece where James Carville, a relic of a Democratic party of times past, suggested that you do the following: “With no clear leader to voice our opposition and no control in any branch of government, it’s time for Democrats to embark on the most daring political maneuver in the history of our party: roll over and play dead.” His thought is to let Republicans fall under the weight of their scorched-earth tactics so that the American people will run back to you, seeing they have no other alternative. If that were true, Kamala Harris would have become president because Trump, Musk, and their congressional enablers’ scorched-earth approach was easier to forecast than a snowstorm in the middle of a snowstorm, but I digress.

As a result of Donald Trump’s anti-DEI executive orders, corporate retailers are under increased pressure to dismantle their DEI policies. This was already happening before Trump’s election. Since his election, retailers including Target, Walmart, and Amazon have all abandoned DEI initiatives concerning their sales goals. DEI stands for Diversity (meaning, acknowledging the ways people differ i.e. race, gender, age, socioeconomic status, religion, etc.), Equity (meaning, correcting societal imbalances by creating more opportunities for those who’ve historically had less access), and Inclusion (meaning, actively welcoming, supporting, respecting and valuing all individuals and groups in organizations).

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a champion for justice; justice for Black people, the poor, and all marginalized and oppressed people worldwide. His work centered on fighting against the power structure to bring justice to society. Therefore, the Day of Service in “honor” of this work is utter bull. King worked to eradicate injustice caused by racism, capitalism, and militarism. He didn’t die so that we could volunteer one day out of the year. He did not die so that we could feel good about a one-day “activism.” That was not his legacy.

Since the Florida Board of Education passed new standards for its African American History curriculum, it hasn’t been received well. In a statement, Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP said, “Our children deserve nothing less than truth, justice and the equity our ancestors shed blood, sweat and tears for.” The Florida Education Association called the new standards a “disservice to Florida students” and a “big step backwards.” Vice President Kamala Harris said of the Florida BOE, “They insu

CAMDEN — Camden, New Jersey made me who I am. One could assume that the forces of poverty, violence and criminality did much for the forging and shaping. But those who immediately trek to that assumption are without an understanding of, and respect for, the governance spaces that not only informed who I would become, but that also give the city its life. My parents heeded the “recommendation” of my grandmother to enroll me at Respond Inc. when I was a kid, where she was the head nurse for all

This holiday season is the first without my father and it’s tough. However, memories of him help keep a smile on my face. I can remember the many car rides we took, whether to school or the barbershop. I am unsure of the experiences of other kids, but my dad didn’t believe in a democracy where controlling the radio was concerned. We listened to what he wanted to list to. I yearned to hear Power 99, meanwhile he played 105.3 WDAS. One of those car rides, while “DAS” was playing, I remember a so

As a current teacher of advanced placement U.S. history, I can honestly attest to the importance of AP courses for students. Not only am I able to offer my students rigorous instruction in the area of U.S. history (teaching them what students don’t traditionally in their history classes), but my students (and all AP students) benefit from the experience of an AP course in other ways. Students who complete the AP exam can receive college credits. Also, taking an AP course looks great on your

This month, the NAACP held its annual convention in Atlantic City. The convention was an opportunity for stakeholders in the Black community to discuss the issues impacting our community locally, regionally, and nationally. I personally had an opportunity to participate in a panel discussion involving education. I also got an opportunity to attend a number of different panel discussions, including a discussion on understanding the criminal justice system today.

I had the pleasure of taking part in one of the many Juneteenth celebrations that happened all over the state of New Jersey this month with my family. Although New Jersey is not Texas, Black Jerseyans celebrated as the first Texans did and like other Black folk around the country… we partied. We ate, drank, danced, supported numerous Black venders (selling everything from flavored skin scrubs to flavored sea moss), watched our children play in bouncy houses, playgrounds, on the basketball court

The Camden City School District (CCSD) has changed the name of Woodrow Wilson High School to Eastside High School. The name change will be in effect the 2022-2023 school year. I for one believe that it was good for CCSD to change the name of the school. Regarding the renaming of the school… that’s another thing altogether. Others haven’t held back their approval or disapproval of the name change. Many people have joked about the name, referring to the Eastside High of Newark and Lean on Me fam

The Camden City School District (CCSD) has changed the name of Woodrow Wilson High School to Eastside High School. The name change will be in effect the 2022-2023 school year. I for one believe that it was good for CCSD to change the name of the school. Regarding the renaming of the school… that’s another thing altogether. Others haven’t held back their approval or disapproval of the name change. Many people have joked about the name, referring to the Eastside High of Newark and Lean on Me fam

I grew up during a time where course cases on television were must see TV. I am not entirely sure if the trial of the four officers who beat up Rodney King was on television. I was only 8 at the time. But I remember clearly the O.J. Simpson trial on television. It was on all the major networks. I hadn’t seen anything like it on television to that point. Whatever was on the broadcast schedule from 12 p.m. EST (9 a.m. PST) to 5 p.m. EST (2 p.m. PST) was canceled… on the east coast, that meant no

Roughly 12 states are working to or have actually band critical race theory from being taught in schools. The reality is that critical race theory isn’t being taught in schools. Critical Race Theory is a concept generally taught in higher education spaces whether it be undergraduate, graduate or law school. The reality is, that conservative politicians can tolerate “learning” Black history, so long as it is without the analysis that comes with critical inquiry. When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis s

“Judas and the Black Messiah” detailed William O’Neal’s infiltrating the Chicago Black Panther Party at the behest of J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI. O’Neal’s involvement with the Chicago branch of Panthers led to the murder of party chairman Fred Hampton by the FBI. The FBI’s use of O’Neal was part of the bureau’s operation, Cointelpro or Counterintelligence Program. Cointelpro was a series of covert and illegal activities conducted by the FBI that surveilled, infiltrated and discredited domestic “pol

I recently read a New York Times article about a young man who took to social media to address the video of a white classmate saying the n-word when failed by the educators at his school. Sadly, the experiences of Jimmy Galligan, a biracial teen attending a school in a town named for an ancestor of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, are all too common — Black students subject to hearing the n-word spoken with impunity by white students in a school where white people make up the majority

I love basketball. I love the NBA, no doubt. But I really enjoy high school basketball; South Jersey basketball is the best (I am biased). I am an alumnus of Camden Catholic High School. While I am from Camden, I have no ties to Camden High School other than knowing friends who graduated from there. But I am a fan of South Jersey basketball and I am a fan of greatness. The 2019-2020 Camden High School Panthers Basketball team were great. They were so great that the only thing that could stop