3 Reasons Why Voting Is Leadership

Issue 277 — October 28, 2024 This is a nonpartisan statement, and I believe it to the core of my being. Voting is #leadership. Do you agree? Or does it sound far-fetched? Maybe you think my mind is simply addled from the media barrage of political ads and stories leading up to Election Day, November…

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Buffalo: Leaders Must Rise to The Challenge

Issue 199 — May 23, 2022

First, say their names: Margus D. Morrison, 52; Andre Mackneil, 53; Aaron Salter, 55; Geraldine Talley, 62; Celestine Chaney, 65; Heyward Patterson, 67; Katherine Massey, 72; Pearl Young, 77; and Ruth Whitfield 86. On behalf of all of us at Take The Lead, we mourn the loss of their lives and stand in solidarity with their loved ones.

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Rethinking Britney: Protection or Patriarchy

Issue 170 — June 28, 2021

My weekly zoom with women friends who have been staying in touch through the pandemic recently focused on how hard it is to get old ideas and solutions out of their heads when a new and better one has been proven more effective.

The examples mostly came from the world of science and medicine, starting with Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis who was hounded out of the medical profession in the 19th century. Dr. Semmelweis observed that simply washing hands after treating other patients could significantly reduce maternal mortality. Despite a growing body of scientific papers that backed up his theory, most physicians refused to change their traditional practices, and eventually had Semmelweis committed to an institution where he died.

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How long till justice? Juneteenth symbolizes both question and answer

Growing up deep in the heart of Texas, I learned in (segregated) school that Juneteenth was a big celebration day for Black people because it marked the date on which the Emancipation Proclamation, which had been signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, finally reached Texas on June 19th, 1865.

This date, when federal troops arrived in Galveston to take control of the state after the Civil War, at last ended the egregious practice of legal human slavery in the United States.

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