Posts by amstrat

At Washington’s National Portrait Gallery, the centennial of the 19th Amendment, which gave men and women equal voting rights, is being marked by “Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence,” a comprehensive exhibition that highlights the key figures and moments in the decades-long fight for women’s voting rights. Originally set to open on March 1 (it was…

Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, a pioneer and reigning giant of modern literature whose imaginative power in “Beloved,” “Song of Solomon” and other works transformed American letters by dramatizing the pursuit of freedom within the boundaries of race, has died at 88. Publisher Alfred A. Knopf announced that Morrison died Monday night at Montefiore Medical Center…

Just beautiful. Toni Morrison is an absolutely beautiful wordsmith and a beautiful force on multiple fronts, and if this documentary is an unabashed love letter to her life and work, I say: Why. Not. Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’ “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am” is a conventional, traditionally structured bio-doc with only occasional forays into creative visuals…

The Democratic presidential campaigns this cycle are led by a historically diverse group at the senior level.  Among the Democratic presidential contenders that have managers in place, the Booker, Harris, Sanders, Warren, Williamson, Gabbard and Castro campaigns have hired people of color. The O’Rourke, Bullock, Inslee, Hickenlooper and Steyer campaigns have hired female managers. In fact,…

Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas), the only African American Republican in the House of Representatives, announced Thursday night that he will not seek reelection in 2020.  “I have made the decision to not seek reelection for the 23rd Congressional District of Texas in order to pursue opportunities outside the halls of Congress to solve problems at the nexus…

As Democrats fight to hang on to their House majority, the party’s campaign arm is facing some pretty big conflicts of its own. Following uproar about the lack of diversity among senior staffers, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee conducted a massive shake-up of its top officials this week, according to Politico. DCCC Chair Cheri Bustos framed…

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) says Joe Biden’s high polling numbers from African-American Democrats are the result of name recognition and says she is prepared to “earn the vote.” Watch on CNN.com

This week, the Chicago Defender, one of the most renowned black newspapers in America, will cease to produce a print edition. Though it will continue to publish online, the demise of the Defender as a physical object, a hundred and fourteen years after its founding, marks another sad milestone in the decline of print newspapers.…

In the spring of 2011, the brothers Melvin Davis and Licurtis Reels were the talk of Carteret County, on the central coast of North Carolina. Some people said that the brothers were righteous; others thought that they had lost their minds. That March, Melvin and Licurtis stood in court and refused to leave the land…

Last week, Hampton University stakeholders announced a new collaboration with USA Triathlon to add women’s triathlon to their roster of varsity sports. With this announcement, Hampton “becomes the first Historically Black College and University (HBCU) to participate in the sport on a varsity level, reports Hampton University News. Read more at Because of Them We Can.