Category: Black Lives Matter

October 4, 2019 Sharisse Tracey

But fandom aside, I am a black mother first, last and always and this is racial injustice at its best.

Before I get into this two minute jail sentence for actress Felicity Huffman’s role in the college admissions scandal, let me start by saying that I am a mom. I […]

Another unarmed Black man dies in custody of the Las Vegas police

Nissa Tzun

Byron Williams death leaves another Las Vegas family seeking answers in an in-custody death case with literal dark spots in the story

There are no degrees of blackness

Michael Jackson

“Brother brother, sister sister If you’re miss or if you’re mister Listen please to this fact Black is black is black is black” Lyrics from Black is Black by Jungle […]

A NIGHTMARE OF RACIAL ANIMOSITY OVERTAKING AMERICA

Darryl Lorenzo Wellington

A bad dream is a bad experience. But a truly terrible experience occurs when a bad dream feels like a premonition. Judging by media stories, online commentary and conversations with […]

“When They See Us” Through the Eyes of a 13-year-old Girl

Sharisse Tracey

“I don’t want to watch this, Mommy, it is making me mad and I already know how it will end,” said my recently turned 13 year-old daughter with folded arms. […]

It’s time to talk about reparations

Darryl Lorenzo Wellington

The idea of reparations are back in the news with the 2020 Democratic candidates, raising the issue of offering some form of payment to black Americans for the horrors inflicted […]

The Assassination of Martin Luther King, and America’s Addiction to Gun Violence

Darryl Lorenzo Wellington

April 4. The date of MLK’s assassination returns – as it always does to haunt us. April 4th, 1968 remains a guilty shadow lingering over American history. King is honored […]

Underserved communities find no relief as water rates increase

Jiquanda Johnson

Tia Simpson stood in front of nearly 40 journalists pleading her case for clean and affordable water. The 34-year-old Flint resident endured the aftermath of being exposed to the city’s […]

We Are Called to Deeply Listen to Those Impacted by Police Violence

Nissa Tzun

Hearing families who have been impacted by police violence speak is always a transformative and powerful experience for me. While I have been working with impacted families since 2009, the […]

Voting to Make Florida’s Environment a Priority

Maliha Kareem

Water is life. And in many ways, it is what defines Florida. As a first generation American whose family came from Iraq, a nation with critical environment-related threats to human […]

Hate Has No Home Here

Mikka Macdonald

Last week was the anniversary of the deadly Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville and the neighborhoods of Washington, D.C. were tense. I was tense. The group of white supremacists […]

Freedom is what moves him

Maliha Kareem

In this upcoming elections, we have the chance to make history by voting YES to Amendment 4, which will restore the voting rights of over 1.5 million Floridians who have […]

Five decades since people of color were given the right to vote

Topacio Marrero

It’s almost scary to think, but it’s only been 5 decades since people of color in America were effectively given the right to vote. This was accomplished because of how […]

Unite the Vote for the Vote!

Laura Munoz

“The basic elements so vital to Negro advancement can only be achieved by seeking redress from government at local, state and federal levels. To do this the vote is essential,” […]

Floridians must come together in voting

Topacio Marrero

The 2018 elections are crucial and we are uniting communities of color to cast their ballot for equality for all. I decided to walk around my neighborhood asking people if […]

The forced trajectory of Trinita Farmer, mother of police homicide victim, Tashii Brown

Nissa Tzun

“He was very creative,” said Trinita Farmer about her son, Tashii Brown, during an interview in her home on March 4, 2018. Farmer was eager to exhibit his work, which […]

Returning to Life Outside Prison—Without Food on the Table

Willie Francois

This piece was co-published with Civil Eats Calvin* anticipates walking out of a New Jersey prison next month, hopefully for the last time, eager to live out his responsibilities as […]

In Florida, we are voting to change the status-quo

Maliha Kareem

With life changing decisions on the ballot, young people in Florida are gearing up for the 2018 elections to hold everyone accountable and make profound changes in our state’s Constitution. […]

Justice for marginalized communities not a factor in filling SCOTUS seat; it’s up to us to vote, voice our concerns now

Alaina Beverly

Whether you care about voting rights, affirmative action, LGBTQ rights, immigrant rights and especially a woman’s right to control her own body, filling retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s […]

Unarmed & Black: Keith Childress, Jr. remembered, and the growing list of loved ones left behind after police violence

Nissa Tzun

Family, friends and supporters of police violence victim Keith Childress, Jr. demand justice for his murder. His mother, Jacqueline Lawrence, lives in Phoenix, Arizona, which makes advocating for her son difficult, but she has started to meet other families impacted by police violence.

The Starbucks incident highlights the daily indignities that Black people face

Darryl Lorenzo Wellington

A good friend of mine commented on his Facebook page about the now viral video of the “Starbucks arrest incident,” which showed two black men being arrested in a Philadelphia Starbucks […]

How to live with racism in times like these

Darryl Lorenzo Wellington

This week marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. And it is making me even more reflective of what it means to be black at […]

Ideas of MLK, RFK still needed today

Dorian Warren

This piece originally published in the Memphis Commercial Appeal. When President Lyndon B. Johnson launched the War on Poverty in 1964, his audacious goal was to end poverty in the […]

Jim Crow lives in Nevada’s elections

Cassandra Little

Several weeks ago, a gentleman came to a Progressive Leadership Alliance Nevada (PLAN) meeting and asked for help restoring his right to vote. After 12 years, he was now eligible, […]

Nevada cannot relive its racist past

Cassandra Little

I fear Nevada – and our entire country – is treading on its racist history.
Our president’s mantra is to “make America great again.” Many of us interpret this campaign slogan as a desire to return to the past, a time when White men ruled and White supremacists terrorized people of color.