Voice Matters Blog

New Rules to Retroactively Re-Sentance Prisoners for Crack Cocaine PossessionVia the NAACP:"On June 30, 2011, the U.S. Sentencing Commission voted unanimously to apply the new guidelines for a federal conviction of crack cocaine possession as established by the Fair Sentencing Act retroactively to those men and women currently incarcerated. This... Read More

New Women’s Health Benefit Boon for Breastfeeding In time for World Breastfeeding Week, HHS Secretary Sebelius announced this morning that insurance companies must cover at no additional cost preventive health services.  These services will include birth control, annual well-woman visits, gestational diabetes screening, HPV testing, HIV screening and counseling, breastfeeding... Read More

Trade Tip: Get EngagedHow do you keep a client’s trust and continued business? Get engaged with them. No, we’re not suggesting you ask for their hand in marriage and take a walk down the aisle (smile). That’s a little too much. Although, we are recommending an intimacy with them beyond... Read More

Crisis Communications & The Silver Bullet     Ever wonder why the Titanic sank?        Those in a position to address the problem before it became the worst sea disaster of the 20th Century chose denial and pretense over confronting the flaw head on.  Corporate competition, unregulated industry and the demand to emerge with... Read More

To The Left: Social Justice - What does this mean in practical terms?According to Wikipedia, “social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the... Read More

[A screen shot of the DC metro area by race. How does your neighborhood compare?]Diversity: Are We Self-Segregating? A study released this week revealed that “affluent Blacks and Hispanics live in neighborhoods that are noticeably poorer than neighborhoods where low-income Whites live.” The study, by... Read More

Weekly Poll: Do We Really Want a Color-Blind America?Color-blind America?  It sounds great, but do we Americans really want to give up our own self-interests?  Do we want to want to subjugate our needs, our families’ needs, our special interests to some ‘greater’ (or at least larger) good?  And should... Read More

Earlier this week The U.S. Department of Health &Human Services announced new guidelines that will ensure women to receive preventive health services at no additional cost. Services include: birth control, annual well-woman visits, gestational diabetes screening, HPV testing, HIV screening and counseling, breastfeeding support and supplies, and domestic violence screening and counseling.... Read More

Justice Delayed But Not Denied The quality of justice in our nation is still distorted by a persistent racial bias, but justice sometimes prevails. The conviction of the last  of the police officers charged in the  charged in the Danzinger Bridge killings in New Orleans following Katrina is one... Read More

Cheaper health coverage plans involve the cost of doctors' visit, medicines, hospital stay and other medical costs. Some of the available health plans do not include the cost of doctors' visit and prescription. Therefore, individuals need to ensure that, they select the right policy that provides all the basic coverage.Durable... Read More

“CDC: Hospitals should do more to encourage breastfeeding” The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breastfeeding to age 6 months and continued breastfeeding for at least the first year of life. Various studies show that black mothers tend to start breastfeeding less than white mothers. The lower rates are... Read More

The Kind of PR You Don’t Want - A Bad EventIn this life, it’s hard to satisfy everyone but we immediately know the difference between a well-run event versus a bad one. A concert, conference, convention, seminar or workshop: typically, these events require several months or perhaps a year of... Read More

Inside Intelligence: The Art of Becoming Great By: Jasmine Gethers     As stated in, As a boss, are you brave enough to learn how others see you? Being evaluated and learning how others see you is the key for growth when it comes to your craft.   When I was a sophomore in college,... Read More

Does Nostalgia Trump Cutting the Budget?At least 19 District Post Offices are scheduled to close.  And nationwide, the number could be in the thousands.  Yes, it’s true, Facebook, Twitter, email and texting have all but rendered postcards and letters obsolete.  In fact, we can even pay our bills online.  And... Read More

Tap or Bottle? Your Skin Color May Tell the Answer In the years since major brands like Coca-Cola and Nestle first decided to bottle and sell water, a mostly-free and vital resource, marketing tactics have gone from convincing consumers that “it tastes better” to “it’s healthier” to “it will... Read More

Thank you for posting such a useful, impressive and a wicked article./Wow.. looking good! Good Health... Read More

CBS correspondent Betty Ngyen reported that the U.S. Postal Service wants to cut 120,000 jobs as it reports another loss in revenue. “This will be the service second straight year of 8 billion dollars in losses, officials propose cutting 120,000 jobs and setting up health and pension plans for postal... Read More

Criminal Justice: Tale of Two Cities - San Francisco police and BART overreact to protests DC police fail to react to hate crime against lesbians Last week, San Francisco’s transit authorities stepped on the First Amendment, in the supposed interest of preventing commuter protests on BART, the regional subway... Read More

Be Well: At-home care is a booming business America’s aging population and new health insurance laws are creating a growing demand for in-home health workers. More and more, families are hiring home health aides and certified nursing assistants to care for a loved one. But while demand for these... Read More

