By David Carr, Word in Black On Jan. 16, the United States celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. ‘s birthday and paid homage to the civil rights leader who helped move the nation to live up to its potential. While much has been written about King’s community organizing, his guidance in the Southern Leadership Conference, and […]
Author Archives: Word in Black
Posted inOPINION
Opinion: Dear Black America: You Should Be Paying Attention to Africa
By Patrick Washington, Word in Black In the last month of 2022, The United States hosted the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit. The goal of this summit was to expand relations between the U.S. and the continent of Africa. Well, really, it’s because China is kicking ass in diplomatic, economic, and virtually every other major area in Africa’s […]
Posted inAfro Briefs, National News, News, NEWS, Word In Black
Breaking the School-to-Prison Cycle of Kids with Disabilities
By Aziah Siid, Word in Black Whether it’s autism or dyslexia, emotional disturbances, or a hearing impairment, it’s easy for students with disabilities to get lost in the classroom. As a result, they might behave in ways their teachers and peers don’t understand — and their teacher may lack the training, or empathy, to meet their […]
Posted inWord In Black
Word In Black expands staff with $1M in new funding from Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
By LMA Staff Word In Black, a groundbreaking collaboration of the nation’s leading Black publishers and a program of Local Media Foundation, has received $1 million from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to establish a climate justice desk and fund several other journalist positions for the next two years. This funding will enable Word In […]
Posted inWord In Black
What happened to all the high school bands? Advocates claim funding has disrupted the music pipeline in schools
By RayJaun Stelly, Word in Black Have you noticed the atmosphere is different when you’re at a high school football or basketball game? The aesthetic of hearing a band play in such a way that makes fans get out of their seats to dance, or get players and coaches riled up to go out on […]
Posted inCoronavirus
This device used to diagnose COVID-19 doesn’t always work on Black folks
By Alexa Spencer, Word In Black As the Black community grapples with the ongoing impact of COVID-19, research shows that the faultiness of pulse oximeters on dark-skinned people contributed to poor outcomes during the pandemic. When clipped onto a patient’s finger, pulse oximeters send a beam of light through the skin to calculate oxygen levels. […]
Posted inWord In Black
Black women in tech might be the key to climate justice
By Nadira Jamerson, Word in Black Toxic air. Dirty water. It seems we find out every day about another Black neighborhood being damaged by environmental pollution. The Justice Department recently filed a complaint against the city of Jackson, Miss. — which has been without clean water since August — over its alleged violations of the […]
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Why healthy relationships matter for people with breast cancer
By Alexa Spencer, Word In Black After breastfeeding all four of her children, finding out in 2020 that she had breast cancer was the biggest shock of 32-year-old Tulsa, Oklahoma resident Aisha Patterson’s life. She’d now become a part of the 9% of American women diagnosed with the disease before age 45. And, as a […]
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Claudine Gay appointed as first Black president of Harvard University
By Word In Black Since 2018, Claudine Gay has served as the Edgerley Family Dean of Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), the University’s largest and most academically diverse faculty, spanning the biological and physical sciences and engineering, the social sciences, and the humanities and arts. As dean, she has guided efforts to expand […]
Posted inWord In Black
The Pioneering Black LGBT Activist You Probably Don’t Know – But Should
By Dawn Suggs, Word in Black On a bright, crisp morning in October, a crowd of Donald Suggs Jr.’s friends, neighbors, and family from across the country gathered at the southwest corner of East 6th street and Avenue B in New York City’s East Village. In front of a verdant community garden, they witnessed the […]
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Activist: addressing violence in schools requires a comprehensive approach
By RayJaun Stelly, Word in Black Over the last eight years, safety at many schools in the state of Washington has come into question. During that time, there have been 10 shootings during regular school hours or school related activities in K-12 schools across the state. The most recent shooting took place a few weeks […]
Posted inWord In Black
Building a Black male pipeline into public education
By Aziah Siid, Word in Black South Side of Chicago-native Abdul Wright, grew up the oldest of several siblings. His family moved through low-income housing — at one point they found themselves in a homeless shelter. But Wright, who was named 2016 Minnesota Teacher of the Year, is a prime example of how an excellent […]
