Accountability & Reform

On April 27, the Brookings Policy 2020 initiative and the Hutchins Center on Fiscal & Monetary policy hosted an online discussion with William “Sandy” Darity and Kirsten Mullen on their new book, "From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-First Century" (University of North Carolina Press). https://www.brookings.edu/events/webinar-reparations-for-black-americans-whether-why-and-how/ (transcript available) Subscribe! http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=BrookingsInstitution Follow Brookings on social media! Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/Brookings Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/BrookingsInst Instagram: http://www.Instagram.com/brookingsinst LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/com/company/the-brookings-institution

Evanston, Illinois, has become the first city in the United States to make reparations available to its Black residents for past discrimination and the lingering effects of slavery. The Chicago suburb’s City Council voted 8 to 1 to distribute $400,000 to eligible Black households, with qualifying residents receiving $25,000 for home repairs or down payments on property. The program is being funded through donations and revenue from a 3% tax on the sale of recreational marijuana, and the city has pledged to distribute $10 million over 10 years. “There’s no way to express how significant this is,” says Danny Glover, an actor and activist who is a member of the National African American Reparations Commission. “Imagine how that resonates beyond Evanston, Illinois. Imagine the kind of discourse that happens, the discussions in community by ordinary citizens about reparations.” We also speak with Robin Rue Simmons, a member of the Evanston City Council and reparations advocate, and Dino Robinson, a historian and executive director of the Shorefront Legacy Center, the only community archive for Black history on Chicago’s suburban North Shore. #DemocracyNow Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on nearly 1,400 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream 8-9AM ET: https://democracynow.org Please consider supporting independent media by making a donation to Democracy Now! today: https://democracynow.org/donate FOLLOW DEMOCRACY NOW! ONLINE: YouTube: http://youtube.com/democracynow Facebook: http://facebook.com/democracynow Twitter: https://twitter.com/democracynow Instagram: http://instagram.com/democracynow SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/democracynow iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/democracy-now!-audio/id73802554 Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe

President Biden traveled to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to mark the 100th anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, one of the single greatest acts of racist terrorism in U.S. history. Over a span of 18 hours, a white mob burned down what was known as “Black Wall Street,” the thriving Black neighborhood of Greenwood in Tulsa, and killed an estimated 300 African Americans. Duke University professor William Darity says it’s “very impressive” that a sitting U.S. president highlighted the Tulsa race massacre and its lingering effects, but he says he’s skeptical that Biden’s economic proposals do enough to close the racial wealth gap. “We need something much more potent and much more substantial,” Darity says. “If we were going to bring the share of Black wealth into consistency with the share of the Black population, it would require an expenditure of at least $11 trillion.” #DemocracyNow Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on nearly 1,400 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream 8-9AM ET: https://democracynow.org Please consider supporting independent media by making a donation to Democracy Now! today: https://democracynow.org/donate FOLLOW DEMOCRACY NOW! ONLINE: YouTube: http://youtube.com/democracynow Facebook: http://facebook.com/democracynow Twitter: https://twitter.com/democracynow Instagram: http://instagram.com/democracynow SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/democracynow iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/democracy-now!-audio/id73802554 Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe

As we reflect on racism and anti-racism, the Roper Center continues to identify and make available all public opinion surveys of Black Americans in the Roper data archive. We highlight these surveys of Black Americans, dating back to 1945, to remember and amplify the voices of these individuals. We have also made available more than eight decades of public opinion data on how the U.S. public views Black America. These data provide historical insight into how racial attitudes have changed in the United States and how the public currently views topics such as police brutality, race relations, and social movements for racial equality. We are making all of this data, which can be accessed below, freely available to the public.

"We don't need someone in the Senate or House to try to build their political career off of this moment."

Reports of agents provocateurs, outside agitators and police infiltration of protests are appearing throughout the country and involving law-enforcement agents and rightwing nationalists. The most public role of such a disruptor was detailed in Minneapolis at the time of Trump’s provocative tweets and involved someone who has come to be known as the "Umbrella Man."

Mass protest arrests led to long detentions, with families and lawyers unable to find people locked up for days at a time without being charged.

