By Mylika Scatliffe, AFRO Women’s Health Writer Fewer topics are more polarizing in the United States than abortion. It’s been legal since the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, but that hasn’t stopped vehement, sometimes violent clashes between opposing sides of the matter. The recent leak of the Supreme Court draft opinion advocating the […]
Category: Word In Black
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#WordinBlack: How one Baltimore City Public School has integrated pandemic technology into daily in-person routines
By Sohn Butts, Ed.D, Special to the AFRO It was just over two years ago when Covid-19 pandemic turned schools across the country, and indeed the world, upside down. Baltimore City Public Schools, like many other school districts, scrambled to find 21st century educational solutions during a global crisis. Fast forward. As Baltimore City Public […]
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#WordinBlack: Love letters to Black women from 5 organizations that care about their health
By Alexa Spencer, Word in Black Every day is a good day to honor Black women. They birth the Black community (even in the most difficult conditions), raise up world leaders and change-makers, and devote their lives to creating and advocating solutions. While Black mamas are known for protecting everyone, folks are now gathering to […]
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#WordinBlack: The ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill makes school even less safe for Black students
By Maya Pottiger, Word in Black In her Intro to Black LGBTQ Studies class at Howard University, Dr. Jennifer Williams notices a difference in students now compared to when she was a student on the campus in the ’90s. Back then, in the era of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Williams described the LGBTQ culture as […]
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#WordinBlack: How invisible lines keep education resources from Black and Hispanic kids
By Maya Pottiger, Word in Black Back in the ’90s, Puff Daddy rapped about how life is “All About the Benjamins” — but, really, it’s all about zip codes. Zipcodes often determine the school district — or the school within a district — where kids will spend their K-12 education, which also decides the opportunities […]
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#WordinBlack: Now even police are getting Black books banned
By Maya Pottiger, Word in Black The banning of Black books is making the headlines again. This time, it’s because some parents are claiming all types of Black books — like picture book biographies of Civil Rights leaders — are teaching critical race theory. The American Library Association tracks annually the most challenged and banned […]
Posted inNational News
#WordinBlack: Schools and Black Students’ Mental Health: The Kids Aren’t Alright
By Maya Pottiger, Word in Black It’s no surprise that we’re living through difficult times. After two years, we’re still in a global pandemic, which has predominantly impacted people of color. In addition, Book bans, attacks on critical race theory, and partisan political fights target everything from Black youths’ sexuality, to history, to health. And […]
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#WordinBlack: Black Teachers Are Fed Up — and They’re Quitting in Droves
by Maya Pottiger When she gets home from work, it takes Monise Seward two or three hours to decompress from the day. She sits there — just sits — to feel the stress leave her body. Seward is a middle school math teacher in Metro Indianapolis. She’s worked in schools for the last nine years — […]
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#WordinBlack: The 4 Biggest Barriers Keeping Black Students Out of Advanced Classes
by Maya Pottiger This is the second article in a three-part series that looks at why AP classes aren’t offered to all students, the barriers to being able to take an AP class, and, in the end, who benefits from these classes and tests. Amir Cannon struggled taking International Baccalaureate classes, a rigorous option similar to the College […]
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#WordinBlack: How Black Kids Benefit From AP Classes — Even Without College Credit
by Maya Pottiger This is the third article in a three-part series that looks at why AP classes aren’t offered to all students, the barriers to being able to take an AP class, and, in the end, who benefits from these classes and tests. The beginning of May brings a particular buzz to the halls of […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
#WordinBlack: The Hornet’s Nest: Washington, D.C.’s First African American Fire Station
This post was originally published on The Washington Informer By Roland Hesmondhalgh Engine Company 4 is a woefully unknown player in the history of both the Washington, D.C., fire department and racial equality in America. Created in 1919 at the request of every African American fireman in Washington, D.C. — all three of them — the company has […]
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#WordinBlack: Why aren’t there more Black librarians?
By Maya Pottiger, Word in Black Librarians have superpowers. It was true in the late ’90s when Marvel’s original Spider-Woman was a Black librarian named Valerie — and it was true in 1905 when the son of two formerly enslaved Black people opened the first library in the United States that served and was fully […]