In a sort of rites of passage, members of the Congressional Black Caucus set the tone for the remainder of today’s Emerging Leaders Series sessions during the National Town Hall by urging us to take an active stand against the injustices we face today. Young people were applauded for attending and for taking the early steps in continuing the legacy of our forefathers.
Category Archives: Current and Historical Events
44th Annual Legislative Conference Highlights – Sept. 25
Speaking to a standing room only crowd during the 2014 Emerging Leaders Town Hall, Songstress and Activist Ledisi stated emphatically, “We have to tap into our collective power.” This sentiment perfectly summarizes the energy emanating and overflow of a call to action from every session I have participated in thus far as I walked the halls of the Walter E. Washington Convention Center during this week’s 44th Annual Legislative Conference.
What Would I Say if I Were Janay (Rice)?
For the last several weeks like much of the world, I have witnessed what has happened and is happening in, with and to the NFL. While many think and believe that the image of the league is or should be the primary concern, it is not. Nor can it be. What brought it to the attention of most of us to begin with is the overlooked and “fumbled” subject of domestic violence. While the image of the National Football League is important to many, I am more committed to what has been eclipsed by the preservation of its image. That is the story of Janay Rice. In an effort to offer a different perspective, below is a “would be” conversation I would have with myself if I were Mrs. Janay Rice. After all, it is worth the introspection.
A Tale of Two Elevators: Mind Your Business…Maaaan
Two elevators, two incidents, two marriages, one heap of public scrutiny. Do we as the public only support marriages if they purport to match our idea of what a “healthy” marriage looks like—publicly? After the Met Gala earlier this year, footage was leaked showing an out of control Solange physically attacking Jay-Z, her sister’s husband. From what we saw, both Jay and Beyonce maintained composure, as security for the couple subdued Solange. The group emerged from the elevator to awaiting paparazzi and until the video leaked no one was the wiser about the melee that occurred mere moments prior.
Talking With Your Children About Ferguson and Mike Brown
While the world has watched the events in Ferguson unfold, one of the questions many parents are struggling with is, “How do I talk with my children about what happened in Ferguson?” During a conversation with Chad Dion Lassiter, MSW, a professor of race relations and president of Black Men at Penn School of Social Work Inc., he offers the following tips for how to address the events of Ferguson and Mike Brown’s death.
Is Ferguson, Missouri Today’s Selma?
Since the death of Michael Brown by Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson on August 19, another African American man, Kajieme Powell, was killed by Ferguson police only days later. This time the alleged crime was stealing juice and pastries from a convenience store. Powell, described by police officers and witnesses as brandishing a knife and behaving erratically, was shot by police and died at the scene. Powell was not holding a firearm and yet his behavior was enough to make two police officers, with loaded guns, believe their lives were threatened.
Considering Black Women at the Intersection of Race, Gender and State Violence
The unfortunate death of Mike Brown has resurfaced a growing frustration with the mistreatment of people of color, especially African Americans, by law enforcement. Mike Brown’s lifeless body lying on the street in Ferguson, Missouri seems as the crucible moment in the contemporary, yet enduring, appeal for dignity of African Americans. The fatal result of a meeting between Mike Brown and officer Darren Wilson encapsulates the recurring reality that African Americans are overwhelmingly affected by state violence. Growing criticisms of police department’s lack of diversity, transparency and accountability casually produces a disparity of African American victims of injustices. Among the roster of victims we uplift Aiyana Jones, Tarika Wilson, Kathryn Johnson, and Rekia Boyd as black women affected by police mistreatment.
Speaking Truth to Power in a Time of Tragedy
As a junior in college, I changed my major from business to journalism because of my love of writing. That love of writing became a professional passion because of the transcendent words of a powerful black woman who many scholars credit with creating the field of investigative journalism.
Ida B. Wells-Barnett was described as a petite woman who towered over her peers in light of her courage, her reporting and her comfort in speaking truth to power.
Michael Brown: Addressing the Root of Historical Parallels and Patterns
Johnny Robinson, Oscar Grant, Sean Bell, and now Michael Brown. Fifty years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the monumental legislation intended to outlaw discrimination and segregation based on race, America has yet to live up to its promises. Fifty years later, race can and will be used against a black man walking the streets of his own country. Fifty years later, the black experience of two seemingly different generations are beyond paralleled and are indeed associated by more than genealogy.
Gun Violence: Millennials Deserve Peace
“I don’t feel like, as a resident in an apartment complex, you should be paying basically for your grave site,” he said. “You shouldn’t be paying to be killed or murdered in your own house.”
Brave words from 19-year-old Ravon Jordan who, last July, found the courage, to address the Fayetteville, North Carolina City Council on behalf of his best friend, Shaniqua Simmons. Simmons and her boyfriend were gunned down in a local apartment complex, the Cambridge Arms. Their deaths marked the second double homicide at the 694-unit complex since January, 2014. Jordan’s view was that the complex should be shut down.