In 1975, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes laid down a melodic mandate that applies to our times: “Wake up, everybody / No more sleepin’ in bed,” Teddy Pendergrass, the former lead singer of the group, commands. “No more backward thinkin’ / Time for thinkin’ ahead / The world has changed so very much / […]
2024 presidential election
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
Why Has Qualified Immunity Excused Officers’ Misconduct for Decades?
The movement to increase accountability for police officers who use excessive force may have seen its most significant setback yet with the second election of Donald Trump as president. Trump has promised the nation’s police officers that he will grant them “immunity from prosecution,” a move that legal experts say would deal a severe blow […]
Posted inEverything's Political, Politics & Policy
What Reconstruction Still Has to Teach Us
We might be approaching a moment that resembles the end of Reconstruction in the 1870s, historians and legal experts say. In the aftermath of the 2024 presidential election, big-name companies, some Democrats, and their allies have been pumping the brakes on the push for equality, prioritizing achieving peace with President-elect Donald Trump over protecting vulnerable […]
Posted inMaternal Health, Politics & Policy, Reproductive Health
Post Election, Black Women Strategize to Ensure Reproductive Rights for All
Nearly 90% of Black women in America voted for Vice President Kamala Harris to be the first among them to ascend to the highest office in the nation. And while her loss is hard for her supporters to accept, many of them say the patchwork collection of laws that is emerging after this month’s election […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Everything's Political, Politics & Policy, Public Safety
The Threat of Unchecked Anti-Black Violence in 2025 and Beyond
What might happen to federal checks on anti-Black violence once Donald Trump returns to the Oval Office in January? Maybe this question popped into your head after you read that the U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the killing of Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman who was fatally shot by a […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy, Rural Issues
Some Black Rural Voters Feel Abandoned by Democrats
The election results didn’t shock Keith McCants, a 42-year-old welder in south Georgia. Leading up to Election Day, the chairman of the local Democratic Party had been door-knocking and engaging with voters across Bryan County, about 21 miles from Savannah. He even passed out Kamala Harris for President signs, but people “would take them down […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy, Rural Issues
Rural Black Americans Brace for Racism, Neglect Under Trump
Amanda David felt a wave of devastation as reality sank in that former President Donald Trump would lead the country again. Yet, the past four years have felt as if he had never left. She’s been battling ongoing violent threats, racism, and harassment from her white neighbor in Ithaca, New York. The college town and […]
Posted inMental Health, Politics & Policy
Strategies for Black Americans to Nurture Mental Health After the Election
As Black, immigrant, pregnant, and low-income people brace for the possible worst outcomes of a second Trump administration, many, maybe even you, are grappling with a flood of emotions – fear, anger, sadness, and a deep sense of grief. With the news cycle churning with reports of the potential for an administration that perpetuates anti-Black […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Education, Environmental Justice, LGBTQ, Politics & Policy, Reproductive Health
What Trump’s Second Term Could Look Like for Black Americans
The dread many Black Americans feel about Donald Trump’s triumph in the 2024 presidential election isn’t misplaced: He organized his reelection campaign against Vice President Kamala Harris around revenge — around how he and his allies can inflict the greatest amount of suffering on vulnerable groups and on those he considers enemies. Making things worse, […]
Posted inHistory, Politics & Policy
5 Black Presidential Candidates Who Paved the Way for Kamala Harris
In 1848, Frederick Douglass was the very first Black candidate to receive a nominating bid for the American presidency. He received one vote. Over the next 100 years, Black presidential hopefuls — particularly those with connections to the two major parties — would eke out symbolic victories and break barriers. Their efforts paved the way […]
