Voice Matters Blog

Education Injustice For One Is Injustice For All   The arrest and felony conviction of Kelley Williams-Bolar for falsifying records to give her daughters a chance at a better education says so much about education inequity in America and its virulent affect on poor people.  Some leading voices in journalism and politics... Read More

  Pictures Worth a 1000 words: The Power of Social Networking in Egypt's Fight For Freedom   The current battle for freedom and the removal of President Mubarak in Egypt is a complex, constantly shifting, increasingly violent, and confusing situation to watch. It's hard for anyone to really understand what's going on in that country, but one... Read More

Remembering Reagan: Some Important Things We Can't Forget (That He Did!)   You can't miss him! He's all over your TV, radio, newspapers, and computer screen again. Ronald Reagan is back in the news, garnering lots of press, praise, fond memories, and accolades from his conservative friends, admirers, and benefactors in celebration of... Read More

Let’s Eradicate Childhood Obesity!   Three cheers for the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recognition that childhood obesity can begin long before school age. In a statement released yesterday, AAP said, “Feeding babies solid food before four months of age increases the babies' chances for becoming obese toddlers.”  The report also found... Read More

Celebratory, Yet Appropriately Cautious.   Speaking to the American people and the world today, President Barack Obama said that Egypt "will never be the same" after the successful revolution to oust Hosni Mubarak as President. "Egyptians have inspired us, and they've done so by putting the lie to the idea that justice is... Read More

  An Easy Target - House GOP Threatens to Cut Metro   While we understand the daunting budget challenges facing our Congress as they tackle our growing national debt crisis, we are again baffled by House GOP proposed cuts to funding in the Disctrict of Columbia, and more specifically for the Metro budget. Washington... Read More

Let’s Prepare Workers for the Fastest Growing Jobs . . .Now!Now that the unemployment rate has remained above 9 percent for the past 21 months, economists want to increase what is considered the normal unemployment rate, currently around 5 percent.  The new norm may now be more like 6.7 percent,... Read More

Senate Grants Collective-Bargaining Rights to TSA WorkersToday, the U.S. Senate thwarted a bill that would have denied more than 40,000 federal employees the ability to protect their rights under a union. Supporters of the bill fear that full collective-bargaining rights for TSA employees would pose a national security threat, while... Read More

While GOP Deflates Government Budget, Consumer Costs Rise  It’s no wonder so many Americans are against GOP-proposed budget cuts; at the same time that policymakers are slashing funds for consumer services, both the cost of living and the national unemployment rate continue to rise. In January, the cost of food, energy,... Read More

As the Volume Rises, Are Right People Listening?Today, the violence volume in Libya, Tripoli and other Middle Eastern countries was turned up as protestors pressed for similar outcomes of ousting old leadership for new, as witnessed in Egypt. Colonel Qaddafi’s vow to “fight to the last drop of blood” indicates... Read More

  A Black History Salute to Multiple Oscar Winner Russell Williams II   DC is the seat of political star power but it lacks Hollywood-style luster. (Not a complaint.) As far as I know, none of this year’s Oscar nominees calls the DC Metro Area home. But at least one previous Academy Award... Read More

Does Health Equity Have an Expiration Date?There are hopes and challenges with the Affordable Care Act. The greatest hope is that more uninsured Americans will have coverage and more families will experience better health care outcomes. However, one of the largest challenges lies in how disproportionately chronic diseases affect... Read More

Social Inequities in Full EffectThe experience of Jamie and Gladys Scott proves that race, gender, income and geography play a major part in determining health and wellbeing. The African American sisters who were released from a Mississippi prison in January after spending 16 years of their life sentence for an... Read More

U-N-I-T-YThe public employee and union battle rages on this week in Wisconsin, and now Ohio has joined the list of disgruntled citizens. While opposing sides fight for fairness, it is hoped that neither deep pockets nor politics is the heavyweight in this process.  We should strive for an America united, rather... Read More