African American Philanthropy

The definition of philanthropy often conjures up lofty ideals of elevated ways to use resources to serve the community, usually money, and is most often attributed to foundations, corporations and uber-wealthy individuals. It implies that large sums of money and/or assets are needed in order to be considered philanthropic. Dr. C. Erick Lincoln, Race Scholar […]

Antonio carlos cascatrina © Getty Images.

The Economy

Photo: Copyright © Antonio carlos cascatrina, Getty Images. I remember when I took an economics course in college. It was tedious at best. The only takeaway from it was the paradigm of supply and demand. A concept easily understood without having to employ the complicated formulas and skills needed for mathematics. Don’t get me wrong, […]

Harlem

Photo: Copyright © Jon Rubin, under CC BY-SA 2.0. Today, one of my favorite events of the summer season takes place. It’s a great street fair on west 135th street that occurs annually at the close of Harlem Week. It usually straddles the weekend. The latter day signifies the end of summer and offers one of […]

Our History

Photo: Copyright © Benjamin Stangland, Getty Images. When I decided to write this piece on Our History, I regarded it as an opportunity. It’s through the lens of it that I stay informed about the world we live in. However, once the excitement died down, I was faced with the conundrum of “Whose history?” It’s been […]

Being Black in America

Photo: Copyright © David Arauz, under CC BY-SA 2.0 Black is a rich, deep, dark, mysterious color often erroneously attributed to death and negativity. That’s what the media would have us believe when it comes to black people. How is it the negative adjectives like that become synonymous with people of African descent? In spite of […]