By Sam Bojarski— For more than 200 years, Haiti’s independence story has inspired African-Americans, from Frederick Douglas to Langston Hughes and the Rev. Al Sharpton. “The Haitian Revolution is the original…
By Teresa Ann Willis— On January 6, 2021, mobs of mostly white Trump supporters stormed the United States Capitol building armed with weapons, outrage and what they believed to be…
By George Yancy— In a climate of white supremacist violence and blatant contempt for a robust democratic vision — where distrust, deception and unabashed lying run thick in the halls…
By William H. Lamar IV— The Rev. William H. Lamar IV is the pastor of the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington. Do you hear what I hear? I…
The legacy of slavery is far from resolved. It persists every day and everywhere. By David Gardinier and Karen Hilfman, The Boston Globe — Since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis by a white police officer, and the resounding anti-racist uprisings around the world, the concept of reparations has picked up momentum in national conversations and has sparked new public curiosity and interest. Among Black people and their ancestors,…
SEIU, the Teamsters, AFT, CWA, UFCW, UNITE HERE, ATU and the UFW joined dozens of other labor and community organizations in a national Strike for Black Lives. Meanwhile, unions are pushing the fight for racial justice beyond resolutions. By Martin Belam; Stephanie Luce — From Resolutions to Transformation: How Unions Are Organizing for Racial Justice Tens of thousands of Americans strike in protest over racial inequality 1 Tens of thousands…
By Brandy Monk-Payton, Public Books — I. CHANNELING FREEDOM DREAMS A Black boy presses his forehead and cheek against the television. He shuts his eyes, clasps his hands together, and…
By Matt Bruenig, Jacobin — In light of the recent resurgence of Black Lives Matter protests, there has been renewed discussion of the racial wealth gap and how to close it (Nikole Hannah-Jones, Annie Lowrey). I have written on this topic many times in the past (I, II, III, IV). One thing I have tried to emphasize over the years, which I will do again here in a different way, is that due to…
By Daina Ramey Berry — People think they know everything about slavery in the United States, but they don’t. They think the majority of African slaves came to the American colonies, but they didn’t. They talk about 400 years of slavery, but it wasn’t. They claim all Southerners owned slaves, but they didn’t. Some argue it was all a long time ago, but it wasn’t. Slavery has been in the…
By Julianne Malveaux — Socially isolated and alone in my home, I lifted my fist into the air when I learned that the Mississippi legislature voted to remove the Confederate…
By Dr. Maulana Karenga — The current and seemingly consensual wisdom is that this pandemic has exposed the fault lines of injustice and inequality in society. But it has also…
By Liz Theoharis — My mom contracted polio when she was 14. She survived and learned to walk again, but my life was deeply affected by that virus. Today, as our…