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Mary C. Curtis

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People embrace during a vigil in San Antonio on Monday, after the deadly floods in Texas’ Hill Country.

What is America without shared ideals?

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted July 10, 2025 at 6:00am

What is ‘the way forward’ after violence born of hatred?

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted June 12, 2025 at 2:12pm
An activist holds a sign near the Capitol in March. Voters expect political violence to get worse, and it’s not hard to see why, Curtis writes.

Looking for solutions to America’s divide

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted June 5, 2025 at 6:00am
Libraries should be places of freedom and exploration, Curtis writes, not surveillance. Above, a researcher reads in the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress.

Forget ‘quiet, please.’ Not even libraries are safe

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted May 22, 2025 at 6:00am

The politics of the Catholic Church after Pope Francis

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted May 2, 2025 at 2:36pm
President Donald Trump and the late Pope Francis offer a study in contrasts, Curtis writes. Above, the pair are seen at a Vatican meeting on May 24, 2017.

A tale of two leaders: Pope Francis and Trump

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted April 30, 2025 at 4:10pm
People gather for a “Hands Off!” rally around the Washington Monument on Saturday, one of many weekend protests around the country.

Have American citizens finally started paying attention?

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted April 9, 2025 at 11:28am

How a post-World War II ‘Red Scare’ resonates in modern America

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted April 8, 2025 at 9:53am
Donald Trump looks down from the presidential box in the Opera House at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on March 17.

The shrinking of American culture can only lead to groupthink and frustration

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted March 27, 2025 at 6:00am

Fighting a disease and a health care system

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted March 7, 2025 at 1:19pm
President Donald Trump greets lawmakers before delivering his address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night.

Welcome to a real-life Twilight Zone

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted March 5, 2025 at 3:07pm

Has the fringe gone mainstream?

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted February 18, 2025 at 1:45pm
Tuskegee Airman Harry Stewart Jr., seen here last July, died this year at age 100.

The ‘lost boys’ of Trump and Musk shrink next to real patriots

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted February 13, 2025 at 6:30am
The true history of civil rights struggles is high on the GOP’s list of “divisive” concepts, Curtis writes. But the carvings on the side of the King memorial offer an important reminder for Inauguration Day and beyond.

King never gave up his righteous fight, an example for all to follow

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted January 20, 2025 at 4:36pm
Allison Riggs, shown outside the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022, is battling to preserve her narrow victory in North Carolina's Supreme Court election. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

When the will of the voters meets a political power grab

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted January 16, 2025 at 6:00am
Former President Jimmy Carter, who died last month at age 100, would not be at ease in the “broligarchy.” But his version of manhood is the better one, Curtis writes.

Jimmy Carter’s version of being a man should still mean something

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted January 3, 2025 at 6:01am

Lying in politics is a danger to democracy. Can it be fixed?

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted December 23, 2024 at 11:39am
By counting on resentment and fear of the other, the GOP has betrayed people like her mom, Curtis writes.

A holiday season of personal and political reflection

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted December 12, 2024 at 6:00am

Looking at climate futures with imagination and resolve

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted December 9, 2024 at 11:20am
A child waits for Kamala Harris to take the stage during a rally in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Oct. 28.

Democrats’ competing postmortems leave out history — and the obvious

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted December 5, 2024 at 6:00am
Activists hold a sign near the Capitol during a rally against fossil fuels in 2021.

The consequences of climate and environmental policy unleashed

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted November 14, 2024 at 6:00am
For Donald Trump and his followers, the only possible proof of a fair election was a Trump win, Curtis writes. Above, the Republican attends one of his final campaign events in Pittsburgh on Nov. 4.

The threat of lawlessness hung over this election

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted November 6, 2024 at 3:02pm
Protestors and supporters of Donald Trump gathered outside Madison Square Garden on Sunday, as the Republican nominee brought his closing message to New York City.

