National

It was a gentle but unmistakable nudge President Obama gave Representative Charles B. Rangel recently, suggesting in an interview three weeks ago that Mr. Rangel, 80, should retire to “end his career with dignity.”

When U.S. News and World Report came out with their ranking of the top 20 HBCUs in the country, I became curious.  I was wondering if my personal perception of the best schools matched the views of those who make these lists.  I couldn’t afford to attend an HBCU out of high school (not to […]

A few days ago, there was a protest at the proposed site for the Ground Zero Mosque.

August 28 will mark the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s seminal “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The occasion, however, will be marked by an orator of a decidedly different stripe standing at the foot of the memorial’s marble steps: Glenn Beck, frontman of the populist conservative Tea […]

I don’t quote Ronald Reagan often, but the annual sight of parents taking new freshmen to college always reminds me of one of his sayings. Negotiating arms-control agreements with the Soviet Union, Reagan said that his principle was, “Trust — but verify”: We wouldn’t sign a treaty with the Soviets if there weren’t a basic […]

Police in Eden, New York believe a wardrobe malfunction foiled a would-be bank robber.

Sources tell TMZ … Dr. Conrad Murray’s lawyers will ask the trial judge today for an order allowing them to get fluid samples from Michael Jackson — to help with their defense in the involuntary manslaughter case.

The Racial Justice Act, only the second of its kind in the United States, has given inmates sentenced to death in North Carolina a potential route to relief. As of today, 114 death row inmates there have filed motions asserting their sentences were tainted by racial bias. While the individual circumstances in each case differ dramatically, from domestic violence to at least one case of serial murders, if they can prove they received the death penalty due in part to racial bias, they will see their death sentence converted the life in prison.

In February 2007, Alberto R. Gonzales, the attorney general under President George W. Bush, issued a stern warning to those who murdered blacks with impunity during the civil rights era: “You have not gotten away with anything. We are still on your trail.”