By Amber Walker July 31, 2015 Amber Walker “Audre Lorde said, ‘Your silence will not protect you,’ but, for Black women, the price of speaking truth to power can be your life.” Throughout my life, my elders, teachers, peers and partners reiterated that I have “quite the mouth on me.” […]
For Centuries, Black Lives Did Not Matter
By Julianne Malveaux, NNPA Columnist July 31, 2015 Julianne Malveaux, NNPA Columnist It ought to be unnecessary for an activist movement to hinge on the principle of the equivalency of life. In the worlds of Democratic presidential candidates (don’t get me started on the Republicans), there is a compelling need to point […]
Are You Sure It’s Not 1955? Reflections on Emmett Till’s 74th Birthday
By Amber Walker July 24, 2015 Amber Walker I grew up on the Southside of Chicago, right off 71st Street. Taking the journey down this iconic city’s thoroughfare, I’d notice a brown street sign situated slightly below the one labeled “71st Street:” Emmett Till Road. As a youngster, I always wondered […]
Symbols are Important to Black America
By Jazelle Hunt, NNPA Washington Correspondent July 24, 2015 Five days after South Carolina retired the Confederate flag with much fanfare, a small group of protesters in Oklahoma City greeted President Barack Obama with Confederate flags. The following weekend, Ku Klux Klan members in Charleston, S.C. brandished both Confederate and Nazi […]
To Be Equal: How Will 2016’s Presidential Candidates Save Our Cities?
By Marc H. Morial, NNPA Columnist July 17, 2015 Marc H. Morial, NNPA Columnist “You must register. You must vote. You must learn, so your choice advances your interest and the interest of our beloved Nation. Your future, and your children’s future, depend upon it, and I don’t believe that you are […]
Blacks Need to Join the Discussion on the Economy
By Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., NNPA Columnist July 17, 2015 Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., NNPA Columnist One’s worldview or social perspective is mainly informed by a matrix of different socioeconomic and political circumstances. A polling of Black America about the current “recovery” of the economy of the United States would produce a […]
President Obama is on a Winning Streak
By Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., NNPA Columnist July 10, 2015 Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., NNPA Columnist The presidency is a bit like a baseball season. Players go through streaks and slumps, good days and bad days. Teams rack up wins and losses. It is only over the course of the long season […]
Church Burnings Should Ignite More Protests
By Julianne Malveaux, NNPA Columnist July 10, 2015 Julianne Malveaux, NNPA Columnist It’s possible that lightening may have caused one of the fires. Another may be the result of faulty electricity. Still, in the past couple of weeks, there were fires at churches in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Ohio and […]
Challenging Economic Racism in America: Part II
By Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., NNPA Columnist July 10, 2015 Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., NNPA Columnist This article is a contuation from Attacking Economic Racism. There are many different manifestations of racism in America and throughout the world. But there is not a more insidious form of racism in the United […]
None But Jesus Heard Me: Justifying Victimhood and the Politics of Respectability
By Amber Walker July 10, 2015 Amber Walker “The subtext [of respectability politics] that exists is if this person had just been “good,” “deserving” or “respectable,” they would be worth our country’s collective sympathy and support.” Tulsa. Montgomery. Selma. Charleston. These cities, seared in our country’s collective consciousness, serve as […]