The potential relationship between slavery and the Epstein files is primarily conceptual. Scholars have concluded that there is no direct historical link. However, researchers have noted important parallels, connecting both to patterns of power, exploitation, and impunity in the United States. One significant parallel emerges from how United Nations experts characterize the crimes found in…

By Roland McFadden With Africa’s youth projected to account for 42% of the global population by 2030, their empowerment is crucial to the continent’s prosperity. African leaders must focus on education, job creation, entrepreneurship, and agricultural modernization to unlock this potential. Leaders must update curricula and invest in teacher training to promote digital literacy and…

The 1994 Rwandan genocide exemplifies how colonial powers weaponized pseudo-science and divide-and-conquer strategies to manufacture enduring social divisions, ultimately resulting in immense human tragedy. Before European colonization, Tutsi and Hutu lived together in relative harmony within the same community. Hutu were mainly farmers, while Tutsi were cattle herders. Economic mobility was determined by wealth, marriage,…

By Roland McFadden, January 29, 2026 Slavery was designed to strip Africans of their culture, family, and identity.  However, enslaved Africans developed strategies to maintain part of their African culture. For example,  Gullah Geechee people  located in  South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida use storytelling, songs, folktales, basket weaving, and praise houses to maintain African traditions…

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the expansion of the international fast-food industry in Africa? Research finding shows that the international fast-food industry has increased obesity rates on the continent and other diseases.   However,  these industries have the potential to reduce unemployment. The growth of the fast-food business in Africa is complex; it creates…

When poverty is treated as a crime instead of a public health issue, it pushes low-income Americans further into hardship—contributing to mass incarceration, housing instability, and social stigma. In his 2009 article “The Criminalization of Poverty,” Kaaryn Gustafson noted that not being able to pay fines is a strong predictor of a low-income person’s entry…

Should the descendants of enslaved Africans in the United States receive reparations for the historical injustice of slavery and the persistent racial discrimination they face today? I contend that the United States bears a moral duty to compensate those whose families suffered under slavery and its enduring legacy, much as it did for Japanese Americans…

Hair braiding evolved into a powerful tool of resistance against enslavement across the Americas. In her groundbreaking work “Freedom Braids” (2024), researcher Monique Duncan documents how enslaved women in Colombia encoded escape routes within intricate braiding patterns. The community of San Basilio became particularly known for cornrow designs that subtly mapped rivers, safe houses, and…