This story was originally published in 2022 and has been updated. Nearly four years ago, a year after the death of George Floyd, corporate sponsors and business poured money and support into celebrating the Juneteenth holiday. They’ve since scaled back its efforts, as the political climate has changed in some parts of the country, and […]
Juneteenth
Posted inCulture, History
Meet the Man Who Created the Juneteenth Flag
This story was part of a special Juneteenth project originally published in 2022 with Vox that explored the ongoing struggle for freedom for Black Americans. As the Juneteenth holiday approaches, you’ll start to see various symbols of Blackness across the country. Front lawns, apartment balconies, and clothing with the pan-African flag, “Black Power” fist, and […]
Posted inEducation, K-12
Why Some Teachers Are – and Aren’t – Teaching Their Students About Juneteenth
A last-minute piece of legislation from the Biden administration made Juneteenth a federal holiday a year ago. The sudden change on June 17, 2021 — two days before the holiday — left many institutions unprepared. But this year, observances of Juneteenth have been seen coast to coast, and many schools have followed suit. The new […]
Posted inMoney, Partner Content
There’s No Freedom Without Reparations
This story is part of a special Juneteenth project with Vox which explores the ongoing struggle for freedom for Black Americans. Born into slavery, Henrietta Wood was legally freed in 1848 in Ohio when she was about 30. She only basked in that freedom for five years. In 1853, a white sheriff empowered by the […]
Posted inPartner Content, Politics & Policy
Democracy in America Is a Rigged Game
This story is part of a special Juneteenth project with Vox which explores the ongoing struggle for freedom for Black Americans. For six years, at the height of Southern leaders’ massive resistance to desegregation, Derrick Bell held one of the most harrowing jobs in the legal profession. From 1960 to 1966, as an attorney with […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Incarceration
The Land of the Free Leads the World in Incarceration. Why?
This story is part of a special Juneteenth project with Vox which explores the ongoing struggle for freedom for Black Americans. When Sylvester Shockley was 9 years old, he says he was arrested for breaking into businesses and sent to an “all-boys reform school” — what he later realized was a detention center for “juvenile delinquents.” […]