The Quran recognizes ‘no superiority of a white person over a black person.’ That notion, radical in 7th-century Arab society of slavery and tribal divides – remains unrealized 1,400 years later. By Asma Afsaruddin — One day, in Mecca, the Prophet Muhammad dropped a bombshell on his followers: He told them that all people are created equal. “All humans are descended from Adam and Eve,” said Muhammad in his last known…
By Robert Hornak, The Schpiel — In recent days many people whose politics lean center-right have been trying to give “the facts” on racism in America. This completely misses the…
By Bashir Muhammad Akinyele — “The making of amends for a wrong one has done, by paying money to or otherwise helping those who have been wronged.” (American dictionary on…
By David Comissiong — The peculiar race-based history of the Western Hemisphere has bequeathed to all the people and nations of our region of the “Caribbean and the Americas” the…
By Ishan Tharoor with Ruby Mellen, Washington Post — Edward Colston was a 17th-century English merchant who rose to the position of deputy governor of the Royal African Co. His family became fabulously wealthy as a result, profiting from the company’s role in the British trade of African slaves to the New World. Under Colston’s watch, about 84,000 Africans were shipped to lives of bondage and misery. An estimated 19,000 of them perished during the…
The author of one of the best selling books on racism, Robin DiAngelo tells us about how “white fragility” contributes to racism, and how white people can stop it. By Sandee LaMotte, CNN — If you’re a white person in America, social justice educator Robin DiAngelo has a message for you: You’re a racist, pure and simple, and without a lifetime of conscious effort you always will be. You just…
By Michael J.A. Davis — “To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time. ” – James Baldwin I had trouble getting out of bed this morning. I abashedly moved my 9 o’clock meeting with my boss to give myself time to rise. I almost did what many Black folks joke about in private, yet often need…
Statement by Ben & Jerry’s — All of us at Ben & Jerry’s are outraged about the murder of another Black person by Minneapolis police officers last week and the…
“My people are being killed.” By Sarah Emily Baum, Teen Vogue — Veteran organizers, like Nupol Kiazolu, the 19-year-old president of Black Lives Matter of Greater New York, are familiar with the ebbs and flows of a protest. She stood nose-to-nose with Nazis in Charlottesville. She’s fled law enforcement with rifle sights set on her chest. She knows it means risking her life, even before the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the…
By Don Rojas — Today America is at a crossroads, a turning point…at an intersection of the old imperial order at home and abroad with the birthing of a new order, “a new normal” if you will. For millions of people in America, the unprecedented street uprisings of the past 10 days offer a glimmer of hope that after 350 years of oppression, meaningful change may actually be on the…
By David Abdulah, Movement for Social Justice — “It is not easy to describe a crisis so profound that it has caused the most powerful nation in the world to…
By Zamira Rahim and Rob Picheta, CNN — Protesters have marched in the US for six consecutive nights over the death of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer. Their anger over…