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social justice

News

Survivors and Descendants of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre File Lawsuit Against the City for Its Role in the Riot

For years, residents of Greenwood, the neighborhood in Tulsa, Okla., that was once home to Black Wall Street, have attempted to bring the area back to its former glory. Once a thriving hub of Black prosperity, the neighborhood is now most famous for being the site of one of the deadliest racial massacres in American…

By

Anne Branigin

Published

September 1, 2020
Culture, Sports

NBA, NBPA Announce Social Justice Initiatives; NBA Playoffs to Resume on Saturday

It’s official: the NBA playoffs will resume on Saturday. Per ESPN, the league will also work with its players on a number of initiatives centered on social justice, police reform and other important issues impacting our communities. “These commitments follow months of close collaboration around designing a safe and healthy environment to restart the NBA…

By

Jay Connor

Published

August 28, 2020
News, Race Matters

Mets, Marlins Walk Off the Field After Honoring Jackie Robinson With 42-Second Moment of Silence

On Thursday night, when the Miami Marlins and New York Mets expressed their intention to play, despite plenty of other MLB teams opting to strike in response to the police shooting of Jacob Blake, it raised eyebrows. Then shortly after taking the field, this happened: If you would’ve told me at least four of five…

By

Jay Connor

Published

August 28, 2020
Entertainment

Marches, Movies and Megan Thee Stallion: Virtual Events to Keep You Busy This Weekend

August is over on Monday, Labor Day is around the corner, and the official end of summer is in just a few weeks. I think I speak for everyone when I say…what the hell was this summer? Nevertheless, it’s important to look for the joy in order to make it seem like we did something…

By

J'na Jefferson

Published

August 27, 2020
Events, The Root Institute

'Our Activism Has to Have Legs': Brittany Packnett Cunningham, Monique Judge and Chloë Cheyenne Say That Movement Building Must Go Beyond Social Media

The 2020 uprisings have proven that “the revolution” has gone far beyond being televised. This moment of racial reckoning has taken the world by storm—the “revolution” is broadcasted on television, in the streets, on our phones and online. No doubt social media has impacted movement work. Activist Brittany Packnett Cunningham reminds us that while the…

By

Felice León

Published

August 27, 2020
Events, The Root Institute

'Let's Just Start A Dialogue': Actor Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Director Julius Onah Get the Conversation Going About Social Justice

Director Julius Onah had no way of knowing back in 2019 how prescient his adaption of the play Luce would be in 2020—a story of how race and expectations due to one’s race impact one young man’s life. In this conversation between me, Onah and Luce’s star, Kelvin Harrison Jr. we talk about the themes…

By

Danielle C. Belton

Published

August 27, 2020
News, Opinion, Some Thoughts

So Maybe It's Time to Defund Sports, Too

If you ever find yourself walking around downtown Pittsburgh on a Friday afternoon in the early fall—when the weather is still nice enough to be jacket-less—you’d encounter many of the amenities that consistently place it on America’s Most Livable Cities lists. The world-renowned Cultural District. Restaurants helmed by Beard-nominated chefs. Architectural and topographical marvels unseen…

By

Damon Young

Published

August 27, 2020
Events, The Root Institute

Brittany Packnett Cunningham, Monique Judge and Chloë Cheyenne Unpack Movement Work in Social Media at The Root Institute

Where, exactly, does social media and movement building intersect? As ‘me too.’ movement founder, Tarana Burke, reminded us in an earlier Root Institute panel, movements are strategic and require long-term planning. Make no mistake: Movements don’t happen by osmosis. But, with the advent of social media, there is an ease with which communities are able…

By

Felice León

Published

August 27, 2020
Events

ABFF Founders Jeff and Nicole Friday Launch Social Justice Now Film Festival, Michael B. Jordan and BLM's Opal Tometi Named Co-Ambassadors

Art often imitates life and social justice is a huge part of our lives right now…in fact, at this very moment. Just ask the NBA. In the spirit of creating art as an expression toward social justice, American Black Film Festival (ABFF) co-founders Jeff and Nicole Friday have launched the Social Justice Now Film Festival,…

By

Tonja Renée Stidhum

Published

August 27, 2020
Events, The Root Institute

Director Julius Onah and Actor Kelvin Harrison Jr. Talk Race and Aggressions—Both Micro and Macro—in Their Film Luce

As The Root Institute winds down for its final day, we’re happy to present a panel and film that is more relevant today in 2020 than it was in 2019 when it was first released. Direct Julius Onah’s adaptation of the play Luce, is a story of race, expectations and identity, wrapped up in a…

By

Danielle C. Belton

Published

August 27, 2020