Jimmie Williams is CEO and president of the Washington Literacy Center and Adrian Jordan is a member of the board and works for Elevance Health. In this piece, they posit that improving adult literacy in Washington, D.C., is essential to strengthening public health, economic opportunity and civic participation, particularly as new challenges like ranked-choice voting emerge.
Author Archives: Special to the AFRO
Posted inOpinion
When a scent becomes a sentence: The high price of low-level marijuana arrests
Miranda Jones (Sis. Miranda) is an English educator and co-founder of the grassroots organization Hate Out of Winston (HOOW). This week, she argues that one man’s experience reflects a broader fear: For many Black residents, even a parked car offers no protection from police scrutiny. She also reflects on the systemic imbalance in how marijuana possession arrests are applied as referenced in this artwork by Shepard Fairey in Los Angeles, Calif.
Posted inDMV News
Associated Black Charities expands Teen Financial Literacy Summit
By Associated Black Charities Baltimore, MD – Associated Black Charities (ABC) is proud to announce the return of its Teen Financial Literacy Summit, expanding both its reach and impact in 2026. The summit will take place on Saturday, April 11, 2026, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at SECU Arena at Towson University, bringing together […]
Posted inOPINION
Don’t retire—return: Investing knowledge in the next generation
By Walter A.H.L. Fields Jr. When I turned 50, I began to contemplate if “retirement” was a possibility for me. Not from a financial perspective. I was fortunate enough to have had a healthy professional career and pension and retirement funds waiting. For me, the most important consideration was what would I do once I […]
Posted inEducation
Perfect homework, blank stares: Why colleges are turning to oral exams to combat AI
By Jocelyn Gecker AP Education Writer The assignment involves no laptop, no chatbot and no technology of any kind. In fact, there’s no pen or paper, either. Instead, students in Chris Schaffer’s biomedical engineering class at Cornell University are required to speak directly to an instructor in what he calls an “oral defense.” It’s a […]
Posted inNational News
From prison cell to public forum: What prison censorship teaches us about democracy
By Ivan Kilgore Last week, I appeared—remotely—from a California prison cell on a panel at North Central College in Naperville, Ill. The occasion was a screening of the Oscar-nominated documentary “The Alabama Solution,” a film that chronicles the retaliatory violence and systemic repression faced by incarcerated organizers in Alabama. I have participated in many interviews […]
Posted inMaryland News
An open letter to the descendants of the Charles Ridgely family
By Rev. Dr. Heber Brown III Dear Ridgely Family of Baltimore County, The land remembers what people sometimes try to forget. I was reminded of that 10 years ago while on a field trip to the Ridgely family estate at the Hampton National Historic Site. At the time, I was accompanied by youth from Orita’s […]
Posted inUncategorized
No Kings protesters rally in Baltimore and DC against threats to democracy
Demonstrators in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., rallied March 28 for the No Kings protest, highlighting concerns over democracy, rising costs and civil rights. Participants expressed frustration, called for unity and collective action, and highlighted the effect of the 47th president’s policies on Black communities.
Posted inOpinion
When a scent becomes a sentence: The high price of low-level marijuana arrests
By Miranda Jones On Nov. 3, 2025, Nathaniel Williams was sitting in his car in Greensboro, N.C., when the air changed. The clock had just struck 11 p.m.—the dead of night—when a private moment was shattered, transforming into a viral nightmare of physical and a high-stress arrest. According to Greensboro Police, Williams had marijuana in […]
Posted inOPINION
The Black power struggle is not over—It has evolved
By Michael Eugene Johnson There is a dangerous myth circulating in some corners of public discourse: that the Black Power struggle ended decades ago. That it peaked in the 1960s and early 1970s with fiery rhetoric, militant activism and iconic leaders and then quietly disappeared into history as equality was “achieved.” This notion is convenient […]
Posted inOPINION
It’s time to reframe the narrative on Opportunity Zones
By Vernoy July With the extension of the Opportunity Zone (OZ) tax benefit as part of the 2025 Reconciliation Act, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), now is the time to strategize to maximize the flow of transformational funds to the communities that stand to benefit the most—but first, the narrative […]
Posted inCommentary
Commentary: Black Americans face higher risk for colon cancer. Here’s why screening matters.
JaDonna Harris, a colorectal cancer survivor from Washington, D.C., shares her personal story to raise awareness about the rising risk of colorectal cancer—especially among Black Americans—and stresses the importance of early screening. Diagnosed shortly after turning 40, Harris highlights how symptoms can be overlooked and urges people not to delay testing, noting that new, more accessible screening options can help save lives.