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Louis Taylor talks during a news conference with the legal team from the Arizona Justice Project in downtown Phoenix on Wednesday, April 3, 2013. Taylor, 58, was released Tuesday after doubts about his conviction surfaced and he entered a no-contest plea in a deal with prosecutors. Taylor was 16 years old when he was arrested in the Pioneer Fire in Tucson in 1970. Taylor, who is black, was later convicted by an all-white jury and sentenced to life in prison.
Louis Taylor talks during a news conference with the legal team from the Arizona Justice Project in downtown Phoenix on Wednesday, April 3, 2013. Taylor, 58, was released Tuesday after doubts about his conviction surfaced and he entered a no-contest plea in a deal with prosecutors. Taylor was 16 years old when he was arrested in the Pioneer Fire in Tucson in 1970. Taylor, who is black, was later convicted by an all-white jury and sentenced to life in prison. (AP Photo)
A Presumption of Guilt
Originally published May 22, 2013

After serving 42 years in an Arizona prison for a crime he didn't commit, a 58-year-old man was finally released this April. When Louis Taylor was just 16, he ventured out of his comfort zone to try a happy hour advertised by an upscale Tucson hotel, a typical foray for an adventurous teenage boy. Unfortunately, that night a fire broke out that ultimately claimed 29 lives. In that moment, Taylor stopped being typical and became extraordinary. He did not run from the danger as most people would. Instead he took responsibility. He was spotted during the crisis busily helping people escape the flames, escorting guests to safety and assisting people on stretchers.more More Arrow
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Editorial

Del. Charniele Herring
- Del. Charniele Herring has traveled around this country, but the first African American woman to chair the Democratic Party of Virginia says, “I just love Virginia; it’s been very good to me,” Ironic words coming from this great-great-granddaughter of a Lynchburg slave who today leads the state’s political party that once upheld segregation in the former capital of the Confederacy.more More Arrow

Abortion Words
- A Philadelphia prosecutor called it a “house of horrors.” But it was no amusement day at Hershey Park for the unsuspecting women who entered the Women’s Medical Society in West Philly for more than 15 years. more More Arrow

DMV - DC/MD/VA
- Post-racial politics? The issue of race in 2014, particularly in the local Democratic primaries, is already a determining factor. The rapidly changing demographics in the DMV—D.C., Maryland and Virginia—are not only redrawing the landscape but also restrucuturing the political playing fields. And all are reading those color-coded 2012 election results like tea leaves.more More Arrow

- Democrat Anita Bonds, who beat back five challengers and a biased media campaign to win her at-large seat on the D.C. Council in April 23 special election, attributed her win to “people who know me” all across the city. more More Arrow

- Anytime anyone attempts to discuss or defuse misunderstandings about intractable racism in America, which is still unable to reconcile its historic and hidden affects even today, they better be prepared for some backlash. To mention racism is to tiptoe into a minefield, and all too often it is the present practice to blame the victim for the carnage from the blast.more More Arrow
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Have You Seen This Yet?

Republican Congressman Allen West
- In a week of circus like activity for the GOP, Republican Congressman Allen West may have taken the award for the most over the top statement ever given. In a recent sit down with the Florida Representative, CNN anchor John King asked Mr. West how he felt about being a black Congressman during Black History Month.more More Arrow

- The greeting on your website says, "we are looking forward to hearing from you", but I'm not sure you will be looking forward to hearing from me, Mr. Cain.more More Arrow

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain
- The greeting on your website says, "we are looking forward to hearing from you", but I'm not sure you will be looking forward to hearing from me, Mr. Cain.more More Arrow

- A timeline of actions by our Presidents which helped the United States land in the economic situation it is in today, going back to Ronald Reagan.more More Arrow

- Can you guess which national organization houses more criminally-involved participants?more More Arrow
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Commentary

Alabama State Troopers attack Civil Rights demonstrators outside Selma, Alabama.
- “Daddy,” the boy said, “I don't want to disobey you, but I have made my pledge. If you try to keep me home, I will sneak off ... For, you see, I'm not doing this only because I want to be free. I'm doing it also because I want freedom for you and Mama, and I want it to come before you die.”more More Arrow

Courtney Jacobs
- Where are all the good men at in today’s world? They have always been around, but seem to be hard to find for some women.more More Arrow

Congressman Elijah Cummings
- While America’s economy continues to recover, we should not forget those of our neighbors who are struggling.more More Arrow

Wall Street
- Private-equity firms, hedge funds and other Wall Street investors are seeking to develop a Real Estate Owned (REO)–to--Rent Securitization Market with the blessing of the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Housing Finance Agency. more More Arrow

Marc H. Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League.
- “Raise your eyes now, and look from the place where you are…for all the land that you see I will give to you.” Genesis 13: 14-15more More Arrow