Fear: What Police Reform Doesn’t Address
The most effective reforms are the ones that build community trust between citizens and the police that serve them.
Racial Justice
This Country Needs a Truth and Reconciliation Process on Violence Against African Americans—Right Now
America has a long history of violence against black citizens. What response can disrupt patterns set by centuries of racism?
We Already Know How to Reduce Police Racism and Violence
Recent research has shown cities what works. For starters, hire more female police officers.
A Tough Choice for Feminist Black Lives Matter Activists
Protesting a police killing and marching in support of a man convicted of rape can pose a real dilemma when one in five women nationwide has suffered a sexual assault.
I Assumed It Was Racism—It Was Patriarchy
Why are some women more invisible than others? To grow new anti-patriarchal movements like Black Lives Matter, we need to start opening our eyes.
Boycotts Won’t Change Mississippi—But Civil Rights History Shows Us How We Can
To fight discrimination in Mississippi, out-of-state allies should strengthen their ties to the state, not sever them.
3 Maps Show Where Legal Abortions Are Hardest to Get—and Who Lives There
1 in 3 women will have an abortion by age 45.
Seattle Students Call for Nationwide Awakening on Campus Racism
Seattle University students plan to sleep outside their dean’s office for as long as it takes her to resign. Will she budge?
Spring 2016: “What We Fear” Powerful Voice Winner Jazmyn Bryant
Read Jazmyn's essay, "A Serf in the Midst of Feudalism" about personally confronting racial injustice, and how necessary it is to act collectively for a reformed system.
After a Century In Decline, Black Farmers Are Back And On the Rise
These Black farmers don’t stop at healthy food. They’re healing trauma, instilling collective values, and changing the way their communities think about the land.
Immigration Is Not Just a Latino Thing. Here’s Why We Need Black Leaders
For years, the immigrant rights movement has been largely led by Latinos. Today, Black leadership is playing an increasingly important role in the grassroots fight to change U.S. immigration policy.
National Parks Are Used Mostly By Older White People. Here’s Why That Needs to Change
With its history of segregation, the Park Service has had a rocky relationship with race. But if youth of color don’t connect with the outdoors, who will be its future stewards?
Finally, the U.S. Steps Closer to Racial Healing With a National Truth and Reconciliation Commission
South Africa used truth and reconciliation to address its racist history. Now these organizers think it's time for the United States to do the same.
Kids Turn Baltimore’s Uprising Into Art
After Freddie Gray’s death, Baltimore photographer Devin Allen’s photo landed on the cover of Time Magazine. Today he’s teaching local youth how to use cameras to tell their own stories.
10 Black Women Innovators and the Awesome Things They Brought Us
From a better hairbrush to modern 3D technology, ten things that might never have existed without the invention or innovation of black women.
Unsung Black Heroines Launched a Modern Domestic Workers Movement—Powered By Their Own Stories
The struggle for labor rights started decades ago among private household workers, mostly African-American women, whose stories inspired a powerful nationwide movement for dignity.
Are Candidates Exploiting the Families of Black Victims for Votes? Sandra Bland’s Mom Says “No”
Black votes matter, but some question whether Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton’s endorsements from relatives of police brutality victims are appropriate.
“Justice for All” Student Writing Lesson
Dig deep to identify and explain how you personally can treat people more justly. Describe what treating people fairly and humanely looks like to you. How might your actions make a difference where you live (school and community)? In greater society?
The Role of an Activist Attorney in the #BlackLivesMatter Movement
For civil rights lawyers, litigating isn't enough. They need to engage with the struggle of black Americans firsthand.
Police Shooting Data Reveal New Tactics and Training Will Only Go So Far
To create meaningful change, we must look beyond high-profile cases and ask why certain police-civilian encounters occur at all.
The Radical Work of Healing: Fania and Angela Davis on a New Kind of Civil Rights Activism
"Self-care and healing and attention to the body and the spiritual dimension—all of this is now a part of radical social justice struggles."
One Southern Leader Bridges Civil Rights’ Past and Black Lives Matter’s Future
Irving Allen on creating an inclusive movement. “You’re not organizing unless you’re training up the next generation.”
The Program Helping Youth Unify the Most Segregated City in America
In Chicago, low-income kids don’t usually have the opportunity to travel outside their own neighborhoods. My Block, My Hood, My City is changing that.
How This Black Student Used Documents and DNA to Find Her Slave Ancestors
Like many African Americans, Lakisha David wanted to trace the roots of her family, who for years were documented only as property. Here’s how she did it.
Fall 2015: “Justice For All” Middle School/High School Winner Amani Lazarus
Amani Lazarus is a middle school student at Palmetto Scholars Academy in North Charleston, South Carolina. She read and responded to the online YES! Magazine article "I Can't Breathe Until Everyone Can Breathe," by Gerald Mitchell. Read Amani's essay, "A Deafening Silence," about how we can't stand quietly while others scream in pain, that we must speak for those who have been silenced by social injustice.
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