Breaking News! History in the Making
Dane County announces $810,000 funding for Center for Black Excellence and Culture
Dane County Executive Joe Parisi and Rev. Dr. Alex Gee of Madison, WI, announced an $810,000 line in the 2121 county budget to help organizers acquire land for the Center for Black Excellence and Culture.
Madison’s Black community needs a central place to gather, network with fellow Black professionals, and celebrate culture. The Center will foster a sense of community; celebrate and teach Black Culture; pay tribute to Black history; nurture and develop Black business and community leaders; attract, connect and retain Black talent; and provide space for conversation, connection, and growth.
Minority-owned homes remain undervalued despite laws that forbid using race to evaluate worth
Our new research on home appraisals shows neighborhood racial composition still drives unequal home values, despite laws that forbid real estate professionals from explicitly using race when evaluating a property’s worth.
Special News Series: Rising Up For Justice! – There are proven ways to keep protests peaceful. Trump is doing the opposite.
Donald Trump has called on local and state officials to crack down as harshly as possible on BLM protests throughout the nation. Experts say that Trump’s rhetoric and actions inflame tensions and escalate protests further, instead of keeping the peace.
Special News Series: Rising Up For Justice! – ‘Kettling’ of demonstrators at protest could end up costing taxpayers millions
An international organization whose work advocating for refugees, political prisoners and victims of violence worldwide said Wednesday the NYPD intentionally and illegally carried out a massive attack on peaceful protesters. The event could end up costing taxpayers big time.
Special News Series: Rising Up For Justice! – CA to study, consider reparations for Black residents after landmark law passed
California has become the first state to adopt a law that requires a study of how the state could provide reparations to Black residents and the descendants of slaves.
Proud Boys: who are the far-right group that backs Donald Trump?
President Trump refused to call the “Proud Boys” a white supremacist group during his presidential debate. Instead he told them to “stand down” and “stand by.”
Special News Series: Rising Up For Justice! – Workers at major chains are taking legal action in fight over employees’ right to wear BLM masks
Companies typically have latitude to determine dress codes, enforcing bans on Black Lives Matter gear can make corporate statements against racism look “insincere and performative.”
Rep. Adam Schiff: It’s time to end racial bias in our health care system
U.S. Rep. Schiff has introduced the Equal Health Care for All Act, a civil rights approach to bringing equity to health care. The past few months have seen an outpouring of demands for change and an end to structural and systemic racism that has been emblematic of our nation for far too long. But even as we work collectively on issues like police brutality and income inequality, we can’t turn our attention away from another form of injustice – inequality in health care and patient outcomes.
Special News Series: Rising Up For Justice! – Cars have hit BLM demonstrators 104 times since George Floyd protests began
There have been over 100 incidents of people driving vehicles into protests from May 27 through Sept. 5, including 96 by civilians and eight by police, according ta terrorism researcher at the University of Chicago’s Project on Security and Threats.
Special News Series: Rising Up For Justice! – Website helps people with illnesses and disabilities participate in BLM protests
The website, Public Public Address helps people with illnesses and disabilities participate in these protests and make their voices heard without putting their lives at risk.
Special News Series: Rising Up For Justice! – New survey says white support for BLM has slipped. Some historians say they’re not surprised.
Earlier this summer thousands of Americans spilled into the streets over the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, and sparked an outcry against racism not seen in this country for decades. But recent polling suggests white support for the Black Lives Matter movement has slipped.
Lizzo on Hope, Justice, and the Election
Lizzo says, … “I want to make music that helps. ’Cause that’s the way that I help. I’m not a doctor, I’m not a lawyer, I don’t work in the government. I make music.”
Special News Series: Rising Up For Justice! – Kenosha protesters sue Facebook and armed men they say helped incite violence
Four people who were protesting in Kenosha the night of Aug. 25, including the girlfriend of a man who was killed by Kyle Rittenhouse during the unrest, have sued Facebook and three armed men they say fomented violence through social media.
Special News Series: Rising Up For Justice! – CA city announced $4 million settlement over police shooting of mentally ill Black man
Walnut Creek, California announced a $4 million settlement of a federal lawsuit with the family of Miles Hall, a 23-year-old Black man who was shot by police last year while having a mental health episode.
Special News Series: Rising Up For Justice! – Threats To Pull Federal Resources From Cities Because Of BLM Protests Are Damaging
Making threats to pull federal resources from cities does nothing to help those communities impacted by police violence, and could be especially harmful to the safety of these communities which are already facing budget deficits due to COVID-19.
Special News Series: Rising Up For Justice! – Has the skin lightener industry learned from Black Lives Matter?
Black Lives Matter has jolted the skin lightener industry. Manufacturers of skin lighteners joined other corporations in voicing support for the racial justice movement. Critics quickly pointed out the hypocrisy of voicing such support while continuing to sell skin whitening products globally.
Working to restore voting rights to returning citizens ahead of the general election
The voting rights for people with some felony convictions have been restored in the state of Alabama. However, many in the Black community still face many barriers to voting. Alabama did not inform citizens of the new 2017 law, so those affected are not aware of their right to vote. This is happening in other states as well.
Internalizing White Supremacy: What We Can Learn From Liberia
The country of Liberia has an interesting history that has insitutional parallels with the United States in terms of institutional racism. The impact of white supremacy on African-American culture is shown through Liberia’s history of ethnic suppression.
Samuel Jackson Traces the History of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
Samuel L. Jackson hosts a six-part docuseries, “Enslaved,” that premiered last Monday on Epix. The series traces Mr. Jackson’s journey across the globe as he uncovers elements of the history of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The story also follows Diving With a Purpose, an offshoot of the National Association of Black Scuba Divers, as they search for wreckage of slave ships along the ocean bottom.
Special News Series: Rising Up For Justice! – Statement on the Death of US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
The BLM Movement salutes Justice Ginsburg as a woman of resilient courage, strength and character. She was determined to change the trajectory of inequalities in communities often forgotten. Even to the end of her life, she remained committed to BLM’s mantra: that none of us are free, until we are all free.
‘MLK/FBI’ Review: The FBI’s Clownish Surveillance Of A Civil Rights Icon Is More Relevant Than Ever
In MLK/FBI, well-known documentary filmmaker Sam Pollard brings a Martin Luther King Jr. story never before seen on-screen. Using archival footage and interviews with those close to King and the situation, his new film shows how FBI founder J. Edgar Hoover spent years targeting King and the Civil Rights Movement.