Ahmedabad-based journalist Smitha Rajan has been chosen for a fellowship in the US funded by a foundation started by prominent Indian-American IT entrepreneur Frank Islam and his wife Debbie Driesman. The Frank Islam and Debbie Driesman Foundation (FIDDF), whose mission is to promote education, art and culture and peace and conflict-resolution, has joined hands with the Alfred Friendly Press Partners (AFPP), a leader in transforming journalists from information hungry societies, for the … [Read more...]
Articles
Frank blogs regularly for the Huffington Post and writes occasional columns and articles for publications such as the International Business Times and The Economic Times of India.
Frank writes on a wide variety of topics that are critical to shaping the future of America and the American dream and to making the United States and the world a better place. These include: Business; education; poverty and inequality; politics and public policy; immigration; manufacturing; innovation; leadership; citizenship; and social commentary.
Frank’s most recent blogs are highlighted on this page. To read other blogs or articles by Frank, click on the categories or publications links on the left.
Indian-American’s AMU Business School To Make Leaders For Better India
WASHINGTON: Indian-American investor and philanthropist Frank Islam hopes that a $2-million management school set up by him at his alma mater, the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), will become an incubator for leaders in India. "From this Complex will come the leaders who will make India and the world a better place," said Islam, who dedicated The Frank and Debbie Islam Management Complex at the AMU in February. "That is my vision," he told IANS. "I also expect that the Complex will be a place … [Read more...]
Frank Islam interview with Hindustan Times while in India
It’s Not American Carnage. It Is An Urban Crisis.
In his inaugural address, President Donald Trump called attention to the very real and serious problem of “Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities….” He was right to signify on this problem. But, as he continued to signify on an “education system flush with cash” he was wrong. And, when he ended this section of his address – after talking about crime, gangs and drugs - by declaring “This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.” he was even more wrong. … [Read more...]
Donald Trump Is Building A Wall: Revisited
In June of 2016, we wrote a blog about the then-presumptive nominee of the Republican Party for President of the United States, titled “Donald Trump is Building A Wall.” It began as follows: In a recent interview with Jake Tapper of CNN trying to defend his indefensible comments regarding Gonzalo Curiel, a native born American of Mexican heritage, who is the federal judge overseeing the lawsuit against Trump University, Trump repeatedly proclaimed, “I am building a wall.” That … [Read more...]
Drawing on Faith and Citizenship to Build a More Perfect Union
In the United States of America, it is essential to exercise one’s fundamental rights and responsibilities as a citizen to ensure the health and vibrancy of our democracy. The two of us take our responsibilities to be good citizens seriously, but differently. One of us is an elected official, believing that serving his state and now also his nation, is the best use of his talents and the surest way to effect change. The other is a philanthropist supporting causes that best reflect his … [Read more...]
March Madness In January: America’s Greatness On Display
On January 20, the inaugural parade was held in Washington, D.C. to mark the commencement of a new presidency. On January 21, there were women’s marches in Washington, D.C. and across the United States against the new President. And, in the week of the inauguration, Congressman John Lewis’ book trilogy, March, shot to the top of Amazon’s best-seller list. The inaugural parade march on January 20, the protest marches on January 21, and the success of John Lewis’ March in the week of … [Read more...]
The Critical Need For ‘Truthful’ News
“I’m not going to give you a question. I am not going to give you a question. You are fake news.” When Donald Trump shouted this out at Jim Acosta of CNN News during his recent press conference, it was not a case of the pot calling the kettle black. It was a case of the pot calling the meal a kettle. That’s so because the president-elect is definitely the “pot”. He is one the primary proponents of so-called “fake news” in today’s synthetically saturated media environment where … [Read more...]
The ‘Not-So-Social’ Media: Truth And Consequences
It is the year 2017 and the social media rules. For many, this form of electronic or internet-based communications has become the principal source for information and means of relating with one another. A problem with this is that the communications through this media is sometimes not so social. For a variety of reasons, the “not so social” media can be harmful to America and Americans. The “not so social” media ranges in form from anti-social to unsocial to asocial. Antisocial … [Read more...]
In Praise of the Free Press
“ …the people back there, the extremely dishonest press…Very dishonest people…How about – I mean how dishonest.” Those were the remarks of President-Elect Donald Trump at his first “Thank You Tour” rally held in Cincinnati, Ohio to celebrate his presidential election victory. “Dishonest” may be a nice term compared to some of the other epithets that Trump used about the press during his campaigns to become the Republican nominee and the President of the United States. In that time period, … [Read more...]