2 h. ago Was the Black Lives Matter rebellion all for nothing? It may feel like that, but I have seen reasons for hope | Jason Okundaye

It is easy to look back at 2020 and feel aggrieved, even fooled. But in the British city where slaver Edward Colston’s statue was pulled down, I found cause for optimismIt has been five years since George Floyd, a Black man who lived in Minneapolis, was murdered by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer. The killing, captured in a distressing 10-minute video that quickly flooded social media timelines, sparked something that felt like an international revolution: protests took place across the world, forcing countries and cities to reckon with their present and historical treatment of Black people.In Britain, protests reached fever pitch when activists in Bristol toppled a statue of Edward Colston, the slave trader and deputy governor of the Royal African Company, and hurled it into the harbour. Bristol, once a major slave-trading port, had maintained a veneration of Colston that was increasingly divisive. The statue in particular had been a key focus of tensions: attempts to add a s...

Politics

58 h. ago Fire at historic Black church in Memphis was intentionally set, investigators say

Investigators in Tennessee say a fire that severely damaged a historic Black church that served as the headquarters for a 1968 sanitation workers’ strike which brought the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to Memphis was intentionally set

Events

5 d. ago Now woke history book promoted to schools claims Stonehenge was built by black people... while Waterloo and Trafalgar go untaught

A Policy Exchange investigation has warned that schools have 'taken it too far' as they adapt history curriculums in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests.

Culture

6 d. ago Now woke schools teach pupils that Stonehenge was built by black people... while Waterloo and Trafalgar go untaught

A Policy Exchange investigation has warned that schools have 'taken it too far' as they adapt history curriculums in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests.

Politics

2 w. ago ‘A safe haven from racial violence’: Sinners shows the importance of juke joints

Ryan Coogler’s smash hit horror focuses on the opening of a juke joint, a one-time mainstay in Black southern cultureIn Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, the Smokestack twins – a gangster pair played by Michael B Jordan – return to their Mississippi Delta home town to open a juke joint and make a fast buck, only to wind up hunkered inside when danger literally comes knocking. But the juke joint is more than a safe space from vampires; for Black people during segregation, it was an escape from the horrors of the so-called “separate-but-equal” US economy. “The juke joint represents, as the film suggests, this multifaceted connection to the foundation of Black experience,” says William Ferris, a University of North Carolina history professor who has made documenting blues music and southern culture his life’s work. “It’s a safe haven from racial violence.”During the late 19th and early 20th century the juke joint was a southern social institution, the place to drink and unwind over live music. T...

Events

2 w. ago AP PHOTOS: See incredible Met Gala looks as stars pay tribute to Black fashion and designers

Stars gathered Monday for a historic Met Gala that celebrated Black style and emerging designers.

Culture

2 w. ago These activists are ‘flooding the zone with Black history’ to protest Trump’s attacks on DEI

The Freedom to Learn campaign included panels and coffee meetups and will end Saturday with a protest and prayerA coalition of civil rights groups have launched a weeklong initiative to condemn Donald Trump’s attacks on Black history, including recent executive orders targeting the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in Washington DC.The national Freedom to Learn campaign is being led by the African American Policy Forum (AAPF), a social justice thinktank co-founded by the law professor Kimberlé Crenshaw. Crenshaw is a leading expert on critical race theory (CRT), a framework used to analyze racism’s structural impact. She has fought against book bans, restraints on racial history teaching and other anti-DEI efforts since the beginning of the Republican-led campaign against CRT in 2020. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago These activists are ‘flooding the zone with Black history’ to protest against Trump’s attacks on DEI

The Freedom to Learn campaign included panels and coffee meetups and will end Saturday with a rally and prayerA coalition of civil rights groups have launched a weeklong initiative to condemn Donald Trump’s attacks on Black history, including recent executive orders targeting the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in Washington DC.The national Freedom to Learn campaign is being led by the African American Policy Forum (AAPF), a social justice thinktank co-founded by the law professor Kimberlé Crenshaw. Crenshaw is a leading expert on critical race theory (CRT), a framework used to analyze racism’s structural impact. She has fought against book bans, restraints on racial history teaching and other anti-DEI efforts since the beginning of the Republican-led campaign against CRT in 2020. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Black dandyism etches place into Met Gala history — and global visibility

Black dandyism is finally taking center stage at the Met Gala, with cultural powerhouses leading this subversive, sharply tailored style into the global fashion spotlight

Events

3 w. ago Famed Memphis church associated with Martin Luther King damaged by fire

Clayborn Temple, base for sanitation workers’ strike that brought King to Memphis in 1968, suffers extensive damageA fire has severely damaged the historic Clayborn Temple in downtown Memphis, which is closely associated with the US civil rights movement and Dr Martin Luther King.The temple was headquarters for the sanitation workers’ strike that brought King to Memphis in 1968. The campaign’s “I Am a Man” signs were made in the church’s basement, according to the temple’s website. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago The Memphis church pivotal in Martin Luther King Jr.'s final days suffers a devastating fire

A historic Black church in downtown Memphis that was the organizing point for Martin Luther King Jr.'s final stand has suffered a devastating fire

Events

4 w. ago The Black feminist movement has a history of standing up to fascism. Now we are inviting others to join us in the fight | Hakima Abbas

The Trump administration is working overtime to intimidate funders from supporting racial and gender justice but this is the time for everyone to do what we can with what we haveWhen Jair Bolsonaro rose to power and moved to dismantle Brazil’s democracy, he faced a formidable foe. A powerful wave of Black women were at the forefront of the resistance that led to his defeat.Beyond defeating an authoritarian, Black women helped elect a tranche of new officials, including record numbers of women and trans leaders. As the vanguard of a young, diverse, representative government, they epitomise Brazil’s best future as a thriving democracy. A future that Bolsonaro came close to foreclosing. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Elon Musk’s xAI accused of pollution over Memphis supercomputer

Hearing scheduled for Friday as residents say AI company has distributed leaflets that downplay pollution dangersElon Musk’s artificial intelligence company is stirring controversy in Memphis, Tennessee. That’s where he’s building a massive supercomputer to power his company xAI. Community residents and environmental activists say that since the supercomputer was fired up last summer it has become one of the biggest air polluters in the county. But some local officials have championed the billionaire, saying he’s investing in Memphis.The first public hearing with the health department is scheduled for Friday, where county officials will hear from all sides of the debate. In the run-up to the hearing, secretive fliers claiming xAI has low emissions were sent to residents of historically Black neighborhoods; at the same time, environmental groups have been amassing data about how much pollution the AI company is likely generating. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago ‘They excavated a nightclub!’: uncovering Black British history beyond London – podcast

From struggles over miscarriages of justice to groundbreaking music, Lanre Bakare looks at the places and events that shaped Black Britain in the Thatcher yearsWhen Guardian arts and culture correspondent Lanre Bakare was growing up, he learned the same Black British history as many of us did. It was a series of singular events: the docking of the Windrush in 1948, unrest in Notting Hill or Brixton, the murder of Stephen Lawrence. All important, but all firmly focused on the capital.Now Lanre has written a book about the Thatcher years, looking at the stories that are less often told: those that took place outside London, in Liverpool – with the oldest Black community in the UK – or in his home town of Bradford. Continue reading...

Politics