He escaped from slavery, and helped rescue America. By Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker — Frederick Douglass, who has been called the greatest American of the nineteenth century, grew up as a slave named Frederick Bailey, and the story of how he named himself in freedom shows how complicated his life, and his world, always was. Frederick’s father, as David W. Blight shows in his extraordinary new biography, “Frederick Douglass: Prophet…
By Bill Bigelow, Zinn Ed Project — Once again this year many schools will pause to commemorate Christopher Columbus. Given everything we know about who Columbus was and what he launched in the Americas, this needs to stop. Columbus initiated the trans-Atlantic slave trade, in early February 1494, first sending several dozen enslaved Taínos to Spain. Columbus described those he enslaved as “well made and of very good intelligence,” and recommended…
We must make reparations to the African-American community. By Ruth A. Zlotnick, Seattle Times — The Jewish community has just emerged from our holiest days, when we celebrate the New Year and make teshuvah, or atonement, for the wrongdoings of our past. I believe as a nation, the United States also must make teshuvah, atoning for our legacy of slavery by making reparations to African Americans. I came to this…
By Brendan Skwire, Raw Story — Avisibly outraged Kamala Harris (D-CA) went into prosecutor mode as she eviscerated her Republican colleagues for ramming through Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation, saying…
Russia’s troll army was not interested in stirring up generic ‘chaos’ in America. The Kremlin is strategically tapping into the inexhaustible fuel source of white grievance. By Spencer Ackerman, Daily Beast — Not many Russians are likely to understand a shotgun formation or the strategy behind not punting on fourth down. But between September and December 2017, social-media accounts now associated with the Kremlin-backed troll farm known as the Internet…
The first lady is jetting off to promote her ‘Be Best’ child welfare initiative, but there is no word on whether it promotes locking them in cages or allowing them to get shot. By Arwa Mahdawi, The Guardian — Melania Trump has packed her bags and is heading far, far away from her husband. On Monday, the first lady is jetting off on a solo tour of parts of Africa; her…
Sundiata Cha-Jua, The News Gazette — In recent years, the U.S. government has demonstrated a commitment to passing largely meaningless symbolic legislation designed to sanitize the country’s history of racial…
In a recent address to the Pan-African Unity Dialogue in New York, the African Union’s Ambassador to the USA, H.E. Dr. Arikana Chihombori-Quao, called for closer collaboration between the countries on the African continent and the growing African Diaspora communities in the Americas. She argued that a fully engaged diaspora holds the key to the future development and empowerment of Africa which, in turn, will result…
The Transatlantic slave trade is regarded by Pan-Africanists as the Maafa, a Swahili term meaning “great disaster.” By teleSur — Thursday marks the 20th anniversary of the International Day of…
The League of the South hates black people, Jews, and lots of other people. But there’s one country, and one man, it really, really likes. By Mark Potok, Daily Beast…
Recalling a time when the empowerment of the most oppressed in our society paved the way for other social struggles also gives weight to today’s slogan that all lives will…
Interview by Alicia Menendez, Bustle — Patrisse Cullors is an organizer, artist, and freedom fighter. In 2013, following the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the death of Trayvon Martin, Patrisse co-founded…