We are still not free: Why I can’t celebrate the Fourth of July

As many gear up to celebrate Independence Day, I think it’s only right to take a step back recognize our citizens who still aren’t free. We all know that thousands of enslaved Africans were held hostage in America while the colonists fought for their own freedom from Great Britain. Many of those slaves strapped up and battled the Brits, too, with the hope of being freed after the war­­­­, and it didn’t happen. Andrew Jackson even promised freedom to the brave Africans who protected Louisiana — that  didn’t happen, either.

Black thinkers like Bernie Sanders. They've studied the Clintons' true cost

Spike Lee is the latest black public intellectual to endorse Bernie Sanders and to question the sanity of black voters and politicians pledging their allegiance to the Clintons, who have done as much harm to black America as any living political couple. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I am mystified by robust black support for Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing helped me wake up about race in America when I’d first watched it as a teenager. That’s why I was delighted to read that Spike Lee encouraged South Carolina democrats to “Wake up” in a radio ad on Tuesday and to vote for “Brother Bernie”.

Black Parenting Matters: Raising Children in a World of Police Terror

My child's breath is a freedom song. In. Out. In. Out. In. Out. The rhythmic pulse of air he powers is love, is life, is liberation. In. Out. In. Out. My child is breath. "I am here," his body says with each inhalation. "I am alive," his body offers with each exhalation. Each breath is a life force and each life force is a gift, is Holy. He is Divine.

He is more than mere existence. He is complex sinew, meat, blood, mind, matter, running, laughing, playing, smiling, healthy. He is boy in motion, chasing balls, jumping rivers, leaping meadows, climbing trees.


He is an idea made flesh.

1 In 3 Black Males Will Go To Prison In Their Lifetime, Report Warns

One in every three black males born today can expect to go to prison at some point in their life, compared with one in every six Latino males, and one in every 17 white males, if current incarceration trends continue.

These are among the many pieces of evidence cited by the Sentencing Project, a Washington, D.C.-based group that advocates for prison reform, in a report on the staggering racial disparities that permeate the American criminal justice system.

The GOP's Black Friends Need More Black Friends

The Republican Party knows it cannot continue to compete nationally if it remains the party of old white men. In order to not be the party of old white men, it cannot afford to look racist. It’s not so much interested in distancing itself from the racist elements within the party or abandoning racist policies, but it would like to not appear racist. To that end, it has come up with a solution wherein the few black and brown faces that dot the party are deployed to regurgitate the staid policy and rhetoric.

The Other Rosa Parks: Now 73, Claudette Colvin Was First to Refuse Giving Up Seat on Montgomery Bus

At a ceremony unveiling a statue in her honor last month, President Obama called Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, city bus a "singular act of disobedience." But nine months before Parks’ historic action, a 15-year-old teenager named Claudette Colvin did the very same thing. She was arrested and her case led to the U.S. Supreme Court’s order for the desegregation of Alabama’s bus system. Now 73, Claudette Colvin joins us for a rare interview along with Brooklyn College Professor Jeanne Theoharis, author of the "The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks." Theoharis says Parks’ act of defiance may not have happened if not for Colvin’s nine months before. Colvin says learning about African-American history in school inspired her act. "I could not move because history had me glued to the seat," she recalls telling the bus driver and the police officer who came to arrest her. "It felt like Sojourner Truth’s hands were pushing down on one shoulder, and Harriet Tubman’s hand pushing down on another shoulder."

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Unequal Justice: Mother, sons sucked into criminal justice system

On a cold Saturday night in January, Jean, 40, sits at the kitchen table of the east Toronto apartment she shares with her two sons, Brandon, 19, and Thomas, 22. Both sons have cycled in and out of the youth criminal justice system, and now find themselves in serious trouble as young adults.

A mix of court paperwork is scattered across the table.

After spending years bailing out her boys, the elder perhaps more than 50 times, Jean finds herself at the dismal point where even she has been sucked into the criminal justice system.

