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Security Officials Testify to Senate That Violent Capitol Insurrection Was Unforeseeable, Blame Breakdown in Intelligence
At a Senate hearing on Tuesday, the former chief of Capitol Police, Steven Sund, stridently denied that the violent takeover of the U.S. Capitol by white supremacists on Jan. 6 was able to happen because of poor planning by security officials. In his testimony at the Senate’s joint oversight hearing into security failures related to…
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COVID Death Toll in America Tops 500,000, Black Americans and Other Communities of Color Still Have Highest Rates of Loss
On Monday, the U.S. marked nearly a year since the ongoing coronavirus pandemic arrived on our shores by reaching a horrid milestone: 500,000 Americans dead from the virus. According to the New York Times, this surpasses the number of Americans who died in World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War combined. President…
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We Sure Aren’t Living in a Post-Racial World: U.N. Head Says White Supremacy a ‘Transnational Threat’
America exports a whole lot of its culture to the rest of the globe—music, movies, ways of dress, slang. This country’s addiction to white supremacy is also known across the world, but the U.S. isn’t the only nation to have embraced the hideous ideology throughout history or—more critically—to be driving it forward today. That’s according…
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Letter From Deceased Black Cop Implicates FBI and NYPD in Malcolm X’s Death; Daughters of Icon Call for Investigation
More than 50 years after Malcolm X was assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in New York at the hands of members of the Nation of Islam, new information about the role FBI and the NYPD played in the targeting of the Black nationalist leader has emerged. This weekend, which marked the 56th anniversary of X’s…
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28 Days of Black Joy: Black Sisterhood
Mara Brock Akil’s iconic Girlfriends came back into our lives via Netflix last year, but though binge-watching the series (and many others) helped me make it through the mess that was 2020, my real life posse of Black women was even more integral. As I write this, I’m sitting in a cabin in the far…
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6 Capitol Officers Suspended (With Pay) for Behavior During Jan. 6 Insurrection; 29 More Under Investigation
While the behavior of many of the police officers who faced the enormous mob of Trump supporters and QAnon adherents at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 has been lauded—cops like Eugene Goodman, the Black Capitol officer credited with leading the violent insurgents away from the Senate chambers—it’s hard to forget the images of some…
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Democrats Introduce Sweeping Immigration Legislation, Offering 3 to 8 Year Path to Citizenship for Undocumented Immigrants
Congressional Democrats are moving forward with the campaign promise of overhauling America’s problematic and oft-maligned immigration system. On Thursday, Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.) and Sen. Bob Menendez (D-Pa.) introduced the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, a measure that would provide the nation’s 11 million undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship. At least 619,000 undocumented Black…
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Black People in America Have Lost Nearly 3 Years of Life Expectancy Since the Pandemic
Here’s the latest bad news coming out of the horrid COVID-19 pandemic: Black Americans have lost nearly three years of life expectancy due to the disproportionate impact the virus has had on our communities, along with other factors. The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), revealed the sobering information on Thursday in a release of…
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Alicia Garza and Black to the Future Action Fund on What Democrats Owe Black Voters
Black organizers are leveraging the powerful showing of Black voters in the last election to call on President Biden and Democrat lawmakers to move forward on “bold, innovative” solutions to address the many crises facing a community of people who helped secure pivotal wins for the party in 2020. Black to the Future Action Fund,…
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Black McDonald's Franchise Owner Files Lawsuit Accusing Company of Discrimination
According to Herbert Washington, a former Oakland Athletics player and current owner of 14 McDonald’s franchises, the fast-food company known for its golden arches is limiting the ability of Black owners like himself to profitably operate their restaurants. Washington made the allegation in a civil rights lawsuit he filed against the food service juggernaut on…