Paul Laurence Dunbar: Invitation to Love
Come when my heart is full of grief
Or when my heart is merry;
Come with the falling of the leaf
Or with the redd’ning cherry.
George Yancy: Black History Testifies to the Impossible Creative Power of Black Resistance
Literary scholar Farah Jasmine Griffin discusses how Black yearning keeps surviving in the face of racist violence.
Michael Simms: America
Beside the highway outside McKeesport PA
a state trooper has pulled over a black man
who leans against his rusty Ford
palms flat, feet apart
assuming the position
as we say in America
George Yancy: Frederick Douglass’s Words Ring True: “Power Concedes Nothing Without a Demand”
The draconian measures of the Trump administration must be challenged by way of the mass movements that extend beyond the pale of electoral politics.
Molly Fisk: Two Poems
Part, partial, apart, apartheid,
apartments invaded, a woman
shot though she too was a piece
of the continent, she was a part
of the main.
Video: Grace
Sixteen-year-old Grace prepares for her baptism in the 1950’s South. When she learns she must repent before the ritual, Grace contemplates her budding romantic feelings toward her best friend, Louise.
George Yancy: Remember What Audre Lorde Told Us — The Oppressor Doesn’t Determine What’s True
To navigate these terrible times, we need Audre’s Lorde’s audacity: Protect the public sphere. Refuse to be silenced.
George Yancy: Why the Right Is Wrong About Critical Race Theory
The right wing has tried to distort critical race theory. This Black History Month, let’s reflect on what it really is.
William C. Anderson: In Fighting Fascism, We Must Choose Our Battles Wisely
We must decide between what’s worth fighting about and what’s not the best use of our time.
Robert Cording | Notes: August, 2020, Whidbey Island
Some days all of America—the whole messy idea of it—
seems to be right here, the military meeting
the idyllic so casually.
Video: Incident (Mature content, includes actual violence)
Harith (Snoop) Augustus had left work at the barbershop down the street when he was shot by a Chicago police officer. Morrison’s documentary captures the final moments of his life, and the actions and reactions of the police and neighbors who were there when it happened.
George Yancy: Cornel West | We Must Keep Our Souls Intact as We Organize Under Trump Again
“Trump is American gangsterism crystallized, honest about itself, unashamed and bold,” says West.
Abby Zimet: Onward Christian Boot Camps
As a baleful Cabinet of Horrors coalesces, up next to run our vast military is “perfect Trump World monster” Pete Hegseth, a creepy, philandering, “inordinately unqualified” White Nationalist facing charges of drunken sexual assault.
Derrick Z. Jackson: Uneasy Election Enthusiasm in Philadelphia
More than any other social condition, concentrated poverty erodes the cooperative networks on which democratic participation depends.