Unequal justice: Aboriginal and black inmates disproportionately fill Ontario jails

Blacks and aboriginal people are overrepresented in Ontario’s youth and adult jails, with some staggering ratios that mirror those of blacks in American jails.

A Star analysis of Ontario jail data, obtained by University of Toronto doctoral candidate Akwasi Owusu-Bempah through freedom of information requests, shows:

• In Ontario, aboriginal boys aged 12 to 17 make up 2.9 per cent of the young male population. But in Ontario youth facilities they make up nearly 15 per cent of young male admissions. In other words, there are, proportionally, five times more aboriginal boys in the young male jail population than what they represent in the general young male population.

Albert Woodfox's inhumane imprisonment in Angola continues

Albert Woodfox has been in solitary confinement for 40 years, most of that time locked up in the notorious maximum-security Louisiana State Penitentiary known as "Angola." This week, after his lawyers spent six years arguing that racial bias tainted the grand-jury selection in Woodfox's prosecution, federal Judge James Brady, presiding in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, agreed. "Accordingly, Woodfox's habeas relief is GRANTED," ordered Brady, compelling the state of Louisiana to release Woodfox. This is the third time his conviction has been overturned. Nevertheless, Woodfox remains imprisoned. Those close to the case expect the state of Louisiana, under the direction of Attorney General James "Buddy" Caldwell, to appeal again, as the state has successfully done in the past, seeking to keep Woodfox in solitary confinement, in conditions that Amnesty International says "can only be described as cruel, inhuman and degrading."

Rarely Seen Film "King: A Filmed Record" Traces MLK’s Struggle from Montgomery to Memphis

In a Black History Month special, we air excerpts of a rarely seen Oscar-nominated documentary about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the rise of the civil rights movement. Produced by Ely Landau, "King: A Filmed Record...Montgomery to Memphis" is made from original newsreel footage and other original video footage shot of marches, rallies and church services. "King" was originally screened for one night only in 1970 in more than 600 theaters across the United States, but has rarely been seen since. We air extensive footage of the film, featuring a historic look at the eight-year period that led up to the 1963 March on Washington, D.C.

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When racism passes for analysis

Nature abhors a vacuum, so it fills the space with noise and anything else that passes for analysis.

Such is the case of “violence in the black community.”

So few are the black citizens telling, explaining, reporting with authority—putting meat on the bones of this narrative — that the ready-made experts and pundits fill the void with what amounts to racist rants.

COLORISM: The War at Home

The "color complex" has remains a source of great controversy and pain in the African American community and across much of the African Diaspora. As one of the leading voices and scholars on Black racial identity, Drexel University assistant teaching professor of Africana Studies Yaba Blay continues her arduous, groundbreaking work on the topic. Her One Drop Project has been featured on CNN’s Black in America series and expanded the discussion around how Blackness is defined in today’s society.

Beyond tokenism: The debate around Black History Month

"I don't want a black history month. Black history is American history," says Morgan Freeman.

This month, you will see no shortage of functions organized by historical societies, libraries and schools. You may even catch the corporate giants sponsoring short vignettes on black history, or perhaps a rerun of Amistad, Roots or Malcolm X.

It's Black History Month.

Remembering the Overlooked Life of Eslanda Robeson, Wife of Civil Rights Legend Paul Robeson

In a Black History Month special, we remember the lives of the legendary civil rights activist, singer and actor Paul Robeson and his wife Eslanda, whose story is not as well known. One of the most celebrated singers and actors of the 20th century, Robeson was attacked, blacklisted and hounded by the government for his political beliefs. Eslanda Robeson, known by her friends as "Essie," was an author, an anthropologist and a globally connected activist who worked to end colonialism in Africa and racism in the United States. We’re joined by historian Barbara Ransby, author of the new biography, "Eslanda: The Large and Unconventional Life of Mrs. Paul Robeson." [includes rush transcript–partial. More to come.

