On Sunday, July 3, Dr. Fred Newman died at the age of 76. I spent more than 30 years of my life with Fred, and he was a very dear friend, comrade and mentor.

Power politics has a way of erasing the memory of how things happened in the first place. That’s because when institutions come to power, they want the stories about themselves to reinforce their institutional strength.

I went to hear Dr. Omar Ali speak at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem recently. Schomburg is considered one of the foremost institutions of its kind, with an extensive collection documenting the history and culture of peoples of African descent.

A pitched debate in Black political and academic circles about President Barack Obama’s commitment to fighting for a Black Agenda has broken into the mainstream media with a bang.