Back in the day, being woke meant being smart

  If Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had his way, the word “woke” would be banished from public use and memory.

  As he promised in Iowa in December 2023 during his failed presidential campaign, “We will fight the woke in education, we will fight the woke in the corporations, we will fight the woke in the halls of Congress. We will never, ever surrender to the woke mob.”

W.E.B. Du Bois, Black History Month and the importance of African American studies

  The opening days of Black History Month 2023 coincided with controversy about the teaching and broader meaning of African American studies.

  On Feb. 1, 2023, the College Board released a revised curriculum for its newly developed Advanced Placement African American studies course.

  Critics have accused the College Board of caving to political pressure stemming from conservative backlash and the decision of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to ban the course from public high schools in Florida because of what he characterized as its radical content and inclusion of topics such as critical race theory, reparations, and the Black Lives Matter movement.

Black Lives Matter protests are shaping how people understand racial inequality

  Considered to be the largest social justice movement since the civil rights era of the 1960s, Black Lives Matter is more than the scores of street protests organized by the social justice group that attracted hundreds of thousands of demonstrators across the world.

  From its early days in 2014 after Officer Darren Wilson killed Michael Brown, Jr. to the protests following the murder of George Floyd in 2020, Black Lives Matter has opened the door for social change by expanding the way we think about the complicated issues that involve race.

A year after George Floyd’s murder, nation reckons with history of racism, police brutality

  He died in less than nine minutes, gasping for air before lying motionless on the concrete without a pulse.

  People across the country, especially in the Black community, recoiled in horror as video evidence of the police brutality careened across the internet and TV screens. Thousands of protesters would soon surge into the streets, powering up a movement that had been brewing for years.   

  The murder of George Floyd was nothing new; this one had simply been laid bare for the world to see. And the nation cried out for justice. 

Racial bias in U.S. policing is a national security threat

  The events of Jan. 6, 2021 made unmistakably clear that racial bias is a national security threat.

  The events of 2020 – George Floyd’s extrajudicial killing played out over eight minutes and 46 seconds on millions of screens, Breonna Taylor shot to death in her home by police, among far too many others – finally moved Americans to a reckoning with the racism that has always been a mortal threat to the lives of Black people in this country.

  Now the rest of the story has been unmasked. Racism threatens not just the lives of the Black, Indigenous, and people of color who are its obvious targets. Racism threatens the survival of our democracy and our security as a nation.

‘A New Dawn’: How four young Black activists powered a movement to remove Confederate emblem from Mississippi flag

  On the day of the demonstration, Jarrius Adams stood in front of the Mississippi Governor’s Mansion in Jackson, where the state flag bearing an image of the “rebel flag” of the Confederacy flew to his left. Scores of people lined the street, eager to hear Adams speak as they marched elbow to elbow in solidarity for Black lives. Drones circled overhead, and supporters held signs, one reading “Racism is a Virus.” The demonstration would be called one of the largest in Mississippi’s history. Its success would bring historic change that had long eluded civil rights activists.

Far from being anti-religious, faith and spirituality run deep in Black Lives Matter

  Black Lives Matters (BLM) has been portrayed by its detractors as many things: Marxist, radical, anti-American. Added to this growing list of charges is that it is either irreligious or doing religion wrong.

  In late July, for instance, conservative commentator Andrew Sullivan tweeted that BLM was “incompatible” with Christianity.

  He isn’t alone in that belief. Despite receiving the backing of diverse faith leaders and groups, BLM has been attacked by sections of the religious right. One evangelical institution felt compelled to issue a statement warning Christians about the movement’s “Godless agenda.” Other evangelicals have gone further, accusing BLM founders of being “witches” and “operating in the demonic realm.”

It’s time to stop the deadly rhetoric and the dangerous dodge of "both-siderism"

  The fatal shooting of a man reported to be affiliated with the far-right group Patriot Prayer last Saturday night on the streets of Portland should not have happened.

  I’m angry that Aaron “Jay” Danielson’s life was taken from him. I’m angry about every one of the lives taken in the 100 days since George Floyd’s murder. Whether the victims are Trump supporters, Black Lives Matters protesters, or law enforcement officers, the deaths that have occurred in this time of upheaval are wrong. We mourn each of these lives, regardless of ideology. And we mourn the lost futures of those who were convinced that taking the life of another human being is how we solve our societal problems.

After the civil rights era, white Americans failed to support systemic change to end racism. Will they now?

  The first wave of the Black Lives Matter movement, which crested after the 2014 police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, had the support of less than half of white Americans.

  Given that Americans tend to have a very narrow definition of racism, many at that time were likely confused by the juxtaposition of Black-led protests, implying that racism was persistent alongside the presence of a Black family in the White House. Barack Obama’s presidency was seen as evidence that racism was in decline.

Black deaths matter: The centuries-old struggle to memorialize slaves and victims of racism

  In an open lot just a block or so from where George Floyd was killed while being detained by officers, 100 plastic headstones were carefully placed.

  Created by artists Anna Barber and Connor Wright, the “Say Their Names Cemetery” sprung up in south Minneapolis in early June as protests over police brutality prompted a more wide-ranging conversation over the legacy of slavery and racism in the United States.

President Trump revives J. Edgar Hoover’s tyrannical playbook

  Throughout his presidency, Donald Trump has denounced his critics for the same claims made against him, attacking their credibility, and portraying himself as a victim of conspiracies.