In stark contrast to rightwing claims, 93% of demonstrations have involved no serious harm to people or property

NEW YORK (AP) — Spurred by broad public support for the Black Lives Matter movement, thousands of Black activists from across the U...

The federal government deliberately targeted Black Lives Matter protesters via heavy-handed criminal prosecutions in an attempt to disrupt and discourage the global movement that swept the nation last summer in the wake of the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, according to a new report released Wednesday by The Movement for Black Lives.

Tensions also continue in some areas as officers confront crowds with flash-bang grenades and pepper spray

Washington, DC's Metropolitan Police Department made roughly five times as many arrests during the height of last June's Black Lives Matter protests compared to the US Capitol insurrection on Wednesday, a CNN analysis of the police department's data found.

Stay informed and read the latest news today from The Associated Press, the definitive source for independent journalism from every corner of the globe.

In seven years, BLM has gone from hashtag to global rallying cry. So why has the co-founder stepped away from the movement she helped create?

"Even though I'm a kid, it's important to speak my voice so people can hear me and know they can share their voice too, just like me," the young organizer said.

Black life and dignity require Black political will and power. Despite constant exploitation and perpetual oppression, Black people have bravely and brilliantly been a driving force pushing toward collective liberation. In recent years, we have taken to the streets, launched massive campaigns, and impacted elections, but our elected leaders have failed to address the legitimate […]

"America was founded on the principle that all men are created equal. Throughout our history we have not always lived up to that self-evident truth. This has been especially true in our criminal justice system."

"Prompted by several recent high-visibility killings by police officers the U.S. civil rights enforcement regime is the subject of focused attention at the national state and local levels."

"In 1994 death penalty lawyer Stephen Bright published his seminal essay Counsel for the Poor: The Death Sentence Not for the Worst Crime but for the Worst Lawyer. His argument 'succinctly stated in the title' was that indigent defendants were disproportionately sentenced to death because their lawyers (who were often court-appointed) were under-resourced ill-prepared and failed at the most basic levels in their duty to represent their clients."

"Against a backdrop of increasing national attention to police violence the Supreme Court on Thursday issued an opinion in a closely watched criminal-procedure case that clarifies the meaning of the term seizure."

Archivist Yvonne Ng discusses new initiatives out of Ferguson, Baltimore and Cleveland to collect and preserve records of police abuse and protest movements.

Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors says the demand to defund law enforcement and reinvest the money in black communities is what can achieve justice for black Americans.

Five years after Black Lives Matter coalesced into a national movement for social and racial justice, co-founder Patrisse Cullors reflects on the group's progress and impact.

On June 1, federal police used tear gas and rubber bullets to clear protesters from Lafayette Square in front of the White House. News outlets documented the police's use of force, now the subject of a lawsuit filed by Black Lives Matter D.C. and several protesters who returned to the scene a week later to tell their stories.

Studies show that support for the Black Lives Matter Movement has doubled since 2016. Even a majority of white people now say that they support the movement and its goals - which is groundbreaking. But what are we going to do with this momentum? Let's talk about it. Aired: June 29, 2020 The Breakdown with Shaun King ON APPLEhttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-265-how-can-you-support-movement-support-transformational/id1457725100?i=1000479796879: The Breakdown with Shaun King ON SPOTIFY:https://open.spotify.com/episode/3rlX9IPGDdr2nQC9TOZf2B

Before 2014, police killings of unarmed Black people weren’t a huge news story. Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery, Ferguson activist Johnetta Elzie, and host Lewis Raven Wallace look at how media reacted after police killed Michael Brown in 2014, and how #BlackLivesMatter changed the news. Wallace and Lowery reflect on how “objective” outlets failed to cover Black death at the hands of police until activists forced their hand.

In an exclusive interview with NPR, Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar outlines new measures the popular neighborhood app is taking to address reports of racial profiling and censorship on the platform.

Louisville’s Metro Council has voted to ban no-knock warrants. In a unanimous vote Thursday evening, council approved “Breonna’s Law,” named after Breonna Taylor, a Black woman killed by Louisville po

Listen to this episode from Today, Explained on Spotify. America is undergoing a new racial reckoning. The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer explains why this time is different. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Can the Black Lives Matter movement change America?