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The Kerner Commission was formed amid riots in Detroit in 1967

Half-century of US civil rights gains have stalled or reversed, report finds

By News & Current Affairs

Assessment 50 years after Kerner Commission points to child poverty and school segregation, along with emboldened white supremacists. By David Smith — Civil rights gains of the past half-century have stalled or in some areas gone into reverse, according to a report marking the 50th anniversary of the landmark Kerner Commission. Child poverty has increased, schools have become resegregated and white supremacists are becoming emboldened and more violent, the study says.…

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United Auto Workers and Nissan employees in August 2017 after a failed unionization bid. High profile battles have put a spotlight on the links between economic and racial justice.

How Black Lives Matter Breathed New Life Into Unions

By News & Current Affairs

As Black Lives Matter and other social justice campaigns focus more on economic inequality, unions see an opportunity. By Mike Elk, The Guardian — After decades of decline unions have found a new champion in efforts to organize workers: the Black Lives Matter movement. Unions have suffered as manufacturing has moved south away from their old strongholds in the north of the US. Membership rates were 10.7% in 2016, down from 20.1% in 1983, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. At the same time the shift from manufacturing to service industry jobs has hurt them too.

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For People of Color, Banks Are Shutting the Door to Homeownership

For People of Color, Banks Are Shutting the Door to Homeownership

By News & Current Affairs

By Aaron Glantz and Emmanuel Martinez — Fifty years after the federal Fair Housing Act banned racial discrimination in lending, African Americans and Latinos continue to be routinely denied conventional mortgage loans at rates far higher than their white counterparts. This modern-day redlining persisted in 61 metro areas even when controlling for applicants’ income, loan amount and neighborhood, according to a mountain of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act records analyzed by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting.

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caribbean-residents-see-climate-change-severe-threat-us-dont-heres

Caribbean residents see climate change as a severe threat but most in US don’t — here’s why

By News & Current Affairs

People in the U.S. and the Caribbean share vulnerability to climate change-related disasters, but only in the Caribbean is the public truly worried. Why? By Elizabeth J. Zechmeister and Claire Q. Evans, The Conversation — During the 2017 Atlantic basin hurricane season, six major storms – all of which were Category 3 or higher – produced devastating human, material and financial devastation across the southern United States and the Caribbean.

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February 15, 2018 — International Decade for People of African Descent Hill Briefing 

By News & Current Affairs

February 15, 2018 — International Decade for People of African Descent Hill Briefing. Capitol Hill Briefing on H. Res 713. Congressman Hank Johnson (GA-04) hosts a briefing on H. Res 713 to designate January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2024, as the “International Decade for People of African Descent.” To engage governments & societies across the globe join together with people of African descent to promote respect,…

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President Jacob Zuma

South Africa’s Ruling Party Decides to Remove Zuma as President

By News & Current Affairs

By Alexander Winning and James Macharia, (Reuters) — South Africa’s ruling party decided on Tuesday to sack Jacob Zuma as head of state, two sources said, after marathon talks over the fate of a leader whose scandal-plagued years in power darkened and divided Nelson Mandela’s post-apartheid ‘Rainbow Nation’. The decision by the African National Congress’s (ANC) national executive followed 13 hours of tense deliberations and one, short face-to-face exchange between…

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#ProudAfricans Special Fund Drive Edition of Vantage Point — Dr. Ron Daniels

By Vantage Point Radio, Video/Audio

2/12/18 — #ProudAfricans Special Fund Drive Edition of Vantage Point. Guests: Dr. Leonard Jeffries, President, World Diaspora Union (WADU), New York City; Randy Weston, Internationally Acclaimed Jazz Musician, New York City; Souad Kirama, Co-Chairperson, #PROUD AFRICANS RALLY, New York City; Milton Allimadi, Editor/Publisher, Black Star News, New York City

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