Former President Barack Obama delivers his first major speech since leaving office, addressing inequality and other issues at the 16th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture in Johannesburg, South Africa. Video via Time. A written commentary by Summer Meza and an article by Jelani Cobb (In Celebrating Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama Indicts Trumpism).
![Colin Kaepernick, middle, knees with his teammates before a game on September 25, 2016. (USA Today Sports / Joe Nicholson)](https://ibw21.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/kaepernick-kneel-910x512.jpg)
Could it trigger a long-awaited “Jock Spring”? By Robert Lipsyte, The Nation — Snatching immigrant babies may have scored some points for President Trump with his base, but it was never going to light up the scoreboard like tackling black jocks. That one really played to the grandstands. The complicated combination of adoration and resentment so many white males feel for those rich, accomplished über-men is a significant but rarely…
Audio courtesy of Critical Hour with Dr. Wilmer Leon — On this episode of The Critical Hour with Dr. Wilmer Leon, Brett M. Kavanaugh is Trumps nominee to be the next…
![Federal guidance on race is college admissions is changing](https://ibw21.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/considering-race-in-college-admissions-3-questions-answered-910x512.jpg)
By Stella M Flores, The Conversation — On July 3, the Trump administration announced it will reverse several policy memos outlining how colleges and universities can use race as a factor in admissions. The memos aren’t law, but rather Obama-era guidance – issued jointly by the departments of Education and Justice – stating that the federal government recognizes “the compelling interest that postsecondary institutions have in obtaining the benefits that flow from achieving a…
![In a city nearing full employment, Carl still struggles to find work. Photograph: Jason Dailey for the Guardian](https://ibw21.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/the-truth-about-black-unemployment-in-america-1.jpg)
As Trump highlights declining jobless figures, Kansas City offers a window into how the recovery has passed many African Americans by. By Caleb Gayle, The Guardian — Kansas City is booming. Employers and investors have poured into the midwestern city since the recession. At least $1bn has gone into its sparkling new downtown, revitalized arts district and shiny new condos. So why is Sly James, its highly regarded outgoing mayor, so…
![Donald Trump](https://ibw21.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/trump-cant-reverse-the-decline-of-white-christian-america-post-image-1.jpg)
Two-thirds of those who voted for the president felt his election was the “last chance to stop America’s decline.” But his victory won’t arrest the cultural and demographic trends they opposed. By Robert P. Jones, The Atlantic — Down the home stretch of the 2016 presidential campaign, one of Donald Trump’s most consistent talking points was a claim that America’s changing demographics and culture had brought the country to a…
![Maxine Waters](https://ibw21.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/black-female-leaders-rip-top-dems-for-failing-to-protect-maxine-waters.jpg)
By Leo Vidal, PoliticusUSA — Nearly 200 black women leaders have sent a letter to Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), criticizing them for “failure to protect“ Rep. Maxine Waters…
![The Oberlin rescuers, with Simeon Bushnell and Charles Langston 9th and 12th from the left. Library of Congress](https://ibw21.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Oberlin-rescuers-Simeon-Bushnell-Charles-Langston-910x512.jpg)
By Steven Lubet, The Conversation — President Donald Trump has exercised the pardon power more aggressively and creatively than most of his predecessors, granting pardons to political supporters such as Joe Arpaio and Dinesh D’Souza, and a posthumous pardon to Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion, who was convicted on a racially fraught charge of violating the Mann Act. Trump has mused about pardoning former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, as well as Robert Mueller’s probe…
![Trump to rescind race guidelines in college admissions](https://ibw21.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/trump-to-rescind-race-guidelines-in-college-admissions-1.jpg)
Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe — WASHINGTON, July 3 (Reuters) – The Trump administration plans to revoke guidelines that encourage considering race in the college admissions process as…
![‘Despite Europe’s commendable patience, its failure to understand what animates Trump has enabled him.’ Photograph: Alba Vigaray/EPA](https://ibw21.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/trump-tower-910x512.jpg)
Trump can easily weather broad sanctions on the US economy. But sanctions targeting his own companies will sting in a way that he cannot ignore By Keith Ellison, The Guardian — Donald Trump has opened the largest rift between the US and its European allies since George W Bush’s illegal invasion of Iraq. From the Paris accord, to the Iran nuclear deal, to pushing for the inclusion of Russia in a…
![Donald Trump](https://ibw21.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/donald-trump-speaking-at-mic-pointing-910x512.jpg)
Donald Trump’s election is one major effect of this moral crisis, but arguably not its cause. By Chauncey DeVega, Salon — There is a lack of moral leadership in America….
![Violent protest against Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega’s government in Managua, Nicaragua May 30, 2018. By Oswaldo Rivas for Reuters.](https://ibw21.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/ned-boasts-of-laying-the-groundwork-for-nicaraguan-insurrection-1.jpg)
By Max Blumenthal, The Gray Zone — As Nicaraguan Student Protest Leaders Meet With Neoconservatives In Washington, DC, A Publication Funded By The US Government’s Regime Change Arm, The National Endowment For Democracy (NED), Boasts Of Spending Millions Of Dollars “Laying The Groundwork For Insurrection” Against Daniel Ortega.