  His lies are well documented, yet he accuses reporters of perpetual deception. He was impeached for obstruction of Congress and abuse of power, yet he accuses Joe Biden of corrupt practices in Ukraine.

  By employing these tactics, Trump is lifting freely from former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover’s playbook. Hoover, for example, lived a closeted gay life yet networked with Nazis who murdered people for being gay, and he blackmailed gay people to amass power.

Hank Sanders: Sketches #1722 - Black lives do not matter

  Being Black in America is a never-ending challenge of whether Black lives matter. If you have not lived it, you cannot really understand it. You may sympathize. You may even empathize. Still, you cannot really understand because it is a pervasive experience from the moment we wake up in the morning to the minute we fall into a deep sleep at night. And I cannot make you understand, so I will not try. However, I do want to share a few episodes of my experiences of being Black in this country. To even begin to understand, you must understand that to so many Black lives do not matter.

Authoritarian state or inclusive democracy? 21 things we can do right now

  I understand the rage. I was in 4th grade the first time I was chased by police. My best friend got caught; I did not. His life ended up very different from mine, in part because I ran faster than he did.

  I understand the rage. I lived ten blocks from the Signal Hill Police Department in Long Beach, California where Ron Settles was found beaten and hanging from a noose in his jail cell the day after his 1981 arrest just a few blocks from my house. Two years later, I was 17, on my bike, near that very spot. A cop pulled me over, put a gun to my head, and said, “I could kill you right now and no one would care.”

Trump tweets, 'When the looting starts, the shooting starts', extremists will respond

  Amid mounting protests against the death of George Floyd and other unarmed black Americans, President Trump took to Twitter early May 29, calling protesters “thugs” and warning, “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”

  When President Trump advocates violence against political opponents and protest groups, extremists hear approval for their actions. Trump’s tweet glorifies violence against protesters and coincides with the president’s and the Republican Party’s history of encouraging harm against Black Lives Matter protesters. Right-wing extremists have previously responded to such calls with violence and have already responded favorably to Trump’s tweets threatening “shooting,” raising fears that some may act amid the violence and tension surrounding public health closures amid the ongoing global pandemic.

We're divided in new ways over our core First Amendment freedoms

  As the new year begins, First Amendment issues are as controversial and multi-faceted as anything in our fractured, divided society.

Teen activists aren't new.... Celebrating them is

  Last week began with the sixth anniversary of Trayvon Martin's death. It ended with a march commemorating the 53rd anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the day voting rights activists were beaten by lawmen on Selma's Edmund Pettus Bridge.

  By any measure, it was a week steeped in not only the history of racial inequality in America but also in our rich history of activism.

  Nowhere is that more evident than at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where students have riveted the country with their pleas for gun reform after the horrific Valentine’s Day shooting that left 17 students and teachers dead.

The Year in Hate: Trump buoyed white supremacists in 2017, sparking backlash among black nationalist groups

  President Trump’s first year in office proved to be just as racially divisive as his campaign — but even more consequential.

  “President Trump in 2017 reflected what white supremacist groups want to see: a country where racism is sanctioned by the highest office, immigrants are given the boot and Muslims banned,” said Heidi Beirich, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project. “When you consider that only days into 2018, Trump called African countries ‘shitholes,’ it’s clear he’s not changing his tune. And that’s music to the ears of white supremacists.”

Oklahoma student forced to remove a “Black Lives Matter” T-shirt he wore to school

  Various sources report that a student in Deer Creek, Oklahoma, was forced to remove a t-shirt containing the phrase “Black Lives Matter.” The ACLU of Oklahoma has written a letter in support of the student’s right to wear the t-shirt and explains that school officials should apologize.

  The ACLU has a point, as the U.S. Supreme Court explained years ago in Tinker v. Des Moines Indep. Comm. Sch. Dist. (1969) that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” The Court in Tinker protected the right of several students from Iowa to wear black armbands in protest of the Vietnam War.

Amy Crawford: White nationalists are targeting college campuses, and these students are fighting back

  In January, the night before alt-right figure Milo Yiannopoulos was scheduled to speak at the University of California, Berkeley, two members of the white supremacist group American Renaissance got in a fistfight with other young men after they were caught plastering trees and buildings around campus with posters that proclaimed, “Embrace white identity!”

  In February, a spoofed faculty email address sent hundreds of University of Michigan students messages that threatened black and Jewish people, using the phrase “Heil Trump.” The emails, which the FBI is investigating, followed the appearance of racist flyers around campus the previous fall.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1520: Do black lives really matter?

  Black lives matter. This three-word phrase is so powerful. It evokes powerful hopes and powerful fears. Some see this phrase as strongly asserting value to lives that have been historically devalued. Others see this phrase as strongly urging violent attacks on law enforcement. And many hold various positions in between. "Black lives matter" is a powerful phrase that expresses a powerful concept.

  Why is this simple three-word phrase so controversial? Let’s start with the basic question: Do Black lives matter? Do Black lives matter as much as White lives? If we can rationally respond to these questions, perhaps we can discuss the issues that embroil law enforcement and the Black community. We are all entitled to our opinions. We are not entitled to our own facts.  Can we deal with the facts? "Black lives matter" is a powerful concept.