Breaking News! History in the Making
GOP Lied About Using Racial Data To Gerrymander, Lawyers Say
North Carolina Republicans lied to a federal court in 2017 when they claimed that they didn’t use racial data about voters as they drew new electoral maps. The daughter of a GOP master of gerrymandering gave the files to a voting rights group, Common Cause. That group has now filed suit in court.
‘This Is About the Preservation of Our Humanity’: Vile Conditions, Racist Rhetoric at Border Facilities
Democrats visiting three detention facilities in Texas on Monday had to raise their voices—despite having microphones—to be heard over the shouts and heckling of pro-Donald Trump, anti-immigrant groups. They pointed to the conditions at the country’s detention centers—which have been compared to Nazi concentration camps—as evidence of a xenophobic and violently negligent environment.
Joe Biden and Democratic Rivals Exchange Attacks Over His Remarks on Segregationists.
As Joe Biden’s presidential campaign takes an unexpected turn he is forced to defend his record on civil rights. After acknowledging the work he had done with conservative representatives in the past such as James O. Eastland, people believe that he is out of touch with political change in America.
Parkland Teen Kyle Kashuv, Former Turning Point USA Member, Apologizes For Racist Slurs
Harvard rescinds the admission decision of Kyle Kashuv, a student who was affected by the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in 2018, due to racist remark he made just months before the incident. Some say that the Ivy-League school has gone too far but the majority agree with the university’s decision. An apology is not enough to repair the damage of his actions and the years of history he chose to ignore.
Exonerated ‘Central Park Five’ men receive joyful praise and standing ovation at BET Awards
The five black and Latino teenagers falsely convicted of killing a Central Park jogger in 1989 received high praise when they hit the stage on Sunday at the BET Awards. Now called the ‘Exonerated Five’ – Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Antron McCray, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise – have become the face of injustice at the hands of the American legal system.
Americans Won’t Be Free Until We Face Our Racist History
“True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality,” a new HBO documentary coming out June 26, digs into Stevenson’s work with the Montgomery, Alabama-based Equal Justice Initiative, fighting racism in the criminal justice system for over 30 years, largely by defending poor, black people on death row.
How 2020 (Democratic) Contenders Are Approaching Police Brutality And Criminal Justice Reform
South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg has been criticized by the black community in his city for his handling of a recent fatal shooting by police of a black man. This article relates how Mayor Buttigieg and other Democratic presidential candidates with strong backgrounds in managing law enforcement have handled police.
It’s Juneteenth, and a White Nationalist Is President
With the South rising again on the watch of President Donald Trump, who plans to turn the Fourth of July this year from a celebration of America to a celebration of himself, it’s time for Americans who champion equality to begin celebrating Juneteenth.June 19, 1865 — “Juneteenth” being a combination of June and nineteenth — should remind all Americans of the long and complex fight required to end slavery here.
This police robot could make traffic stops safer
A California man has built a robot that he hopes will take some of the danger out of traffic stops — those anxiety-provoking and potentially deadly encounters between police officers and motorists that play out on American roads more than 50,000 times a day. Such encounters lead to many injuries and deaths each year — particularly among black motorists, who are more likely than their white counterparts to experience violence from police.
Donald Trump Insists People Are On ‘Both Sides’ Of Exonerated Central Park 5 Case
President Trump continues to refuse to apologize for his 1989 ad calling to execute five teenagers who were falsely accused of rape in the notorious Central Park Five case. All five were convicted based on coerced confessions and little evidence. They were exonerated in 2002 thanks to DNA evidence. A new Netflix series “When They See Us” by Ava DuVerney (director of “13th”) re-examines their story.
CNN Highlights Living While Black in Milwaukee
On June 9, 2019 CNN’s “United Shades of America” series with Kamau Bell aired a one-hour segment of interviews with black Milwaukeeans entitled “Living While Black.” Reggie Jackson, Head Griot of ABHM, was featured.
Racial Terror and the Second Repeal of Reconstruction
In the age of Trump white nationalism, hate crimes and acts of domestic terrorism have escalated. Recent acts of violence mirror the years following Reconstruction that resulted in American Descendants of Slavery losing all rights and privileges gained after the Civil War and the imposition of Jim Crow Laws.
The quilts that made America quake: how Faith Ringgold fought the power with fabric
At 88 years of age, Faith Ringgold continues to make and exhibit her “subversive” art. She is best known for her art quilts, such as Bleeding Hearts#2.
Last Known U.S. Slave Ship, the Clotilda, Said to Have Been Discovered In Alabama
The reported last slave ship to bring enslaved Africans to the United States was found in Mobile, Alabama waters. Timothy Meaher made a bet that he could deliver his illegal cargo undetected into the hands of waiting buyers, and he was successful. The Roots Questlove direct ancestors were on this ship.
The Forgotten Tale of How Black Psychiatrists Helped Make ‘Sesame Street’
Dr Chester Pierce, a Black psychiatrist was instrumental in developing Sesame Street. Some critics felt the main beneficiaries of the show were middle class white children but Dr Pierce felt that everyone benefited from seeing ‘an integrated society where everyone was a friend and treated with respect.”
Longest-running housing discrimination case outlives judge
In 1968 Sarah Garrett filed a suit against the city of Hamtramck, Michigan, for racial discrimination in housing. The suit may finally be resolved this year after 50 years. Damon Keith, the judge in the “black removal case” did not live to see his decision completed. He died this week.
When Black Horror Consumes Us
Jordon Peele might be the most recent master of “black horror” but Donald Glover was first with his FX series, Atlanta.
A Black Officer, a White Woman, a Rare Murder Conviction.
In this week’s edition of Race/Related from the New York Times, journalist John Eligon brings us the news out of Minneapolis, where police officer Mohamed Noor has been found guilty by a racially diverse jury for the shooting and killing of Justine Ruszczyk. Despite the relief that the justice system can actually hold its law enforcement officers accountable, some have found the circumstances of the verdict a bit ironic: the officer convicted is a black, Somali, Muslim man, and his victim was a white woman. With the tables of race turned in this case from the usual story (white cop shoots, kills black man), there are those who question whether the guilty verdict in this case can be chalked up to justice or hypocrisy. At the end of the day, all we can do is let the facts of the case speak for themselves – regardless of whose skin is what color – and let justice be served to all under the law, even those whose duty it is to enforce it.
Of Figurative Painting and a First Lady
Amy Sherard was the first African American woman commissioned to paint a first lady of the United States.
Job Announcement: ABHM Seeks New Executive Director!
The Dr. James Cameron Legacy Foundation seeks new Executive Director for its rebuilt America’s Black Holocaust Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Deadline to apply: May 17, 2019.
Maryland’s Only Black-Owned Movie Theater Is Drawing Crowds From Across The Country
By Phillip Lewis, The Huffington Post When Anthony Fykes and Robert Wright met, they immediately connected through their love for movies. But the pair never imagined that a shared passion for cinema would lead them to open their own theater together. NextAct Cinema, the only black-owned movie theater in the state of Maryland, opened on March…