national action network
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White House to Host George Floyd's Family on Anniversary of His Death, but Will Miss Floyd Police Reform Bill Deadline
This Tuesday will mark the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s death. Two things were supposed to happen on or by that date: Floyd’s family was to be hosted at the White House, and a federal police reform bill named for Floyd was supposed to be on President Joe Biden’s desk. Unfortunately, it looks like only…
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How This Week's March on Washington Has Adjusted Its Political and Social Justice Goals to the Coronavirus
On Friday, activists from across the country will commemorate the anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington with another demonstration in the nation’s capital, this time centering the victims of state-enabled violence. With police brutality and racial justice issues commanding an unprecedented amount of political and social energy—and with greater support for criminal justice reform…
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For the Love of God: Rev. Al Sharpton Urges Religious Leaders to Take Easter and Holy Week Services Offline
With churches and pastors coming under fire for defying shelter-in-place mandates for holding religious services—two pastors were arrested in the last week—civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton called on the heads of the country’s largest historically black religious institutions and other faith leaders to halt services. This is usually a busy time of year for…
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Full Circle: The Exonerated Five’s Korey Wise Moves Into Luxury Condo Overlooking Central Park
For 30 years, New York City’s Central Park has served as the origin of unspeakable anguish for Korey Wise, Raymond Santana, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, and Yusef Salaam—more commonly known as the Central Park Five but now known as the Exonerated Five. But in an unexpected full circle moment, it would appear that Wise has…
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'Stacey Abrams Won That Election': Eric Holder Stays Ready to Scrap Against Anti-Democratic Principles
Eric Holder has been one of the most consistent Democratic operatives in the last two decades. And by operative, we don’t mean the stereotypical, smarmy, back-of-the-room dealmaker and fixer (see Donald Trump’s inner circle), we mean repping Democratic principles and getting in the mix when those principles are threatened, most notably as the first African-American…
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United by Death, Mothers of the Movement Breathes New Life Into Political Agendas
In front of a packed ballroom, Tiffany Crutcher reached into her purse and pulled out a stapled letter, folded and refolded many times over. The letter was from the Department of Justice—only a handful of families in the country have ever received such correspondence from the government. But for the Mothers of the Movement panel…
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Sen. Cory Booker Blames Low Voter Turnout for Republican Victories
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story, which was based on reporting from The Guardian, stated that Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) blamed low African-American voter turnout for Donald Trump’s presidency. This post has been updated to note that Booker was referring to low overall voter turnout in the 2009 gubernatorial race that propelled Chris…
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Bernie Sanders Spoke to a Crowd of Black Folks and He Didn’t Screw It Up This Time
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) not only rocked the house here at the National Action Network Convention on Friday morning but also may have been the crowd favorite among politicians who’d stopped by over the past three days. Audience members shouted, “Ber-nie! Ber-nie!” as the Rev. Al Sharpton escorted him to the podium. The atmosphere had…
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Chirlane McCray Is Making Mental Health an Open Discussion, and We’re the Better for It
New York City’s first lady, Chirlane McCray, told the audience here at the National Action Network Convention on Wednesday that “we all deal with mental illness, but we don’t talk about it.” People nodded their heads, saying, “That’s right”and “Mmm-hmm,” as she talked about shattering the stigma of discussing mental health publicly. The session was…