Originally published in St. Louis American on October 18, 2018.

Since my early days of political awareness, all the administrations of U.S. presidents have been tainted with racism and corruption, from John F. Kennedy to Trump. (I’ll take the first black president out for obvious reasons.) Former Congressman Bill Clay gives us the all the proof we need in his latest book, “U.S. Presidents: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly – Pimples, Warts and All.”

Clay talks about the contracts on America (not with America) by these administrations. The attacks on working families, especially families of color, through laws and policies often veiled until we feel the punch. Like Reagan’s War on Drugs. Like Clinton’s double-whammy of welfare reform and the infamous crime bill. Like Trump’s big tax break for his rich buddies. And since Clay’s book is an assessment from a black perspective, he illuminates the damaging impact of these elected officials on black people, their lives and their futures. Read more

I love working on citizen-led ballot initiatives that will improve the lives of many and not a few. That’s because you get to talk to voters at the onset to persuade them to sign a petition that gets the issue before voters. One such ballot initiative is Amendment 1, also known as CLEAN Missouri. The big donors and lobbyists have every reason to be nervous when they see their unfettered assembly of goodies coming to an end. Desperate, they filed a lawsuit to keep the initiative off the November 6 ballot.

Amendment 1 is serious biz. It’s a big leash on pulling back the big money influencing our political system. And the amendment puts some reasonable guidelines on the redistricting process that’s right around the corner with the 2020 Census. Read more