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On Rosa Parks’ 100th Birthday, Recalling Her Rebellious Life Before and After the Montgomery Bus

Born on Feb. 4, 1913, today would have been Rosa Parks’ 100th birthday. On Dec. 1, 1955, Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Her act of resistance led to a 13-month boycott of the Montgomery bus system that would help spark the civil rights movement. Today we spend the hour looking at Rosa Parks’ life with historian Jeanne Theoharis, author of the new book, "The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks." Often described as a tired seamstress, no troublemaker, Parks was in fact a dedicated civil-rights activist involved with the movement long before and after her historic action on the Montgomery bus. "Here we have, in many ways, one of the most famous Americans of the 20th century, and yet treated as children’s book hero," Theoharis says. "We diminish her legacy making it about a single day, a single act, as opposed to the rich and lifelong history of resistance that was actually who Rosa Parks was."

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Why Black History Month should be called African Liberation Month

As Black History Month 2013 begins, we are re-posting this piece by Ajamu Nangwaya.

We are now in February and for Africans in North America it is a significant month. It is usually observed as Black History Month.

It is taken as an opportunity to acknowledge African people's struggles, achievements and commemorate significant moments in the fight against white supremacy, capitalism, sexism and other forms of oppression.

Mumia Abu-Jamal: "The United States Is Fast Becoming One of the Biggest Open-Air Prisons on Earth"

In a rare live interview, Mumia Abu-Jamal calls into Democracy Now! as the new film, "Long Distance Revolutionary," about his life premieres in New York City this weekend. After 29 years on death row, he is now being held in general population at the Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution – Mahanoy. "How free are we today, those who claim to be non-prisoners? Your computers are being read by others in government. Your letters, your phone calls are being intercepted," says Mumia Abu-Jamal. "We live now in a national security state, where the United States is fast becoming one of the biggest open-air prisons on earth. We can speak about freedom, and the United States has a long and distinguished history of talking about freedom, but have we exampled freedom? And I think the answer should be very clear: We have not." In 1982, Mumia was sentenced to die for killing Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. He has always maintained his innocence and is perhaps America’s most famous political prisoner. In 2011, an appeals court upheld his conviction, but also vacated his death sentence. It found jurors were given confusing instructions.

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Black fathers telling their stories

As the single father of an 11-year-old boy, Esery Mondesir says he’s concerned about his son having to deal with racism.

“Raising a black man in a society where racial discrimination is a reality creates its own sort of challenges,” said Mr. Mondesir, who arrived in Canada in 2007, after living in Haiti, who also has a daugher living in the United States. “It makes me anxious sometimes, questioning whether I’m doing the right thing.”

NOM Thinks This Black Preacher Will Convince You to Oppose Gay Marriage

In late July, Rev. William Owens, head of the Coalition of African-American Pastors, appeared at the National Press Club to denounce President Barack Obama's support for same-sex marriage, which he claimed enabled child molestation. "If you watch the men who have been caught having sex with little boys, you will note that all of them will say that I was molested as a child," he declared. "For the president to condone this type of thing…is irresponsible." Owens, who touts his role as a civil rights leader in Nashville, Tennessee during the late 1950s and early 1960s, also rejected the idea that gay rights count as civil rights. "I didn't march one inch, one foot, one yard, for a man to marry a man, and a woman to marry a woman."

Black Lawmakers To Walk Out On Eric Holder Contempt Vote

WASHINGTON -- The Congressional Black Caucus will walk out of the House chamber during Thursday's vote to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress.

Caucus leaders circulated a letter to Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday night urging them to leave the House floor when the vote comes up. The letter, which was obtained by The Huffington Post, was sent to members of the Hispanic Caucus, the Progressive Caucus, the Asian Pacific American Caucus and others.

"We call upon all members of Congress to stand with us during a press conference on the Capitol Building steps during this appalling series of votes to discuss our nation's most significant priority--creating jobs," reads the letter. "At this critically important time in our nation, we must work as colleagues rather than political enemies."