by Charles E Lewis Jr | Jun 9, 2026
From left: CRISP Director Charles Lewis, Jr.; former Congressman Ed Towns; Mayor Karen Bass; National Catholic School of Social Service Dean Jo Ann Regan; and former NASW CEO Angelo McClain at the 2018 CRISP Awards ceremony. Karen Bass was elected to Congress in 2010,...
by Charles E Lewis Jr | May 17, 2026
Some of you will remember this headline as the title of a book written by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in the aftermath of the Montgomery boycott and March on Washington. The impetus for writing the book was the now-renowned “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” which he...
by Charles E Lewis Jr | May 3, 2026
In its decision in Louisiana v. Callais, the John Roberts-led conservative majority of the Supreme Court struck another damaging blow to fair minority representation in our fragile democracy. Born out of struggles during the Civil Rights era, when people gave their...
by Charles E Lewis Jr | May 1, 2026
In my recent commentary on Vice President Kamala Harris’s appearance on The View, I focused on what I viewed as a critical strategic misstep: her failure to differentiate herself from President Biden at a moment when voters were clearly signaling a desire for change....
by Charles E Lewis Jr | Apr 28, 2026
President Biden’s disastrous performance in the June 2024 CNN debate in Atlanta opened the door for Kamala Harris’s long-shot bid for the White House. It did not take long for her to slam the door shut on her candidacy with her ill-fated appearance on The View on...
by Charles E Lewis Jr | Mar 15, 2026
Attendees at the inaugural Social Work Day on the Hill reception in 2015 March is Social Work Month, and CRISP is bringing social workers to the nation’s capital to recognize and celebrate our contributions to society through our engagement with Congress and the...
by Charles E Lewis Jr | Mar 5, 2026
President Trump’s decision to join Israel in launching massive aerial attacks on Iran is the latest and most frightening example of the authoritarian tendencies that have unnerved the majority of Americans. According to an October 2025 survey by the Public Religion...
by Charles E Lewis Jr | Feb 18, 2026
Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson’s life had purpose: to improve the lives of as many people as possible. That is an epitaph that many of us would be happy to leave. He began his journey as a confidant to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as they worked to help people...
by Charles E Lewis Jr | Jan 12, 2026
Hundreds of social work researchers, faculty, and students nationwide are gathering in the nation’s capital this week for the Society of Social Work and Research (SSWR) Annual Conference at Washington, DC’s Marriott Marquis Hotel, with a focus on the theme, “Leading...
by Charles E Lewis Jr | Nov 13, 2025
Millions of Americans suffered significant losses during the most recent federal government shutdown—the longest in the nation’s history. If there were any winners from this standoff, it is the Democratic Party. By forcing Trump and Republicans to take a stance...
by Charles E Lewis Jr | Oct 21, 2025
This blog post title is borrowed from Michael Anasara’s memoir of his decades-long journey on the front lines of social movements in the United States, beginning with his teenage years in Massachusetts as a white male who found his way to segregated lunch counters...
by Charles E Lewis Jr | Sep 9, 2025
From left: Dr. Carla Hayden, Dr. Lisa Cook, and Gwynne Wilcox Black women have borne the brunt of Donald Trump’s ire. No doubt he’s spent countless hours fuming over the fact that Kamala Harris had the temerity to challenge him for his self-anointed role of President...
by Charles E Lewis Jr | Jun 12, 2025
Social worker and fellow alum from Columbia School of Social Work, Emily Ball Jabbour, decided to throw her hat into the ring as a candidate for mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey. She was elected to the Hoboken City Council in 2017 and re-elected to a second four-year term...
by Charles E Lewis Jr | May 28, 2025
The late Congressman Charlie Rangel, Ed Towns, and I attended the launch reception for the Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy (CRISP) at the Monocle Restaurant on April 16, 2013. Among the pleasant memories of my time in the U.S. House of...
by Charles E Lewis Jr | May 20, 2025
Gov. Wes Moore (D). Photo by Bryan P. Sears. Maryland Governor Wes Moore’s veto of Senate Bill 587, which would have established the Maryland Reparations Commission to conduct a two-year study of whether the state should provide reparations to citizens impacted by the...
by Charles E Lewis Jr | May 13, 2025
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (center) is flanked by Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (left) and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar As we watch in horror as Project 2025 wreaks its havoc on the American landscape, its policies, and institutions, the one...
