Skip to main content
All Posts By

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.

"The causes of this racial wealth divide have little to do with individual behavior. Instead, they’re the result of a range of systemic factors and policies." (Photo: Kenneth Worles, Jr. / Institute for Policy Studies)

Racial Inequality Is Hollowing Out America’s Middle Class

By Commentaries/Opinions

As our country becomes more diverse, our racial wealth gap means it’s also becoming poorer. By Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, Chuck Collins — America’s middle class is under assault. Since 1983, national median wealth has declined by 20 percent, falling from $73,000 to $64,000 in 2013. And U.S. homeownership has been in a steady decline since 2005. While we often hear about the struggles of the white working class, a driving force behind…

Read More
While the G.I. Bill and other post-World War II policies helped to build a strong middle class, many of those benefits were not extended to black families—just one factor that led to the racial wealth gap seen today. (Photo: @LadyLSpeaks/Twitter)

The Racial Wealth Gap Is Leading to An Almost-Nonexistent Middle Class

By Commentaries/Opinions

With people of color projected to make up the majority of Americans by 2043, a new study warns against policies that keep many black and Latino households out of the middle class. By Julia Conley — A new study finds that if the racial wealth divide is left unaddressed, the median wealth for black Americans will fall to $0 by 2053, with Latino Americans reaching the same median wealth two decades later. According to the report by…

Read More
Cuba After Irma: a Call to Our Combative People

Cuba After Irma: a Call to Our Combative People

By Commentaries/Opinions

By Raul Castro — Hurricane Irma, with its destructive power, battered our island for 72 hours, beginning the morning of September 8 until this Sunday afternoon. With winds that surpassed 250 kilometers per hour on occasion, it crossed the north of the country from Baracoa – hit hard by another phenomenon of this type almost a year ago – to the outskirts of Cárdenas. However, given its immense size, practically no province was spared its effects.

Read More
Protester with Black Lives Matter placard at a vigil for Rashan Charles, London, UK, July 29, 2017

How Black Lives Matter Is Changing British Universities

By Editors' Choice

The movement has stimulated a renewed anti-racist consciousness and provided an alternative politics. By Sadhvi Dar — Something is changing for students of color in British universities. They are talking about race in the classroom, using Black Lives Matter as an example, and a political strategy, for engaging a renewed young anti-racist British consciousness. This awakening has not been sudden, nor has it been incisive, but it is beginning to be felt, sensed, and articulated in ways that seemed impossible only a few years ago.

Read More
Above Photo: From CreativeResistance.org. Eyes Wide Open: US Military Personnel Killed In Iraq.

Is The US Empire’s Reign Nearing An End?

By Commentaries/Opinions

By Mark Karlin — With a sweeping and detailed account of how the US rose out of World War II to become the reigning empire, Alfred W. McCoy connects dots that reveal how the role of covert action and torture enhanced its powers. However, McCoy ponders that these may be the last days of US global hegemony. Truthout asked McCoy to talk more about these issues.

Read More

September 11th Edition of Vantage Point Radio with Dr. Ron Daniels

By Vantage Point Radio, Video/Audio

Topics — Like It Is: The Life and Legacy of Gil Noble, Crisis in the Congo and the Assault on the Daughter of Patrice Lumumba, The Quest for Democracy and Development in Africa. Guests — Chris Noble, Organizer, Tribute to Gil Noble, New York, NY, Kambale Musavuli, Spokesperson, Friends of the Congo, New York, NY, Sidique Wai, President and National Spokesperson, United African Congress

Read More
Freed Slaves Civil War

A Lesson on Slavery for White America

By Editors' Choice

By Paul Street — Look at the following series of tweets from the president of the United States, reflecting Thursday on the tearing down of Confederate statues in the U.S. South: Sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments. You can’t change history, but you can learn from it. Robert E Lee, Stonewall Jackson—who’s next, Washington, Jefferson?…

Read More
The First White President — By Ta-Nehisi Coates

The First White President

By Editors' Choice

The foundation of Donald Trump’s presidency is the negation of Barack Obama’s legacy. By Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlantic — IT IS INSUFFICIENT TO STATE the obvious of Donald Trump: that he is a white man who would not be president were it not for this fact. With one immediate exception, Trump’s predecessors made their way to high office through the passive power of whiteness—that bloody heirloom which cannot ensure mastery of all events but can conjure a tailwind…

Read More