As parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles, and adults everywhere are busy choosing holiday gifts for the children they love, books should always be at the top of the list. The right book can spark a lifelong love of reading and open up a whole new world for a child or teenager that will last far longer than a toy. For more than 30 years, the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) … [Read more...] about Giving the gift of books
Marian Wright Edelman
A litany of Thanksgiving
On this Thanksgiving, I share once again the beautiful prayer of great black theologian Howard Thurman, A Litany of Thanksgiving. For many years I always made Thanksgiving dinner for our whole family and for friends away from their homes. Children read various inspirational passages before our meal, and we read this prayer every year. Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on the … [Read more...] about A litany of Thanksgiving
Keep rising
"God of our weary years,God of our silent tears,Thou who has brought usthus far on the way . . ." they are lines from “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the poem and hymn otherwise known as the beloved Black National Anthem. It’s a hymn that speaks of the long, difficult road we have already traveled – and the ongoing determination, through blood, stunted hopes, exhaustion, and … [Read more...] about Keep rising
Voting for the future
"The Peacemaker taught us about the Seven Generations. He said, when you sit in council for the welfare of the people, you must not think of yourself or of your family, not even of your generation. He said, make your decisions on behalf of the seven generations coming, so that they may enjoy what you have today." – Oren Lyons, Seneca Faithkeeper, Onondaga Nation Every … [Read more...] about Voting for the future
Preparing to vote
There is now less then one month to go until Election Day in the United States, and in some states early voting and mail-in voting has already begun. In others, deadlines to register to vote or make sure a voter registration is current and correct are approaching over the next few weeks. This means the time for all eligible voters to make sure they have a plan to vote is now! … [Read more...] about Preparing to vote
Rejecting hate
In the middle of another national debate demonizing immigrant communities, one family has been speaking up in the midst of their own devastating tragedy to say they do not want their child’s legacy chained to hate. Eleven- year-old Aiden Clark was killed in a traffic accident in August 2023 in Springfield, OH, when the school bus he was riding in on the first day of school was … [Read more...] about Rejecting hate
Lessons after September 11
As the nation and world commemorated the anniversary of September 11 this past week, I remember again that it was a gloriously beautiful morning in Atlanta, GA, on September 11, 2001. I saw a glimpse of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s beloved community in his hometown as I attended the first public event of organizations that had joined together to sponsor a breakfast with … [Read more...] about Lessons after September 11
Honoring ‘Freedom Summer’
As summer draws to a close, we are also nearing the end of an extraordinary milestone – the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Movement’s 'Freedom Summer.' As a brand new Yale Law School graduate in 1963, I was fortunate enough to receive one of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF)’s first two fellowships to help young attorneys seeking to practice in the South. After a year of … [Read more...] about Honoring ‘Freedom Summer’
Fannie Lou Hamer’s convention
As our nation gears up for a political convention where a woman of color will make history, it’s another chance to look back at the convention that happened 60 years ago this week in Atlantic City, NJ, during the Civil Rights Movement’s landmark Freedom Summer. The extraordinary woman who made history then as the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party unsuccessfully sought to … [Read more...] about Fannie Lou Hamer’s convention
The country we need to create
At a moment of so much uncertainty over where our nation is headed and what national unity really means, I return again to the wise words of my late friend Dr. Vincent Harding, the revered historian, theologian, social justice activist, and visionary who never lost sight of the “beloved community” his dear colleague Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., believed our nation and world … [Read more...] about The country we need to create