131 Search results for "social security"

The US has a long record of violence against Black Americans, especially in the form of public lynchings. Paying close attention to this history, and how these actions are often seen as justified, can explain how today’s political violence against Muslims, Mexicans, and refugees continues to be normalized in this society. This week, I read […]

It has only been 9 days since President Obama left office and a new administration took over in his place. Since then, Trump has signed a number of executive orders including but not limited to: an order starting the process to create a wall on the US-Mexico border, an order seeking the “prompt repeal of the […]

By: Imani J. Jackson To many millennials’ chagrin and not of our own doing, American capitalism continues to operate despite its negative impact on Black and Brown communities. Confronted with this economic system and sustained government violence against Black and Brown people, activists are increasingly combining traditional civil rights tactics, like protests and economic boycotts, […]

“Why do we accept forms of security that are rooted in violence?” – Angela Davis, Lecture at University of Chicago November 2016 When I first learned of prison abolition it was from Angela Davis during a lecture she gave at my college campus in 2009. The concept of prison abolition seemed so large and out […]

This past Tuesday would have been the second time the Chicago Teachers Union went on strike since Mayor Rahm Emanuel took office in 2011 – if there were a strike. For weeks there has been conversation and preparation for a strike in Chicago Public Schools, the largest school district in the state and third largest […]

By Lamont Lilly   Mainstream media would have most of us believe that the current struggle at Standing Rock, North Dakota is all about clean water – that its only focus is stopping the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) from running through Indigenous reservation land. And yes, it is about these things. But while such a […]

The initiative that kids take when things need to get done is always amazing to see. When Tyran Bell found out that his mother was facing financial difficulties and couldn’t afford to buy his school supplies, he stepped up and used her Facebook to ask around and see if anyone would pay him to mow […]

By Lamont Lilly During the height of the Ferguson Rebellion in late summer 2014, youth organizer, Joshua Williams quickly rose to the call of duty. In the aftermath of Officer Darren Wilson’s brutal murder of unarmed Black teenager, Mike Brown, 19-year-old Williams, stepped forward in the most dedicated and courageous way possible – on the front […]

There have always been beautiful Black mothers – whether from our birth, adopted, or chosen families – who offered words of wisdom, care, and safety to each of us. Similarly, it was our imaginary moms and aunties who held a special place in our hearts too. Most of the moms on television are White and […]

The Board of Trustees at the Ivy League giant, Columbia University, voted this past Monday to divest from private, for-profit prisons. According to reports, Columbia held approximately 220,000 shares in a company called G4S, the world’s largest private security firm, and Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the largest private prison company in the country. This […]

By Eve Ewing It’s 11:20 at night. I have a lot of work to finish and I haven’t even eaten dinner yet, but like so many of my friends, my head is in Baltimore, and I’m caught in the same cycle: TV news, Twitter, Facebook, texting, repeat. Trying to piece together stories as I can, […]

By Jay Dodd On a fairly warm November night, my two best boys and I were walking across campus from their apartment to my house, in an attempt to satiate our cabin fever from spending all day inside. It was oddly nice out for the season and we stopped underneath some streetlights to take selfies. […]