LaVar Young

First Michael, now Whitney. In just three years, two of the most iconic, talented and famed artists in history, dead before their time. They join the ranks of many others -- Amy Winehouse, Kurt Cobain, Elvis Presley, Heath Ledger, Billie Holiday, Bruce Lee, Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, John Belushi, Janis...

At the height of the Civil Rights Movement, it wasn't that we should fight -- that was clear -- it was how we should fight that Martin Luther King, Jr. most effectively communicated. But today the landscape has changed. Despite the clear inequalities that remain, without concrete sanctions, a call...

The release of Nike and Michael Jordan's limited edition Air Jordan Concord XI, a few weeks ago resulted in a string of violence at malls and shopping centers nationwide. Sadly, the consumerist cultural reinforcements that support such volatile engagement are widespread and even celebrated -- no wonder the...

The gap in achievement between black males and their white counterparts isn't news -- it's common knowledge, generally accepted, and only sometimes bemoaned. But it seems to me that we should be more alarmed -- four hundred years after arriving in America aboard slave ships, and they have yet to...

Ever since the mass protests of the civil rights movement, when the war in Vietnam and the injustices against African Americans brought out the activist in many Americans, there has been a absence of large-scale people's movements. But with Occupy Wall Street and Cornel West and Tavis Smiley's Poverty Tour...

In the midst of the vindictive, partisan rhetoric now filling out airwaves -- from the economy and health care, to the upcoming presidential election -- I wonder: what about education? As we speak, millions of children across the country return to schools that rank below average on the global stage....

Cookouts, visits to the beach and camp for the kids are all a part of the summertime allure. But there is a dark side to all that sunshine and leisure: crime. According to the Federal Investigations Bureau, crime rates increase by around 10 percent, with murders rising 16 percent and...

Last week's political showdown over the budget in New Jersey had democratic lawmakers fighting dirty and Governor Chris Christie fighting dirtier, and winning big. But both parties are to blame for the decimated budget that's been irresponsibly handed down to New Jersey's taxpayers; taxpayers who are the ultimate losers in...

Over the past week I have had the chance to consort with some incredibly intelligent and distinguished people to address two topics of the highest importance to me. Last month, two days before sitting on a panel on "Peace in the Home" with the Dalai Lama and several other notable...

On June 19th our country will celebrate Father's Day, as we have every third Sunday in June since the holiday was proclaimed in 1910. But times have changed since the turn of the 20th century, especially when it comes to the structure of families in America. Given the sharp rise...

As we continue to struggle with the effects of the national recession, more and more working families are being pushed to the financial brink. We cannot let these families succumb to debt, foreclosure or other financial hardship, and we must act now to get them back on the path toward...