Editorials
Sports, statements and racial reality
By Final Call Editor-In-ChiefRichard B. Muhammad The Black Twitterverse exploded and off-line discussions erupted when quotes from an interview with basketball great Kobe Bryant in The New Yorker magazine came out. The NBA All-Star was involved in an exchange with writer Ben McGrath that included Kobe's wonder at his success and his path from Italy, where his father played professional...
Dangerous, Black and under 11-years-old
By FinalCall.com News Boys will be boys and girls will be girls–except when it comes to Black children in America and research once again verifies that sad fact. New scientific evidence verifies the well-known reality that age doesn't matter when it comes to the treatment of Black children by law enforcement and authorities. “Black boys as young as 10 may not be...
The Final Call: The First 35 Years
By Final Call Editor-In-ChiefRichard B. Muhammad Anniversaries mean something and can denote purpose, staying power, commitment, relevance or unrelenting determination to stay alive. This year will mark the 35th anniversary of the founding of The Final Call newspaper and our mission to resurrect the Black man and woman of America and the world. We have survived the first three decades...
Lessons from Black History
By FinalCall.com News February is designated Black History Month and should be a time when we make a special effort, not the only effort, to focus on lessons from history and apply those lessons to our ongoing struggle. It is not only a chance to celebrate, but a time to reflect and a time to honor those who forged a...
A world enslaved
By FinalCall.com News Facts can be stubborn and troubling things: It is a fact that the gap between the super-rich and everyone else is growing. This should disturb anyone concerned about justice, peace or mere survival. Consider these realities: Almost half of the world's wealth is now owned by just one percent of the population.The wealth of the one percent richest people in...
When Hell freezes over …
By FinalCall.com News The proverbial phrase when “Hell Freezes Over” became a reality when Hell, Mich., some sixty miles from Detroit reached -4 degrees and as low as -27 degrees. Death spread across America in January as weather-related tragedies struck, including car and truck pile-ups and a homeless man was found frozen solid behind a building in Maryland. In a...
A sign of troubling times?
By FinalCall.com News Just a couple weeks into the New Year comes an incident that raises concerns, questions and fears about what Black folks can expect in 2014 and the climate in the country. Not surprisingly it involves a Black male driver and an encounter with law enforcement. The circumstances reported by the man's family and the images posted on his...
Fighting a true War on Poverty
By FinalCall.com News It was 50 years ago in January that President Lyndon B. Johnson announced the time had come to wage a War on Poverty. His presidential declaration was followed up with more support for programs that assassinated President John F. Kennedy had created to tackle problems of hunger, job training and job creation. President Johnson's “unconditional war on...
New possibility for a New Year?
By FinalCall.com News It's the time of year where resolutions and declarations are made and the promise of change comes to the forefront of minds and lips. Many shun New Year's resolutions and reject attaching much importance to linking change to change in the Gregorian calendar. But taking a look at oneself and one's life and deciding what things need to...
Editorial: What is a Black life worth?
By FinalCall.com News Black suffering in America is not new, but this year seemed to bring an abundance of pain, death and disrespect. Sadly loss of life occurred at the hands of those outside of the Black community and in our assaults on one another. Dying at the hands of our open enemy and the children of those who brought...