The challenges facing Americans today tend to be framed in the media and on the campaign trail as a daunting and often depressing laundry list of economic and social woes: home foreclosures and bank failures, rising health care costs and falling wages, underfunded schools and unaffordable colleges.

With Election Day just two months away, the presidential campaigns are (finally) beginning their home stretch. At the same time, voters are starting to pay attention to a dizzying array of ballot initiatives that will also be on the November ballot in many states.

Seventy years ago this month, New York State’s political leaders gathered in Albany to confront an economic and social challenge, the Great Depression, that makes today’s situation look rosy.

Over the weekend, I found myself listening to the theme song from the 1970s TV show “Good Times,” because, yes, I have that kind of time on my hands. The show depicted the struggles, triumphs and heartache of the Evans family, a low-income African-American family living in a Chicago housing project. In case the lyrics have slipped your mind, here’s how they went:

Good Times!

There is a saying in many African-American communities that our system of criminal “justice” means “just us.” While overstated, the expression reflects longstanding, as well as very recent, experiences of racial profiling and unequal treatment.

The challenges facing Americans today tend to be framed in the media and on the campaign trail as a daunting and often depressing laundry list of economic and social woes: home foreclosures and bank failures, rising health care costs and falling wages, underfunded schools and unaffordable colleges.

With Election Day just two months away, the presidential campaigns are (finally) beginning their home stretch. At the same time, voters are starting to pay attention to a dizzying array of ballot initiatives that will also be on the November ballot in many states.

Seventy years ago this month, New York State’s political leaders gathered in Albany to confront an economic and social challenge, the Great Depression, that makes today’s situation look rosy.

Over the weekend, I found myself listening to the theme song from the 1970s TV show “Good Times,” because, yes, I have that kind of time on my hands. The show depicted the struggles, triumphs and heartache of the Evans family, a low-income African-American family living in a Chicago housing project. In case the lyrics have slipped your mind, here’s how they went:

Good Times!

There is a saying in many African-American communities that our system of criminal “justice” means “just us.” While overstated, the expression reflects longstanding, as well as very recent, experiences of racial profiling and unequal treatment.

For decades, residents of the Coal Run neighborhood of east-central Ohio had to haul water from wells or collect rainwater to drink, cook, and bathe. Their story might be quaint, except that the decades stretched from the 1950s to the 21st century and, as a federal jury concluded last week, they were denied water services because they were black. The verdict came just weeks after the Cincinnati, Ohio-based Kroger grocery store chain agreed to a $16 million settlement of a suit by black employees who say Kroger blocked the promotions of black employees and paid them less than white workers.

Summer vacation began this week for millions of kids across the country,. But in many communities, school board members, principals, and administrators are still hard at work. Among their tasks for the summer is designing new ways of fulfilling the promise of equal educational opportunity and preparing students for a diverse, interconnected world.

The nation’s eyes are again on Iowa this week, as its residents struggle with the aftermath of violent storms and devastating flooding. People from Cedar Rapids to Columbus Junction to Des Moines are dealing with the tragic loss of life and the grim destruction of homes and property.