Over the years, Gabrielle Wyatt has heard directly from Black women nationally who described wealth as not only earnings, but about the conditions to live fully with financial freedom, abundance of choice, belonging, and thriving health. With the attack on Black economic and political power, Black women have been hit the hardest, disproportionately suffering from […]
Black voters
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Jim Clyburn’s District Is at the Center of a New Fight Over Black Voting Power
COLUMBIA, South Carolina — To Jasmine Broadwater, U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina isn’t some distant power broker in Washington, D.C. He’s a hometown fixture. Broadwater, 32, grew up in Columbia, the state’s capital, and she said that Clyburn would sometimes “just randomly pop up at school.” His daughter Jennifer Clyburn Reed was one […]
Posted inElections, Politics & Policy
How One Supreme Court Ruling Is Rewriting 60 Years of Voting Protections
The battle over Black political representation in the South continues to unfold, with a federal court rejecting a new Alabama House map. Federal judges on Tuesday ruled that the Republican-backed map “intentionally discriminated based on race” and ordered the state to continue using a map with two congressional districts that are majority Black or close […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Black Voters in the South Want Leaders Who Fight but Also Deliver
Farmer Jeremy Peaches spends his days thinking about food: not only how to grow it and where to send it — but also whether people can afford it. The owner of the Fresh Life Organic Produce Co., he manages 25 acres of vegetables for restaurants, food banks, and residents in the largely Black community of […]
Posted inElections, Politics & Policy
Young Black Men Are ‘Politically Misread,’ Not Absent, New Survey Finds
Michael Bland has a message for political campaigns: Young Black men aren’t politically checked out. They’re just being ignored. “Black men are not politically absent, they are politically misread,” said Bland, executive director of Black Men Vote, a nonpartisan organization focused on mobilizing Black male voters. That assessment comes from new polling his organization commissioned, […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy, Voting
Black Women Are Turning the Supreme Court Ruling Into a Battle Cry
The flurry of direct attacks on voting rights in the South has thrust voters, candidates, and organizers into a state of chaos and confusion in the midst of an election season. It’s a result of the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, which weakened protections under the Voting Rights Act. It allowed several states, including Alabama, […]
Posted inPartner Content, Politics & Policy
‘It Hurts My Heart’: Black Elders Reflect on Tennessee Plan To Strip Memphis of Power
This story was originally published by MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. Memphis voters braved the rain Tuesday morning to vote in the county primary election. As they headed to the polls, lawmakers returned to the state Capitol for a special session to redraw the state’s congressional districts. State Republicans are expected to eliminate the only Democratic-held seat: Memphis’ District […]
Posted inElections, Partner Content, Politics & Policy, Politics & Policy
Black Memphians Came to Fight a Voter Map That They Say Erases Them
This story was originally published by Tennessee Lookout. Breaking news: Republican lawmakers in Tennessee approved a new U.S. House map Thursday that carves up a majority-Black district in Memphis, reshaping it to the GOP’s advantage as part of President Donald Trump’s strategy to hold on to a slim majority in the November midterm elections. A Tennessee […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Louisiana Exoneree Wins Election, Then Gets Blocked From Taking Office on First Day
Calvin Duncan was supposed to start on May 4 overseeing the criminal court in New Orleans after a federal judge blocked the state from eliminating the position. But less than an hour later, a higher court intervened, halting that decision at the state’s request. Five months after Duncan secured 68% of the vote to become […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
The Black Conservatives Still Riding with Trump
The black GMC Yukon pulled up outside the National Republican Club of Capitol Hill on Wednesday night, blasting a song featuring Nicki Minaj. As the lyrics spilled out, five young Black conservatives, a group of political influencers and rising activists, hurried inside for the Black Americans for Trump Trailblazer Reception. “We had to play MAGAMinaj,” […]