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Finding Black Joy in Times of Crisis
The other week, I cried. For some, shedding tears in times of chaos and terror seems quite normal. Anticipated, even. To me, it felt strange. I am a black woman. As a journalist and a ‘student of the game,’ I am keenly aware of the systems of racism that—from this country’s inception—were created to oppress…
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The Good, the Bad and the Traumatic: Reevaluating the Role of Sharing Black Death on Social Media
“I think the mainstream media is addicted to trauma porn when it concerns black people…Those horrific images that we have of the Twin Towers falling to the ground are all we remember about 9/11. In cases where we think about mass shootings that predominantly affect white communities such as Sandy Hook, we don’t have pictures…
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Reimagining Blackness: Remembering the Fullness of Malcolm X's Revolutionary Life
“Malcolm X, his legacy, is this idea that blackness is a positive, complex, richly glorious tradition to be a part of. That it was a responsibility and not a burden….Malcolm is the activist who allowed us to love ourselves. And that means black women. That means black men. That means black children. That means black…
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Big Ballerina Energy: Misty Copeland Talks 'Swans for Relief' and 80 Years of American Ballet Theatre
“Whenever we’re in times like this, of tragedy, it’s such a natural thing. We’re human beings that gravitate towards dance and music because it’s healing.” — Misty Copeland, Principal Dancer, American Ballet Theatre text Misty Copeland, who became American Ballet Theatre’s first African-American principal dancer in 2015, is still putting in work. Most recently, Copeland’s…
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More Than 3/5: Stacey Abrams' Nonprofit Wants to Make Sure Black Men Aren't Left Out of the 2020 Census
“In Georgia alone, 67,000 black men are estimated to be undercounted....That funding is not lost from the federal government—the federal government just keeps that money. That just means that money goes to another community or another state or another city or another county.” — Ed Reed, Program Director, Fair Count text When it comes to…
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They Need Us: MSNBC’s Trymaine Lee on Black Journalists and Holding America to Its Ideals
“They need us. They need us as black journalists. They need us as journalists. They need us to push and push to tell the truth, because as we know, there are powers and influences in this country that would rather the truth not be told.” —Trymaine Lee, MSNBC correspondent text Pulitzer Prize and Emmy Award-winning…
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When Paranoia Goes Wrong: Unpacking COVID-19 and Conspiracy Theories in the Black Community
“Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you.” — Professor Patricia A. Turner text Let’s talk about conspiracy theories. As COVID-19 cripples the world, so spreads some pretty outlandish ideas about the virus—its origin, who’s it set out to target and its mode of transmission. These beliefs are unproven, caused by…
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Locked in the House (Like the Rest of Us)? Here Are Five Ways to Stay Civically Engaged
“Now, more than ever, your leadership is so necessary. Do not abandon your responsibilities and your role to be a leader in your community, just because we’re in the house. It just requires us to pivot and use different tools and resources to then move our community forward.” —Tiffany D. Loftin, director of the NAACP…
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The 'Forgotten Population': Yusef Salaam Speaks Out About COVID-19 and the Prison Industrial Complex
“There’s going to be a more serious health crisis as it relates to the prison industrial complex and a prison population. Whatever we are seeing in the world is going to be times ten—it’s going to be magnified in the prison industrial complex.” —Yusef Salaam, Ph.D. text In the state of New York alone, there…
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The 2020 Census Is Critical for Black People. Here's Why We Need to 'Make Black Count'
“People are aware of the power of the numbers and they also are aware that this country is with every tick of the clock, is becoming browner and browner. So there’s this death grip really on the status quo and the whiteness of America that is fading and disappearing with every tick up the clock.”…