Closing with ‘values,’ Trump and Harris stand in contrast

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted October 30, 2024 at 1:50pm

How a battle for locker-room access was about so much more

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted October 28, 2024 at 12:20pm
Americans concerned about the economy, reproductive rights and immigration usually don’t place Ukraine’s predicament high on their list, but it still looms large in this election, Curtis writes. Above, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump meet in New York City on Sept. 27.

An election that’s bigger than one country

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted October 16, 2024 at 6:00am
NBA star Dikembe Mutombo stands next to first lady Laura Bush during the president’s 2007 State of the Union address. Mutombo died this week at the age of 58. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Stoking division may be a winning campaign strategy, but it comes at a cost

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted October 3, 2024 at 6:00am

Has grift hijacked American conservatism?

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted October 1, 2024 at 2:42pm
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris waves to the crowd at a Sept. 12 rally in Charlotte, N.C.

In battleground North Carolina, a Kamala Harris crowd overflowing with joy — and urgency

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted September 19, 2024 at 6:00am
Vice President Kamala Harris listens as former President Donald Trump speaks at the presidential debate in Philadelphia on Tuesday.

Despite a debate win, Kamala Harris must walk an all-too-familiar tightrope

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted September 11, 2024 at 11:56am
Vice President Kamala Harris waves from her seat flanked by Second gentleman of the United States Doug Emhoff and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz during the 2024 Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago on Monday.

Looking to the future, with a nod to history at the DNC

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted August 20, 2024 at 2:08pm

Investing in the culture: The history and power of Black philanthropy

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted August 9, 2024 at 9:44am
Vice President Kamala Harris attends a campaign rally in Atlanta on Tuesday. By quickly rallying around Harris, her party has resisted the “Dems in disarray” label, Curtis writes.

Now who’s in disarray?

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted August 1, 2024 at 6:00am
A crowd gathers in front of the Supreme Court building on June 26, 2013, ahead of a key ruling that struck down parts of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act. Gay conservatives were early and important voices in the fight to legalize same-sex marriage, according to a recent book.

How Republicans helped shape gay activism in America

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted July 25, 2024 at 6:15am

Equal Time: A history of the gay right

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted July 22, 2024 at 11:00am
Former President Donald Trump is seen raising his fist on the jumbotron in the Fiserv Forum at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Tuesday. With an agenda highlighting supposed mayhem in Democratic cities, Republican calls for unity were already ringing hollow, Curtis writes.

Respect for difference is more important than an appeal for nonexistent unity

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted July 17, 2024 at 1:28pm
It’s been 60 years since Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act in 1964, but opponents of change are still working to turn back the clock, Curtis writes.

The never-ending fight for civil rights

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted July 11, 2024 at 6:00am

Rep. Alma Adams on House business and the state of her state

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted June 25, 2024 at 2:47pm
Donald Trump participates in a roundtable at the 180 Church in Detroit, Michigan, on June 15.

Will the real Donald Trump get the coverage he deserves?

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted June 21, 2024 at 6:00am
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared a “Freedom Summer” in his state, using a name that powerfully resonates in American history, Curtis writes.

American history turned upside down — and that’s the point

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted June 13, 2024 at 6:00am
People gather outside Trump Tower in New York as Donald Trump holds a post-conviction press conference on May 31. His fans are loud and proud of their guy, no matter what a jury decided, Curtis writes.

Just give Donald Trump, baggage and all, the GOP crown

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted June 6, 2024 at 6:00am

Women’s voices on justice for Black men

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted May 29, 2024 at 2:50pm
The procession outside Donald Trump’s hush money trial over the past couple weeks has looked like a casting call for “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” Curtis writes. From left, Rep. Byron Donalds, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Speaker Mike Johnson and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy listen as Trump speaks to reporters in New York City on May 14.

