Breaking News! History in the Making
Senate Unanimously Passes Bill Making Lynching a Federal Crime
The Senate finally recognized lynching as an “act of terror’ and passed the Justice for Victims of Lynching Act 2018. “Congress has tried and failed some 200 times to pass similar anti-lynching legislation since 1882, according to the bill.”
First Step – One of the Biggest Criminal Justice Reforms in Decades
This week from TheRoot.com, journalist Anne Branigin heralds the First Step criminal justice legislation that was heartily passed by the United States Senate on Tuesday night in an 87-12 vote. Due to the high numbers of incarcerated African Americans throughout the country, First Step may have a disproportionate
effect on those communities. But despite the bill’s limitations and caveats, many advocates for criminal justice reform expect it to be a tremendous blessing, especially in that it may move state legislatures in similar directions.
The Quiet Crisis Killing Black Women
Black women are more vulnerable to domestic violence due to a constellation of factors, including high rates of poverty, lack of access to resources and systemic racism within systems designed to help victims of abuse
Henrietta Lacks: The Mother of Modern Medicine
Johns Hopkins recently named a building after Henrietta Lacks, a young African-American mother whose cells were taken and used without her or her family’s permission. Johns Hopkins is the medical center where she was treated and where her cells were taken. Henrietta’s cells continue to drive research all over the world.
Facebook Removed A Former Employee’s Post Accusing It Of ‘Failing’ Black People
In a recent article published in the Huffington Post’s Black Voices section, journalist David Barden describes incredibly unfortunate allegations brought against the world’s premier social media platform by one of its former employees. Facebook’s former strategic partner manager for global influencers, Mark Luckie, contends that the social media giant is a common violator of African Americans’ posts, reportedly removing them even when Facebook’s terms of service have not been violated. In a culture that is straining more than ever towards removing even the faintest hint of racial inequity, it is greatly troubling that a platform that is supposed to connect people together is so effectively tearing them apart. It is the solemn obligation for each and every American – regardless of color – to preach the message that such actions as those allegedly committed by Facebook will never stand before the justice of the American people.
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 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.
‘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.
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.