In August, journalist Mirandaa Jeyaretnam of TIME reported the Trump administration had expanded its definition of “good moral character” for citizenship applicants. The new policy directs U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to apply a “holistic” standard that screens not just…
The end of Civil Rights (1964–2025): An American obituary
Its killers were many: A GOP-led gravediggers campaign determined to “make America great again” by undoing decades of progress; a U.S. Supreme Court that dismantled affirmative action, voting protections and reproductive rights; and state lawmakers who slashed funding for HBCUs,…
Rated “J” for Jesus: A box office blasphemy
In the global capitals of cinema — Hollywood in the United States, Bollywood in India, and Nollywood in Nigeria — one name crosses genres, crosses cultures and crosses continents. It’s not the name of a starlet, a mogul, or a…
Criminalizing humanity — turning Good Samaritans into lawbreakers
In a nation that often prides itself on Christian values, humanitarian outreach and freedom, an alarming trend is unfolding: Compassion is being criminalized. Law enforcement officers would detail, arrest and/or take Jesus Christ and all his disciples to jail for…
The mental health crisis behind our domestic threats
In two separate but eerily similar events, America was again reminded of its two greatest modern failures: Untreated mental illness and racialized responses to violence. One suspect entered a Walmart in Michigan and stabbed 11 people in broad daylight. The…
A national wake-up call on Black America’s relationship with water
Now more than ever, America must confront a long-standing yet under-acknowledged public health and cultural crisis: Black Americans and water. The sudden and tragic death of Malcolm-Jamal Warner — an actor beloved across generations — has cast a spotlight on…
Swamp bait: The forgotten horror of feeding Black babies to alligators
In the depths of the Florida Everglades, a place teeming with mosquitoes, swamps and predatory reptiles, the U.S. government has endorsed what many human rights activists now call Alligator Alcatraz — a sprawling 39-square-mile detention facility for immigrants surrounded not…
Will Trump pardon Sean Combs like he pardoned Jack Johnson?
On May 24, 2018, then-President Donald J. Trump issued a long-overdue posthumous pardon to Jack Johnson, the first Black world heavyweight boxing champion, convicted in 1913 under the Mann Act — a federal law originally intended to crack down on…
Trump vs. Harvard, round three
In a nation that reveres liberty, intellect and the rule of law, the ongoing saga between Donald J. Trump and Harvard University has entered round three — and this time, it’s nothing short of a federal siege. What began as…
Michael Jackson’s legacy still shapes music, culture and careers
Sixteen years ago today, on June 25, 2009, the world stood still. Michael Joseph Jackson — The King of Pop — died suddenly at age 50. His voice, vision and unmatched creativity remain unmatched, and although he left the earthly…
Why Trump’s vulgar diplomacy is dangerous
In one week, President Donald Trump did something no U.S. president has done so brazenly in the history of the Republic: He praised God for bombs being dropped on Iran, then pivoted to call for a cease-fire, only to later…
From Persia to provocation: A Christian nation’s look at the real Iran
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” — Hosea 4:6 Before it ever was called Iran, this storied nation was known to the world as Persia, an identity stretching back more than 3,000 years. The name “Iran” is derived…