It seems like a Grand Canyon, but there is no geological chasm separating Black and white women voters in Georgia. Yet the divide between the two groups is staggering. And while results of recent state elections are momentous, the gap between Black and white women voters throughout America remains a source of contention.
The 2020 presidential election outcome was due in large part to the trailblazing leadership of political activist Stacey Abrams and others who helped to galvanize Black women and motivate them to vote. Their efforts to block overt voter suppression and generate unprecedented voting power led to the historic election of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, and even to successful run-off bids by Democratic senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. Read more...
The NAACP has revealed this year’s nominees for its annual Image Awards, celebrating the work of artists of color and those advocating for social justice through art.
The 2021 NAACP Image Awards will air March 27 at 5 p.m. Pacific on BET. Here’s a sampling of the nominees (you can view the full list on the NAACP website). Read more...
Similar to the rest of the book world, Goodreads says it has seen many more readers looking for and reading more titles by Black authors and about Black people in the past year.
Suzanne Skyvara, vice president of editorial and marketing at Goodreads, says there are three main reasons behind this. First, a desire to learn more. “We saw a huge spike of interest from our members for nonfiction books that help them learn about our country’s history of racism and how to take action against it during the BLM protests,” says Skyvara.
Second, there’s a new commitment by some members to challenge themselves to read more widely, and third, a wish to discover and support more Black authors, of both fiction and nonfiction.
“We have a very strong belief that it’s important to include a wide variety of voices across our coverage,” Skyvara says. “Books by diverse authors are mainstream books and are included in our regular coverage as a matter of course. We also look for opportunities to shine a brighter spotlight on different communities, with articles to support events like Black History Month, Native American Heritage Month, and Pride Month.” Read More....
In addition to emphasizing books on Black resilience, noteworthy memoirs and some of the most anticipated fiction from Black authors, Black History Month is an opportunity to learn about African American history, as well as the pivotal figures who shaped that history. If you’ve been curious to learn more in either lane (and in the vast space between the two), we compiled some of the best books on those topics from the last year, according to members of Goodreads.
The following books highlight different aspects of African American history, from women’s voting rights and systemic inequality to the Great Migration and the life of Martin Luther King Jr. They've all been published in the last year and have been compiled based on the number of Goodreads members who reviewed them or added them to their "want to read" lists, as well as the books' average ratings. Read More....
During the closing days of the Trump administration, the outgoing president fulfilled a promise to issue a report that promotes a “patriotic education” about race and the birth of the nation.
The 1776 Report, released on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, followed Donald Trump’s September announcement to form a commission to refute teachings on systemic racism, critical race theory, and deeper examinations of how slavery has affected American society.
The “crusade against American history is toxic propaganda, ideological poison, that, if not removed, will dissolve the civic bonds that tie us together, will destroy our country,” he said at the time. Read More....
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, only two days before President Donald Trumpleaves office, the Trump administrationreleased a report from its “1776 Commission” that excuses slavery, justifies the racist Three-fifths Compromise and rails against socialism and “identity politics.”
“An unprecedented assault” is how President-elect Joe Biden described the invasion of the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters on Wednesday. CNN called it “an unprecedented attack,” ABC News “an unprecedented storming.”
The horde of rioters breaking into the U.S. Capitol and wreaking havoc in its somber halls as Congress was preparing to certify the results of the presidential election certainly shocked people in the United States and around the world.
But was this incident unprecedented? Not necessarily, historians say. Read more....
It’s no question that 2020 has been a historic year for the U.S., but how it will affect the future remains to be seen.
In an effort to take stock of where this year fits into history so far, TIME asked historians nationwide to pick a moment in 2020 that stands out to them. We asked them what future historians will—or at least should—write about when they study the momentous year that is drawing to a close, and whether it signals a new chapter or turning point for America and the world.
Below is what the historians who spoke with TIME, as of early December, identified as the major milestones of 2020. Read more....
Kamala Harris made history — the kind of history that should make all Americans proud, whether they voted for her and Joe Biden or not. When she is sworn in as vice president on Jan. 20, Harris, the daughter of a Jamaican father and Indian mother, will become the first woman, the first Black person and first South Asian to hold that office. This is a moment to be savored, a sign of hope for a nation scarred by slavery and still grappling with deeply embedded racial injustice and other-ism directed at immigrants and their families. Read more....
When the count of Georgia votes for former Vice President Joe Biden overtook those for incumbent President Donald Trump on Friday, Nov. 6, the congratulations that began rolling in weren’t directed at Biden’s camp alone. They also went to Stacey Abrams, the former Minority Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives who, after a failed race as a Democratic gubernatorial candidate in 2018, began a massive voter registration effort in a state that’s been voting for Republican presidential candidates for nearly three decades. Read more....
