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Politics

The Democrat Stacey Abrams is vying to be the first African American woman governor in U.S. history.

The Democratic Party Apologizes to Black Voters

By News & Current Affairs

The DNC’s bid to energize African American turnout this fall began with these words from Chairman Tom Perez in Atlanta: “I am sorry.” By Russell Berman, The Atlantic — ATLANTA—Swanky fund-raisers don’t often begin with an apology to the well-heeled donors who shelled out thousands of dollars to sip wine, eat steak, and listen to pep-rally speeches. But as he looked out over a predominantly black crowd gathered at the Georgia…

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Cori Bush is running for Congress in Missouri, aiming to defeat a lawmaker who has served in the House for 17 years.

The next Ocasio-Cortez: will these candidates pull Democrats to the left?

By News & Current Affairs

The New York activist’s upset primary victory has fueled hopes – and boosted funding – for progressives in Democratic races across the US By Adam Gabbatt, The Guardian — One day in mid-June, Cori Bush, a nurse and activist mounting a progressive primary challenge against a well-established Democratic congressman in Missouri, took a look at her fundraising totals. She had raised $9 during the previous 24 hours. On the evening of…

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Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama

The Deep History Behind Barack Obama’s Speech for the Centennial of Nelson Mandela’s Birth

By Editors' Choice

By Olivia B. Waxman, TIME — When Barack Obama delivers the 16th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture in Johannesburg on Tuesday, to mark this week’s centennial of the late anti-apartheid champion Nelson Mandela’s birth, the moment will be a deeply personal one for the former president. His speechwriter Ben Rhodes has said that Obama considers it to be the most important speech since leaving office, and Obama has written that his political awakening…

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In his first major speech since leaving office, Obama decries inequality and ‘strongman politics’

By Editors' Choice, Video/Audio

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).

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York. ‘Everyone I spoke to remarked on her grace and stability, and how she calmly absorbed the dramas that surrounded her bid.’ Photograph: AP

America’s new revolutionaries show how the left can win

By Commentaries/Opinions

The little-known history of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s victory in a New York primary hints at the coming transformation By George Monbiot, The Guardian — Even at first sight it is exhilarating. The overthrow of one of the most mainstream and senior Democrats in Congress by a 28-year-old Democratic socialist with a radical programme and one tenth of his funding is, you might think, interesting enough. The moment 28-year-old socialist beats top-ranking Democrat in…

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Donald Trump

Trump Can’t Reverse the Decline of White Christian America

By Commentaries/Opinions

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…

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Ben Jealous

Is Ben Jealous What Progressives Want?

By Commentaries/Opinions

The former NAACP chief wants to turn Maryland into a progressive beacon, fusing Bernie-style economic policy with racial justice. But first he has to win his gubernatorial primary. By Adam Serwer, The Atlantic — Ben jealous, a tall, gregarious man wearing a suit, stepped to the center of the room at Morgan State University. The comedian Dave Chappelle, wearing stylishly torn clothes and clutching a cup of coffee, took a seat…

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Jamaican immigrants aboard the "Empire Windrush" in 1948.

The Caribbean Immigrants Who Transformed Britain

By Commentaries/Opinions

By Kaila Philo, The New Republic — Seventy years ago today—June 22, 1948—a passenger ship carrying 492 Jamaican immigrants arrived in Essex, London. The Empire Windrush was the first of many ships to come, as the British government recruited migrants from the Caribbean Commonwealth to help rebuild the economy after World War II. These arrivals came to be known as the Windrush generation. “It is unclear how many people belong to the Windrush generation,…

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‘There’s another important public space where blackness has been policed: the voting booth.’ Photograph: Shawn Thew/EPA

Voting while black: the racial injustice that harms our democracy

By Commentaries/Opinions

The routine suppression of black voters is far-reaching and has devastating consequences. We cannot be silent about it. By Carol Anderson, The Guardian — The recent spate of whites calling 911 on African Americans for barbecuing while black, waiting in Starbucks while black, sleeping at Yale while black ad nauseum has led to a much-needed discussion about the policing of public spaces. Yet, there’s another important public space where blackness has been policed and we have…

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