Vantage Point Articles

Black America and people of goodwill of all races watched in utter dismay as the jury in the George Zimmerman Trial issued its verdict of not guilty in the murder of Trayvon Martin. Once the case finally surfaced (after inexplicably being buried with no arrest of the killer for weeks), it was absolutely clear that Trayvon Martin was “racially” profiled as a “dangerous looking” Black man by a wannabe  cop turned self-appointed vigilante named George Zimmerman.

The June 17^th Day of Direct Action (DODA) spearheaded by the Institute of the Black World 21^st Century (IBW) is history.  “Drum Majors for Justice,” primarily from the Northeast where IBW has worked to form drug and criminal justice policy reform collaboratives, marched to the gates of the White House to demand that President Obama end the racially-biased and destructive “War on Drugs” that has so severely damaged Black families and communities and led to mass incarceration of Black people.

As the “Gang of Eight” Senators in the U.S. Congress prepare to outline their proposals for comprehensive immigration reform, there is alarm in some quarters of the Black Diaspora that the legislation they put forth may harm the interests of people of African descent.

A few weeks ago I made my annual Pilgrimage to Selma, Alabama for the Bridge Crossing Jubilee which commemorates “Bloody Sunday,” the occasion when civil rights activists and concerned citizens first attempted to march from Selma to Montgomery in March of 1965 to demand the restoration of the right to vote.

First, to the Honorable Pedro Pires, former distinguished President of Cape Verde and President of the Amilcar Cabral Foundation, Officials of Government, Officials of the Foundation and assembled Speakers and Panelists, I consider it a great honor and privilege to be afforded an opportunity to share a few ideas on the relevance of the thought and theory of Amilcar Cabral in the contemporary context on the occasion of the Commemoration of his 90th Birthday.

On New Year’s Eve, African Americans from around the country gathered in Black churches for “Watch Night” Services, the tradition of reenacting the watch of enslaved Africans December 31, 1862, as our ancestors eagerly awaited the day that the Emancipation Proclamation would officially become law…

Africans in America should be aware that 2013 is a year of great significance. It will mark the 150^th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, signed by Abraham Lincoln, the 50^th Anniversary of the Assassination of Medgar Evers and the 50^th Anniversary of the historic March on Washington.