Commentary

Details: Written by Nkenge Harmon Johnson President and CEO, Urban League of Portland; Published: 17 October 2024

Nkenge Harmon Johnson, President and CEO, Urban League of Portland

Political forces around the country have launched an all-out assault on voting rights that targets Black communities. State legislatures are restricting voting access in districts with large Black populations and are imposing other barriers and pernicious restrictions.

Details: Written by Duchesne Drew; Published: 15 October 2024

Photo Credit by Jacob Wackerhausen

My Head Start classroom was a warm environment that affirmed me as a learner. That affirmation has influenced my journey from Head Start to public media president.

Details: Written by Ronnie Herndon, Director of Albina Head Start; Published: 17 September 2024

Ronnie Herndon, Albina Head Start

This month, Albina Head Start filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to defend itself against a misapplied rule that could force the program – and all the children it serves – to lose federal funding.

Details: Written by Charlene Crowell; Published: 05 September 2024

Columnist Charlene Crowell

In August, the Department of Justice and eight state Attorneys Generals filed a lawsuit charging RealPage Inc., a commercial revenue management software firm with providing apartment managers with illegal price fixing software data that violates antitrust law and artificially increases costs for millions of renters across the nation.

Details: Written by Michael A. Grant, J.D. via Trice Edney Wire; Published: 22 August 2024

Michael Grant, J.D.

Because a 'House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand'

Details: Written by Charlene Crowell; Published: 15 August 2024

Columnist Charlene Crowell

As consumers struggle to cope with mounting debt, a new economic report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York includes an unprecedented glimmer of hope. Although debt for mortgages, credit cards, auto loans and more increased by billions of dollars in the second quarter of 2024, student loan debt decreased by $10 billion.

about-Carolyn-Leonard

Details: Written by Jyothi Gaddam; Published: 14 August 2024

Carolyn Leonard

That was Carolyn. Always thinking about what else she could do for the community, even as she herself lay dying in bed. A celebration of Carolyn Leonard’s life will be held on
August 17.

Details: Written by The Minneapolis Star Tribune via The Associated Press; Published: 09 August 2024

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., speaks after a bipartisan Senate forum on artificial intelligence, on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The stakes of November’s election are real. Campaign communications should be, too.

Details: Written by Ben Jealous; Published: 16 July 2024

Ben Jealous

What if there was a blueprint for a future presidential administration to unilaterally lay waste to our constitutional order and turn America from a democracy into an autocracy in one fell swoop? That is what one far-right think tank and its contributors created. And more than a hundred other far-right organizations have now signed on to support that blueprint. What could possibly go wrong?

Details: Written by Charlene Crowell; Published: 16 July 2024

Charlene Crowell

For Black and Latino Americans, this power-grab by the court throws into doubt and potentially weakens current agency rules that sought to bring us closer to the nation’s promises of freedom and justice for all. In two particular areas – fair housing and financial regulation – many hard-won victories aimed at addressing inequalities could be opened up to review and reversal.