Breaking News! History in the Making
The Lost Art of the Black Boycott
On June 15th 1953 the black community of Baton Rouge, Louisiana staged the first municipal boycott of the 20th century. The author highlights this factual event to ask why the African American community is not using this strategy in 2018.
Back When Sears Made Black Customers a Priority
In this week’s New York Times Race/Related section, Lauretta Charlton gets Cornell University professor Louis Hyman’s take on the effect that the original Sears marketing strategy had on the lives of African-Americans across the country. Sears, Roebuck and Company distributed its catalog in hopes of granting access to new economic territory to Americans of all colors. With this access to a much more competitive market with far lower prices on items of all kinds, African-Americans far and wide took the chance to negate the power of Jim Crow laws that had hitherto denied them equitable access to such goods.
Brian Kemp says he’s Georgia’s next governor and Democrats say prove it
With legal wrangles opening and Abrams showing no signs of conceding, the race to becoming Georgia’s next governor is a bitter contest with historical significance and national political repercussions. Abrams would become the first black woman elected governor of any American state. Kemp seeks to maintain Republican dominance in a growing, diversifying Deep South state positioned to become a presidential battleground.
How ‘Gardening While Black’ Almost Landed This Detroit Man in Jail
A black man started an urban farm in his old neighborhood. Three white women called the police repeatedly, accusing him of threatening them. The case went to court.
Intel Withdraws Funding For White Supremacist GOP Congressman Steve King
Technology corporation Intel has dropped its support for Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), an eight-term congressman who has been expressing racist beliefs in increasingly undisguised terms. King has long promoted white nationalist views without any consequence from the GOP.
‘I thought it was very nice’: VA official showcased portrait of KKK’s first grand wizard
David J. Thomas Sr. removed painting from his office after learning that its subject, Nathan Bedford Forrest, was a Confederate general and slave trader who was later the Ku Klux Klan’s first grand wizard. Racial tensions have flared between Thomas and several of his employees, at least three of whom have pending claims of racial discrimination against him.
Murphy’s Law City a Leader in White Nationalism
Neo-Nazi group founded by George Lincoln Rockwell, still has its headquarters in New Berlin, Wisconsin. Martin Kerr, the present leader, stated that “We’re not at the end of the Rockwell wave. We’re at the beginning.”
Washington State Abolishes the Death Penalty, Finding the Punishment ‘Racially Biased’
Washington has joined nineteen other states in banishing the death penalty due to studies showing racially biased attitudes determining defendants fates. A recent study, for example, found black defendants were four and half times more likely to receive the death penalty than white defendants who had been convicted of similar crimes.
Michelle Obama Has An Update For ‘When They Go Low, We Go High’
This article reviews the famous quote “When they go low, we go high” made by Michelle Obama in 2016. Obama expands on her quote with Blavity and there is a link to the full interview at the end of the article.
In Frenzied Georgia Canvassing, No Door Goes Un-Knocked
Voters say they have been deluged as never before as Georgia’s bitterly fought, closely contested governor’s race comes to a close. In the last days before Tuesday’s election, both parties dispatched an army of volunteers, both ordinary working people and celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and President Obama.
49ers Cheerleader Takes A Knee During National Anthem
By Carla Herreria A cheerleader for the San Francisco 49ers kneeled during the national anthem on Thursday during a game against the Oakland Raiders at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, south of San Francisco. In 2016, Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthems to draw attention to police brutality against minorities. Other players in the…
Pipe Bombs, synagogue shooting, and the demise of civility in America by angry white men
People of color are cautioned to be civil in discourse regardless of the situation. Any push back against the abuse of civil or human rights by angry-white-men, is labeled “fake news.”
Danye Jones’ Death Is Being Investigated as a Suicide. But His Mother, a Ferguson Activist, Says It’s a Lynching
By: Anne Branigin, Theroot A rally and news conference have been organized today by the family of Danye Jones, a 24-year-old man who was found dead, hanging from a tree on his family’s property, earlier this month. St. Louis County says they are investigating Jones’ death as a suicide. But his mother, Melissa McKinnies, a…
Voter Registration Is Inherently Racist
How far will some states can go in disenfranchising certain voters.?
Voter Suppression Is Real and It Really Affects Black People
Although it has evolved into new forms, voter suppression still exists to this day. With midterm elections coming up, the new forms of voter suppression are more relevant than ever. Today, voter suppression can come in the form of voter ID laws, voter roll purges, voting place closures and robocalls that intentionally misinform voters, to name a few. Before 2006—pre-Obama!—none of the 50 states required voters to provide ID to vote. Today, 34 states request or require that you have some sort of ID.
Video Shows Chicago Cop Shooting Unarmed Black Teen With A Disability
A civilian oversight agency has released a series of videos from 2017 that show an off-duty Chicago police officer shooting and wounding an unarmed black teen, Ricardo Hayes, who has an intellectual disability.
White Woman Calls Police On Black Man Watching His Son’s Soccer Game
A white woman who called the police on a black man cheering on his son at a soccer game in Florida has earned the nickname “Golfcart Gail.” It is the latest incident in which a white woman has called the police on a black person despite there having been no apparent crime. Photographs of the ordeal were uploaded to Facebook by another parent at the match.
Democratic Takeover Could Bring First Black Speaker
Upheaval in the Democratic caucus could pave the way for a historic House leader — and some potential names are already being discussed. In 230 years, there’s never been a black speaker, or any black lawmaker seriously in the running for the post. That could change after voters go to the polls in November.
Voter Suppression
Georgia officials have begun to enforce the “Use it or lose it” law, removing over 107,000 from voter rolls. Voting rights activists see the law as a new voter suppression tactic, which has been an issue in the South since the beginning of African American Suffrage. Stacy Abrams, a black GA legislator, is running for governor in the state.
Booker, Harris, Scott’s “Justice for Victims of Lynching” bill moves forward in the senate
America needs an anti-lynching bill at the federal level. Will such a bill finally be passed?
Race Trumps Common Sense: The segregated mindset of the White Racial Frame
In America, people often make decisions based on belonging to a particular group, even though those decisions can have adverse affects on their lives and well being. This need to belong is also used to divide groups and pit one against the other.