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Erica Garner Posthumously Wins Shorty Award for Social Media Activism
Erica Garner—activist, organizer, writer, comrade, sister, mother and daughter—is the recipient of the 2018 Shorty Award for social media activism. Reggie Harris, Garner’s friend, business partner and political adviser, accepted the award on her behalf. As The Root previously reported, Erica Garner died Dec. 30, one week after suffering a heart attack brought on by…
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Episode 9: ‘We’ve Gotta March Again.’ Sanitation Workers Remember Martin Luther King Jr.’s Last Battle Cry
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. returned to Memphis, Tenn., on April 3, 1968, one day after the funeral of Larry Payne—the 16-year-old boy killed by Memphis Police Officer Leslie Dean Jones. King was exhausted and battling deep depression, the kind that makes it difficult to get out of bed. He was tired of…
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Episode 8: Memphis Police Officer Guns Down 16-Year-Old #LarryPayne as Sanitation Strike Continues
Memphis, Tenn., exploded into chaos on March 28, 1968, as militarized police officers—armed with rifles, tear gas, billy clubs and the full authority of the state—terrorized black protesters who were out in full force to support Memphis sanitation strikers. It was amid this violent siege that Memphis Police Officer Leslie Dean Jones stuck a shotgun…
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Officer Blane Salamoni, Alton Sterling’s Killer, Has Been Fired
Blane Salamoni—the Baton Rouge, La., police officer who killed 37-year-old Alton Sterling on July 5, 2016—has been fired, Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul announced Friday. “These [police officers’] actions were not minor deviations from policy, as they contributed to the outcome that resulted in the death of another human being,” Paul said. Officer Howie…
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Episode 7: Police Officers Terrorize Black Memphis During MLK’s Final March
After speaking to a rapt crowd on March 18, 1968, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. returned to Memphis, Tenn., as promised, to march in solidarity with Memphis sanitation strikers. The date was March 28, 1968—50 years ago today—King’s first and only march in Memphis and the last march of his all-too-brief life. He would…
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#AltonSterling: Officers Attempted ‘Lawful Arrest,’ Says Louisiana Attorney General; No Criminal Charges Will Be Filed
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry announced Tuesday morning that two Baton Rouge police officers will not face any charges in the July 2016 state-sanctioned shooting death of Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old father of five who was selling CDs in front of a Baton Rouge convenience store when he was gunned down by Officer Blane Salamoni,…
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Episode 6: The Memphis Sanitation Strike From the Wives’ Perspective
During the 1968 Memphis, Tenn., sanitation strike, there were no signs that read “I am a woman” or “I am a wife” or “I am a mother.” The wives of sanitation strikers were given no awards for their tireless contributions to the struggle, but they should have been. Sanitation strikers consulted with their wives before…
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Where Can Black Children Walk Out to Safety?
To the black students who walked out of schools across the country yesterday: We see you. We watched as you stood there, brown skin shining, braids swinging, voices booming, taking charge and walking in the revolutionary tradition of your ancestors. We saw the fire in your eyes. We felt it burning. Hold on to it.…
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Episode 5: Children of the Memphis Sanitation Strike Share Their Stories
For the children of the Memphis, Tenn., sanitation strikers, the sounds, sights and smells of revolution, capitalism and white supremacy settled deep into their bones like the heaviest blues song, the kind that haunts and heals. Their childhood experiences were molded and shaped by fathers who struggled to provide for their families while also throwing…
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Pain and Policy: Why Reparative Justice Is Needed to End the War on Drugs [Retracted]
RETRACTED (6/12/18): This story has been removed because we have discovered it was in breach of our editorial standards. If you’d like to know more, you can read an editor’s note here. A cached version of the story is available here for transparency.
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
