By Marsha Sampson Johnson, Special to CNN

updated 7:07 PM EDT, Tue September 25, 2012

(CNN) — Can anyone out there tell me how many times during this presidential election cycle the term “double-down” has been used? My old-school hash mark technique is thoroughly inadequate to keep up with the count. It seems that not a day goes by without my hearing or reading, sometimes multiple times, the term “double-down.” One side or the other side makes a crazy statement and we wait for an “apology,” for someone to say I did not have all the information or I made a mistake or I should never have said that.

Do we get it? We get doubling-down. We get Mitt Romney and Republican surrogates holding firm and “doubling-down” on factually flawed statements about the tragedy in Libya. We get them “doubling down” on bizarre comments about 47% of Americans feeling entitled. No apologies. Just doubling down.

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http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/25/opinion/johnson-double-down/index.html

By Marsha Sampson Johnson, Special to CNN

Atlanta (CNN) — On Monday, I signed an online petition standing with President Obama, Warren Buffett and others to urge Congress to pass the Buffett Rule. It was a small gesture to stand for what is fair.

The Buffett Rule, simply stated, requires the wealthiest Americans to pay taxes at rates not less than rates paid by middle-income Americans. Current loopholes that allow millionaires and billionaires to have unfairly low tax rates would be closed. It’s only fair.

So much has happened this year to focus our attention on what is fair: Obama’s State of the Union address, the Trayvon Martin case, the rhetoric around the Supreme Court’s review of the Affordable Care Act and Paul Ryan’s proposed budget, with its cuts to services to middle- and low-income Americans.

What has happened to the concept of fairness? I’ll tell you: It’s been retooled.

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http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/10/opinion/johnson-buffett-rule-fairness/index.html

By Marsha Johnson, Special to CNN

updated 7:45 AM EDT, Wed March 14, 2012

(CNN) — Kudos to the Department of Education for a new study documenting that black students, especially boys, receive much harsher discipline than other students in public schools. Many black people would tell you they knew this already, but it generally takes data for institutional change to occur.

The coverage of the study in The New York Times last week got me thinking about what needs to be done. While we must attack the problem on multiple fronts, one part of the solution will not be found in scholarly journals or five-point plans. It is sleeping deep in our histories and needs to be awakened and put to work.

It is the communal love of our children.  Not just one or two of us doing it, and not just when it is convenient or our children are behaving and excelling.   Children in trouble need caring and confidence-building now — right now.

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http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/14/opinion/johnson-children-confidence/index.html