“We don’t need someone in the Senate or House to try to build their political career off of this moment.” By Laura Barrón-López — In 2015, thousands of Black activists gathered in Ohio for the first national Black Lives Matter convention to consider where the movement would direct its energy. Attendees in the crowd held up red construction paper to signal “no” to a handful of narrow options, like focusing…
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 DW — A letter signed by all 54 African nations requested the UN Human Rights Council to urgently debate racism and police violence as protests over George Floyd’s death grow around the world. African countries on Friday called on the United Nation Human Rights Council to urgently debate racism and police impunity, amid growing protests over George Floyd’s death in the United States and other parts of the world. Burkina Faso’s…
Rather than tear down statues, some argue that the past should not be obliterated, but remembered and explained. By Norimitsu Onishi, The New York Times — BORDEAUX, France — At a bend in the river, a succession of stately stone buildings, each more imposing than the last, stretches along the left bank. Their elegant 18th-century facades had helped Bordeaux, already famous for its wineries, become a UNESCO World Heritage site.…
More than a third of black Americans say there was an occasion when they feared being hurt by a police officer. By Cleve R. Wootson Jr., Scott Clement and Emily Guskin, The Washington Post — Jackie Beckley believes the video of the final moments of George Floyd’s life may finally help white friends and colleagues understand what she has labored to tell them about her experience as a black woman:…
By Lilian Bobea — The massive protests that erupted across the United States – and beyond – after the police killing of George Floyd are billed as anti-racist mobilizations, and that they are. Demonstrators are denouncing police violence in minority communities and demanding that officers who abuse their power be held accountable. But I see something more in this wave of American protests, too. As a sociologist specializing in Latin America’s human rights movements and…
By Robert Hornak, The Schpiel — In recent days many people whose politics lean center-right have been trying to give “the facts” on racism in America. This completely misses the…
What’s ahead for the movement, the election, and the protesters? By David Remnick, The New Yorker — Tennille Newbold is a twenty-six-year-old medical assistant at a community health center in…
By Dr. Julianne Malveaux — According to the Washington Post, the 45th President told 19,126 lies between his inauguration in 2017 and June 1, 2020. By now, the number has…
Whether a better life follows from these weeks of street protests depends on what happens next. White and Black Memphis — and for that matter, all of America — faces the question: What do we do now? By Ted Evanoff, Commercial Appeal — On a hot June afternoon in Memphis, Eddie Jones stepped along the sidewalk and into the ranks of some 200 people standing outside the historic Lorraine Motel. Jones,…
Today’s protests build on a long tradition of activism. By Keisha N. Blain. The Atlantic — In cities across the United States, black activists are denouncing state-sanctioned violence and demanding…
By Rev. Dennis Dillon, NY Christian Times — There is a man in Washington who behaves just like a troubled kid with a mild mental disability – a brash, bombastic…