54 Search results for "structural racism"

While the City of Baltimore withstood freezing temperatures this week, its schools decided that the Black children who populate it should be forced to attend school in the withering and blistering cold weather. If anyone needed any extra convincing that the public school system does not work in the benefit of Black children, this should […]

By Benji Hart The block on Chicago’s far north side where I stay is majority Black, poor and working class. It’s also gay as hell. The matriarch of the street is a Black cis queer woman in her 50s named Ce. She lives with her wife, a Black woman in her 30s, her daughter from […]

Nate Parker broke records last week when his Nat Turner slave revolt film Birth of a Nation was picked up by Fox Searchlight for $17.5 billion. While this is exciting news, Parker’s success isn’t the benchmark for movies in this genre nor is it a logical signal to Hollywood to make more slavery era movies. […]

Last night around 8pm, a twenty-something year-old White male walked into the historic Emanuel AME church in Charleston, South Carolina. He came there with a loaded gun and at least five rounds of ammunition. As the twelve Black men, women, and children who were present in that church prayed and invited this man into their […]

A year ago, when George Zimmerman was unjustly acquitted for the murder of Trayvon Martin, I wanted to believe that this would be a moment that would wake the country up from its post-racial stupor. For me, as a black male, and for many other black people in this country, the injustice of this case […]

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has more or less purchased the Los Angeles Clippers from the embattled Sterling family for $2 billion. That’s right $2 billion. American dollars. Here’s some context: Ballmer outbid competitors Oprah and co. by $4 million. Ballmer is “worth” $20 billion, so paying for the Clippers, I suppose, is some, weird, […]

By Darnell L Moore Cheryl Clarke once prudently instructed, “So, all of us would do well to stop fighting each other for our space at the bottom, because there ain’t no more room.” Clarke, a poet/scholar celebrated for fearlessly and brilliantly giving voice to the experiences of Black lesbian feminists, has always been acutely aware of the […]

On Tuesday, in an interview with Marc Lamont Hill, rapper Nelly was questioned about being challenged by women at Spelman College years ago for his controversial video Tip Drill. Nelly, who at the time planned to have a bone marrow drive at the college for his sister, incorrectly claims that Spelman canceled the drive. He […]

There is a growing group of misinformed, conservative black public figures that are increasingly demonizing and blaming black youth for systemic issues facing the Black community. Invoking an empty “politics of personal responsibility” rhetoric, these black public figures essentially say: “ I made it, and so can you!” Most recently, CNN news anchor Don Lemon […]

“What shall I tell my children who are black, of what it means to be a captive in this dark skin? What shall I tell my dear one, fruit of my womb, of how beautiful they are when everywhere they turn they are faced with abhorrence of everything that is black. The night is black and so is the boogyman. Villains […]

  A lack of empathy perpetuates racial disparities…. At least, that is what Slate writer, Jason Silverstein, argues. Touching on a plethora of severe identity issues within our “post-racial” society (just kidding, that doesn’t exist), Silverstein demonstrates problematic assumptions on “what it means to be black.” Answers to this question are often infused with essentialist […]

The Trayvon Martin case has remained in the nation’s conscious. Just about every news source is covering the trial and the nation is still dialoging about what should happen to the man who killed him. With the national attention this case has received, I can’t help but think back to Rekia Boyd and wonder why […]