This week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a sweeping voting rights act designed to combat nationwide state level voting restrictions proposed by Republican lawmakers in the wake of the 2020 election. The For the People Act, more commonly known as H.R. 1, would expand voting rights, overhaul campaign finance rules, and reform redistricting laws. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
Protests Occur in Philadelphia & DC Over the Police Murders of Walter Wallace and Karon Hylton
On Monday, Walter Wallace, a 27-year-old Black man, was shot and killed by police in West Philadelphia. Last Friday, Karon Hylton, a 20-year-old Black man, was killed in a moped crash while being chased by police. These murders come in the context of many others killed – George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Jacob Blake. A […]
The Ex-Police Officer Responsible for George Floyd’s Death Gets Released on Bail
Former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin, facing charges of murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd on May 25, was released from jail on bail yesterday. He was released after posting a $1 million bond, and soon after, protestors in Minneapolis took to the streets. Hundreds of protestors were present at both E […]
Grand Jury Fails to Charge Officers Responsible for Breonna Taylor’s Murder
On September 23, a decision was made by a grand jury concerning the murder of Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old Black woman from Louisville, KY who was killed in her home in March of this year. Out of the three officers present at her murder, only one – Brett Hankison – was charged. Hankison was charged […]
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 […]
D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department shot and killed 18-year-old Deon Kay
On Wednesday, September 2, Metropolitan Police Department Officer Alexander Alvarez shot and killed 18-year old Deon Kay, who is Black, in Southeast DC. The police department released body camera video recording showing the aftermath of the shooting. The footage shows an officer exiting his police car and approaching a parked car in the parking lot […]
57 Years Later, Thousands Protest Against Racial Injustice at 2020 March on Washington
Exactly 57 years after the first March on Washington and 65 years after the murder of Emmett Till, demonstrators are coming together once more to protest against police brutality and racial discrimination. A march continuing the unfinished work of its predecessor has been convened today by the Reverend Al Sharpton and the National Action Network […]
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 […]
Jacob Blake Shot in Back Multiple Times by Police in Kenosha, Wisconsin
Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old unarmed Black man, was shot in the back by police seemingly 7 times on Sunday afternoon in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Witnesses report that Blake was helping break up a fight and that police attempted to taser him after responding to a domestic disturbance call. In a Twitter video, Blake can be seen […]
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 […]
Kamala Harris Becomes Historic Democratic Vice Presidential Candidate
On Tuesday presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden announced his running mate – Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA). In doing so, Sen. Harris has become the first Black woman and first South Asian American woman to be the vice-presidential nominee of a major political party. If elected, Sen. Harris would become the first female, first Black, […]
Seattle Police Chief Resigns Following City Council’s Vote to Defund the Police
Police Chief Carmen Best announced plans to retire Monday night, shortly after the Seattle City Council voted to cut the city’s police department budget by less than 1% after months of protests demanding that the city defund the police. By a vote of 7-1, the council approved mid-year budget cut would reduce the police department’s […]
