12 Search results for "gerrymandering"

Schools are supposed to represent the areas they are placed in. But what is not examined thoroughly enough is what shaped those neighborhoods, and a report from Vox seeks to make these connections known. Using newly published studies from Tomas Monarrez and Meredith P. Richards, Alvin Chang makes the case that over time, in American […]

Yesterday, the Supreme Court struck down North Carolina’s 2011 congressional district map, where large blocs of black voters had been subject to racial gerrymandering and placed in oddly shaped districts. The Court determined that there was no compelling racial interest to permit the boundaries of these districts. The vote was decided by Justice Kagan, Justice Thomas […]

by Aaron Jamal  E pluribus unum — Latin for “Out of many, one.” Included in the Great Seal of the United States in 1776. The political system of the United States is in a state of perpetual crisis. The state of Tennessee has proposed a new bill that will drastically limit the voting power of […]

Editor’s Note: This month at BYP, we will be exploring the US Midterms & Family/Parenting issues, and we are interested in publishing works that address these topics. How has our political system been working for and against us? What dynamics are different today? How should we prepare for midterm elections vs presidential ones, and local […]

by Daniel Johnson Regarding the abject brutality of the way the criminal justice system discards Black bodies and lives, writer Kirsten West Savali describes the practice in this way, reframing the common narrative that the criminal justice system is merely broken: “The system is not broken, it is functioning exactly as intended.” There is little […]

By Brittany Lee Frederick At a rally in Anaheim, California in September of this year Barack Obama was quoted saying, “If you vote, things will get better, it will be a start.” This echoes the mainstream Democrats insistence upon voting for a Blue Wave to create social change next week. While this article isn’t one […]

Team Black Panther is filled with winners. The riveting storyline, beautiful cinematography, complex African characters and African American director, Ryan Coogler, undoubtedly created a cultural and financial success. Having raked in about $192 million during its three-day debut, the movie is also deemed the fifth biggest film opener of all time. As many of us […]

By Salaam Green “Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.” – James Baldwin, Author American axiom would posit that if a 3-year-old becomes highly interested in another 3-year-old on the playground, chances are high that they will rush over and begin to play […]

A federal judge has found a Texas voter ID law to be intentionally discriminatory towards Black and Hispanic voters. According to The New York Times, the 2011 law was found to be in violation of the Voting Rights Act and may once again place Texas elections under federal supervision.

Days after clinching the U.S. presidency in November, Donald Trump appointed Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions as his pick for Attorney General of the U.S. Department of Justice. From stating he was once “okay with the Ku Klux Klan” until he learned they smoked marijuana, to prosecuting Black activists in the decades following the fall of […]

By Dominique Hazzard I don’t really care about the Oscars. I’m not a movie buff, I think awards shows are boring, and I don’t give a huge amount of weight to the artistic judgements of a bunch of hand selected old white men with ballots. Being too invested in receiving affirmation from whiteness and white […]

September 1, 2011 Maaaan…Rush Limbaugh is gonna be pissed! According to Sabrina Tavernise of the New York Times, Minorities are far outpacing whites in terms of population growth in America’s biggest cities. She writes: Hispanics and Asians led population growth in the country’s 100 largest metropolitan areas over the past decade, growing by 41 percent […]