We have had other moments and other reports and other opportunities to address the economic and racial inequality that abet police violence. Yet here we are. George Floyd is dead. And millions of African Americans are unemployed.
Justice & Law
#SayHerName: Happy 27th Birthday, Breonna Taylor
June 5 marks what would have been Breonna Taylor’s 27th birthday. Activists and members of Taylor’s community urge individuals to #SayHerName—a campaign created to raise awareness about the number of women and girls that are killed by law enforcement officers.
How Racism Impedes Reform—and the Need to Address it Head-On
“Changing laws and policies alone won’t change who we are unless we address the underlying problems with those laws.”
“How can I reconcile the concept that politics is the art of compromise, with the clear message that there can be no more implicit compromise where black lives are at stake?”
Ella Jones Elected First Black Mayor of Ferguson
In August of 2014, 18-year-old unarmed Michael Brown was murdered by white police officer Darren Wilson, in Ferguson, Miss.—the city that solidified the Black Lives Matter movement.
Six years later, the city has elected Ella Jones to be the city’s first African American and first woman mayor.
We Heart: Terrence Floyd’s Powerful Call to Action
Terrence Floyd—George Floyd’s brother—called on communities to express their outrage not through violence, but through voting.
We Heart: Journalists Risking It All to Cover Protests
To date, over a dozen journalists—and counting—have been injured by dangerous police control tactics, such as pepper spray and rubber bullets.
Addressing Racism’s Toll: My Minneapolis Experience
Living as a Black woman in Minneapolis and dealing with constant racist episodes, “I often felt as if I were in a strange sociological experiment,” writes Michele Goodwin—so much so that her biracial daughter did not feel comfortable returning to the city. “But this needn’t have been my family’s story. So how do we fix this?”
Planning for a Feminist Economic Recovery
COVID-19 is deepening the fault lines in our economic system, entrenching the gendered inequalities that already existed. Now, we are at a crossroads: We can rebuild back towards the status quo, or we can recover towards something more just.
Can We Stop Pretending Mike Pompeo is a Statesman?
Pompeo is a dangerous man wielding tremendous power, and he has proven repeatedly that he does not have American interests at heart. He tells himself it’s fine to act corruptly, lie and steal, as long as it supports the ultimate goals of Trump cabal: a return to unapologetic white, male domination with power and wealth concentrated in the hands of a few.
McConnell Prioritizes Judges Over the Pandemic Response
Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham are ignoring the calls to focus on the real needs of this country because they have not “yet felt the urgency of acting immediately.” Instead, they have prioritized Trump and McConnell’s “pre-existing partisan wish-list” to install more unqualified and biased nominees who jeopardize our civil rights and protections.