183 Search results for "barrier"

by Jamila Mitchell This essay contains discussion of r/pe and sexual violence against minors. We need to talk about gay white men and how they get away with the rape and sexual violation of Black folks without society holding them accountable.   Kevin Spacey, the actor recently charged with the sexual assault of a then-under […]

By Gloria O. The recent death of McKenzie Adams, a nine-year-old from Alabama who endured months of racist bullying before dying via suicide, really hurt me. It immediately evoked memories of bullying in my own childhood, reminding me of the sad fact that the world can make such little progress in so much time. Anti-blackness, […]

According to the Miami New Times, a facility ran by one of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) top contractors, the GEO Group, has been engaging in practices that make it difficult or impossible for those who are being detained to obtain lawyers. This practice has lead Ben Johnson, executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers […]

By “DJ Ferguson” If you were to listen to “Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin—really listen to the words and let their meaning sink in—it becomes clear after a few verses that despite its name the song is not about immigration. It’s about colonialism. We come from the land of the ice and snow From the […]

By Brittani McNeill It is common knowledge that Black children are on the low end of an ever widening racial achievement gap in this country. It’s even becoming more widely acknowledged that systemic problems and institutional neglect, as opposed to simply personal or even parental shortcomings, lead to this problem. An examination of this achievement […]

by Roni Dean-Burren It’s the most wonderful time of the year! It’s back to school season and I’m ecstatic. My friends and family are posting photos of their kids in their full backpacks with new shoes and grinning faces as they head back to 187 days of learning bliss. In the midst of all this […]

by Sazia Patel This fall, 30,000 eighth graders across New York City will take the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT). The SHSAT, is a tool that bars many of the most marginalized students in NYC, namely Black and latinx, from attending historically high performing schools. It also poses a barrier for those students from […]

by Denarii Grace “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.” These words, uttered by legendary Black civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer, have become as much a part of Black languages and cultural understandings, both past and present, as “lit,” “bumboclaat,” and “the bomb.” Her expression of the ongoing oppression of Black […]

Across America there are more than 220 land trusts, varying in size and location but mostly tending to exist close to the coasts. In a trust, a community-controlled nonprofit owns land makes rules for how buildings on that land should serve the community, which are largely aimed at undoing centuries of oppression and dispossession. However, there […]

Content Warning: This essay contains discussion of sexual violence against a child and a mention of r/pe Listen. I cannot deal with either one of these women, especially after sitting through this episode of OWN’s Fix My Life. I came across a short clip of what happened in Auntie Iyanla’s Legacy Room (to be explained […]

by Briana L. Ureña-Ravelo Content Warning: This essay mentions of r/pe of a child I just read Junot Diaz’s essay about his childhood rape and the years of sexual, romantic, and relationship trauma and toxic patriarchal behavior that followed. I applaud him opening up and owning to some really deep, dark trauma on a significantly […]

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. The Black Mamas […]