Civil Rights

Oakland, CA (Special to Informed Comment) – In this Brave New World of evolving lexicons, “gerrymandering,” a dirty word to begin with; has become a euphemism for “vote-rigging.” Lessons learned in high school Civics classes about the electoral and re-districting processes are now quaintly outdated, as Republican-dominated state houses do all they can to ensure […]

African-Americans

Why MLK would have Launched Nonviolent Disobedience to pass the Freedom to Vote Act

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Everything that the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., struggled for is at risk in today’s America, where one of the two major parties has succumbed to the deadly disease of Trumpism, which is built on white grievance. As the Republican Party has become more and more inflected by white nationalism, […]

African-Americans

How the Vietnam War pushed MLK to embrace global justice, not only civil rights at home

The Conversation

By Anthony Siracusa | – On July 2, 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. stood behind President Lyndon Baines Johnson as the Texan signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Although not the first civil rights bill passed by Congress, it was the most comprehensive. King called the law’s passage “a great moment … […]

African-Americans

Why we Really need King’s “Testament of Hope” right about Now

OtherWords

By Dedrick Asante-Muhammad | – ( Otherwords.org ) – 2022 has begun with melancholy, as our country sees the pandemic reach new heights. Meanwhile our crises of climate, democracy, and inequality seem more entrenched than ever. All this uncertainty is taking a toll, but uncertain times are far from unprecedented. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. […]

African-Americans

Jim Crow was Never Dead, but the Black Church can Lead the Way in Banishing Voter Suppression

OtherWords

By Rev. Susan K. Smith and Rev. Levon C. Manzie | ( Otherwords.org) – We suspected it for years, and now we know it: Jim Crow was never dead. You might even say he was too mean to die. We know this because in too many places, the forces of racism are raging as laws […]

Civil Rights

90 Years of Secular Progress: As Fundamentalism Weakened, I saw America grow Strong and Diverse

James A. Haught

Charleston, WV (Special to Informed Comment) – I’ll be 90 on my next birthday. My long life is sinking, shrinking, slip-sliding away. My wife is worse: bedfast, under Hospice care. Soon, our world will end, not with a bang but a whimper. Looking back over nine decades, I’m proud and pleased because secular humanism – […]

African-Americans

“The Stone of Help:” Rev. Raphael Warnock ran for the Senate from Ebenezer Baptist Church: What that means to American History

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Rev. Raphael Warnock, the new senator from Georgia, grew up in Savannah. His commitment to the Black Baptist tradition was deepened during his undergraduate years at Morehouse College. He told Vicky Eckenrode of the Savannah Morning News on 24 Oct 2005 of Morehouse, “It has deep Baptist roots so […]

African-Americans

How the Black Lives Matter movement uses creative tactics to confront systemic racism

The Conversation

By Nimalan Yoganathan | – The police killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd have galvanized anti-racism protests throughout the United States, Canada and elsewhere. As a result, lawmakers have made pledges to divest from police and school districts have cut ties with law enforcement. The organizing of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and […]

Bill of Rights

“Defendant Shall Not Attend Protests”: In Portland, Getting Out of Jail Requires Relinquishing Constitutional Rights

ProPublica

By Dara Lind | – ( ProPublica ) – Federal authorities are using a new tactic in their battle against protesters in Portland, Oregon: arrest them on offenses as minor as “failing to obey” an order to get off a sidewalk on federal property — and then tell them they can’t protest anymore as a […]