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John A. Madison, great-grandson of Dred Scott, points to his ancestor's unmarked grave.

The Real Origins of Birthright Citizenship

By News & Current Affairs

Its purpose 150 years ago was to incorporate former slaves into the nation. By Martha S. Jones, The Atlantic — Birthright citizenship just might be, former slaves believed, the safeguard they needed. In the decades before the Civil War, in an era when a remedy like the Fourteenth Amendment was hard to imagine, free black Americans embraced the view that they were citizens by virtue of having been born on…

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Making Change: A Case for Black-Led Social Change: Panel discussion included, from left to right Keysha Taylor, board char of the African American Community Foundation; Henry Rock, founder of City Startup Labs; Janeen Bryan, a community activist and business owner; and Susan Taylor Batten, president and CEO of the Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE).

Major foundations must do more to support black-led organizations, speaker says at Charlotte event

By News & Current Affairs

Susan Taylor Batten, president and CEO of the Association of Black Foundation Executives, said black-led organizations must be central to addressing the legacy of racism in America. By Glenn Burkins, Qcitymetro — If America is to address the crippling legacy of slavery and racism, more money must be directed toward black-led organizations that are battling for social change, said a leading authority on philanthropic giving. Of the billions of dollars…

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Peter Cvjetanovic along with neo-Nazis and white supremacists at the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville, Virginia on \ in Charlottesville, Va. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

“Trumpism:” The Hate that Produces Hate

By Vantage Point Articles

Vantage Point Articles and Essays by Dr. Ron Daniels — With the attempted assassination of a series of Democratic leaders and the savage murder of 11 worshipers in the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in the past week, the American people are witnessing one of the most horrific seasons of hate and terror in recent memory. And, while there is debate about the link between rhetoric and the actions…

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A woman dressed as death stands in front of Honduran security forces during protests in the capital, Tegucigalpa, with a sign that reads, "JOH [Juan Orlando Hernández] our deaths are on your conscience.

Inside the Corruption and Repression Forcing Hondurans to Flee to the US

By Commentaries/Opinions

Migrants are leaving not only because they fear gang violence, but because they are terrified of the brutal government. By Peter Tinti, Vice — Nineteen-year-old taxi driver Diego is not interested in politics. But his hometown of El Progreso—a transit hub in central Honduras, where everyone seems to have a friend or relative who has “gone north” to the US—has long been a hotbed of popular resistance. In 1954, workers…

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Marijuana, Cannibus, Marijuana Reform

More Americans Than Ever Want Marijuana Legalized. Lawmakers Should Listen.

By Commentaries/Opinions

Nearly two-thirds of Americans want cannabis to be legal — but marijuana arrests are going up, not down. By Paul Armentano, Otherwords — Over 60 percent of Americans — including majorities of Republicans, independents, and Democrats — believe that the adult use of marijuana ought to be legal. And an estimated 20 percent of Americans now live in a state where cannabis use by those over the age of 21 is permitted.…

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The Imperial Prison Farm Cemetery has 31 marked graves of inmates and guards dating 1912-1943.

A Fate Worse Than Slavery, Unearthed in Sugar Land

By Reparations

Bodies of sugar cane workers recently discovered in Texas reveal gruesome details about the convict leasing system. By Brent Staples, The New York Times — The blood-drenched history that gave the city of Sugar Land, Tex., its name showed its face earlier this year, when a school construction crew discovered the remains of 95 African-Americans whose unmarked graves date back more than a century. The dead — some of whom may have…

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