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Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama

The Deep History Behind Barack Obama’s Speech for the Centennial of Nelson Mandela’s Birth

By Editors' Choice

By Olivia B. Waxman, TIME — When Barack Obama delivers the 16th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture in Johannesburg on Tuesday, to mark this week’s centennial of the late anti-apartheid champion Nelson Mandela’s birth, the moment will be a deeply personal one for the former president. His speechwriter Ben Rhodes has said that Obama considers it to be the most important speech since leaving office, and Obama has written that his political awakening…

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Kamala Harris (Left), Cory Booker (Right)

Black top and mid-level staffers are hard to find among Democratic Senators even in states with large black populations

By News & Current Affairs

By Frederick H. Lowe — U.S. Senators who represent states with significant black populations have people of color in top and mid-level positions but not many African Americans, according to a report by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a Washington, D.C. -based non-partisan public policy organization. Of the 147 top-level positions held by Democrats in the U.S. Senate, only three are held by blacks, representing 2 percent…

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In his first major speech since leaving office, Obama decries inequality and ‘strongman politics’

By Editors' Choice, Video/Audio

Former President Barack Obama delivers his first major speech since leaving office, addressing inequality and other issues at the 16th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture in Johannesburg, South Africa. Video via Time. A written commentary by Summer Meza and an article by Jelani Cobb (In Celebrating Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama Indicts Trumpism).

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Co-founder of Black Lives Matter, Patrisse Cullors

Black Lives Matter at Five: Activists Take Stock

By News & Current Affairs

By Steve Dubb, Nonprofit Quarterly — The acquittal of George Zimmerman in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin took place on July 13, 2013. Reaction to the acquittal led to the birth of what is now known as the Black Lives Matter movement. Chauncey Alcorn, writing in Mic, recalls the movement’s origins: Criminal justice reform advocate Patrisse Cullors sat at the edge of her bed in a Susanville, California, motel room,…

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William Lloyd’s Coffee House in London specialized in being the first in getting marine news, such as arrivals and shipwrecks. Merchants and traders profited from the transatlantic slave trade before abolition, not only in the buying and selling of slaves, but also in the whole marine business of ship insurance and mortgages to sea captains.

The Surprisingly Long History of Racial Oppression in Coffeehouses

By Editors' Choice, Reparations

Centuries before two Black men were arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks, capitalists met at coffee shops to profit from the transatlantic slave trade. By Tasha Williams, Yes Magazine — An 18th-century ad tells us that a dozen or so men, women, and children of African heritage were scheduled for buyer’s inspection one Saturday, just outside the entrance of the London Coffee House in Philadelphia. The Stamp Act protests and other famous anti-British…

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Power Packed Agenda for Premier Edition of Vantage Point in Drive Time

By Vantage Point Radio, Video/Audio

Topics: The Legacy of Elombe Brath • Fighting for Justice in the Case of Anton Rose, Jr. • Impact of the the “Trump” Supreme Court. Guests: Herb Boyd (Editor, Elombe Brath, Selected Writings and Essays, New York, NY), Bernard White (The Forward, Elombe Brath, Selected Writings and Essays, New York, NY), Jasiri X (Founder/Creative Director, One Hood Media Center, Pittsburgh, PA), Dr. Julianne Malveaux (Author, Political Economist, Educator, Washington, D.C.)

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Ahmed Reid

How Europe Underdeveloped The Caribbean

By Commentaries/Opinions, Reparations

By Ahmed Reid, The Gleaner — In a recent article published in The Gleaner titled ‘Caribbean expats mean much to Britain’, Lord Tariq Ahmad, the British minister of state with responsibility for the Caribbean, Commonwealth and the United Nations, took the opportunity to highlight the sterling contribution of the Windrush Generation to the UK’s post-World War II development. Lord Ahmad’s history lesson should not be discounted. We recall that on his visit…

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Calling 911

White People Have Been Dialing 911 On Black People Since 911 Was Invented

By Commentaries/Opinions

By Neil J. Young, HuffPost — It was his first day on the job. A 12-year-old kid with a newspaper route, that rite of passage for so many American boys and girls. Uriah Sharp gathered the pile of newspapers he was to deliver and set out with his mother and older brother to their assigned neighborhood of Upper Arlington, Ohio, an affluent Columbus suburb. That’s where Sharp, a young African-American boy…

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Colin Kaepernick, middle, knees with his teammates before a game on September 25, 2016. (USA Today Sports / Joe Nicholson)

Donald Trump’s War on Black Athletes

By Commentaries/Opinions

Could it trigger a long-awaited “Jock Spring”? By Robert Lipsyte, The Nation — Snatching immigrant babies may have scored some points for President Trump with his base, but it was never going to light up the scoreboard like tackling black jocks. That one really played to the grandstands. The complicated combination of adoration and resentment so many white males feel for those rich, accomplished über-men is a significant but rarely…

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"When we sent Japanese Americans to internment camps, families were often separated when fathers were sent hasty relocation orders and forced labor contracts." (Photo: Clem Albers/ US National and Records Administration)

America Was in the Business of Separating Families Long Before Trump

By Commentaries/Opinions

The true story is that the United States has a well-documented history of breaking up non-white families. By Jeffery Robinson, Common Dreams — Children are crying for their parents while being held in small cages. The attorney general tells us the Bible justifies what we see and the White House press secretary backs him up. Be horrified and angered, but not because this is a new Trump transgression against real…

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