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Is a managed care contracting fight looming in DC?
Could a wrong move or the perception of shenanigans regarding the MCO contracts bring attention from Republicans looking to use health care the way they have used crime to bludgeon the city’s ability to govern itself, replete with warnings of a full-on federal takeover?

jonetta rose barras
Oct 78 min read


The hot mess of democracy in DC
Trampling on home rule has been a nonpartisan affair.

jonetta rose barras
Sep 219 min read


Preserving Our Natural Wonders is a Patriotic Cause Worth Fighting For
Dorothy Gibbs chanted “save our parks” from her wheelchair while holding a sign that read “97 years old, still fighting for public...

Ben Jealous
Mar 293 min read


Gas is Dirty: Liquefied Methane Gas Proponents Ignore The Facts and The Human Toll
NOT long after her adopted twins came to live with her in Freeport, Texas, Melanie Oldham saw their health start to decline. Both...

Ben Jealous
Dec 28, 20244 min read


Is DC’s health care system at risk?
DC residents and their political leaders are understandably anxious about Donald Trump’s second presidential term. They are also...

jonetta rose barras
Dec 22, 20246 min read


DC Councilmember Christina Henderson digging deep and legislating widely — with feeling
ON April 3, members of the DC Council took turns questioning Mayor Muriel Bowser about her proposed fiscal year 2025 budget, which she...

jonetta rose barras
Oct 20, 20247 min read


The Aging Homeless Among Us
Was she someone's grandmother? How had she fallen into such dire straits?

jonetta rose barras
Oct 20, 20247 min read


The Unstoppable Rise of Black Women Voters
By Glynda C. Carr AS we approach this critical election season, a remarkable story unfolds across America. Young Black women are not...
staff post
Oct 5, 20244 min read


Don't You Love A Farce?
Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White Sr., who was recently indicted and arraigned on a federal felony charge that includes a claim that he...

jonetta rose barras
Sep 22, 20245 min read


DC Ward 8's fight for its future
The challenge in Ward 8 right now is comparable, in my mind, to the one confronting millions of mostly rural citizens nationally, who...

jonetta rose barras
Sep 17, 20248 min read


Winning round one at DC’s Gallery Place
WHEN you have an opponent by the short hairs and they know it, gloating is in poor taste. Proper etiquette for the victor is to “smile,...

jonetta rose barras
Apr 7, 20248 min read


The Clean Energy Transition Must Be a Just Transition
WHEN General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford – the “Big Three” American automakers – were close to extinction 15 years ago, their workers and...

Ben Jealous
Oct 1, 20232 min read


What's the Problem with DC AG Brian Schwalb?
DURING the past month, I have heard that question multiple times from people across DC who are not satisfied with AG Brian Schwalb’s...

jonetta rose barras
Sep 25, 20236 min read


Ruth Simmons’ hardscrabble journey to elite higher education
WHEN the galley for Ruth J. Simmons’ memoir — Up Home: One Girl’s Journey — arrived in my mailbox a few months ago, I couldn’t wait to...

jonetta rose barras
Sep 25, 20237 min read


Our Public Lands Need More Land and a More Diverse Public
ON Saturday, environmental advocate Bill Vanderberg was where he is most Saturdays during the year – leading volunteers maintaining...

Ben Jealous
Sep 25, 20233 min read


A Deep South Governor’s Race to Watch
A year in which there are only three races for governor’s seats, all in the Deep South, wouldn’t normally create a lot of political...

Ben Jealous
Jul 2, 20233 min read


AFFIRMATIVE ACTION AND THE U.S. SUPREME COURT
Editor's note: The Supreme Court 6-3 ruling made public on June 29 striking down affirmative action programs and policies at two...
staff post
Jul 1, 20235 min read


Should reparations focus on radical economic 21st century construction?
“CLOSE the racial wealth gap” was the phrase du jour last week at DC Council Chair Pro Tempore Kenyan McDuffie’s public hearing on the...

jonetta rose barras
Jul 1, 20236 min read


Big Chance to Cut Climate Pollution from Big Trucks
THE interstates built in the 1950s and 1960s killed the vitality of the communities where people of color and the poor lived, from...

Ben Jealous
Jun 19, 20233 min read


New Fire, Familiar Injustice
A lightning strike and a small fire are all it took this weekend to remind residents in South Louisiana – across much of the Gulf Coast...

Ben Jealous
Jun 6, 20233 min read
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