In the words of the late Maya Angelou, “when someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” It is about time for African Americans to believe who former president Bill Clinton really is. In an encounter last month with Black Lives Matter activists in Philadelphia, Mr. Clinton refused to acknowledge the harm … [Read more…]
As the NCAA basketball tournaments drew to a close, ESPN presented a 90-minute special on the 1966 NCAA championship game between Kentucky and Texas Western. Texas Western, now the University of Texas at El Paso, started five black players and upset the highly favored Kentucky team. Since Texas Western started five blacks and their only … [Read more…]
Sports fans are in the midst of March Madness, the time of year of the exciting college basketball playoffs. So many games it is a mad time. Please excuse me while I discuss another particularly mad aspect of March Madness. March Madness is big business and everybody gets paid but the stars–the players, an economic … [Read more…]
One of the few Miss Americas that I paid attention to died last month at 87 years of age. She was Yolande Betbeze, who won the crown in 1950 and immediately stepped out of the box. She shocked the Miss America organizers when she refused to appear in a bathing suit for cheesecake photos, she … [Read more…]
Lead does serious harm to the neurological system of developing children. This harm continues for the rest of their lives as there is no cure for lead poisoning. There is only remediation, as happens in classrooms for children with learning and behavioral problems. Consequently, much more attention needs to be paid to the primary prevention … [Read more…]
Five weeks ago I attended an overflow event at Virginia Tech that featured professor of environmental engineering, Marc Edwards, and his students–the Flint Water Study Research Team, and also LeeAnne Walters, the Flint mother who asked professor Edwards to come test the Flint River water. The event was full of emotion, especially for an engineering … [Read more…]
As we end Black History Month I will make note of an exceptional African American I met four years ago. Charles Harrison, a retired industrial designer, was brought to Virginia Tech in observance of Black History Month by the Colleges of Engineering and Architecture and Design. He did workshops for students and offered a public … [Read more…]
See at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s76RrWiLWo8
In this month of celebrating black history let us take note of the recent passing of a significant historical figure, African American classical singer Mattiwilda Dobbs, who died in December at 90 years of age. A soprano, Ms. Dobbs was the first African American to sing a leading role at La Scala in Italy in … [Read more…]
The Debate between Hilary Clinton and Bernie Sanders last Thursday was interesting in several ways. For me the most remarkable occurrence was the frank discussion of structural racism by both candidates. They used the terms “institutional” and “systemic.” It appears that Hilary Clinton is pushing hard to retain her problematic hold on black voters for … [Read more…]