Trade Tips: 7 Tips For Writing Emails That Won’t Get Deleted Goodness knows they interrupt our conversations and thoughts by their arrivals with a “ding” (or your preferred sound effect). While at times it can be annoying and you’re tempted to DELETE ALL, email is a tool that allows... Read More

The Intern Diaries: Internal Mentoring Over the weekend I was browsing the web and discovered an old article about the importance of having a mentor, The New Rules of Mentoring. After reading the article, I realized how very grateful I am to have wonderful mentors.... Read More

To The Left: Memorial Me This The National Mall is filled with memorials. There are iconic memorials to presidents, such as the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. There are memorials dedicated to wars and the people who served in them, including the The District of Columbia War Memorial... Read More

Diversity: Educating the Future, a Majority of Minorities Latino employment and education seem to be hot topics in the blogosphere nowadays, especially with the ongoing, heated immigration debates. Regardless of what your stance on the latter issue, one thing is certain: the Latino population is booming in the U.S.... Read More

Richard Prince takes a look at media coverage of UK riots and the often racialized terms of debate. One historian’s comment on BBC that “whites have become black” drew 700 complaints. Read more about media analysis and coverage of the riots here.Colorline’s Global Justice writer, Michelle Chen accuses British courts... Read More

Do you have a passion for social justice? Are you a strong communicator with a background in journalism and/or public relations? If you answered “yes” to both of those questions, you may just be who we’re looking for! McKinney & Associates is currently searching for a paid fall intern (recent... Read More

    August 18, 2011   Steve Barrett, Editor  PRWeek steve.barrett@prweek.com    Dear Mr. Barrett:    We were surprised and disappointed to see so little diversity reflected in PRWeek’s 2011 Power List of 50 “elite” public relations pros. Apparently PRWeek still defines power rather narrowly. In a profession where women predominate, PRWeek found only 11 powerful women,... Read More

What do Science and PR Week share in common?For better and worst, both publications have spotlighted disturbing gaps, exclusion and omission of worthy African American professionals in the respective fields of biomedical research and public relations. Science, the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, published a... Read More

I CONSTANTLY wonder why it is that men still dominate media and marketing when it is female consumers who make most of the buying decisions in the U.S. Indeed, I mused on this very topic yesterday on Twitter when I came across a recent Nielsen report that reaffirms this information.... Read More

Great letter - the "Mad Men" analogy is really appropriate. I particularly like that you provided strong example names.... Read More

The Intern Diaries: The Voice of Social MediaOn yesterday, while on my lunch break I experienced my first earthquake. I was sitting in a park, near my place of work when the ground started to shake. Like many of the bystanders, I too was confused with what had just happened.... Read More

'Freedmen' Still Fighting for their Dream    Excitement and pride have been justifiably juxtaposed with calls to action throughout the blogosphere as media anticipation for the dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. monument reaches a climax.   Just three days from now, on the anniversary of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech... Read More

Gwen, thanks so much for writing about this. I posted it to the EJS Facebook page so others can also weigh in.... Read More

Fiction Isn't Fact...It's FictionWhile The Help has garnered rave reviews and made money at the box office, there has been an undercurrent of mumbling and grumbling about the movie. Some, like the Association of Black Women Historians, have denounced the movie because of its historical inaccuracies in the depiction of life... Read More

Video: Hurricane Irene As Seen From the International Space StationMcKinney & Associates hopes everyone on the East Coast stays safe this weekend, and protected from any serious damage from the impending Hurricane Irene. Between the earthquake this week, and now this possible category 3 hurricane on its way, mother nature... Read More

Criminal Justice: Your Lyin' EyesAdam Serwer blogs at The American Prospect about the recent New Jersey Court ruling on the unreliability of eyewitness testimony. Chief Justice Stuart Rabner wrote an opinion holding that the legal standards for admissibility of eyewitness evidence needs to change. Rabner cited factors like cross-racial identification... Read More

Thanks for raising awareness about this, Gwen! I've shared it on FB & Twitter.... Read More

This is a well informed article and I thank Bilen for sharing on fb. I am not surprised in the least bit by your findings, however. Now, to answer your ending questions: No, do not cancel your subscription. There's no reason do so. Yes, start your own "PR Power List".... Read More

Trade Tips: Brainstorm Like a Child By Nicole Hayes Sometimes the word itself causes dread, and the act makes us fearful: Brainstorming. We’ve all been there. The boss or project leader asks everyone to meet for a “brainstorming session” and your mind suddenly resists. Why the... Read More

Know History... Know Labor!     On this Labor Day, as some people assault the American worker’s right to organize, protest and collectively bargain, it is appropriate to take a few minutes to remember -- and learn -- on whose shoulders we toil.       Workers fighting for their rights is as American as apple... Read More

Reflections on a Dream By Phyllis Wilder This past weekend I was honored to attend the white-tie, star studded event MLK: A Monumental Life, a musical theater production chronicling the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The performance was held at Washington, D.C.’s DAR (Daughters... Read More