A new report released on Wednesday by the National Women’s Law Center found that the racial breakdown of the student body in D.C. schools directly correlates with the strictness in dress code policy and that D.C. charter schools have twice the number of restrictions as that of public schools and suspend girls for dress code […]
New York City Police Commissioner Fires Officer Who Put Eric Garner in Chokehold
The New York City Police Department announced Monday that it will be firing Daniel Pantaleo, the officer responsible for the chokehold that led to the 2014 death of Eric Garner which prompted protests against police brutality across the country. Pantaleo was fired two weeks after a disciplinary trial in which the presiding judge made a […]
White Male University Of Mississippi Students Posed with Guns in Front of Emmett Till Sign
***Warning: graphic topics of violence and racism*** On July 25, 2019 ProPublica unveiled an Instagram photo posted of three young white men in front of Emmett Till’s sign commemorating his brutal death and the ignition of the Civil Rights Movement. The students were suspended on Wednesday from their fraternity, Kappa Alpha, a historically racist institution, […]
Four Democratic Congresswomen Call Trump’s Racist Tweets a Distraction
Yesterday, four democratic congresswomen of color held a joint press conference to address a series of racist tweets made by President Trump in which he called for the women to “go back” to the countries they came from. The four women, Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib, condemned his words as […]
Black Teenager Murdered for Playing Rap Music
The hashtag “#JusticeforElijah” has been trending across social media platforms following the murder of the 17 year old black teenager Elijah Al-Amin by 27 year old Michael Adams, a white man, at a Circle K in Peoria, Arizona. Adams remains in jail for pre-meditated murder and is being held on a $1 million bond, but […]
Elizabeth Lederer Resigns from Columbia Law Following Release of “When They See Us”
On Wednesday evening Elizabeth Lederer, a Columbia law professor known for her involvement as a prosecutor in the Central Park Five case, resigned from her position on Columbia’s faculty, citing the resurgence of publicity surrounding the case due to the Netflix limited series “When They See Us,” which portrayed Lederer as an aggressive prosecutor who […]
“Empire” Star Jussie Smollett Attacked in ‘Possible’ Hate Crime
Jussie Smollett, a black and openly gay actor, released a statement this morning after he was attacked while walking down the street in Chicago by two masked assailants that allegedly yelled racist and homophobic slurs while pouring a chemical substance, believed to be bleach, on him and tying a noose around his neck; this was […]
50th Anniversary of Shirley Chisholm’s Election
Today is the 50th anniversary of Shirley Chisholm’s election to Congress as the first African American woman. Chisholm represented Brooklyn, New York in a district that was newly reapportioned and was majority African American and Hispanic. She served seven terms in Congress and ran for president. Shirley Chisholm was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1924 […]
Black Women Demand More on Equal Pay Day
This year, Black Women’s Equal Pay Day is August 7, the point into 2018 that black women must work on average to earn the same amount that white men earned in 2017 alone. That’s over 8 months of labor. Black women are paid 63 cents to every dollar that white men earn. When compared to white men, black women earn 38 percent less, and they earn 21 percent less than white women.
Trump Administration Attacks Affirmative Action Admission Policies
The Trump administration will encourage schools to implement race-blind admissions policies, a reversal from an Obama-era guidance. Under the Obama Administration, the Education Department’s civil rights division issued seven guidance documents urging schools to consider race during admissions when attempting to diversify student bodies. The Justice Department plans to scrap these guidance efforts.
Activists Observe Inaugural Black Maternal Health Week
On April 11, the Black Mama’s Matter Alliance launched the inaugural Black Maternal Health Week (April 11-17) to promote awareness about the high mortality rate for Black mothers in the United States. According to the Black Mama’s Matter Alliance, the events of the inaugural Black Maternal Health Week “serve to amplify the voices of Black mamas […]
Linda Brown, Icon of School Desegregation, Dies at 75
Linda Brown, who as a child was at the center of the historical Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, died on Sunday in Topeka, Kansas at the age of 75.
Civil Rights Icon Recy Taylor Dies at 97
Recy Taylor, a civil rights icon who was one of many black women victimized with impunity in the Jim Crow Era, died in her sleep at a nursing home in Abbeville, Alabama on December 28, 2017, just three days before her 98th birthday.
White Supremacists Hold Another Hate Filled Rally in Charlottesville, VA
On Saturday, white supremacist leader Richard Spencer held another torch lit rally in Charlottesville, Virginia where neo-Nazis and white supremacists held the “Unite the Right” rally that turned deadly in August.
March for Black Women Draws Attention to Intersectional Injustices
Last weekend, two marches aiming to bring attention to racial injustices occurred in the nation’s capital–the March for Racial Justice and the March for Black Women. The two marches began at different starting points and then met at Lincoln Park before marching together to the Justice Department and the National Mall.
Remembering the Little Rock Nine
Although it has been 60 years since the Little Rock Nine entered Central High School, civil rights are still under attack.
Prominent North Carolina Civil Rights Center Banned from Engaging in Civil Rights Litigation
In a 24-3 vote last week, the University of North Carolina Board of Governors (BOG), which determines the rules and regulations for the University of North Carolina (UNC) system, barred the UNC Chapel Hill School of Law’s Center for Civil Rights from engaging in civil rights litigation for minority and low-income communities. The UNC Center […]
Trump Pardons Notorious Arizona Sheriff Despite Widespread Outrage
Last week, President Trump issued an executive pardon for former Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio, a notorious Arizona official who abused his position to unconstitutionally racially target and detain individuals he suspected of being in the country without proper documentation.
US District Court Strikes Down Texas’s Revised Voter ID Law
United States District Judge Nelva Gonzalez Ramos handed down a decision to strike down Texas’s revised voter ID law (Senate Bill 5) on the basis that it continues to discriminate against African American and Latino voters. Judge Gonzalez Ramos issued a 27 page decision on the 23rd of August stating that the voter ID law violates the Voting Rights Act and is unconstitutional.
President Trump Disappoints the Country, Comparing Neo-Nazis to Those Who Oppose Them
While the majority of Americans were deeply disturbed by the riot in Charlottesville, Virginia, many considered President Trump’s response to be equally as troubling after he made shameful comments that were widely seen as siding with the white supremacists against the counter protesters, and exacerbating the already deep racial tension in America.
