Commentary
2020 uprisings, unprecedented in scope, join a long river of struggle in America
The river was the metaphor that best captured “the long, continuous movement” of the black freedom struggle for theologian, historian and civil rights activist Vincent Harding. Harding, who had served as a speechwriter for Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., wrote in his groundbreaking 1981 study of African-American history, “There is a River: The Black Struggle […]
Beware of politicians writing columns in newspapers
Early in my career as a newspaper editor, I felt ambivalent about the subject of public officials submitting opinion columns. Over time, though, my viewpoint soured. Confession: There came a point when I started deleting them the moment they reached my inbox, the way I would for spam and irrelevant press releases about music albums […]
Antibody injections could fight COVID-19 infections – an infectious disease expert explains
Antibodies are part of us – literally. We have billions of them in our bodies with a combined weight of about 100 grams, or about the weight of a bar of soap. If there are so many antibodies inside our bodies then they must be safe and very important, right? Indeed, antibodies are perhaps the […]
Police are hurting protesters with little accountability
Social media is inundated with videos that show police attacking people in broad daylight with apparently little recompense. Videos that once would “go viral” of a police officer unduly macing someone, are now grimly ubiquitous. People protesting the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis live-stream being shot at close range with huge rubber or wooden […]
Police officers accused of brutal violence often have a history of complaints by citizens
As protests against police violence and racism continue in cities throughout the U.S., the public is learning that several of the officers involved in the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville share a history of complaints by citizens of brutality or misconduct. Decades of research on police shootings and brutality […]
Militarization has fostered a policing culture that sets up protesters as ‘the enemy’
The unrest sparked by the death of George Floyd after being pinned to the ground by the knee of a Minneapolis police officer has left parts of U.S. cities looking like a battle zone. Night after night, angry protesters have taken to the street. So too have police officers dressed in full riot gear and […]
Yearning to breathe free, or just to breathe
Millions of Americans, it seems, feel as if they can no longer breathe. Through the first months of 2020, the novel coronavirus has choked the life from more than 100,000 of our countrymen and women. Disease-related shutdowns have choked 40 million more out of the workforce, changing the economic outlook for many — especially minorities […]
Why cellphone videos of black people’s deaths should be considered sacred, like lynching photographs
As Ahmaud Arbery fell to the ground, the sound of the gunshot that took his life echoed loudly throughout his Georgia neighborhood. I rewound the video of his killing. Each time I viewed it, I was drawn first to the young black jogger’s seemingly carefree stride, which was halted by two white men in a […]
What the phase 1 trials of the first COVID-19 vaccine really mean
Early morning on May 18, Moderna, a biotechnology company, revealed the preliminary findings for the much anticipated phase I trial of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. The information sent Moderna’s stock soaring by more than 20% and helped fuel a rally on Wall Street. Although there was an enthusiastic response to the news, the purpose of […]
Employers can save jobs with Shared Work Ohio
A little-known program that’s part of Ohio’s unemployment compensation (UC) system could help keep more workers on the job and allow many employers to bring laid-off employees back to work as they ramp up operations. It’s called Shared Work Ohio, and it’s an example of how government can tackle problems and support working people and […]
There is no script for reopening Ohio
Ohio is opening back up. While our state garnered national and international praise for its initial handling of the coronavirus crisis, we have experienced some notable bumps in the road on the way towards reopening ranging from crowded patios that skirt rules in place to questionable definitions of “mass gathering” that seem to make such […]
A doctor shares 7 steps he’ll review to decide when and where it’s safe to go out and about
As we return to some degree of normalcy after weeks of social distancing, we all need a plan. As an immunologist, I’ve given this a lot of thought personally and professionally. When I venture out, I am first going to check the number of new COVID-19 infections in my community. In Virginia, for example, as […]