And what to do if something goes wrong on Election Day. By Steven Rosenfeld — Editor’s Note: The 2018 midterm elections are quickly approaching. These non-presidential elections historically give voters…
And what to do if something goes wrong on Election Day. By Steven Rosenfeld — Editor’s Note: The 2018 midterm elections are quickly approaching. These non-presidential elections historically give voters…
By Monique Judge, The Root — Are you registered to vote? Have you confirmed that your voter registration is valid and ready to go for Election Day? Even if you think you are positively sure everything is OK with your registration, double-check it again—it’s imperative that you do. According to a report by Salon, voters in Georgia stand a 1 in 10 chance of having been purged from the voting rolls.…
By Victoria Rodriguez, Mashable — All the cool kids are doing it. That’s what you can tell your best friend when you finally convince them to register to vote. Tuesday…
During the 1870s, more than a half a million Black men voted for the first time in their lives. But this wave of progressive change did not last long. By Rebekah Barber and Billy Corriher, Facing South — One hundred and fifty years ago, a Congress dominated by “Radical Republicans” — mostly former abolitionists who represented Northern states — mandated that Southern states rewrite their constitutions, ratify the 14th amendment, and grant…
When We All Vote kicks off in Las Vegas with a nonpartisan aim – registration and participation – in highly partisan times. By Dan Hernandez, The Guardian — A star-studded voter registration drive launched by Michelle Obama kicked off its national week of action this weekend with events across the country, including a rally by the former first lady on Sunday at Chaparral high school in Las Vegas. The drive, When We All…
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…
By Chris Hedges — No leader, no matter how talented and visionary, effectively defies power without a disciplined organizational foundation. The civil rights movement was no more embodied in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. than the socialist movement was embodied in Eugene V. Debs. As the civil rights leader Ella Baker understood, the civil rights movement made King; King did not make the civil rights movement. We must focus on building new,…
The recent Power Rising Summit in Atlanta brought together nearly a thousand Black women from across the country to strategize on how to build political power and harness the momentum behind the surge of Black women running for office. By Rebekah Barber, Facing South — From the onset of the women’s suffrage movement, Black women were among the strongest advocates for universal suffrage. Years before Black feminist scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw coined…
By Earl Ofari Hutchinson — During the 2004 presidential campaign then Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry mildly protested the towering hurdles to ex-felon voting in dozens of states. Kerry raised…
Ambiguous state law means the ability of inmates to vote varies widely between jails, disproportionately affecting poor blacks and Latinos awaiting trial. By La Risa Lynch / The Chicago Reporter…
By Rebekah Barber – The courts have found that voter ID laws intentionally discriminate against voters of color. Now newly published research offers details about the laws’ politically suppressive effects.
The institute of the Black World 21st Century is delighted to finally release this Black Paper – which has been nearly three years in production. Originally targeted for release in…