By Mark Guarino — CHICAGO — The nation’s first government reparations program for African Americans was approved Monday night in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, action that advocates say represents a critical step in rectifying wrongs caused by slavery, segregation and housing discrimination and in pushing forward on similar compensation efforts across the country.“Right now the whole world is looking at Evanston, Illinois. This is a moment like none other…
By Tom Engelhardt — How the USS Enterprise Was Transformed into the USS Roach Like Gregor Samsa, the never-to-be-forgotten character in Franz Kafka’s story “The Metamorphosis,” we awoke on January 7th to discover that we, too, were “a giant insect” with “a domelike brown belly divided into stiff arched segments” and numerous “pitifully thin” legs that “waved helplessly” before our eyes. If you prefer, though, you can just say it:…
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 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…
By Dr. Sharon McDaniel— Dear President Biden and Vice President Harris, During the campaign, I saw your signs touting the phrase, “Our best days still lie ahead.” But what do “best days” look like for our children and families? As CEO of a nationally recognized kinship care service agency, a Black mother and a former child of the foster care system, I can say issues of racism remain problematic in child welfare services. I’ve dealt with the…
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 of power — Lindsay Graham and other Trump enablers are rubbing salt in the wound by calling on people to simply “move on.” To truly move forward, however, we will need a form of accountability that is oriented toward social…
By Rev. Irene Monroe— Amanda Gorman mesmerized a nation with her inauguration poem “The Hill We Climb.” The beauty of her presence and the power of her words captured a country battle-scarred and looking for a lifeline. “After four years in a dark wilderness, she was like a ray of sunshine and a burst of hope which had been in too short a supply for far too long,” Cambridge Councilwoman…
By Dr. Julianne Malveaux — It took only one day, one inauguration, for the shift between pessimism and optimism. Just one day to anticipate new opportunities, new possibilities. The skies opened up on the day that President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris of the inauguration, and the sun of truth and light shone in. I had a mixtape running through my brain. The Fifth Dimension, Let The Sun Shine…
By Harold G. Bailey— NEW YORK, United States — Fears that United States Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is not making much of her Jamaican heritage and might be unaware of Caribbean community hopes are unfounded, a leading Diaspora spokesman has said. Member of the Global Jamaica Diaspora Advisory Council, Wayne Golding said the history-making Harris and her surrogates had met with Jamaican and Caribbean representatives, as well as other minority…
Cherishing and Challenging Kamala Harris: Issues of Commutment and Accountability By Dr. Maulana Karenga— There is no doubt that the nomination and election of Kamala Harris as Vice President Elect of the United States of America is of great importance and meaning to us as a people. Indeed, it was a hard-won victory, not only at the voting box, but over the numerous evil, oppressive and varied attempts to deny…
By Dr. Julianne Malveaux — I neither expected sparks nor extreme surprises as President-elect Joe Biden begin to announce his Cabinet. I did expect diversity, and we’ve seen it. But I didn’t expect the number of Obama-era retreads to be included in this Cabinet. As I write this in mid-December, I can hardly contain my disappointment that Tom Vilsack, the man who fired Shirley Sherrod for specious reasons, is being…
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