by Charles E Lewis Jr | Feb 3, 2025
From Left: Dr. Carrie Pettus, Legislative Aide Santos Marino, Dr. Angelique Day, and Rebecca Goodwin of WSIPP. It is fitting to title my first blog during Black History Month with this lyric from Billie Holiday’s iconic song, “God Bless the Child,” as it...
by Charles E Lewis Jr | Dec 30, 2024
Like many, I had no idea who James Earl Carter was when he declared his candidacy for President of the United States in 1974. He had served as governor of Georgia, a deeply conservative state, from 1971 to 1975. At that time, southern Democrats, known as Dixiecrats,...
by Charles E Lewis Jr | Nov 24, 2024
Time is running out to submit comments to the Federal Register regarding Social Security benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments that representative payees receive for children and youth in foster care. The deadline is Monday, December 2, 2024....
by Charles E Lewis Jr | Nov 6, 2024
I spent the morning communicating with family, friends, colleagues, and students, devastated by the thought of Donald Trump returning to the White House in January. The depressing news hit me like a ton of bricks this morning when I learned the election results. I...
by Charles E Lewis Jr | Nov 2, 2024
I expect Vice President Kamala Harris to be the 47th President of the United States soon after the polls close on Tuesday. She has the intelligence, temperament, and experience to lead post-MAGA America. Despite the polls reporting half of likely voters supporting the...
by Charles E Lewis Jr | Aug 23, 2024
As I watched the Democratic National Committee’s convention last week and listened to many pundits describe it as flawless, I thought about how much of Motown’s success was due to its meticulous grooming of its artists and the music they presented. You have to be a...
by Charles E Lewis Jr | Aug 21, 2024
If you have not watched former First Lady Michelle Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention, you owe it to yourself to watch what CNN’s Anderson Cooper called the most powerful political speech he’s ever heard. It is an extraordinary and necessary message...
by Charles E Lewis Jr | Jul 17, 2024
I was surprised by Trump’s selection of J.D. Vance as his running mate. Vance was a late convert to the MAGA cult. He offered several deprecating appraisals of Donald Trump during the runup to the 2016 election, referring to him as “cultural heroin” and fearing Trump...
by Charles E Lewis Jr | May 31, 2024
Donald Trump is finally being held accountable for all the crap he has done over the many decades of his inglorious life. And it is just the beginning. I was surprised by the verdict. I did not expect a guilty verdict on all counts. I was prepared for a hung jury. The...
by Charles E Lewis Jr | Feb 8, 2024
Tuesday was a bad day for the Republican Party, both in substance and appearance. The catastrophes were led by House Republicans’ failure to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. This was not surprising because the Republicans’ slim majority of 219...
by Charles E Lewis Jr | Aug 1, 2023
Much too soon after saying farewell to social justice champion Mit Joyner, we learned of the passing of New Jersey Lieutenant Governor Sheila Oliver, just days after temporarily assuming the duties as Governor during the absence of Governor Phil Murphy, who was with...
by Charles E Lewis Jr | Jun 23, 2023
The Covid-19 pandemic and its lingering effects have captured the attention of many Americans over the past several years. It certainly has changed our lives in how we work, play, and socialize. We are sifting through its after-effects, such as surging inflation and...
by Charles E Lewis Jr | Jun 13, 2023
CRISP and the National Foster Youth Institute will host a congressional briefing tomorrow, Wednesday, June 14, 2023, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. in Room 2075 in the Rayburn House Office Building on H.R. 1446 – Foster Youth and Drivers Act, and S.699, its companion bill in...
by Charles E Lewis Jr | May 25, 2023
The Democratic Party has a long history of poor communications. President Jimmy Carter helped to undermine his chances for reelection by handing Republicans a public relations gift that is enshrined in the Hall of Fame of political gaffs. Although he never uttered the...
by Charles E Lewis Jr | Apr 11, 2023
The Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School tracks the perceptions of young voters aged 18 to 29 years old with their semi-annual national polls. In the spring of 2021, pollsters found that despite the chaotic state of American politics, hope for the...
by Charles E Lewis Jr | Jan 10, 2023
After four days and 15 ballots, and much trepidation, Kevin McCarthy was elected as the Speaker of the House of Representatives for the 118th Congress. It may be a pyrrhic victory for the California congressman who must make good on numerous concessions to the...
by Charles E Lewis Jr | Dec 21, 2022
Congressman Hakeem Jeffries is well-prepared to walk onto the biggest stage of his life. On January 3, 2023, he will make history when he succeeds the incomparable Nancy Pelosi as the leader of the Democratic Party. It is a tall order. Speaker Pelosi is generally...
