Issue: 734
March 22, 2018
Commentary
Women’s History Month – Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977) – Testimony Before the Credentials Committee, Democratic National Convention Atlantic City, New Jersey – August 22, 1964 (includes audio)
Guest Commentator
After I was placed in the cell I began to hear sounds of licks and screams, I could hear the sounds of licks and horrible screams. And I could hear somebody say, "Can you say, 'yes, sir,' nigger? Can you say 'yes, sir'?"
In 1964, with the support of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), Fannie Lou Hamer ran for Congress. The incumbent was a white man who had…
Continue reading 8 min
Color of Law
Marielle Franco Assassinated, Brazil Erupts in Protest of Rio de Janeiro Councilwoman’s Dea
Executive Editor
Human rights groups condemned the killing of the human rights defender and called for investigation. The United Nations Human Rights Office in Geneva condemned the “deeply shocking murder of a well-known human rights defender” and called for a “thorough, transparent and independent” investigation as soon as possible.
The Black and poor populations of Brazil are in protest following the execution-style killing of Marielle Franco, 38, a Black city councilwoman, activist, and critic of…
Continue reading 4 min
Commentary
Women’s History Month – Natalie Cofield: The Living Walker Legacy
Editorial Board
Few names are more lauded in Black Women’s History than that of Madame CJ Walker. She was the first African American woman millionaire, it is said. The first to create a multi-level marketing platform. The woman who used herbs, hair knowledge, and a hot comb to create an empire. The woman who funded civil rights activity, and also boldly admonished the men of her era for their exclusionary attitudes.
Nine years ago, when she was just 26, Natalie Cofield was looking for a mentor. A young woman with entrepreneurship hard-wired into her spirit, she was…
Continue reading 5 min
Commentary
Reinvent the Civilian Conservation Corps
Columnist
A new CCC would have to be different, of course, including both young men and women, but the idea would be the same: Lifting those who have been left behind intentionally or as part of the process of marginalization, a very real, but unspoken part of a corrupt and ailing system of government.
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was established in a time of great economic and social stress in the U.S. and, on April 10, 1933, President Franklin…
Continue reading 7 min
Commentary
A Black Girl’s Take on “A Wrinkle In Time”
Editorial Board
Black little girls of my era weren’t seen on television. Before my era, watching old black and white films of the cherubic child star of the 1930’s, Shirley Temple, only reminded me I could never be America’s little darling.
"A Wrinkle in Time" was a must-see film for me. And, a must-see flick worldly different from dashing out to see “Black Panther.” It doesn’t mean,…
Continue reading 5 min
Commentary
The African Personality in America
Columnist
there is indeed an African reality system that is not only indigenous to Africans in America, but that most of us are almost totally unaware of it and how it determines our very lives.”
As I have repeated in these columns on numerous occasions, the African centered consciousness and the African Centered Movement is critical to the liberation of African…
Continue reading 4 min
Cover Story
Teachers and School Boards Need to Align to Save Public Education
Columnist
Shortly after his election as Mayor of Newark, New Jersey in 2010, now U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) sent a personal letter to all members of the New Jersey Legislature urging them to support school vouchers and charter schools. He has been a featured speaker at the rabidly pro-school choice American Federation for Children (AFC) founded and formerly headed by U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
Meanwhile, Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal lawyer and erstwhile pimp, has allegedly threatened Stormy Daniels with physical harm should she proceed with her suit in a desperate…
Continue reading 6 min