Politics
-
Black Lives Matter Responds to Trump’s Acceptance Speech at RNC
Black Lives Matter is blasting Donald Trump’s acceptance speech as Republican presidential nominee, calling it the “most negative acceptance speech in recorded history” and calling Trump himself a “disgrace.” “The terrifying vision that Donald J. Trump is putting forward casts him alongside some of the worst fascists in history,” Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza said…
-
Atlanta Teen Who Wrote 'White Boy Privilege' Addresses Police Brutality in New Poem
An Atlanta 14-year-old who called out “White Boy Privilege” at a slam-poetry contest at his school in May is now taking up the heavy topic of police brutality, set to debut his latest slam poem Thursday, CNN reports. Royce Mann will be featured in a segment of the Fox talk show The Preachers, which is scheduled to air…
-
Keep America Safe Again: A Black Person’s Guide to Safety, Space and Activism at the RNC
“Be safe.” “Stay safe, brother.” “Be safe, praying for you.” These are the paraphrases of just about every text, Facebook post and social media DM I’ve received since spreading the word that I was headed to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this week. The absolute palpable fear on the part of black people I…
-
A$AP Rocky Is Right; He Should Stick to Fashion and Drugs. Police Brutality and Racism Are Not His Forte
Like many celebrities who wrongly employ the phrase as a means of evading responsibility for their actions, A$AP Rocky doesn’t seem to know exactly what “taken out of context” means. There are not many ways to interpret, “What the f—k am I, Al Sharpton now? I’m A$AP Rocky. I did not sign up to be…
-
In ’Murica News: RNC’s 5 Worst Moments So Far
On Tuesday, Donald Trump—once known for his famous catchphrase “You’re fired!”—has officially been crowned the Republican nominee for the 2016 presidential race. Considering the “Make America great again” rhetoric that emanated across this country, this came as no surprise (despite the most clear discord since the 1970s). What has also come as no surprise is…
-
NM Restaurant's 'Black Olives Matter' Billboard Sparks Outrage
“Black Olives Matter.” That’s what the sign outside Paisano’s Italian restaurant in Albuquerque, N.M., proclaimed last week as it promoted its tapenade, a dish that features black olives. Needless to say, the pun was not met with as many smiles as the restaurant might have hoped, instead, drawing huge backlash from social media, KOB reports. According…
-
Wis. Sheriff to RNC Crowd: Black Lives Matter Is ‘Anarchy’
Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke continued his ongoing notoriety as an outspoken black cop against the Black Lives Movement at the Republican National Convention. On Monday he drew raucous applause after he celebrated the acquittal of one of the officers accused in Freddie Gray’s death. “There is some good news out of Baltimore, Maryland, as…
-
America, Bye: Why Black America Is Leaving While Staying Put
I was a grad student at the UCLA film school, getting my MFA in screenwriting, when a consumer-trends company asked me to work for them. Why did they want me? Well, they advised major corporations on how to best situate their products for the African-American consumer market, and in order to do that effectively, the…
-
How to Go From #BlackLivesMatter to #BlackPolicyMatters
How do we go from #BlackLivesMatter to changing the policies that devalue black life? This moment feels both full of possibility and also in danger of going unfulfilled. Folks across the political spectrum are finally confronting the issue of police violence, but there’s little consensus about how to fix it. Organizations like Campaign Zero are…