During election season, some people watch the debates, attend forums, track endorsements and follow the polls. Others show little to no interest in the races. If you fall in the latter category and think your vote doesn't matter, then I would like to put something on your mind.

When the African-American community heard George Lucas of “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” fame couldn't easily get "Red Tails" financed because of the all-Black cast, they promised to support the film in droves. The film placed No. 2 in box office sales over the weekend reaching $19.1 million in ticket sales. But the real story is why.

According to a 2011 study by the Center for Labor Research and Education at the University of California, “Any analysis of the impact to society of additional layoffs in the public sector as a strategy to address the fiscal crisis should take into account the disproportionate impact of reductions in government employment has on the Black community.”

People say that birthdays are for looking forward to gifts. Here are 40 I would like to see put in place for Dr. King's birthday in 2012 and beyond.

These words and thoughts might very well be spoken by the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as he challenged America four decades ago in preparation for the “poor people's campaign” of 1968. He urgently reminded America “that nothing will be done until people of good will put their bodies and their souls in motion.” Dr. King believed that, ultimately a great nation is a compassionate nation.

Three years ago, Chicago Public Schools student Devonta Roebuck was a sophomore cutting class, hanging out with the wrong crowd and on academic probation. Figuring he would never get his grades up at Kenwood Academy, he dropped out but re-enrolled in an alternative school called Innovations, where he has thrived.

“I contend that for democratic progressive movements to thrive in the United States, a healthy black politics is indispensable. Black political movements historically have formed a leading edge, in many eras… the leading edge in American democratic and progressive movements.” - quote from the book, Not In Our Lifetimes: The Future of Black Politics by Michael C. Dawson, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture at the University of Chicago)

The Rev. Dr. Leon Finney is pastor of Metropolitan Apostolic Community Church and Chief Executive Officer of the Woodlawn Community Development Corporation (WCDC). Founded in 1971 by its parent organization, The Woodlawn Organization, WCDC's mission is to engage in community based economic development activities. Over the past three decades, WCDC has organized the investment of $300 million for mixed-income residential and commercial development in Chicago’s most economically depressed neighborhoods.

Last week the House Ethics Committee, according to the law and its on-going responsibility, released several items, including a 24-page report (plus exhibits) gathered in 2009 by the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE). Independent of the House of Representatives, the OCE gathers information as a separate entity with no compulsory process - e.g., it collects newspaper clippings and court filings and conducts voluntary interviews - and sends its findings to the House Ethics Committee.

I have always been fascinated by history. Civil rights history, I believe, in particular, provides us with teaching moments we can apply to today’s struggles. I recently visited the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, formerly the Loraine Hotel, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.