By Énoa Gibson The time of lynching for Black folks in America was the same for hundreds of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans—La Hora de Sangre, the “Time of Blood,” they have come to call it in Spanish. It was a time of racial persecution, injustice and countless mob-infused deaths; and 1918 and 1919 were particularly noteworthy…
By Nyah Marshall The third largest community of would-be voters in Granville County, N.C. is neither a city nor a town. It is four federal correctional centers and a state penitentiary that house more than 4,000 inmates, about half the population of the two largest cities—Oxford, the county seat, and Butner, where the prisons are…
By Aaliyah Seabrooks In the midst of her muddled path to and through the Olympic summer games in Tokyo, it would have been difficult to imagine that four months later, Simone Biles would be celebrated as Time magazine’s 2021 Athlete of the Year. Midway into the competition where she had been expected to easily win several gold…
By Courtney Williams Five years ago, it was difficult to demonize Toni Morrison or her books. She was the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize, as well as the Nobel Prize in Literature. The Presidential Medal of Freedom had been bestowed upon her. She was a woman, and she was Black. Democrat Terry McAuliffe was governor…
By Chanel Cain This homecoming was extra special. It would not be the first time comedian Dave Chappelle would come back to Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, which had put him on the path to success and stardom. He’d returned before, often bringing along financial support and celebrities to inspire others as…
By Janáe Bradford Naomi Osaka seemed to sense that the optics were unsettling, and out of character. She was a top-ranked professional tennis player still a month before her 24th birthday, and she already had earned more money in one year than any woman athlete in history. Yet, there she’d been for all to see: banging…
By Brittney DeZwaan A Denver suburb’s decision to pay $15 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the family of Elijah McClain acknowledged the role police officers had in his death after they handcuffed and placed him in a chokehold. Three officers were indicted on murder charges in September. But two Aurora paramedics also were…
By Ryan Thomas Just last month, Greenbelt, a small Maryland suburb outside the nation’s capital, became the latest to join the movement for local reparations, as voters approved legislation to study ways to repair the damage past policies did to Black and Native American residents. Colin Byrd, mayor of the city of about 23,000, said…
By Fatou Drammeh Bill Maher, the comedian, satirist and host of the “Real Time” talk show on HBO, spoke fully and forcefully of the disdain those on the political right may have felt after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez showed up at September’s Met Gala fundraiser wearing a custom-designed white gown with “Tax the Rich” in bold…
By Jade Boone Evanston Alderman Ciceley Fleming, a sixth-generation Black resident of the Illinois city and a strong advocate for defunding the local police department, was a dissenting voice and the only vote against what many hailed as a landmark local reparations bill. The legislation, which would provide grants of up to $25,000 to assist…