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IBW21

IBW21 (The Institute of the Black World 21st Century) is committed to enhancing the capacity of Black communities in the U.S. and globally to achieve cultural, social, economic and political equality and an enhanced quality of life for all marginalized people.

Julian Marley, son of late reggae icon Bob Marley, celebrates his father's 69th birthday at the National Stadium in Kingston, 2014.

UNESCO Adds Reggae Music to Global Cultural Heritage List

By News & Current Affairs

Reggae was often championed as a music of the oppressed, with lyrics addressing sociopolitical issues, imprisonment and inequality. By TeleSUR — Reggae music – whose calm, lilting grooves found international fame thanks to artists like Bob Marley – has won a coveted spot on the United Nations’ list of global cultural treasures. UNESCO, the world body’s cultural and scientific agency, added the genre that originated in Jamaica to its collection of “intangible…

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Neighborhood homes

Black Americans’ Homes Undervalued by Billions

By News & Current Affairs

By Teddy Grant, Ebony — Black Americans’ homes are routinely undervalued in the real estate market, according to a report by Brookings Institution and Gallup that was released Tuesday. In the report “The devaluation of assets in Black neighborhoods: The case of residential property,” homes in neighborhoods with a Black majority that are owner-occupied are appraised for lower prices, averaging $48,000 per home, writes Curbed. Such low appraisal prices translate…

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‘A reparative justice programme’ … Glasgow University has completed a two-year review of how it grew wealthy from the slave trade. Photograph: University of Glasgow

Reparations for slavery are not about punishing children for parents’ sins

By Editors' Choice, Reparations

Reparative justice, whereby communities are compensated for losses caused by the slavery or the Holocaust, is morally fair. By Julian Baggini, The Guardian — Justice requires a good memory, one that is both accurate and not self-servingly selective. But whether it is well-served by a long memory is more contentious. We know that many still pay the price for sins previous generations never paid for. But most agree with the…

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Pan Africanism, Marijuana Policy, Gentrification — December 3rd Edition of Vantage Point Radio

By Gentrification, Vantage Point Radio, Video/Audio

Topics: The 60th Anniversary of the All African People’s Conference, Ghana • The Marijuana Justice, Equity and Reinvestment Conference • Anti-Gentrification Campaign in Atlanta. Guests: Mwalimu K-Q Amsata (Coord., North American Pan African Federalist Congress, Flagler, FL), Kassandra Frederique (State Policy Director, Drug Policy Alliance, New York, NY) and Kamau Franklin (Founder, Community Movement Builders, Atlanta, GA)

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Seventy percent of people of African descent stopped by police in Italy saw that action as racially-motivated.

People of African descent face ‘dire picture’ of racism in EU

By News & Current Affairs

Almost a third of people of African descent have experienced racial harassment in past five years, survey finds. By Jennifer Rankin, The Guardian — Almost a third of people of African descent polled in a new EU survey say they have experienced racial harassment in the last five years, a report that claims racial discrimination is “commonplace” across 12 European countries reveals. People of African descent face “a dire picture”…

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Report by Transparency International sees South Africa top the list of countries where citizens believe the problem has got worse in the last year.

Securing Ramaphosa’s Presidency – At What Cost?

By Commentaries/Opinions

People cherished many expectations for Cyril Ramaphosa’s presidency. Many of these were not necessarily realistic and may have derived from a sense of relief in the departure of Jacob Zuma, rather than what may have been possible for Ramaphosa to do. By Raymond Suttner, Polity — In the early months Ramaphosa engendered considerable confidence as a result of his apparently methodical, systematic and measured way of handling his office. This…

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Barack Obama at a campaign rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with governor-elect Tony Evers, Mandela Barnes and Sarah Godlewski on 26 October.

The new wave of Democrats owes a huge debt to people power.

By Commentaries/Opinions

The party was the natural political conduit for the protest movement. It must not betray that trust. By Gary Younge, The Guardian — With just a few thousand votes between the two candidates for governor, election night during the US midterms in Wisconsin could not have been more tense. The slender lead kept flipping between Republican and Democrat as various precincts reported their results. Then shortly before midnight a local news presenter suggested,…

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