286 Search results for "humanity"

Call me Akata: Reclaiming our birthright as Indigenous and African people born on American soil
by Chelsea Neason In 1964, Malcolm X made history with “The Ballot or the Bullet”. With this speech, he proclaimed a bone-shaking truth: Black people born in America are not Americans. In Detroit, MI during one of the most impactful decades of visible Black resistance in the United States, Malcolm declared: “We are Africans, and […]
How “Christianity is the white man’s religion” feeds the damaging disconnect between the Diaspora and Africa
By Dilara K. Üsküp “Christianity is the white man’s religion. The Holy Bible in the white man’s hands and his interpretations of it have been the greatest single ideological weapon for enslaving millions of non-white human beings.” — Malcolm X (Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X & Alex Haley) While the idea that Christianity […]
Welcome to Wakanda: ‘Black Panther’ is a love letter between the African Diaspora and the continent
I’m wondering what words there are in existence that could be used to accurately describe Black Panther. Stunning, breathtaking, and majestic come close. This film stands firmly in a class all its own. It is not perfect (and I have many feelings about it, but you won’t find any spoilers here), but it is still […]
Last year’s disasters have uprooted Black people from middle class status in the Virgin Islands
America sells itself as a place where hardworking people of different backgrounds thrive. America also sells middle class status as necessary for one’s recognized humanity. However, when nature wreaks havoc on middle class Black Americans, the country has an empathy gap between them and their non-Black middle class or affluent counterparts. The Washington Post recently […]
Serena Williams’ powerful Vogue interview on love & parenting highlights the dangers facing Black mothers
The positive pieces: Serena Williams sounds purposeful, peaceful and in love with life in the February 2018 Vogue cover article. The world’s most dynamic athlete chronicled visions that became her reality. Last September, she and husband Alexis Ohanian, Reddit co-founder, became the proud parents of a beautiful baby girl named Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. Yet, amidst […]
As a Black woman, I won’t say #Metoo in Rose McGowan’s* movement
by Tynesha McCullers A few weeks back, TIME Magazine recognized the #SilenceBreakers as the 2017 “[People] of the Year.” While I am thankful that this honor was not given to the person who is currently in charge of our country, or given to other political leaders or affluent white men, I am more than a […]
Prominent teen Palestinian activist charged in latest retaliation against Palestinians protesting occupation
After an incident during which the Israeli police shot her then 15-year-old cousin in the face, point blank, with a rubber bullet which ended up putting him in a medically induced coma, 16 year old Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi now faces 12 charges, including interfering with a soldier’s duties, assaulting an Israeli officer, and a charge […]
My Black girl magic is not the work of God
by Tynesha McCullers Growing up, church leaders generally encouraged us to not question God, and if we did, they insisted that we were to ask “why not me?” rather than “why me?” With this sentiment was the understanding that God created all beings and predetermined our destiny, for reasons that we may never know or […]
The Black church taught me to be a docile victim, and now I renounce its lessons
I keep having to come out as “nothing.” To family, friends, coworkers, and anyone else who might make assumptions about my religious identity and affiliations. By “nothing” I mean that I do not subscribe to any organized religion or form of spirituality. Neither do I identify as atheist or agnostic. This is a point that […]
How suffocating ideas of masculinity took the precious life of Giovanni Melton
by Maximillian Matthews I wonder when my late father first observed the singularity of my gender performance. Perhaps he saw it when he took me to my first concert during Janet Jackson’s 1993 Janet tour, and noticed how I knew every word she sang on the stage. He may have seen it when he observed […]
Trailblazing journalist Gwen Ifill to be honored with a media and arts program bearing her name
One year after journalist Gwen Ifill passed, her undergraduate institution is honoring the trailblazing alumna. Masschusetts’ Simmons College will open the Gwen Ifill College of Media, Arts and Humanity next fall. The college is also expected to feature Ifill’s documents and belongings. But, before this news broke, PBS NewsHour and the Washington Press Club began […]
Heinous anti-blackness: Dozens of African girls found dead in Mediterranean Sea
Global personhood politics, which include white supremacy, gender-based violence and economic oppression of African-descended people, inflict grievous harm. Another painful reminder of this trifecta came via a New York Times column by Tariro Mzezewa, about nearly 40 African girls whose bodies were found in the Mediterranean Sea. Details about the girls are scant. They were […]