Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude

Criminal Justice

Criminal Justice, News, Social Justice

Marian Wright Edelman to Step Down as President of Children’s Defense Fund

There are few people alive today whose names are as synonymous with social justice—especially for the most vulnerable among us—as Marian Wright Edelman. Now, the children’s rights advocate who founded the Children’s Defense Fund will be stepping down as president, a role she held for 45 years. In a statement released this morning, the CDF…

By

Anne Branigin

Published

November 14, 2018
Criminal Justice, News, Social Justice

California Is Using Slave Labor to Fight the Wildfires

“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction” — The 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America text Yesterday, I vacuumed the stairs. There was a time…

By

Michael Harriot

Published

November 13, 2018
Criminal Justice, News, Social Justice

Why They Kneel: New York, San Francisco and How To Colonize a City in 5 Easy Steps

To examine the injustice and inequality that prompted some NFL players to protest during the national anthem, each week, for the remainder of the NFL season, The Root will explore the data behind racial disparities in the two cities represented in the National Football League’s premiere matchup—Monday Night Football. Tonight, the New York Giants travel…

By

Michael Harriot

Published

November 12, 2018
Criminal Justice, News, Social Justice

Founder of the First Ever MLK Day Parade Is Laid to Rest

On Saturday, the funeral for civil rights activist Ovide Duncantell was held at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in Houston, Texas. He was 82. As the founder of the first ever Martin Luther King, Jr. Parade in the country, as well as Houston’s Black Heritage Society, Duncantell dedicated his life to advocacy and activism within the…

By

Jay Connor

Published

November 11, 2018
Criminal Justice, News, Social Justice

Floridians May Not Have Elected Andrew Gillum but Did Vote to Restore Voting Rights to Over 1 Million Ex-Felons

Much to our eternal chagrin, Floridians did not elect Andrew Gillum as governor of their deservedly designated simple-minded (and often repressive) state. However, on Election Day, they did vote “yes” on Amendment 4, a citizen-proposed ballot initiative that will enable more than one million ex-felons to regain their voting rights, potentially changing the political landscape…

By

Angela Helm

Published

November 7, 2018
Criminal Justice, News, Social Justice

Why They Kneel: Cowboys vs. Titans Proves Why Supporting Black Business Is Supporting Black Lives

To examine the injustice and inequality that prompted some NFL players to protest during the national anthem, each week, for the remainder of the NFL season, The Root will explore the data behind racial disparities in the two cities represented in the National Football League’s premiere matchup—Monday Night Football. Tonight, the Tennessee Titans travel to…

By

Michael Harriot

Published

November 5, 2018
Crime, Criminal Justice, News

Former Rutgers Football Player Charged In Murder Plot He Allegedly Confessed To

This story is just weird. Know that up front. Izala Bullock is a 22-year-old former linebacker for Rutgers University. On Tuesday, he was charged with two-counts of first-degree attempted murder and two counts of first-degree conspiracy to commit murder after police and prosecutors say he “initiated a plot to murder the family members of an…

By

Monique Judge

Published

November 1, 2018
Crime, Criminal Justice, News

New Developments in the Death of Lyric McHenry Lead to an Arrest

Lyric McHenry was celebrating her 26th birthday when she left her party at New York City’s Dream Hotel without saying a word to the gathered guests. Early the next morning, on August 14, she was found dead on an overpass above the Major Deegan Expressway in the Highbridge area of the Bronx with “scraped knees…

By

Maiysha Kai

Published

November 1, 2018
Criminal Justice, News, Social Justice

Why They Kneel: Boston, Buffalo and That Pesky N-Word

To examine the injustice and inequality that prompted some NFL players to protest during the national anthem, each week, for the remainder of the NFL season, The Root will explore the data behind racial disparities in the two cities represented in the National Football League’s premiere matchup—Monday Night Football. Tonight, the New England Patriots travel…

By

Michael Harriot

Published

October 29, 2018
Crime, Criminal Justice, News

‘Whites Don’t Shoot Whites,’ Said Alleged Kroger Shooter Who Killed 2 Black People

A man who walked into a Louisville, Ky., area Kroger supermarket Wednesday afternoon and opened fire on unsuspecting shoppers, killing two people, reportedly told a man outside that he didn’t have to worry about being shot because “whites don’t shoot whites.” Gregory Alan Bush, a 51-year-old white man, was arrested and charged with two counts…

By

Monique Judge

Published

October 25, 2018