Breaking News! History in the Making

Shirley Chisholm NYC statue to help ‘correct glaring inequity in public spaces’

By: Dawn Onley, thegrio.com Fifty years after Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to Congress, New York City has announced it will erect a statue in honor of the congresswoman by 2020. Born on Nov. 30, 1924, Chisholm died in 2005 at 80 years old. In 1972, the congresswoman from Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn became the first…

GOP Senator Who Made ‘Hanging’ Remark Attended ‘Segregated’ Academy

Cindy Hyde-Smith, the Republican Mississippi senator who made comments condoning “public hangings,” attended a “segregated” school when she was younger

Michelle Obama's Memoir 'Becoming'

Michelle Obama’s Memoir Tops The Charts: ‘Becoming’ Is 2018’s Bestselling Book

Michelle Obama’s memoir, Becoming, is this year’s bestselling book. Over 2 million copies of her book have been sold this year in the U.S. and Canada. The memoir follows Obama’s journey, immersing the reader in stories from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago, her early career in law, her relationship with former President Barack Obama and more.

‘I regret the entire thing’: Kareem Hunt apologizes for brutal hotel assault after firing

After being fired by the Kansas City Chiefs, Kareem Hunt released a statement saying he is sorry for what he did in the video of him kicking a woman he pushed to the ground during a disagreement. He says he only blames himself for what happened.

Nazi-saluting students in Baraboo reflect the forever war that profits from white power

High school prank or another sign of the acceptance of white supremacy. This is the question as students give Nazi salute on Baraboo, Wisconsin ‘s county court house steps.

In the Hate of Dixie

Cynthia Tucker describes the life style and the lynching of the south when racial tensions were at an all time high. Monroeville celebrated Harper Lee for her book “To Kill a Mockingbird”, however, the town of Monroeville failed to implement the ideals of Lee’s book. Tucker talks about the legal processes that affected the crimes in the south, and how we must learn from the past to secure a better future.

The silent and sellout: What is the responsibility of prominent Black artists in an unjust society?

Are hip hop artists selling-out their Black community for fame and fortune?

A Song Without Words

On a mission from God, in 2017 Johnathon Kelso, a Florida native decided to document lynching sites in six Southern states and to talk with the victims’ descendants.

Taxis

‘Make racists afraid again’: Proud Boys had hard time finding rides after Philadelphia rally

A rally staged by the alt right group, the Three Percenters, was disrupted by the combined efforts of Philadelphia city drivers. Uber and Taxi drivers staged a counter protest to the Three Percenters’ rally by not providing transportation to members of the racist alt-right group after they had staged their event.

How Black Citizenship Was Won, and Lost

In this week’s New York Times Race/Related section, Jennifer Schuessler brings word of a New-York Historical Society exhibit shedding new light on the lives of African-Americans during the Reconstruction era. From covering the legal and political battles that were fought the nation over to showcasing artifacts of the smaller, day-to-day, personal battles of individuals African-Americans and their families, this exhibit helps to remind today’s divided America not only of just how dangerous such division can become, but just how important the fight for truth, justice, and equality really is.

The Lost Art of the Black Boycott

On June 15th 1953 the black community of Baton Rouge, Louisiana staged the first municipal boycott of the 20th century. The author highlights this factual event to ask why the African American community is not using this strategy in 2018.

Founded after the Civil War, the original Sears, Roebuck and Company developed a catalog business that sold the latest dresses, toys, build-it-yourself houses and even tombstones. Credit - Sears, Roebuck & Company

Back When Sears Made Black Customers a Priority

In this week’s New York Times Race/Related section, Lauretta Charlton gets Cornell University professor Louis Hyman’s take on the effect that the original Sears marketing strategy had on the lives of African-Americans across the country. Sears, Roebuck and Company distributed its catalog in hopes of granting access to new economic territory to Americans of all colors. With this access to a much more competitive market with far lower prices on items of all kinds, African-Americans far and wide took the chance to negate the power of Jim Crow laws that had hitherto denied them equitable access to such goods.

Brian Kemp says he’s Georgia’s next governor and Democrats say prove it

With legal wrangles opening and Abrams showing no signs of conceding, the race to becoming Georgia’s next governor is a bitter contest with historical significance and national political repercussions. Abrams would become the first black woman elected governor of any American state. Kemp seeks to maintain Republican dominance in a growing, diversifying Deep South state positioned to become a presidential battleground.

How ‘Gardening While Black’ Almost Landed This Detroit Man in Jail

A black man started an urban farm in his old neighborhood. Three white women called the police repeatedly, accusing him of threatening them. The case went to court.

Intel Withdraws Funding For White Supremacist GOP Congressman Steve King

Technology corporation Intel has dropped its support for Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), an eight-term congressman who has been expressing racist beliefs in increasingly undisguised terms. King has long promoted white nationalist views without any consequence from the GOP.

‘I thought it was very nice’: VA official showcased portrait of KKK’s first grand wizard

David J. Thomas Sr. removed painting from his office after learning that its subject, Nathan Bedford Forrest, was a Confederate general and slave trader who was later the Ku Klux Klan’s first grand wizard. Racial tensions have flared between Thomas and several of his employees, at least three of whom have pending claims of racial discrimination against him.

Murphy’s Law City a Leader in White Nationalism

Neo-Nazi group founded by George Lincoln Rockwell, still has its headquarters in New Berlin, Wisconsin. Martin Kerr, the present leader, stated that “We’re not at the end of the Rockwell wave. We’re at the beginning.”

Washington State Abolishes the Death Penalty, Finding the Punishment ‘Racially Biased’

Washington has joined nineteen other states in banishing the death penalty due to studies showing racially biased attitudes determining defendants fates. A recent study, for example, found black defendants were four and half times more likely to receive the death penalty than white defendants who had been convicted of similar crimes.

Michelle Obama Has An Update For ‘When They Go Low, We Go High’

This article reviews the famous quote “When they go low, we go high” made by Michelle Obama in 2016. Obama expands on her quote with Blavity and there is a link to the full interview at the end of the article.

In Frenzied Georgia Canvassing, No Door Goes Un-Knocked

Voters say they have been deluged as never before as Georgia’s bitterly fought, closely contested governor’s race comes to a close. In the last days before Tuesday’s election, both parties dispatched an army of volunteers, both ordinary working people and celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and President Obama.

49ers Cheerleader Takes A Knee During National Anthem

By Carla Herreria A cheerleader for the San Francisco 49ers kneeled during the national anthem on Thursday during a game against the Oakland Raiders at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, south of San Francisco. In 2016, Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthems to draw attention to police brutality against minorities. Other players in the…