Breaking News! History in the Making

Officials in Texas Grapple With Police Decision to Use Taser on City Council Member

Officials in a small Texas town are questioning a decision by the police to use a Taser on a member of the City Council before charging him with resisting arrest.

Black College Student Brutally Beaten By Police Officers In D.C.

The Metropolitan Police Department later confirmed that Jason Goolsby had committed no crime. Philip Lewis, Huffington Post A video that went viral on Twitter appears to show Jason Goolsby, an 18-year-old freshman at the University of the District of Columbia, being brutally beaten and detained by police officers Monday night. D.C. police claimed the incident was in response…

Million Man March Washington 2015

Thousands Gather for Million Man March 20th Anniversary in D.C.

Black men and women from around the nation are gathering on the National Mall to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Million Man March and call for policing reforms and changes in black communities.

Tamir Rice, 12, was killed.

2 Outside Reviews Say Cleveland Officer Acted Reasonably in Shooting Tamir Rice, 12

By Mitch Smith, New York Times     Two outside investigators looking into the death of Tamir Rice have concluded that a Cleveland police officer, Tim Loehmann, acted reasonably in deciding last year to shoot when he confronted the 12-year-old boy carrying what turned out to be a replica gun. Those opinions, reached separately by…

UCLA students protest after partygoers wear blackface at Kanye West-themed frat party

By Veronica Rocha, LA Times   Chanting “Black Bruins Matter,” UCLA students crammed into Chancellor Gene Block’s office Thursday, demanding a response for a party described as racist after some students wore blackface to a Kanye West-themed fraternity party. Holding signs reading, “Our culture is not a costume,” hundreds of students marched on campus days…

Texas Mother Teaches Textbook Company a Lesson on Accuracy

By Manny Fernandez and Christine Hauser, New York Times   HOUSTON — Coby Burren, 15, a freshman at a suburban high school south of here, was reading the textbook in his geography class last week when a map of the United States caught his attention. On Page 126, a caption in a section about immigration…

Man Alleges NYPD Cop Called Him N-word Several Times During Stop-and-Frisk Arrest in Lawsuit

By Stephen Rex Brown, New York Daily News An NYPD sergeant repeatedly called a man walking in Brooklyn the c before arresting him on bogus charges that were later dismissed, a new suit claims. Diquan Fedee says he was walking on Marcus Garvey Boulevard near Willoughby St. in Bedford-Stuyvesant on July 10 of last year…

A cell at the federal prison in El Reno, Oklahoma.

U.S. to Release 6,000 Inmates From Prisons

The Justice Department is preparing to release roughly 6,000 inmates from federal prisons starting at the end of this month as part of an effort to ease overcrowding and roll back the harsh penalties given to nonviolent drug offenders .

Activists protest silently to protest racial profiling.  (Photo by Annette Bernhardt)

New California Law Aims To Curb Racial Profiling

Activists hailed the law, but police union leaders complained it would create more paperwork. By Matt Ferner, The Huffington Post California police will have to publicly report race and other demographic characteristics of any person stopped by officers under a new law intended to respond to high-profile deaths of unarmed black men and charges of racial…

Racist Jokes About This Photo Got People Fired and Sparked the Hashtag #HisNameIsCayden

By Dian Ozemebhoya Eromosele, The Root There is a man who goes by the name of Geris Hilton on Facebook (reportedly not his real name) who used to have a job. “Hilton” used to work at Polaris Marketing Group, according to AtlantaBlackStar, but his employment status changed after he posted a photo on Facebook Sept.…

Black Lives Matter Co-Founder Reflects On The Origins Of The Movement

How the movement began on social media, how it grew, and how it answers critiques that it provokes violence.

Is This the End of the 2nd Reconstruction?

By Henry Louis Gates Jr., The Root This has been a bruising time for the African-American community—as bruising as any in recent memory. The tragic deaths of Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, Walter Scott, Freddie Gray, Sandra Bland, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney and the other eight victims in Charleston, S.C.—as well as others too…

Christopher Owens, serving as a school resource officer in 2008.

Former officer files suit claiming discrimination in arrest by fellow officers

“They were assaulted, arrested, handcuffed and placed in the rear of police cars due to the color of their skin and because they are African Americans. One officer remarked that all he saw was a big black guy,” the suit says.

A White Artist Wrote ‘Black Lives Matter’ 2,000 Times. But His Mural Almost Said ‘All Lives Matter.’

What happened when a black gallery owner in Detroit commissioned a large mural from a white artist as an homage to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Parade participants march with a tribal-themed group wearing colorful face paint. (Photo by Albin Lohr-Jones/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Why It Isn’t Possible For Black Americans To Appropriate African Culture

Julia Craven explains why Black Americans have a right to explore the roots and homes from which they were forcibly removed years ago.

Jeb Bush, ‘Free Stuff’ and Black Folks

NY Times columnist Charles Blow’s take on Jeb’s statement: “This line of reasoning also infantilizes black thought and consciousness and presents an I-know-best-what-ails-you paternalism about black progress.” Read his full analysis here.

Art Student Hangs ‘Black Only’ And ‘White Only’ Signs Around University Campus

By Priscilla Frank, Arts Writer, The Huffington Post   On Wednesday, Sept. 16, students of the University of Buffalo were shocked to find “White Only” and “Black Only” signs hung near campus bathrooms. Students were sickened and traumatized by the apparent act of racism; by 1 p.m., the police had received 11 phone calls regarding…

Richard Sherman Says He Supports Black Lives Matter, But ‘Black-On-Black’ Crime Needs To Stop First

By Matt Ferner, National Reporter, The Huffington Post Seattle Seahawks’ star cornerback Richard Sherman says he supports the Black Lives Matter movement, but believes that the issue of “black-on-black” crime needs to be resolved first. Sherman made the impromptu remarks before reporters Wednesday in response to a controversial website comment about the Black Lives Matter movement that…

Ta-Nehisi Coates To Write New Black Panther Comic Book Series For Marvel

“Through comic books’ first and greatest Black super hero, Ta-Nehisi will shed unique insight into the world in which we live.”

Viola Davis Becomes 1st Black Woman to Win Emmy for Best Actress in a Drama

During Davis’ emotional acceptance speech, her words particularly resonated with every black actress in Hollywood.

NAACP flyer showing that John Hartfield's lynching was planned ahead.

Horror Drove Her From South. 100 Years Later, She Returned.

In 1915, Mamie Kirkland and her family fled Ellisville, Miss., in fear that her father would be lynched. She swore she would never return. But at age 107, she made the journey. Video, story, and pictures.