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With or Without the Democrats

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Published by the St. Louis American, November 13, 2018

The Democrats flipped the U.S. House of Representatives in the midterm elections. Now we have a divided Congress because the GOP has control of the Senate. And while political pundits proclaimed the elections were a referendum on Trump and his Republican Party, it was as much a referendum on the Democrats.

Voters set a record with an estimated 113 million voters coming out to make their voices heard. Another 36 million voted early, also a record. Over a hundred women will take office in many capacities across the country – another record.

Voters put some new kinds of faces in office. States elected the first Native Americans, first Muslims, first openly gay, first blacks, first Latinos. This kind of racial and religious diversity will only make a difference if those elected share a humanistic worldview through a feminist, anti-racist and anti-homophobic lens. Read more

My struggle with marijuana

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My first encounter with pot was in college. This may be surprising, but I never saw drugs being used or sold in my working-class community; therefore, my parents never gave me the “Just say No!” speech. It was 1968, and I was on my way to becoming a black radical. I wanted no parts of mind-altering drugs. No smoking of anything, not even inhaling. I needed to be woke.

Since then, it’s been challenging for me to develop a reasonable position on marijuana. I’m all for de-criminalizing it, but I always stop short on supporting legalization. Medical marijuana is on the November 6 ballot in Missouri, and I’ll read The St. Louis American’s guide on the issue once again. I suspect voters will inevitably be faced with a ballot initiative on recreational marijuana.

If my view on this issue is to evolve, it will require help from my readers. Here are the issues I am struggling with. Read more

Amendment 1 would empower The People

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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