A troubling notion has gripped some Black current and former service members: The U.S. military — long seen as a pathway to opportunity in Black communities — seems to be drifting backward, toward a more segregated time. “[Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth] came into office promising to turn the military into a color-blind meritocracy — it is […]
Equity
Posted inEquity, Money, Public Services, Wealth Gap
Hidden Profits in Power Bills Are Hitting Black Southerners Hardest
Brionté McCorkle opened her latest Georgia Power bill and started doing some math to try to understand where her money was going. The total was $233 — steep, but familiar for her and her neighbors living just outside Atlanta. Then she plugged the number into a new calculator built off a national analysis of investor‑owned […]
Posted inCulture, Economy, Employment, Equity, History, Politics & Policy, Rural Issues
The Mississippi Delta Is a Testing Ground for the Nation
The majority-Black Mississippi Delta region is shrouded in both magic and myth for many outsiders, writer and essayist W. Ralph Eubanks says. Dubbed the “Most Southern Place on Earth,” the Delta’s rich culture and blues music brings millions of tourists to the region every year. The Magnolia State broke records in 2024 when about 44 […]
Posted inEquity, History, Wealth Gap
Will Zohran Mamdani Make New York the First City to Confront Its Debt to Slavery?
Reparations for slavery and historic discrimination against African Americans once seemed like a pipe dream. But momentum for it has been building in the past five years in cities across America, including New York City, which has deep ties to slavery and has become an important testing ground of whether America is ready to make […]