Image: A new statue (2015) of Frederick Douglass stands in Hornbake Plaza. Note: While most of us generally think about the profound activism and wisdom of Frederick Douglass being acknowledged…
Thanks to the IMF, the pockets of the forgotten from Argentina to Mexico will suffer so that finance is left intact. By Vijay Prashad, Independent Media Institute — On December 1,…
By Ashley Farmer, Black Perspectives — “Learn from the Past, Organize the Future, Make Democracy Work.” This is the mission statement that greets visitors at the SNCC Digital Gateway—a wide-ranging, collaborative website that documents and animates the history of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Founded in April 1960 under the guidance of veteran activist Ella Baker, SNCC became a leading civil rights organization due to countless young organizers who engaged in voter…
They felt like helpless victims for years. Not anymore. By Kizito Makoye, OZY — For nearly a week, Swalehe Nkwale saw unfamiliar surveyors place slabs on parts of Nyamitanga Division…
By Thelá Thatch, Black Enterprise — Gentrification involves the transformation of under-invested, predominately poor communities from low value to high value. During this transformation, long-time residents and businesses are displaced; unable to afford higher rents, mortgages, and property taxes. For some, gentrification is a process of renovating deteriorated urban neighborhoods through the influx of more affluent residents. To others, gentrification magnifies the racial divide as it shifts a neighborhood’s racial…
RiseUp Detroit chronicles the Revolutionary evolution of Black Detroit during the 60’s. Featuring activists JoAnn Watson, Frank Joyce, Helen Moore, Rev. Dan Aldridge, Elliot Hall, Esq., Charles E. Ferrell and…
Topics: Connecting the Diaspora to Africa • The Impact of the Mid-Term Elections on Blacks and the Progressive Movement. Guests:
H.E. Arikana Chihombori-Quao (African Union Ambassador to the U.S., Washington, D.C.), Bill Fletcher (Labor and Social Justice Activist, Washington, D.C.) and Maurice Mitchell (National Director, Working Families Party, New York, NY)
Victories in communities that had never elected a black representative run counter to the divisive rhetoric that played out in some contests across the country. By John Eligon, The New York Times — When Joe Neguse discussed his newborn child on the campaign trail in his congressional race in Colorado, he found himself empathizing with constituents concerned about early education for their own children. In his chats with millennials, the…
Africa did not gain Independence from her erstwhile colonial masters, we regained’ it! Africa was independent before they arrived! By Sebastiane Ebatamehi, The African Exponent — We can never talk enough of Kwame Nkrumah when ever the African narrative is analyzed. He is the perfect martyr, a hero unappreciated and one who despite the betrayal from a people he loved with all his heart, left behind a compass that would guide…
By Lynette Monroe, NNPA — Black people do vote. Let’s stop perpetuating the myth that Black people don’t vote. Besides, emphasizing negative behavior will not yield positive results. Positive language reinforces positive behavior. While statistics related to health and wealth routinely place Blacks as dead last, when it comes to voting, this is not the case. Black voter turnout is higher than any other minority group, but Black people still…
By Sika-Ayiwa Afriyie, Face2Face Africa — The tradition of wearing horsehair wigs, perukes, ‘a term derived from the French word perruque (weaving wig)’ and gowns by the judiciary predates the 15th Century. In the 14th Century, during the reign of King Edward III, the accepted costume for nobles who appeared before the Court of the king was the robe. Later in the 17th Century, the gown was adopted together with the…
Grassroots activists have organized a movement stronger than Obama’s, and the midterm elections were just the beginning. By Micah L. Sifry, The New Republic — On Saturday, November 3, three days before the midterms, 200 volunteers gathered in Modena, New York, to canvass for Antonio Delgado, an African American lawyer and first-time congressional candidate. A local field staffer, a cheery young man named Todd, told me that so many people…