Trump’s mini-mes in uniform are waging war on American institutions

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted May 22, 2024 at 6:15am
Ignorance of history makes it much easier to sell the lie that the 2020 election was stolen, Curtis writes. Above, voters in Washington, D.C., wait in line on Election Day in 2022.

Blocking voters you don’t like is a shameful American tradition

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted May 9, 2024 at 6:00am
Former President Donald Trump sits in a Manhattan courtroom during his criminal hush money trial on Tuesday.

Can a courtroom bring Trump’s larger-than-life personality down to size?

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted April 24, 2024 at 6:00am
Salvage crews last week continued to remove wreckage from the cargo ship Dali after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.

The immigrant story we sometimes forget

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted April 18, 2024 at 6:00am

A reality check on crime and justice

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted April 14, 2024 at 9:01pm
As voters consider abortion rights, they might question party loyalty. Or maybe they won’t, Curtis writes. Above, activists rally for and against abortion drug access as the Supreme Court hears oral arguments on March 26.

Abortion is on the ballot. But so is loyalty to Trump

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted April 11, 2024 at 6:00am
A demonstrator holds a sign as the Supreme Court heard arguments on whether Colorado could keep former President Donald Trump off the 2024 presidential ballot.

A two-tiered justice system is nothing new — and certainly not what Trump says it is

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted March 21, 2024 at 6:00am
North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, now the GOP nominee for governor, joins former President Donald Trump at a rally at in Selma, N.C., on April 9, 2022. (Photo by Allison Joyce/Getty Images)

If Mark Robinson is your standard-bearer, you might reexamine your standards

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted March 14, 2024 at 6:00am
Vice President Kamala Harris (second from left), second gentleman Doug Emhoff (right), civil rights attorney Ben Crump (second from right) and the Rev. Al Sharpton (left) join a march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge during a commemoration of the 59th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma, Ala., on Sunday.

Justice for Black voters? Or rap songs and sneakers?

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted March 7, 2024 at 6:00am
President Donald Trump holds a Bible upside down while visiting St. John's Church across from the White House during protests in Washington on June 1, 2020.

Once upon a time, politicians wrestled with the role of religion in politics

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted February 29, 2024 at 6:00am

How increased Black homeownership can put a dent in the racial wealth gap

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted February 22, 2024 at 10:26am
An image of Donald Trump appears on video screens before his speech to supporters from the Ellipse at the White House on Jan. 6, 2021.

When the game of politics plunges into dangerous spectacle

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted February 15, 2024 at 6:00am

When it comes to political persuasion, why emotion matters

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted February 1, 2024 at 3:07pm
E. Jean Carroll leaves a Manhattan federal court on Jan. 26 following the conclusion of her civil defamation trial against former President Donald Trump.

What E. Jean Carroll could teach ‘tough’ Republicans about calling out a bully

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted February 1, 2024 at 6:00am
Barack Obama, then a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Illinois, speaks to the crowd at the Democratic National Convention in Boston on July 27, 2004.

Do leaders realize Americans who don’t vote for them are still Americans?

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted January 25, 2024 at 6:00am
The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington.

To honor Dr. King, GOP should honor what he really believed in

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted January 18, 2024 at 6:00am
President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event Monday in Charleston, S.C. at Emanuel AME Church, the site of a 2015 shooting massacre perpetrated by a white supremacist.

For history-challenged candidates, Civil War source material is nearby

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted January 11, 2024 at 6:00am
Former president and presidential hopeful Donald Trump speaks at the New York Young Republican Club's 111th annual gala in New York on Dec. 9.

When leaders reveal themselves, the next step is ours

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted December 14, 2023 at 6:00am

A time for reflection — and giving

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted December 11, 2023 at 2:28pm

What’s at stake for communities of color in the global climate crisis?

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted November 30, 2023 at 2:15pm
Rosalynn Carter, center, watches as husband Jimmy Carter recites the presidential oath of office administered by Chief Justice Warren Burger, left, on Jan. 20, 1977.

