Category Archives: minorities

Poem: Death is passive. Killing is not.

Poem: Death is passive, killing is not. by LaShawnda Jones

Breathing is active.
Breath is sacred.
Air is life.
We are all created beings
with the same Right to Life
and unhindered breathing.
Access to air should not depend on
Assumptions, opinions, political views,
Occupation, wealth, social status,
Skin color, mood, hatred of fellow humans
or self-hatred. Access to air should
not require legislation.
Yet here we are.

Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution

…once a judicial opinion rationalizes such an order to show that it conforms to the Constitution, or rather rationalizes the Constitution to show that the Constitution sanctions such an order, the Court for all of time has validated the principle of racial discrimination. … The principle then lies about like a loaded weapon ready for the hand of any authority that can bring forward a plausible claim of urgent need.”

The right to life.

Life. Witnessing the wanton destruction of life has deeply impacted me these last few years. Every life I’ve witnessed killed on a video…every life I’ve heard was destroyed… everyone who has their right to life taken from them by someone who believed their right to kill trumped another’s right to live…all of those lives have changed me. PeopleContinueContinue reading “The right to life.”

Jesse Williams: Freedom Now

On Sunday, June 26, Jesse Williams won the 2016 BET Humanitarian Award. He gave a powerful acceptance speech that is an on-point statement highlighting racial inequality in America today. It’s ironic that is was given before a room full of entertainers, one of which was posturing with pointing to the brand on his shirt right before JesseContinueContinue reading “Jesse Williams: Freedom Now”

Paul Finkelman on 19th Century Slave Trade

Paul Finkelman on 19th Century Slave Trade  April 21, 2012 Albany Law School professor Paul Finkelman spoke about the practice of kidnapping freemen from the North and sending them South during the 19th century. He also discussed the wide-spread practice of renting slaves and how this tied non-slave owners to the slave system. Paul Finkelman has taughtContinueContinue reading “Paul Finkelman on 19th Century Slave Trade”

Quote: Four hundred years of black blood and sweat invested here in America…

What makes the black man think of himself as only an internal United States issue is just a catch-phrase, two words, “civil rights.” How is the black man going to get “civil rights” before first he wins his human rights, and then start thinking of himself as part of one of the world’s great peoples, he will see he has a case for the United Nations…..

Quote: Justice grows out of recognition of ourselves in each other.

Clem understood that justice grows out of recognition of ourselves in each other. That my liberty depends on you being free, too. That history can’t be a sword to justify injustice. Or a shield against progress. It must be a manual for how to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. {Follow link to read full quote.}