On the Hill Police Race

House Passes Police Reform Bill in Honor of George Floyd

On Wednesday night, the House passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a policing reform bill named for the Black man who was killed in May by a Minneapolis police officer. George Floyd’s murder sparked more than 7,000 demonstrations across the country with communities protesting police violence. The bill seeks to ban chokeholds, end […]

Election Politics Race

Georgia House Passes Voting Restrictions Bill

On Monday, the Georgia House of Representatives passed a bill to enact restrictions on voting. This includes restricting absentee voting in certain cases, cutting back on early voting hours, preventing county elections offices from receiving grant funding directly, shortening the state’s runoff election period, taking away the secretary of state’s role as chair of the […]

Activism Economy Race

Black Lives Matter Launches $3M COVID-19 Survival Fund

Early this month the racial justice organization Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation launched the $3 million Survival Fund, which will provide microgrants to Black individuals and communities who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. The Associated Press reports that organization plans to give out 3,000 microgrants of $1,000 each to “anyone who identifies […]

Health On the Hill Race

Rep. Underwood, Rep. Adams, and Senator Booker Introduce Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act to Address Maternal Mortality

This week, Congresswomen Lauren Underwood and Alma S. Adams and Senator Cory Booker, along with members of the Black Maternal Health Caucus, introduced the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act of 2021. The bill builds on existing legislation to address every dimension of the maternal health crisis in America comprehensively. The purpose of the bill is […]

Climate Change Immigration On the Hill Race

President Biden Issued 17 Executive Orders and Directives on His First Day in Office

Yesterday, within a few hours of his inauguration, President Joe Biden signed 17 directives and executive orders, many of which were aimed at undoing the harm left behind by the Trump administration. At the top of his priority list was racial justice and LGBTQ+ equality actions. Importantly, Biden will end the Trump administration’s 1776 Commission, […]

Activism Race

Pro-Trump Rally Causes Violence in Washington, D.C.

Four people were stabbed in Washington, D.C. this weekend when pro-Trump protesters fought with counterprotesters. Social media videos show that protesters were wearing the colors and insignia of the Proud Boys, a far-right white supremacist organization. Black Lives Matter signs were torn down from two historic Black churches in D.C., and then destroyed by pro-Trump […]

Ms. Magazine Politics Race

As Kamala Harris Becomes Vice President, Feminists Urge Gov. Newsom to #AppointABlackWoman in Her Place

“Our representative democracy is supposed to represent us,” urges a joint letter—part of a recent push from a coalition of notable feminists to convince California Gov. Gavin Newsom to replace Vice President-Elect Harris’s Senate seat with another Black woman. Presently, the number of Black women in the Senate totals just one—Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris. And […]

Election Politics Race

Kamala Harris Becomes First Female VP-Elect in U.S. History

On Saturday, after days of uncertainty, the 2020 election was called for Vice President Joe Biden, making his running mate Senator Kamala Harris the first female, first Black and first South Asian woman to become Vice President-Elect in U.S. history. “So, I’m thinking about her and about the generations of women — Black Women. Asian, […]

Police Race

Family of Breonna Taylor Awarded Settlement by the City of Louisville

Yesterday, the city of Louisville announced a $12 million settlement with the family of Breonna Taylor, as well as some reforms to the Louisville police force. Breonna Taylor was shot to death in March after three police officers erroneously entered her apartment using a “no knock” warrant, which has since been banned by the city […]

Police Race

Police Have Killed 751 People This Year

According to Mapping Police Violence, a database built by Samuel Sinyangwe, there were only 27 days in 2019 that the police did not kill someone. Mapping Police Violence claims to be “the most comprehensive accounting of people killed by police since 2013.” The database highlights the racial disparities in police killings. The data show that […]

Economy Race

Pandemic Puts a Spotlight on Black Women’s Pay Gap

This year, August 13 marks Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, which represents the approximate date into the new year that Black women must work in order to make what the average white non-Hispanic man made the previous year, recognizing the steep wage gap. Unlike other years, however, the date falls in the midst of the […]