Perhaps you remember the Oscar-nominated movie "12 Angry Men." It's the story of an all-male, all-white jury meeting for a slam-dunk guilty-of-murder-one verdict against a Spanish teenager. Except for one lone juror, known only as No. 8. He quietly, persistently presents his arguments, asks questions and refuses to be diverted by emotional outbursts or personal attacks until he persuades the other jurors to examine the case logically and objectively.
Every third Monday in January we gather as Americans to commemorate the values and beliefs -- as well as the ultimate sacrifice -- of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Running for president is an expensive endeavor, but the cost isn't measured in dollars alone.
Tuesday, Attorney General Eric Holder delivers a major speech on voting rights at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library in Austin, Texas. The location is significant: In 1965, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law, a landmark piece of civil rights legislation that banned the worst forms of racial discrimination in American elections.
On Tuesday, for the second time this month, the Republican field will debate foreign policy, a topic that hasn't seen much attention in the race until now. The candidates will be fighting an uphill battle against the president's strong record on national security.
Dorothy Cooper is a 96-year-old African-American resident of Chattanooga, Tennessee. She was born in a small town in northern Georgia before women could vote and when Jim Crow laws mandated racial segregation. Her life has spanned nearly a century of progress: The 19th Amendment extended suffrage to women, the Civil Rights movement led to the dismantling of segregation laws, and the Voting Rights Act outlawed overt racial discrimination in elections.
Ralph Nader floated the idea this week that a primary challenge to President Obama will help the president and the country.
Ever since Republicans in Congress held our country hostage to the brink of default, there has been an ongoing discussion about how President Obama can reassert control over the American economy.
Some Republicans love to talk about "job-destroying" progressive policies, but hate to own up to their own trickle-down ways. It's not that hard to get specific about the tepid economic recovery and all the Republican-backed policies that are destroying jobs though. Let me tell you about one we almost experienced.
My fellow Americans: In a matter of weeks you have become studied on the issues of budgets and deficits. You've also formed opinions on these issues, and these opinions are reflected in poll after poll. Isn't it strange that Congress has yet to listen?
On April 3, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. went to Memphis, Tennessee, to stand in solidarity with sanitation workers of AFSCME Local 1733 and the wider community they inspired.
"Our democracy is a light -- a beacon, really -- around the world because we effect change at the ballot box and not because of these outbursts of violence." --Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, March 2010
This week, as family and friends gather to give thanks for so many blessings, let us also remember to be of service.
This week, visitors entering Washington's Union Station are greeted by a work of art -- a two-story, red open-toed lady's dress shoe. It reminds me of Cinderella's lost glass slipper. I thought to myself, if someone is looking for the woman big enough to fill this, they need look no further than Nancy Pelosi.
Neil, one of my neighbors on Capitol Hill, recalled this story to me the other day after watching President Obama's town hall meeting: "She was recently widowed, about 93, having lost her husband of over 60 years. When I came upon her in a darkened church hallway, standing alone, staring at the floor, I wanted to know what was wrong.
This month marks the anniversary of many historical milestones in the continuing effort to guarantee equal rights to all Americans.
I spent a restless night, worrying that another man-made disaster might devastate my beloved hometown, New Orleans, just as its post-Katrina motto "Recover, Rebuild, Rebirth" was becoming real.
Campaign finance reform advocates will lose a great hero when Justice John Paul Stevens retires from the Supreme Court. As the last remaining World War II veteran in such a place of eminence, he brings an invaluable perspective to the bench.
On Sunday we commemorate the courage and sacrifice of 600 men and women who dared 45 years ago to take the first steps in a 54-mile march from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital, Montgomery, for the right to vote. That day, Sunday, March 7, 1965, would come to be known as "Bloody Sunday."
"Comprehensive health insurance is an idea whose time has come in America. There has long been a need to assure every American financial access to high quality health care. As medical costs go up, that need grows more pressing." -- Republican President Nixon's special message to Congress proposing a "Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan," February 6, 1974
The controversy involving the arrest of a black Harvard professor by a white police officer has brought race relations in America to the front burner.
There's an old saying down in my hometown of New Orleans about how to tell the changing of the seasons. I'm not referring to winter, spring, summer or fall, but rather to the aroma of what someone's cooking up fresh and delicious.
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