I recently visited two high schools and two correctional facilities. At the high schools, I observed that students are, despite what many believe about today’s young people, eager to learn and want to succeed. I wonder why this desire our children have to do well oftentimes turns into complacency, leading them down a path of self-destruction. After all, a child is born with a clean mind, clean hands and a pure heart. What happens to make these once innocent, open young people turn toward a life of violence and crime?

We can only blame ourselves. The things we put into—or do not put into—their minds ultimately determine what our children become. As we see more and more young people drop out of school and end up trapped in the criminal justice system, we cannot continue to blame them. We are failing them.

(REAL TIMES MEDIA)—One of the best things about being the winner is you often get to re-write the rules of the game. Mind you, when you are re-writing the rules the temptation is the make sure they work in your favor, and not necessarily in the best interest of anyone else who wants to compete. The fact that Barack Obama is now trying to re-write the rules of the Democratic primary almost two years after winning the nomination tells us that he is not only interested in staying in power, but that he’s failed to understand part of magic that got him into office in the first place.

In this season of taking stock, minority entrepreneurs, advocates and concerned citizens must resolve to make some noise to ensure that minority business enterprises have a fair chance to compete for procurement opportunities funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), more commonly referred to as the stimulus package.

Pennsylvania is expected to receive $26 billion under ARRA, of which at least $6 billion will be spent by state agencies. Additionally, hundreds of millions of dollars will be disbursed by cities, counties and non-governmental agencies.

(NNPA)—Now that we have ushered in not only a new year, but a new decade, I want to share my new decade’s wish list. I hope:

PRESIDENT OBAMA stops gutting his domestic programs in an effort to appease Republicans who have no intention of supporting him on anything. GOP leaders are lower than a snake’s belly and it is useless to try to satisfy them or their No. 1 ally, Joe-the-Traitor Lieberman. President Obama correctly states that he is the president of all of the people. And that includes African-Americans. We’re not asking him to be a Black president, just a president who realizes the needs of Blacks should be targeted just as he targeted the needs of Wall Street, banks and the automotive industry.