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…
The revolt of the Anglo colonists was more than an independence movement—it was, in word and deed, a counter-revolution against the advancing trend of human liberation that was sweeping the…
As Trump highlights declining jobless figures, Kansas City offers a window into how the recovery has passed many African Americans by. By Caleb Gayle, The Guardian — Kansas City is booming. Employers and investors have poured into the midwestern city since the recession. At least $1bn has gone into its sparkling new downtown, revitalized arts district and shiny new condos. So why is Sly James, its highly regarded outgoing mayor, so…
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…
By Anya Jabour, PBS — Striking down children and adults, women and men, and blacks and whites, smallpox posed a grave threat in Civil War Virginia. “I wonder why nobody has noticed this outbreak until now?” ponders nurse Mary Phinney. Free black laborer Samuel Diggs provides the answer to this puzzle: “Nobody was looking.”
By Vanessa Romo, NPR — Congress’s three African-American senators introduced a bipartisan bill Friday to make lynching a federal crime. Sens. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Tim Scott, R-S.C., drafted the bipartisan legislation, which defines the crime as “the willful act of murder by a collection of people assembled with the intention of committing an act of violence upon any person.” It also classifies lynching as a hate…
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s primary win over Rep. Joe Crowley was no surprise to those who actually listened. By Joseph Neese, Salon — It quickly became the viral moment of Election Day….
Report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights on his mission to the United States of America Note by the Secretariat The Secretariat has the honour to…
Zora Neale Hurston’s drive to tell the story of the slave trade’s last survivor By Emily Bernard, The New Republic — “You have seen how a man was made a slave,” Frederick Douglass wrote in his 1845 autobiography, the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. “You shall see how a slave was made a man.” These words herald the moment when Douglass masters his master, the sadistic overseer and “negro-breaker,”…
In this thought-provoking documentary, scholars, activists and politicians analyze the criminalization of African Americans and the U.S. prison boom. The title of Ava DuVernay’s extraordinary and galvanizing documentary 13TH refers…
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…
A school in Havana is offering students who pledge to practice in underserved areas a chance to pursue medicine without incurring catastrophic debt. NOTE: If it wasn’t for the close relationship that the Late Rev Lucius Walker had with Fidel Castro, it would have been very difficult for this program to come into existence. — SEA By Anakwa Dwamena, The New York Times — In the countryside of western Havana,…