Author: Carma Henry

      I was thankful to see Rep. Nancy Pelosi step down from her position as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives to give Rep. Hakeem Jeffries the opportunity to serve as the first African American Minority Leader in Congress.

      As 2023 comes into focus, the challenge for the Black American family is to thrive, and survive the country’s insanity and madness. With 70% of Black women in America raising Black children without a Black man, the family is in disarray and in confusion. Many Black men will place the blame on the system, but Black women have decided they don’t need Black men to be successful.

     When 25-year-old Maxwell Frost of Florida takes his seat in the U.S House this month, he will be the nation’s first Gen Z member of Congress. That — in and of itself — is a major milestone and accomplishment. And what makes it even better is that Frost is a young Black man who won on a great platform focused on ending gun violence, addressing climate change, and providing universal health care.

     America’s existential challenge is to put the former behind us permanently so we can finally achieve the latter and be what we pledge allegiance to — one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. After the attack on the Capitol, I sat down to figure out how we might finally do that, and my answers have filled a book.

     In fact, most families, individuals, and youth are one crisis away from experiencing homelessness. And living in a country as economically and racially unequal as the United States puts Black folks at increased risk for housing insecurity.

     In a filing sent to the U.S. Supreme Court this week, the Department of Justice agreed with President Joe Biden’s plan to forgive student loans.

     Minnesota’s newly reelected Democratic secretary of state, Steve Simon, said he had spoken to several secretaries of state who are eager to push for changes in voting. Losses by election-denier candidates in top races have emboldened some Democrats to champion expansions of voting rights.

The data revealed that officers stopped 2.9 million individuals in 2020. Most were African Americans and members of the LGBTQ community.

     Teens experimenting with marijuana is nothing new, but the legal landscape and market for the drug have shifted rapidly, making it easier for young people to get more potent cannabis products they can use discreetly before or during school. At the same time, the ongoing youth mental health crisis, exacerbated by the pandemic, may be pushing more kids to self-medicate with marijuana.

       On January 16, the nation will mark its 37th national holiday honoring the life of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968). Across the country observances will chronicle how one man’s efforts pricked the moral conscience of the nation in a lifespan of only 39 years.