Richard Michelson: Three Poems
Today, I am weary of my soul, forever dragging behind me,
clanging for attention like tin cans left tied to a coupe fender
long after the sacred vows.
Video: Lucille Clifton reads “won’t you celebrate with me”
won’t you celebrate with me
what i have shaped into
a kind of life?
Brett Wilkins: 6 Mississippi ‘Goon Squad’ Deputies Plead Guilty to Torturing Black Men
Anyone surprised by this, at this point, can only be a willful denier of what Black people have said—and continue to say—about the broken culture of policing in America.
Claude McKay: The Lynching
The ghastly body swaying in the sun:
The women thronged to look, but never a one
Showed sorrow in her eyes of steely blue
Kim Stafford: Poems for a Cause
Maybe we’re past hints and whispers,
our chance gone for subtle scents
and fugitive flavors—time for coffee
black, jolt of onion, garlic unadorned.
George Yancy: Policing Does Not Have Problems — It Is the Problem
We must examine proactive ways to address the social issues that lead to crime and violence, which does not necessitate more police.
Daja E. Henry: Environmental Justice Activists in Memphis Are Finally Turning the Tide
Black women, particularly mothers, are leading efforts to treat people currently harmed by toxic neighborhoods and prevent future damage.
Clarence Lusane: The Votes That Weren’t Cast
The history of the suppression of Black voters is a first-rate horror story that as yet shows no sign of ending.
Abby Zimet: Acts That Defy Humanity
The arrests offer little solace to friends and family grieving for a kind, joyful, “good human,” “quirky and true to himself,” “good spirit and soul” who attended church youth group and worked to be a good dad.
Rashad Shabazz: Black police officers aren’t colorblind – they’re infected by the same anti-Black bias as American society and police in general
Policing in the U.S. has, from its inception, treated Black people as domestic enemies.
Maria J. Stephan: Achieving a Multiracial Democracy
King understood that no single approach would be sufficient to combat the interconnected evils of racism, economic exploitation and militarism.
Derrick Z. Jackson: Black College Students Are An Endangered Species Unless They Play Ball
One thing seems certain if the Supreme Court bans affirmative action in college admissions: The only Black men left on campus will be athletes.
Nicole Froio: Transforming Ourselves to Transform the World
The concept of cuerpo-territorio (“body-territory”) around which the Xinka women in Guatemala organize themselves recognizes the interconnectedness between human bodies and all other living beings.
Brett Wilkins: Racism Poses Public Health Threat to Millions Worldwide: Lancet Studies
Until racism and xenophobia are universally recognized as significant drivers of determinants of health, the root causes of discrimination will remain in the shadows and continue to cause and exacerbate health inequities.
Vox Populi 