Feature –  Mitch Landrieu Reminds Us That Eloquence Still Exists.  His speech on the removal of Confederate monuments in New Orleans is one of the most profound statements on “race, history and healing,” that has been given in recent times. Read and listen here 

How the Swastika Became a Confederate Flag. The protest in Charlottesville over a plan to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee, also celebrated the intimate connection between Nazi-era rule in Germany and Jim Crow-era rule in the United States. Read more 

Slavery is America’s pre-existing condition. We are two people welded together by personal history and this country’s legacy of slavery. A personal story. Read more 

Stunning ‘Scandal’ Monologue Captures The Emotional Burden Black Women Carry. During the “Scandal” season finale, Mama Pope spoke to a truth that many black women deeply understand. Read more and listen 

What They Did to My Baby. A new memoir by Trayvon Martin’s parents lays bare the emotional costs of watching your child’s murder catalyze a social movement. A review. Read more  

Closing Rikers Island: A Step Beyond Prison Reform. Prison abolition, as opposed to prison reform, seeks to dismantle the prison industrial complex entirely and replace it with a humane alternative. Read more  

Robert Reich: Trump’s Budget Is Cruel and Deviant. He proposes to cut federal spending by more than $3.6 trillion over the next decade, much of it for programs that help the poor (Medicaid, food stamps, Social Security disability, and health insurance for poor children). Read more 

How Abraham Lincoln Found His Anti-Slavery Voice.  “For Lincoln, the revolutionary promise of the American nation, its inalienable rights, made slavery an insufferable wrong.” Read more.   

Want to See How School Choice Leads to Segregation? Visit Betsy DeVos’ Hometown, Holland Michigan. Here, two decades of the policies that the Trump/DeVos education budget now wants to take national, have resulted in white flight and school closures, leaving Holland’s poor and minority students segregated in the few schools that remain open. Read more 

Mississippi Accused Of Unequal Schooling for Black Students. The plaintiffs say their children are deprived because they are black and attend overwhelmingly black schools, in districts that have been given an “F” rating by the Mississippi Department of Education.  Read more 

Not All Indicators Are Bad: Interracial Marriage at All-Time High. According to the most recent analysis of U.S. Census data just published by Pew Research Center, interracial marriages reached an all-time high in 2015. Read more 

Watch Wayne Shorter Share Miles Davis’ Wisdom With Jon Batiste. Jazz legend talks long career, bebop spirit, improv life lessons with ‘Late Show’ bandleader. Watch the video 

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