Archive for June 2019

On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties held a hearing about H.R. 40, a proposal from Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) that would authorize a national apology and study reparations for slavery and racial discrimination against black people in America. Among those testifying before the subcommittee was writer…

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell thinks reparations already came in the form of a Black President, but that didn’t stop Congress from having a hearing Wednesday on H.R. 40 which calls for the establishment of a commission to study reparations for Black Americans. The panel, which included notables like Danny Glover, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and economist Julianne Malveaux overwhelmingly made…

In 2019, Juneteenth will be celebrated as emancipation was in the old days: with calls for reparations. As the country marks 154 years since news of the end of slavery belatedly came to Texas, the House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the subject of reparations for black Americans. It is a watershed moment…

It didn’t seem to be that controversial of a statement given the data. Since the Donald Trump presidency; the Georgia governor’s race; the St. Louis mayoral race and others, a certain number of black men have been sneaking back into the Sunken Place voting booth. Whether it’s partisanship, misogyny, or vague notions of “electability,” research shows (pdf) some black men will find…

Sen. Kamala Harris hopes to reach a key Democratic voting bloc with her new column in Essence Magazine, a periodical geared toward African American women and a staple in black households for almost 50 years. For Harris, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president, “Kamala’s Corner” gives her an opportunityto speak directly to a black female…

This month, a record number of women will be on stage when the Democrats meet for their first presidential debates. That two of them — Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris — are polling in the top five of the 23-person field only adds to the excitement of this historic moment. Nancy L. CohenYet the women who matter most…

FLINT, Mich. — Ariana Hawk’s trust in the promises that presidential candidates make to black communities evaporated about the same time the 2016 election ended and the candidates stopped coming to town. Flint’s crisis with lead-tainted water had put Hawk’s hometown in the national spotlight, prompting Hillary Clinton and her rivals, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and…

Black women continue to hold significant voting power within the Democratic party. After the 2018 midterms, some political insiders are predicting there could be a historic wave of black women elected to office. Former Executive Director of the New York State Democratic Party, Basil Smikle, and Democratic Strategist, Aisha Moodie-Mills join NBC’s Chris Jansing to…

Walt Whitman saw in trees the wisest of teachers and Hermann Hesse found in them a joyous antidote to the sorrow of our own ephemerality. “The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing which stands in the way,” William Blake wrote in his most beautiful letter. “As a…

The construction business is no bed of roses — cutthroat competition makes it hard to stay on top. But one construction and design firm has been making its mark on some of our biggest landmarks.  Cheryl McKissack Daniel now sits atop the oldest African-American-owned and female-run construction company in the nation — a business her…