By Michael Eugene Johnson There is a dangerous myth circulating in some corners of public discourse: that the Black Power struggle ended decades ago. That it peaked in the 1960s and early 1970s with fiery rhetoric, militant activism and iconic leaders and then quietly disappeared into history as equality was “achieved.” This notion is convenient […]
Tag: Black Lives Matter
Posted inBaltimore News
Remembering Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. The man who stopped
By Dr. Frances “Toni” Murphy Draper More than forty years ago, in a crowded corridor in Nassau, Bahamas, I watched Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. do something small that revealed something immense: he stopped. My mother, Frances L. Murphy II—then publisher of the AFRO-American Newspaper—and I were attending a conference where he was the keynote […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
Five years later, former Capitol Officer Harry Dunn says Jan. 6 was ‘worst day’ of his life
By Stacy BrownNNPA Newswire On the fifth anniversary of Jan. 6, a date now fixed in the American conscience, former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn returned to the moment that altered his life and the nation’s course. Appearing on “Let It Be Known,” Dunn spoke about the unforgettable day that’s shaped by time, pain, and […]
Posted inReligion
A new generation of Black church leaders steps into power
Kevin Lamár Peterman, 32, has been installed as pastor of Washington, D.C.’s historic Nineteenth Street Baptist Church, signaling a broader rise of young Black clergy leading major congregations rooted in social justice. His installation reflects a national shift as millennial pastors take the reins of historic churches and adapt their ministries to a digital, turbulent era.
Posted inAfro Briefs
Justice Department investigating fraud allegations in Black Lives Matter movement, AP sources say
The Justice Department is investigating whether leaders of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation and other affiliated groups misused millions in donations raised during the 2020 racial justice protests. While no charges have been filed, subpoenas and a search warrant have been issued, renewing scrutiny of the movement’s finances amid concerns about political targeting of progressive organizations.
Posted inNational News
A new vocabulary for racial healing
Through her emotional justice framework, Esther Armah offers language for Black thriving across the diaspora. By Aaron Foley Word in Black Esther Armah sought a change of scenery for her own emotional well-being, so she relocated to Accra, Ghana, some years back, and now tends oranges in her backyard. It wouldn’t make sense, she says, […]
Posted inOPINION
The Unfinished Work: Black Intellectuals and the MAGA Backlash
Black intellectuals must return to Harold Cruse’s blueprint for self-determination and build autonomous institutions to respond to the MAGA backlash and ensure Black voices are not silenced.
Posted inCommentary
Abusive cops won’t be punished– but #BLM isn’t over yet
By Joseph WilliamsWord in Black In 2020, when Louisville police gunned down Breonna Taylor during a botched raid, the incident helped galvanize the ascendant Black Lives Matter movement. Along with the murders of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, Taylor’s killing spurred outrage and pushed nationwide police reform tantalizingly close to reality. How times have changed. […]
Posted inOPINION
The republic is no more: Federal crackdown, civil rights collapse and the urgent need for community defense
The author argues that the 47th president’s federal takeover of D.C.’s police and deployment of National Guard troops—despite declining crime rates—marks a dangerous consolidation of executive power. Coupled with rollbacks of civil rights protections, judicial retreat from constitutional freedoms, and the end of federal police oversight, it signals an accelerating slide into authoritarianism that demands urgent community defense.
Posted inOPINION
Op-ed: From trauma to advocacy, a Black mother’s mission to end family policing
Mashai Small, a Black mother and abolitionist, shares her harrowing experience of having her children forcibly removed by Maryland’s child welfare system, which she and others call the “family policing system,” exposing its disproportionate and traumatizing impact on Black families. Now advocating for systemic change, she urges others to join the Black Mothers March in D.C. this Mother’s Day weekend to demand accountability, justice, and the protection of Black families.
Posted inPOLITICS
47th president orders purge of Black history from Smithsonian, targets African American museum
A new executive order, chillingly titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” declares that the Smithsonian, once a symbol of “American excellence,” has become tainted by narratives that portray “American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive.”
Posted inD.C. Government
‘More than brick and mortar:’ DC begins removing ‘Black Lives Matter’ plaza near the White House
Crews began removing the large yellow “Black Lives Matter” letters from the street near the White House on March 10, in response to pressure from Republicans in Congress, with the goal of replacing them with city-sponsored murals.