11 Search results for "national slave memorial act"

Van Jones, language and the psuedo memory of national identity
by Donnie Moreland In my six years participating in scholastic speech and debate competition, the one lasting impression of the sport itself, less any social interaction, was that language is never fixed. Language is neither absolute, or inherent. Language is craftable, manipulatable, sellable and infinitely interpretable. This seems obvious, but when you think of how […]
Comic: We know why y’all keep trying to distance yourselves from slavery
by JeCorey Holder Look. I get it. The enslavement of Africans happened a HELLA LONG time ago from our contemporary perspective. It would be nice if we could all reasonably agree that it was a generally unpleasant time, but some people still wanna argue that U.S. chattel slavery is/was “good history.” Those who aren’t trying […]
Petition calls for slave memorial in Washington D.C.
A Change.org petition is calling for the U.S. government to acknowledge slaves with a memorial. The petition, created by Craig Nessan, urges representatives to construct an African American slave memorial to acknowledge the contributions, trials and tribulations of our ancestors to the country.
Black Resistance: Examining the “1st” Free Black Town in the Americas
By Teju Adisa-Farrar When God made mountains He made runaway slaves — Nikki Giovanni, Chasing Utopia We were not supposed to survive. in 2018, AfroPunk published an article about Argentina’s genocide of their Black populations. Unsurprisingly, Argentina is not much different from other countries who have tried to erase their Black populations or their impact […]
The internet, as a digital looking glass, can normalize violence for Black boys
by Donnie Moreland I’m entering my apartment lot, around 9:45 PM, having returned from the gym. My vision often obscured around this time, I’m hurried to brake as two figures creep along in front of me. The two feel my headlights on their backs, thus they oblige my curiosity, and turn around. They are Black […]
The ghost of the racist “father of modern gynecology” is still killing Black infants & child-bearers
By Naomi Alexis The so-called “father of modern gynecology”, James Marion Sims, trafficked in enslaved Black women, likely impregnating them through rape, in scientific experimentations for the purpose of advancing his career in medicine. When experimenting on these enslaved women, he did so without anesthesia. He developed tools through trial and error and repeatedly performed […]
Guns too often become tools of intra-communal violence at the hands of cis het Black men
Trigger warning: domestic violence, gun violence, mention of suicide by Donnie Moreland On April 3rd, 1964 and at the Cory Methodist Church, Malcolm X would give one of his most quotable speeches. The speech was titled, The Ballot or the The Bullet. He began with these words, “The question tonight, as I understand it, is […]
American “heroism” in times of crisis highlights just how disposable we are to the state
by Donnie Moreland As a boy, I remember learning about firefighters. I found their work as spectacular as the graphic novels, and Saturday morning superheroes, which crowded my daydreams. There was no difference between the cape and their fire helmet. And there were enough Black men, dawning the garb and colors of the local fire […]
Our hair is a map to freedom: What I learned about resistance from the “1st” free Black town in the Americas
By Teju Adisa-Farrar When God made mountains He made runaway slaves — Nikki Giovanni, Chasing Utopia We were not supposed to survive. Last month, AfroPunk published an article about Argentina’s genocide of their Black populations. Unsurprisingly, Argentina is not much different from other countries who have tried to erase their Black populations or their impact […]
Black witnessing is an insistence on Black being: Re-membering those who were lynched
by Tabias Olajuawon This essay contains discussion of anti-Black violences, particularly lynching, and mention of r/pe “… Ancestors, you will find us still in cages, Despised and disciplined. You will find us still mis-named. Here you will find us despite. You will not find us extinct. You will find us […]
It’s a matter of time: Resisting the enshrining of white supremacy in our collective memory
“Who is that guy, mommy?” My four-year-old was pointing at the Abraham Lincoln monument in Washington D.C. in 2013. Just the day before, a jury of six women, only one who identified as a “woman of color,” had found George Zimmerman “not guilty” in the murder of Trayvon Martin. “That’s Abraham Lincoln. He was president.”