Even highly informed commentators lack a shared understanding of what the word means. By Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic — Earlier this year, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, and other Democratic presidential aspirants began speaking positively about reparations, in contrast to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, who opposed the policy. Just 26 percent of voters favor reparations in polls. In the telling of The New York Times, this shift is due to the fact…
“Donald Trump is just one of the most egregious examples of a growing global threat. The far-right is on the rise around the world, threatening our hard-won rights and freedoms.” By Jake Johnson, Common Dreams — With the city of London effectively on “lockdown” in anticipation of the protests—complete with the now-famous Trump Baby Blimp—that are expected to flood the city’s streets on Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump touched down in…
By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA — During what will likely be seen as one of the most memorable graduation presents for parents and their children — a quiet African American billionaire delivered a welcomed surprise. At their graduation on May 19, investor and chemical engineer Robert Smith announced he would pay off the student loan debt of Morehouse’s 2019 graduating class. Morehouse’s graduating class is 400 strong. Smith’s graduation gift…
By News 12, Newark, NJ — Oprah Winfrey surprised students and teachers Friday at Newark’s West Side High School with a donation for $500,000. The visit and the donation was a surprise to many of the students – who still remained shocked Monday morning. “When Oprah came Friday, it was so surreal…everyone lost their minds,” said one student. The money will help fund the school’s Lights On program…
May 11, 2019, Brooklyn, NY — A special gathering to pay tribute to Don Rojas, one of the great progressives and freedom fighters of our time and to provide financial support for him and family during his courageous fight against bone cancer. Program will include an ensemble led by Ahmed Abdullah and poetry/rap by Talib Kweli and words from Prof. Sir Hilary Beckles, Rev. Herbert Daughtry, Danny Glover, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Mireille Fanon-Mendes France, Viola Plummer, Dr. Ben Chavis, Assemb. Charles Barron, Dan Coughlin, Dr. Brenda Greene, Dr. Todd Burroughs, Gary Byrd, Dr. Ron Daniels and others.
By Michael Harriot, The Root — Money is a social construct. We accept the idea that a dollar issued by the U.S. government is worth more than Monopoly money….
By Henry Lewis Gates, Jr., Times — During an interview with Chris Rock for my PBS series African American Lives 2, we traced the ancestry of several well-known African Americans. When…
By Talib Kweli Greene, Medium — In January of 2018, Steve Bannon, the architect of Breitbart.com’s alt right rise to the Trump White House, a man who told a gathering…
Rather than making concessions to bigots, politicians must confront them. It’s the only way to end the violence. By Gary Younge, The Guardian — On 19 April 1995, Timothy McVeigh blew up the Alfred P Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people and injuring another 684, in the deadliest act of domestic US terrorism to date. A white supremacist, among other things, he was radicalised by what he…
3/25/19 Vantage Point Radio with Dr. Ron Daniels — Topics Combating Gentrification with Beloved Streets • The Mueller Report. Guests Melvin White (President/CEO, Beloved Streets of America, St. Louis, MO) Mark Thompson (Host of Make It Plain, SIRIUS XM, New York, NY)
Harvard University sued over allegedly profiting from what are believed to be the earliest photos of American slaves. By Joey Garrison, USA Today — Video — A lawyer says Harvard…
By Eric Levitz, New York Magazine — In recent days, as Democrats debated the definition of “reparations,”Joe Biden rationalized his opposition to integration, and socialist congresswomen started demanding the rebirth of a nation, inquiring minds wanted to know: What would Ta-Nehisi say? Throughout the Obama years, Ta-Nehisi Coates provided politics-watchers with a regular source of historically grounded, bracingly well-written punditry and reporting. But since 2016, the writer’s ambitions have led him off of…