Archive for August 2020

It seems hard to believe that there was a time when American women were not able to participate in democracy. The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified by 36 states and made law in 1920, finally gave women in the United States the right to vote, though women of color would still face barriers…

Black women are the Democrats’ most reliable voting bloc. Here’s how Joe Biden can win them over in the 2020 election, according to LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter; Tiffany D. Cross, political analyst and author; Brittany Packnett Cunningham, activist, educator and writer; Alicia Garza, principal of Black Futures Lab and host of the…

Sean “Diddy” Combs, Will Packer and Doug E. Fresh come to the defense of Sen. Kamala Harris and push openly for a Black woman running mate. Read more at Essence.com.

For over 13 years, the high school teacher and mother of two has been active in Democratic politics. She always preferred to serve in supportive, behind the scenes roles. In addition to volunteering for community organizations in her rural community of Berkeley County, S.C., her political resume also includes time spent as deputy secretary and…

More than half a century before Sen. Kamala D. Harris was named Joe Biden’s running mate Tuesday, another Black woman from California took the stage at a Chicago convention to make a decisive declaration. Read more at MSN.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot has repeatedly ordered Chicago’s river bridges raised to keep people out of downtown. She said the move was to protect businesses and residents. But it is also a symbol of the city’s divisions. Read more at Pro Publica.

We now know that the COVID-19 pandemic is disproportionately harming the elderly and people of color. But, with the November 2020 election just around the corner, without action these voices could be lost. Voting by mail ensures equitable access for people, regardless of age, race, or socio-economics. Unfortunately, vote-by-mail applications can only be filled-out online…

Historian Carol Anderson traces the evolution of voter suppression tactics, from poll taxes and literacy tests instituted after the passage of the 15th Amendment to the rise of strict voter ID laws and poll closures after the election of America’s first Black president. Anderson argues voter suppression is rooted in white supremacy and White rage.…

More 230,000 Chicago voters have applied to vote by mail in November, shattering the record set during this year’s primary election with more than 80 days left until Election Day, officials said Thursday. Chicago Board of Election Commissioners staff members are working seven days a week to scan in the approximately 30,000 applications that have arrived…

It’s pronounced “comma-la.” Soft vowels. Equal emphasis on all three syllables. “Like the punctuation mark,” vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris has said of the pronunciation. The senator’s first name has Hindi origins (her mother was born in India; her father was born in Jamaica). And despite her almost two decades in public office, it continues…