“Gratitude for working and feeling needed helps my mental health.” By Tonya Russell — Nothing could have prepared us for 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic brought about a myriad of challenges and changes that, to say the least, have required some major life adjustments. While many people had to shelter-in-place at some point this year with the ability to work remotely, countless others have put themselves in harm’s way working in…
Act Now Last November, New Jerseyans across the state voted overwhelmingly in support of legalizing cannabis for adult use, primarily due to the tremendous harm the war on drugs has perpetrated on Black, brown, and low-income communities. With every day that goes by, New Jerseyans across the state continue to be arrested, limiting opportunity, and devastating families and communities. New Jersey can’t afford any more delays. There is an urgent…
Experts say the H.R. 40 reparations bill could be an early test for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. By Char Adams— A bill reintroduced in the House this week to create a commission to examine reparations for the African American descendants of slavery is being seen by many as an early test of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ proclaimed commitment to tackling structural oppression….
By Harmeet Kaur, CNN— Slavery reparations are back in the national spotlight. A House Judiciary subcommittee held a hearing this week to discuss establishing a federal commission that would explore how the US government might compensate the descendants of enslaved Americans. And though the White House press secretary declined to say whether President Joe Biden would sign legislation to develop reparations for slavery, she did say he supported a study…
Instead of opening doors for American big business or supporting America’s diplomatic position in the world, the U.S. war machine has become a bull in the global china shop, wielding purely destructive power to destabilize countries and wreck their economies. By Medea Benjamin, Nicolas J.S. Davies— In 2004, journalist Ron Suskind quoted a Bush White House advisor, reportedly Karl Rove, as boasting, “We’re an empire now, and when we act, we…
The failure to appreciate Black history leaves our nation incomplete. By Jonathan Holloway— Many of the insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 were driven by a belief that they were acting in accord with the principles fashioned at the birth of this country, that their protest embodied America’s long history of patriotic rhetoric about freedom and citizenship. And in this, they are at least partly right: Such rhetoric…
By Sundiata Cha-Jua— The key to African American advancement and eventual liberation is the strength of the Black liberation movement. When the movement operates at high tide, it elevates all aspects of Black life. It carries culture, religion, media and electoral politics. The movement establishes the context in which Black entertainers and sports figures acquire the space to stand up and advocate for their people. A movement upsurge pressures politicians…
By Dr. Maulana Karenga— The current conversations concerning the urgency and need to unite the nation must always be undergirded and informed by a parallel recognition of the urgent and unavoidable need of an inclusive and substantive justice. For there can be no real, moral or meaningful unity without justice. As we know from centuries of sustained struggle and reflection, without justice there can be no peace, only an imposed…
By Ella Sogomonian— SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) – “This is a time for us to run and save our people intellectually, economically, socially, spiritually, culturally,” Rev. Dr. Amos C. Brown, president of the NAACP San Francisco, said. The NAACP President of the San Francisco chapter referring to the reparations that the county plans to pay descendants of African American slaves. The next step in the process is forming an advisory…
From $500,000 to $785, Maryland Episcopal churches commit to reparations By Adelle M. Banks— (RNS) — A historic Episcopal church in Baltimore has committed to setting aside $100,000 to reparations, an initiative that will contribute to local racial justice causes. Memorial Episcopal Church also pledged to contribute an additional $400,000 for reparations and justice over five years. “Our church has a long history of, unfortunately, supporting racial segregation up until…
By Chris McGreall— In his first few minutes as America’s new president, Joe Biden made a promise so sweeping that it almost seemed to deny history. “We can deliver racial justice,” Biden pledged to his factious nation. It wasn’t a commitment presented in any detail as he moved on to asserting that America would again be the leading force for good in the world, a claim that draws its own…
Regardless, civil rights advocates plan to push him to go big to eliminate disparities. By Maya King— The four executive orders President Joe Biden signed on Tuesday on advancing racial equity marked the new administration’s first major address of systemic racism. They signal that Biden plans to attack the problem with sweeping policy changes mandating cooperation across multiple federal agencies — a bold departure from previous administrations which rarely tackled racial inequities…
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