Carter funeral, Rustin biopic show lives getting deserved reexamination

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted November 30, 2023 at 6:00am
Republican presidential candidates at the party's third primary debate in Miami on Nov. 8.

Is it that hard to be a leader for all Americans?

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted November 16, 2023 at 6:00am
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., concludes a news conference on the House steps on Oct. 25. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Does Speaker Johnson realize some of his best constituents are Black?

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted November 2, 2023 at 6:00am
Speaker Mike Johnson walks down the House steps with other Republicans after securing the gavel Wednesday.

Speaker mayhem: When the rules are rigged, it breeds chaos

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted October 26, 2023 at 6:00am
House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, speaks to aides on the floor as Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., looks on.

House Republicans wanted all the control, while doing none of the real work

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted October 19, 2023 at 6:00am

Transforming Alabama – and young voters. Nothing is off the table

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted October 6, 2023 at 7:00am
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., speaks to the media Tuesday after the House agreed to his motion to declare the Office of the Speaker vacant.

Is this the leadership America deserves? Seriously?

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted October 5, 2023 at 6:00am
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., leaves the Capitol in May.

When being kicked out of a theater is about more than bad manners

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted September 26, 2023 at 6:00am
Confederate statues, like this one saluting Confederate War Dead in Downtown Chatham, Va., is a reminder of the past for Black people seeking justice, columnist Mary C. Curtis writes.

America’s two-tiered justice system isn’t new — just don’t talk about it

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted September 14, 2023 at 6:00am
The Rosa Parks statue in the Capitol's Statuary Hall in June 2021.

A summer of reflection — and fears of history repeating itself

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted September 6, 2023 at 6:00am
President Joe Biden is applauded by members of the Till family and members of Congress as he signs a proclamation in the Indian Treaty Room to establish the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument in Illinois and Mississippi on Tuesday.

America’s future depends on a truthful reckoning with its past

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted July 27, 2023 at 6:00am
Adm. Michelle Howard was the first woman to become a four-star admiral in the U.S. Navy, and the first Black woman to captain a U.S. naval ship.

Can the U.S. military still lead the way on civil rights?

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted July 18, 2023 at 12:22pm
A man walks by a church in the Bloomingdale neighborhood in Washington, D.C.

Do you need to have faith to practice values?

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted July 13, 2023 at 6:00am
A protester dressed in a Bible costume stands in front of the U.S. Supreme Court last year.

What has been deemed legal is not always right

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted July 6, 2023 at 6:00am
Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis delivers remarks on June 9 in Greensboro, N.C.

In a moment of progress in America, everyone can win

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted June 22, 2023 at 7:00am
In this photo illustration, pages are viewed from the unsealed federal indictment of former President Donald Trump.

Trump indictment: When always striving for ‘more’ turns toxic

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted June 15, 2023 at 6:00am
North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has said "public education in North Carolina is facing a state of emergency."

Public education won’t ‘fail,’ unless America abandons the idea and the ideal

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted June 8, 2023 at 6:00am

Why mental health policy is personal and political

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted May 25, 2023 at 3:01pm
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., at a Senate Agriculture subcommittee hearing on May 2.

Many Americans really are thinking terrible things — and proudly saying them out loud

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted May 18, 2023 at 6:00am
The state flag of North Carolina is seen in the Senate subway tunnel on Wednesday.

Is former battleground North Carolina becoming a Florida clone?

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted May 11, 2023 at 6:00am
Former President Donald Trump greets supporters at a campaign rally on April 27 in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Sacrificing democracy to belong to a shrinking ‘club’

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted May 4, 2023 at 6:00am
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., arrives for his weekly news conference on March 30 in front of a sign decrying gun violence.

Of neighbors, fear and a fractured — and armed — America

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted April 27, 2023 at 6:00am
Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., speaks during a Pro-Choice Caucus and Democratic Women’s Caucus news conference outside the Capitol on Wednesday.

