African Americans Archives - Institute of the Black World 21st Century

New study explores wealth habits of well-to-do Black Americans

By IBW21News & Current Affairs

The report finds affluent Black/African Americans, investing in the businesses of people they know, and attaining wealth through entrepreneurship. By Jeffrey McKinney, Black Enterprise — When it comes to their finances, affluent Black/African Americans focus on backing family members, investing in the businesses of people they know, and attaining wealth through entrepreneurship. At the same time, eliminating debt and inadequately preparing and saving for retirement are ongoing obstacles for this…

August 24, 2021

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The War on Critical Race Theory

By IBW21Editors' Choice

By David Theo Goldberg — According to the right, a specter is haunting the United States: the specter of critical race theory (CRT). On the eve of losing the presidency, Donald Trump issued an executive order in September banning “diversity and race sensitivity training” in government agencies, including all government “spending related to any training on critical race theory.” He was prompted, apparently, by hearing an interview with conservative activist Christopher Rufo on Fox…

May 28, 2021

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America’s Policing and Political Practices Inextricably Linked to KKK and White Supremacy

By IBW21Commentaries/Opinions

By Stacy M. Brown — Dr. Richard M. Cooper, the co- coordinator of African American Studies and faculty in the Social Work department at Widener University said there is a hidden assumption in the statement, “comprehensive thoughts on the most recent rise of White supremacy.” The statement assumes a “rise” as an undefined indicator or measure of an increase in White supremacy over an unnoted period, Dr. Cooper submitted. “For…

May 28, 2021

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The Racist Past of the Filibuster and Why it Should End Now

By IBW21Commentaries/Opinions

By Stacey M. Brown— The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and a voting and ethics bill passed the Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives, but neither stands a chance in the evenly divided Senate. President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan faced fierce opposition in the Senate, but ultimately a slimmed-down version passed using the reconciliation procedure. Reconciliation is used only in rare cases. Lawmakers cannot use it for the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, the…

May 26, 2021

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What George Floyd Changed

By IBW21Editors' Choice

By POLITICO MAGAZINE — The protests over one man’s death touched far more aspects of American life than just criminal justice. Seven thinkers reflect on how America is (and isn’t) different now. In the year since George Floyd died under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer, the explosive waves of national protest that followed have taken on almost a settled meaning: They were calls for police reform, and for…

May 26, 2021

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Greenwood, 1921: One of the worst race massacres in American history

By IBW21Editors' Choice

By Scott Pelley— The death of George Floyd, in the hands of Minneapolis police, came on Memorial Day. Ninety-nine years before, that same week, black Americans suffered a massacre. In the days after World War I, a neighborhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma, called Greenwood was among the wealthiest black communities. Oil made Greenwood rich, but jealousy made it suffer. In 1921, a white mob, with incendiary rage, burned Greenwood to ash. Even memories…

May 24, 2021

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Pittsburgh PA City Council Hearing on Black Displacement

By IBW21Gentrification, News & Current Affairs

Black Displacement Hearing – City Council Public Hearing The Pittsburgh Justice Coalition (PJC) is a group of organizations and individuals who are opposed to the misguided and ill-fated War on Drugs. June 17 will mark 50 years since President Nixon declared the War on Drugs which from the start was a War on Us, Black people. We are here today to call attention to and protest a continuing crime against…

May 12, 2021

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In His First 100 Days, Biden Called Out The Country’s Deeply Embedded Racism.

By IBW21Commentaries/Opinions

By Ryan Brooks — Joe Biden faces more difficult days ahead, with pressure ramping up for him to do more to fundamentally change the systems that perpetuate racism and inequality. On his first day in office, President Joe Biden declared that advancing “equity, civil rights, racial justice, and equal opportunity” were the responsibility of the federal government in an executive order. The order, which has become an integral part of the…

May 4, 2021

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Black American Trauma

By IBW21Editors' Choice

By David Love — What Effect Did Martin’s Death Have on the Black Community? The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. – who was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, while helping striking sanitation workers – left a deep and lasting impact on America through his activism and his advocacy, his philosophy of nonviolent civil disobedience and his radical vision of a just society free from racism, militarism and poverty….

May 4, 2021

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LA County supervisors vote to return Bruce’s Beach to descendants

By IBW21News & Current Affairs

“This was an injustice inflicted upon not just Willa and Charles Bruce — but generations of their descendants,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn said. By Sytonia Reid — On Tuesday, members of the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors voted to return the land that is home to the historically Black Bruce’s Beach back to the descendants of its owners. The decision follows a long campaign led by Bruce’s descendants…

April 21, 2021

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An Overdue Debt — Why It’s Finally Time To Pay Reparations To Black Americans

There are ‘definitely merits’ to reparations, says the first Black Fed president

By IBW21Reparations

By Zachary Halaschak— The first black Federal Reserve president said that there are “definitely merits” to reparations programs. Raphael Bostic, who in 2017 was chosen to lead the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, made the remarks during an interview that was released on Monday. The comments come as the issue of reparations, which are payments or some form of compensation provided to the descendants of slaves, has gained traction among some on the…

March 29, 2021

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Evanston, Ill., leads the country with first reparations program for Black residents

By IBW21Reparations

By Mark Guarino — CHICAGO — The nation’s first government reparations program for African Americans was approved Monday night in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, action that advocates say represents a critical step in rectifying wrongs caused by slavery, segregation and housing discrimination and in pushing forward on similar compensation efforts across the country.“Right now the whole world is looking at Evanston, Illinois. This is a moment like none other…

March 22, 2021

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