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In losing Jesse Jackson, we lost a champion of justice

It seems like everyone in Chicago has a story about the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who died this week at the age of 84. Here's mine. I was a young reporter when I first talked to him, working the weekend and holiday shifts, which meant I often covered some of the bleakest stories in the newspaper. This story was among the bleakest. I had been awoken early that Christmas morning by the sound of the phone ringing. My husband answered groggily, mumbling an "I know who you are," before handing me the phone and going back to sleep. It was my editor at the newspaper calling to tell me about my ...

Marco Rubio: More Than Just the Good Cop

My first reaction to Secretary of State Marco Rubio's speech, delivered on Valentine's Day, at the Munich Security Conference, was, "Last year, President Donald Trump sent the bad cop, Vice President JD Vance. This year, he sent the good cop, Rubio. Progress." In February 2025, the audience at ...

Black History Is Defended by Those Willing To Preserve It

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Black History Month. While we celebrate this milestone, we are also grappling with efforts to remove or revise Black history in the classroom as well as the exhibits found at federal parks and museums. But Black history cannot be erased; it is preserved ...

Will we see a Supreme Court vacancy, or two, this summer?

Few things in Washington, D.C., generate as much as excitement and intrigue as a Supreme Court confirmation showdown. For decades, since the eponymous "borking" of then-Supreme Court nominee Bob Bork in 1987, political battles surrounding the membership of the nation's high court have been among the most contentious and raucous of Beltway affairs. Which is why it's rather curious that very few outside the most fervid of court-watchers seem to be discussing the distinct possibility that there could be one or two Supreme Court vacancies after the current term ends this summer. Justice ...

 Mike Cox tries again

If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again.In modern day Michigan history in the races for governor, it has happened only two times. Perry Johnson ran for governor but never got on the ballot. He'll try, try, try again this year. Mike Cox ran for governor in 2010. He did get on the ...

Woman: person, daughter, sister, wife, mother, and more

I was happy to be raised as the ninth of ten children here in Alpena. Our family started in the late 1930’s when my parents met, fell in love and married. They were committed to hard work because that is how they were raised. And if they were going to be happy and healthy, they would have to choose to be clear and awake to all that life would bring; and they also chose to see the glass half full. My mom and dad’s choice of each other was divinely inspired as their individual lives were fed by their Catholic faith. Never a theological storehouse, they were raised and exhibited a ...