Will Democrats raise the volume on expressing what they believe in?

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted April 20, 2023 at 6:00am
Dr. Inger E. Burnett-Zeigler, associate professor of psychology and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University.

How Black women, America’s invisible ‘saviors,’ can rewrite the narrative

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted April 13, 2023 at 3:08pm
Democratic state Rep. Justin Jones of Nashville gestures during a vote on his expulsion from the state legislature on April 6 in Nashville.

‘Tennessee Three’ revive King’s message for those who need to hear it

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted April 12, 2023 at 6:00am
Whitney Dow and Erika Alexander are touring the country in support of “The Big Payback,” their documentary about efforts to study and achieve reparations for Black Americans.

Fear should not be a deal breaker when debating tough topics

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted March 23, 2023 at 6:00am
Former President Donald Trump arrives to address the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Md., on Saturday. “I am your retribution,” Trump told the crowd.

Two visions of America’s past — and future

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted March 9, 2023 at 6:00am
Tourists walk near the Monument to the Discoveries last September in Lisbon, Portugal. The country's history has parallels to our own, Curtis writes.

There’s no escape from any country’s complicated history

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted March 2, 2023 at 6:00am
A return of child labor would hit hardest for low-income Americans, Curtis writes. Above, a boy works at the Welch Mining Company in West Virginia in 1908.

When tuneful nostalgia turns toxic: The old days weren’t good for everyone

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted February 16, 2023 at 6:00am
“What opinions do you have to have to be counted as American?” Ilhan Omar asked last week. Above, she conducts a television interview before Tuesday’s State of the Union.

Is the American dream for everyone? Just ask Ilhan Omar

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted February 9, 2023 at 6:00am
As RowVaughn Wells mourns her son, a divided Congress appears unlikely to enact new laws on police reform, Curtis writes. Above, Wells sits with Vice President Kamala Harris at Wednesday's funeral service for Tyre Nichols.

After Tyre Nichols, can they finally say those three simple words?

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted February 2, 2023 at 6:00am
Jonas Kron of Trillium Asset Management talks with ‘Equal Time’ host Mary C. Curtis about how a company’s value and its values can both align.

When corporate activism takes center stage

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted February 1, 2023 at 11:12am
ln 2023, “woke” means whatever Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants it to mean, Curtis writes.

The insidious power of keeping it vague

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted January 26, 2023 at 6:00am
Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn takes a photo after last year’s final Jan. 6 select committee hearing.

Telling the truth, onstage and off, so history doesn’t repeat itself

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted January 12, 2023 at 6:00am
Democrat Adam Frisch puts the odds of his running again “between probable and possible.” Above, he appears at a debate against GOP Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert on Sept. 10.

Why a lost election left Adam Frisch (and his son) optimistic

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted December 15, 2022 at 6:00am
Sen. Lindsey Graham tried to set up Herschel Walker as some kind of Pied Piper luring African Americans to his party, Curtis writes. It didn’t work.

Georgia voters spoke. Is the GOP listening?

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted December 8, 2022 at 6:00am
Rapper Kanye West hugs President Donald Trump during a meeting in the Oval Office in 2018. Their recent dinner with a white supremacist drew headlines, but the GOP’s problems go even deeper than that, Curtis writes.

It’s about more than one dinner and a man named Trump

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted December 1, 2022 at 6:00am
Few who watched Mitch McConnell strategize his way through the Obama years would argue with his foresight. But it may have finally run out, Curtis writes.

Which party has a game plan for the future? We’re about to find out

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted November 17, 2022 at 6:00am
In Stacey Abrams’ second loss to Gov. Brian Kemp this week, it wasn’t Black voters who let her down, Curtis writes. Above, Abrams delivers her concession speech in Atlanta on Tuesday night.

Who gets credit, and blame, after Election Day?

By Mary C. Curtis
Posted November 10, 2022 at 6:15am