Young People are Leading the Growing Movement for Police-Free Schools
“In this moment of transformative possibility, amid activists’ growing calls to defund and abolish the police, young people across the country are leading a movement to remove police from schools.”
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Revolution, Not Amelioration, Is Necessary to End Oppression
"As Black as Resistance: Finding the Conditions for Liberation provides insightful analysis about the condition of Black life in the United States, settler colonialism, self-defense and what revolutionary resistance can look like."
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Mychal Denzel Smith Talks Malcom X, Gender and Mental Health
"Throughout the story of his journey, readers learn about the people, places and events that influenced Smith’s political education about issues such as racism, sexism, homophobia and politics, as he discusses Kanye West and Hurricane Katrina, his time at Hampton University, the Jena Six and Dave Chappelle."
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Black Domestic Violence Survivors Are Criminalized From All Directions
"Mandatory arrest policies for domestic violence police calls have not only led to more women being arrested, but devastatingly for Black women in particular, increased likelihood of being killed by the abusive partner."
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For Black Women, Domestic Violence and State Violence Go Hand in Hand
"In Marissa’s case, we see a combination of intimate partner violence and state violence that so often sets a double-trap for black women. Black women who defend themselves are often punished for it – the principle of “no selves to defend” is enforced by the state."
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Who do you report to when your rapist is the police?
"Obviously the murders of black men by the state are horrendous and unacceptable, but we cannot also forget that black women, including trans women, are victims of police violence, including sexual violence. Zoe Carpenter, writing for the Nation, explains that according to the Cato Institute, nine percent of reports of police misconduct in 2010 involved sexual abuse, making it the second-most reported form of misconduct, after the use of excessive force."
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“How We Get Free”: Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor on Lessons of Radical Black Feminism in the Age of Trump
"The Combahee River Collective Statement has endured as a powerful document that clearly named the multiple oppressions that Black women faced due to their race, sex, class and sexual orientation; developed the idea of identity politics; and provided a key roadmap of the political work and organizing necessary to uproot all oppression."
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The Historical Roots of Contemporary Violence Against Pregnant Black Women
"Pregnancy is often thought of as a special, sensitive and sacred time. In general, our society treats pregnant people with extra care because of the impending new life they are bringing into the world. However, there are many who are routinely denied this care and compassion, including Black, Brown and Indigenous people, undocumented immigrants, incarcerated people, non-English speakers, people with disabilities and others."
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We must lift up the names of black girls and women
"In our resistance against the stolen lives of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Johnathan Crawford, Tamir Rice, Akai Gurley, and unfortunately countless others stretching back decades, we must not ignore or downplay the dangers that Black women, including trans women, face at the hands of police officers. Black women have been, and continue to be, beaten, raped, sexually assaulted, and murdered by police."
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How black women's music introduced me to feminism
"There are some people who like to say that Black music lost its radical or social consciousness after the 70s, but I don’t agree with that; there was still much social commentary in Black music in the 90s, especially with the increasing popularity of Hip Hop, some of it outwardly political, some of it more subtle."
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Exclusive Interview: Mumia Abu-Jamal Speaks About Black Lives Matter and Police Violence
"In his new book Have Black Lives Ever Mattered?, author and activist Mumia Abu-Jamal explores this question over 75 essays, spanning from the late 1990s to 2017."
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Why Are Black Girls and Women Dying in Police Custody?
"Many incarcerated girls have experienced one or more traumas, including abuse, poverty, mental illness and being funneled through child welfare systems. Instead of receiving the help they need, girls are routed into the juvenile legal system because of their victimization."
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The Killing Hasn’t Stopped: A 2016 Black Lives Matter Reading List
"There have always been artists and writers who have used their gifts to expose injustice, challenge our complicity and complacency, and move us forward to radical change. In a 2013 talk hosted by The Opportunity Agenda in 2013, artist Favianna Rodriguez stated that “Art is where we can change the narrative, because it’s where people can imagine what change looks and feels like.”"
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Law enforcement violence against black women
"Many of us know and remember the names of Sean Bell, Oscar Grant, and Kimani Gray, all young, Black men who were murdered by law enforcement. But how many of us know the names Rekia Boyd, Tarika Wilson, and Aiyana Stanley Jones, young Black women and girls murdered by law enforcement?"
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