When the shuttered economy reopens, how many black Americans will be left out in the cold? By William M. Rodgers III — As the COVID-19 pandemic worsened in April, many…
When the shuttered economy reopens, how many black Americans will be left out in the cold? By William M. Rodgers III — As the COVID-19 pandemic worsened in April, many…
By Phillip Inman, The Guardian — Almost half the global workforce – 1.6 billion people – are in “immediate danger of having their livelihoods destroyed” by the economic impact of Covid-19, the International Labour Organization has warned. Of the total global working population of 3.3 billion, about 2 billion work in the “informal economy”, often on short-term contracts or self-employment, and suffered a 60% collapse in their wages in the…
The spread of the coronavirus exposes a widening chasm in the U.S. economy between college-educated workers and less-educated workers. By Alana Semuels, Time — There are many things that worry Fina Kao…
By Herb Boyd — When Africans were forcibly brought to America, they worked at the points of production. And whether as a multitude of enslaved workers on small farms, large plantations, in mines or elsewhere, black laborers were vital cogs in creating wealth for their owners. On a national scale, enslaved black laborers provided a workforce vital for the development of the American republic by bringing wage-free economic success and…
All of them returned to the South’s frontline struggle for racial justice. By R. Drew Smith — In 2020, January remembrances of Martin Luther King Jr. are occurring against the backdrop of two high-profile films emphasizing sacrificial servant leadership. First, the film Harriet provided a renewed focus on celebrated abolitionist Harriet Tubman. This biopic chronicles her mid-19th century enslavement in Maryland, her daring escape to a hard-won freedom in Philadelphia, and her…
Unemployment rate tells a different story about the economy when race is considered, even when job numbers are strong. By Lauren Aratani, The Guardian — What I’ve done for African Americans in two and a half years, no president has been able to do anything like it,” Donald Trump boasted in August, the latest in a series of statements in which he has claimed to be the best president for…
Presentation by Jeffrey S. Lowe, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Urban Planning and Environmental Policy, Texas Southern University for the Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW). National Emergency…
By Julianne Malveaux — The first week of July produced a somewhat positive Employment Situation report. While the unemployment rate ticked up just a bit, about 224,000 new jobs were…
Aspects of the report are disturbing. Over the last year, the black unemployment rate has risen 0.2 percentage points to 6.7 percent and the white unemployment rate has dropped 0.4…
By Julianne Malveaux — The April unemployment rate, at 3.6 percent, is at its lowest rate since December 1969. Payroll employment increased by more than 250,000, outperforming expectations and reversing…
By Dr. Maulana Karenga — In these critical times which unavoidably raise the pressing questions of mapping and making our way forward regardless, a thoughtful rereading of Dr. Martin Luther…
Topics: Slave Conditions In Sugar Land: The Modern Convict Lease System • A New Social Contract for Jobs and Working People • Preview of New York African Diaspora International Film Festival. Guests: Cathy Albisa (Exec.Dir., National Economic and Social Justice Initiative, New York, NY), Atty. Darryl Scott (Social Justice Advocate, Houston, TX) and Maurice Carney (Exec. Dir., Friends of the Congo, Washington, D.C.)