415 Search results for "first step act"

“Black Men Arrested At Starbucks Said They Were There For 2 Minutes Before 911 Call” — The Huffington Post The headlines blaze, sear into your consciousness, don’t let up, suffocate. Eventually they begin to blend together, but each individually shapes you into a better activist, or so you once hoped. Hope is why you spread […]

Editor’s Note: April is Black Women’s History Month. Throughout this month, Black Youth Project is celebrating Black women. This month is also National Minority Health Month, Autism Awareness Month, Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Child Abuse Prevention Month. We are interested in publishing works that address these topics and the things surrounding them. By Tynesha McCullers […]

By Mark Matlock The possibility of weed legalization can be exciting to young people like me. Especially since our country’s current policies regarding weed have increased discrimination already fueled by the War on Drugs. But excitement can make us forget that being able to consume weed doesn’t get rid of the overt anti-Blackness that comes […]

by Tabias Olajuawon When a person of color is killed by a police officer, or badgeless vigilante, it exposes and strikes at the immoral fabric of Amerikkka. More viscerally, at the psyche of every person of color with a beating heart. More pointedly, at the very being of the collective Black body. Each strike, blow, […]

By Alyxandra Goodwin Rapper and criminal justice reform advocate Jay-Z recently announced that he is investing in a “decarceration start-up” called Promise. The app sets up a “care plan” for individuals that would have alternatively been monitored while housed in a jail facility, instead monitoring them out in the world and providing reminders for court […]

By Teju Adisa-Farrar Draylen Mason was a 17-year-old living with his family in Austin, Texas when he was killed by a bomb on March 12th. Many of the articles written about his death list all of his accolades and note how incredibly talented he was. The picture generally shared is one where he is playing […]

by Andrew Keahey “I’m so glad I’m talking to you. That colored boy was not helpful.” That “colored boy” was me. I had been the lone person sitting behind the desk when this man with a swastika pin on his camouflage hat came in wanting a deal on a cell phone. His wife stood by […]

By michal “mj” jones A few years ago, I invited a group of scholar-activists to present a panel on intergenerational movement building and breaking barriers between elder and younger organizers. The conversation went well, I thought, and we gave the floor over to the attendees to share their stories. Afterwards, an older woman with a […]

It’s not everyday that mainstream publications constructively critique where they went wrong in the past, but recently two high-readership organizations shared their focus on more sensitive coverage moving forward. Both National Geographic and the New York Times admitted recently that their staffs produced coverage that often affirmed and celebrated the lived experiences of powerful white men at […]

Police in Austin, Texas are scrambling following two bombings this week which they say are connected to an earlier bombing on March 2nd that killed 39-year-old Anthony Stephan House. Initially, the Austin police suspected that House may have put the bomb together himself until the last two explosions rocked the city and the country. The […]

After turning away an officer in uniform, Hasta Muerte Coffee, which bills itself as a POC collectively run, worker-owned coffee shop on its website, sent a letter to the Oakland Police Union reminding them of their policy to not serve police officers. This is done in the interest of protecting their own and their customers’ […]

*A note from our Deputy Editor: The themes at Black Youth Project during the month of February are Black Joy and Black Love. It is also Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month. We are interested in publishing works that address these topics, the connections thereof, and the things surrounding them* By Law Ware Marvel’s Black Panther […]