How law enforcement is using mass arrests, high bail and serious felony charges to suppress local organizing? Originally published on Colorlines. At the height of the presidential primary season in March, about 30 activists gathered at St. Louis’ Peabody Opera House to protest a Donald Trump campaign rally there. One of the activists, Melissa McKinnies, says that even […]
Melissa McKinnies as told to Bakari Kitwana for ColorLines Melissa McKinnies was a Ferguson uprising fixture. It’s for this reason that the St. Louis mother believes that one of her sons was lynched in their backyard. Here are her words. First as a member of Lost Voices and then as an independent activist, Melissa McKinnies has consistently spoken out against […]
Michael Brown Sr. as told to Bakari Kitwana for Colorlines Before Michael Brown Jr. became an international symbol of racialized police violence, he was an 18-year-old who cracked jokes, made music and planned for his future. Here, a deeply personal reflection by his dad on the fifth anniversary of his killing. On August 9, 2014, Black […]
Originally published on MIC. On Election Day, Ohioans will vote on a ballot initiative designed to help decriminalize nonviolent drug use and to divert millions of taxpayer dollars — currently spent pursuing an outdated and failed war on drugs — into drug treatment programs. By challenging perceptions of drug users, Issue 1 upends racist assumptions the nation […]
Originally published on Colorlines.com (August 30, 2018) With the Freddie Gray uprising as a catalyst, Baltimore residents voted in the $12 million Children & Youth Fund. Here’s how local activists in this majority Black city ensured that young, people-of-color-led, grassroots groups had a seat at the table. With the Freddie Gray uprising as a catalyst, Baltimore residents voted in the $12 million […]
Nine months after the Women’s March, a surprisingly diverse crowd of 5,000 met in Detroit for the inaugural Women’s Convention. Their mission? To transform the energy of the march into strategy, bridge gaps and build power. When I arrived at 10 a.m. on Saturday (October 28), thousands of women from across the United States had already filled […]
Originally published on Colorlines. Black Panther alumni celebrated the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Party in 2016. In this informal census we present the names of those who are still in prison, who were recently released and who died while incarcerated. One of the highlights of 2016 was the 50th anniversary of the […]
Writer Bakari Kitwana visited Flint homes, churches, community centers and the #JUSTICEFORFLINT concert to ask residents how they’re coping with the scarred skin, sick kids, mounting costs and profound anger brought on by this man-made disaster. See the Photo Essay here on Colorlines.
Originally published on MIC. Far too often, the conservative analysis of race dominates contemporary American public policy and national discourse. This was the unspoken but understood variable when Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby approached the podium in the midst of Baltimore’s unrest in May. Her willingness to fly in the face of this tradition resulted in one of […]
Originally published on Ebony. Two weeks ago today, I, along with seven other Cleveland area activists, filed affidavits with the municipal court calling for the arrest of Police Officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback for their involvement in the killing of 12 year-old Tamir Rice. Tamir was gunned down in less than two seconds in a park […]