Essence Magazine:
Getty By Malaika Jabali· Updated October 18, 2022
After leaving Black Lives Matter in 2017, acclaimed activist Alicia Garza created the Black Futures Lab to be more pro-active about Black political power. A part of that process is organizing around a Black agenda. But first, Garza and the Black Futures Lab want to understand what that agenda is. The organization launched the Black Census Project in 2018 to get
Essence Magazine:
Photo by Mike Stocker-Pool/Getty Images By Malaika Jabali· Updated October 13, 2022
A jury in Florida decided on Thursday that Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz should be spared from a death sentence and instead face life in prison without parole.
In 2018, Cruz killed 14 students and three staffers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Prosecutors argued that his crime was premeditated, heinous, and cruel– criteria that
Essence Magazine:
By Kassandra Frederique· Updated October 12, 2022
While long overdue, the announcement by President Biden that he is going to pardon all federal marijuana simple possession charges may be the largest federal marijuana reform since the beginning of the war on drugs half a century ago. However, without fully descheduling marijuana, the announcement is insufficient to deal with the harms caused by decades of racially biased enforcement and only further
Essence Magazine:
By Rayna Reid Rayford· Updated October 11, 2022
In 1910, W.E.B. Du Bois wrote “The discovery of personal whiteness among the world’s peoples is a very modern thing,-a nineteenth and twentieth century matter, indeed…This assumption that of all the hues of God, whiteness alone is inherently and obviously better than brownness or tan leads to curious acts,” in an essay, “The Souls of White Folk.”
More than a century later, political
Essence Magazine:
Photo by Solagil1126 By Malaika Jabali· Updated October 11, 2022
Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez resigns after racist comments she made were recently leaked.
A Reddit user leaked the audio, which reveals Martinez, who is Latina, insulting a colleague and his son in October 2021. As The Guardian reports, Martinez was talking to fellow council members and a labor leader, when the conversation turned to fellow council
Essence Magazine:
By Kevin L. Clark· Updated October 10, 2022
It’s no secret that the earth has quickly become the ghetto of the solar system with the effects of climate change creating record-high temperatures and devastating storms. It also goes without saying that many of the communities most severely impacted are BIPOC communities, who must pick up the pieces after such calamities happen. So, when actor and activist Marcus Scribner, the former
Essence Magazine:
By Malaika Jabali· Updated October 7, 2022
The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) returned with its Annual Legislative Conference (ALC) last week in Washington D.C. It was the first in-person ALC since the COVID-19 pandemic led the non-profit to conduct virtual conferences in the past two years.
Thousands attended this year’s gathering, themed “Advancing Our Purpose. Elevating Our Power,” with appearances from President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris; panels
Essence Magazine:
By Malaika Jabali· Updated October 6, 2022
On Thursday, President Joe Biden announced he would pardon all prior federal offenses for simple marijuana possession.
While on the campaign trail, Biden stated “[n]o one should be in jail because of marijuana. As president, I will decriminalize cannabis use and automatically expunge prior convictions.”
In a statement announcing today’s move, the president highlighted the social barriers for those with marijuana possession convictions: “There
Essence Magazine:
By Sakira Cook· Updated October 5, 2022
In a Philadelphia neighborhood, the simple presence of street lighting, painted sidewalks, public transportation, and parks was associated with at least 76 percent decreased odds of a homicide. This striking statistic is based on an observational study published by the National Library of Medicine on the neighborhood features associated with adolescent homicide. This is what true public safety looks like — making investments in