Over the last few decades, fundamental changes in the way we work and live have trapped too many American families between an economy that's gone global and a government that's gone AWOL.

In the last six years, over 300,000 black males have lost jobs in the manufacturing sector - the highest rate of any ethnic group.

Providing these families with the same chances that previous generations have had is a daunting challenge, but it is certainly one we can meet.

We know that to fill these jobs, we'll also have to get serious about educating our workforce for the 21st century.

But he told us that of everything that's out there, his biggest dream is to someday stand in the front yard of his own home with his wife and kids, who will hug him and say, 'I love you, Daddy.'

Today, 54% of all African-American children live in single-parent households, a number that has doubled since 1960.

It's a plan that would remove some of the financial penalties the government currently imposes on married couples, cut out the red tape to ensure that every dime of child support goes directly to children instead of bureaucrats, and…

Each year at this time we honor and think about the fathers who've been a part of our lives - the examples they've set, the sacrifices they've made, their successes and their struggles.

None of this agenda will happen overnight, nor will it be easy to get done. But then again, America's story hasn't been all that easy itself.

But just as we have individual responsibilities, at the dawn of the 21st century we also have a collective responsibility to strengthen that safety net, put the rungs back on that ladder to the middle-class, and give every family the…

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of hearing that town tell us we can't.

And when we get distracted by those kinds of question, I think we do a disservice to the American people.

I am my brother's keeper. I am my sister's keeper.

And nothing really changes except the news coverage quiets down and Anderson Cooper is on to something else.

Last month, several former members of Congress cashed in their taxpayer-funded retirement checks from jail. After indictment and conviction beyond a shadow of a doubt, they are still paid each month by the taxpayers they betrayed.

If we have more black men in prison than are in our colleges and universities, then it's time to take the bullet out.

Those 'quiet riots' that take place every day are born from the same place as the fires and the destruction and the police decked out in riot gear and the deaths. They happen when a sense of disconnect settles in and hope dissipates.

But in the middle of that desperate time, there was a miracle: a baby born with a bullet in its arm. We need to hear about these miracles in these desperate times because they are the blessings that can unite us when some in the world try…