As the Supreme Court prepares to release its decision in Shelby County v. Holder, this report analyzes new implications — that have so far gone largely unnoted — if the Court…

The June 17th Day of Direct Action (DODA) spearheaded by the Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW) is history. “Drum Majors for Justice,” primarily from the Northeast where IBW has worked to form drug and criminal justice policy reform collaboratives, marched to the gates of the White House to demand that President Obama end the racially-biased and destructive “War on Drugs” that has so severely damaged Black families and communities and led to mass incarceration of Black people.
By Terrance Heath
In “The Unfinished March,” the first in a series reports from the Economic Policy Institute, economist Algernon Austin outlines the “unfinished business” of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
At the close of the introduction to his breathtaking study Black Athena, Martin Bernal stated that “the political purpose of Black Athena is, of course, to lessen European cultural arrogance.”

Washington is descending into another silly season. Let’s end this diversion of dust and smoke as partisans hype mock “scandals” for political profit. The real scandals — like that of children in poverty — are simply being ignored. In this rich nation, nearly 8 million children under the age of 18 are being raised in what are called “areas of concentrated poverty.” These are the ghettos, barrios and impoverished rural areas where more than 30 percent of families live below the poverty line (a little over $22,000 for a family of four in 2010, when these figures date from). The …
In a recent issue of The Nation, Editor and Publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel was effusive in her praise of Public Advocate Bill de Blasio’s plan to combat income inequality.
The “Old Gray Lady,” The New York Times, appears to be miffed that it was not the recipient of the leaks from whistleblower Edward Snowden, now on the run in Hong Kong and promising to fight extradition.

By Herb Boyd & Elinor Tatum
One of the most important revelations Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had even before he delivered his famous “I Have A Dream” speech—and what he deemed a shortcoming of the civil rights movement—was the failure to give economics a more pivotal role in the struggle for freedom and justice.
Can the economy recover if workers don’t? Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke yesterday suggested as much, but investors were clearly skittish. Bernanke announced that while the Fed would continue its extraordinary measures to prop up the economy, the end might be in sight.
By Carl Hart (Alternet)
The straight glass pipe filled with ethereal white smoke. It was thick enough to see that it could be a good hit, but it still had the wispy quality that distinguishes crack cocaine smoke from cigarette or marijuana smoke.