Stevie Wonder’s new album, Hotter Than July, had been burning up the charts for months by Jan. 15, 1981. But something bigger than music was on the artist’s mind that day. Along with other Black cultural giants, the 30-year-old was leading a rally of approximately 100,000 people on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Years […]
civil rights
Posted inNews
Claudette Colvin, Whose Defiance Helped End Bus Segregation, Dies at 86
Nearly 10 months before Rosa Parks’s famous act of defiance, a 15-year-old Black girl named Claudette Colvin had already refused to surrender her seat on a segregated bus on March 2, 1955. Even as the police arrived, the high school student refused to move, holding her ground. “History had me glued to the seat,” Colvin […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics & Policy
From Fighting the Klan to Fighting DEI: The Justice Department’s Shift on Civil Rights
WASHINGTON — Consent decrees meant to hold police departments accountable for misconduct have been dismantled in several cities. Voting rights cases have been thrown out and replaced with investigations into alleged voter fraud. Civil rights laws have been used to roll back diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. The Justice Department under Attorney General Pam Bondi […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Black Students, Workers Hit in Trump’s Speech Crackdown
A Black student was expelled from Texas Tech University. Another was disenrolled from Texas State University. A Black fire chief in Cleveland, Ohio, was placed on paid leave. In the days since the killing of the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, numerous stories have surfaced of people getting kicked out of school or losing their jobs […]
Posted inEducation, Federal Overhaul, Politics & Policy
Shuttering Civil Rights Offices Could Affect Students’ Ability to Address Discrimination
Federal Overhaul is a multipart series that explores the impact of the Trump administration’s restructuring of the federal government on Black communities. Black teenager Ja’Liyah Celestine said that last year at her Texas high school, an officer pepper-sprayed her, grabbed her by hair, and kneed her in her face. A federal civil rights complaint was […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
DOJ Under Trump Shuts Down Police Reform Cases Sparked by Floyd, Taylor Deaths
Just days before the fifth anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, the Justice Department said they will dismiss police investigations launched during former President Joe Biden’s administration. Harmeet Dhillon, the leader of the department’s Civil Rights Division, announced Wednesday plans to withdraw pending federal lawsuits against police departments in Louisville, Kentucky, following the death of Breonna […]
Posted inFederal Overhaul, Politics & Policy
Can D.C. Keep Its Local Power? Residents Stand Up Against Federal Takeover.
Federal Overhaul is a multipart series that explores the impact of the Trump administration’s restructuring of the federal government on Black communities. WASHINGTON — For most of 61-year-old Jocelyn Frye’s life, her hometown of Washington was majority Black. As a child, she was keenly aware of how some white lawmakers would disparage D.C. and assert that […]
Posted inFederal Overhaul, Politics & Policy, The Workplace
The Trump Administration Is Leaving Federal Workers Vulnerable to Discrimination
Federal Overhaul is a multipart series that explores the impact of the Trump administration’s restructuring of the federal government on Black communities. “Overbearing.” “Intimidating.” “Aggressive.” Oscar Hampton, a Black former attorney at the U.S. Department of Labor, claimed in a federal district court complaint filed in 2023 that this was the language that white attorneys at […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Anti-DEI Assault Gains Momentum Under New DOJ Leadership
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi is bringing the U.S. Department of Justice in line with President Donald Trump’s platform, as she continues the administration’s anti-diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility purge and appears to reverse the pro-civil rights agenda of her predecessor. On Wednesday — her first day in office — she issued a litany of […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
What a Second Trump Presidency Could Mean for Pending DOJ Investigations
The clock is ticking for the Justice Department and federal prosecutors trying to resolve civil rights investigations and complaints against law enforcement agencies accused of mistreating Black and brown communities. This form of accountability can produce a court-ordered agreement — a consent decree — to enforce departments to overhaul their policing practices that Black Americans […]