Featured
Responding to Attacks on DEI. By Ronald J. Sheehy, Editor / Race Inquiry
African American soldiers: World War II
For centuries, African Americans have carried the weight of this nation’s contradictions—building democracy while being denied its promises, creating culture while facing exclusion, and striving for justice even when justice was delayed. Every stride toward equality has been met with resistance. Today’s attacks on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are no different. They are simply the newest form of an old struggle. Read more
Political / Social
Trump Is Building the Blue Scare. The Ezra Klein Show / NYT Podcast
In the hours and days after Charlie Kirk’s murder, there was a discussion on social media about whether this would be America’s Reichstag fire — a reference to the fire that was a rationale for Hitler’s crackdown on political freedom in Germany.
Many of us were worried hearing that, and I think what we’ve seen since suggests the fears were right. But the analogy was wrong. We should have been looking closer to home. This isn’t a Reichstag fire. This is more like the Red Scare. We often think of the Red Scare in terms of McCarthyism — named for Senator Joseph McCarthy, its most enthusiastic and effective practitioner. But it was a lot more than that. Corey Robin is a political theorist at Brooklyn College. He’s an expert on McCarthyism, as well as the author of the book “The Reactionary Mind,” which is, in my opinion, one of the most insightful books you can read on the Trumpist right and what is behind it. Read more and listen here
Related: Donald Trump’s Corruption of the Law Is Destroying American Democracy. By Jeet Heer / The Nation
Related: It’s Happened: The United States of America Is No Longer a Democracy. By Michael Tomasky / TNR
Jimmy Kimmel, Somber but Defiant, Defends Free Speech in Return to ABC. John Koblin and Michael M. Grynbaum / NYT
The late-night star said he had not intended to make light of Charlie Kirk’s murder, but he also said that President Trump’s threat against ABC was “anti-American.”
Jimmy Kimmel broke his silence on Tuesday night in an emotional return to ABC’s airwaves, by turns defiant, joking and somber as he addressed the controversy that temporarily sidelined his late-night show and set off a national debate over free speech. Read more
Related: Black Students, Workers Hit in Trump’s Speech Crackdown. By Brandon Tensley / Capital B
Stephen Miller’s Hypocrisy Is Right There in His Speech. By Jonathan Chait / The Atlantic
In the White House adviser’s view, violent rhetoric is allowed only when he and Trump are the ones spewing it.
Miller’s theme was that President Donald Trump’s side embodies pure good, his opponents pure evil, and the former is destined to utterly destroy the latter. “We are the storm. And our enemies cannot comprehend our strength, our determination, our resolve, our passion,” he thundered. “Our lineage and our legacy hails back to Athens, to Rome, to Philadelphia, to Monticello. Our ancestors built the cities. They produced the art and architecture. They built the industry.” Read more
Charlie Kirk was a divisive far-right podcaster. Why is he being rebranded as a national hero? By Saida Grundy / The Guardian
Celebrating a bigoted rage-baiter sends a clear message to people of color, LGBTQ+ folks and women
Kirk ruled over an online fiefdom peddling his signature brand of rage-baiting racist, xenophobic, Islamophobic and misogynistic commentary. It wasn’t just his vitriolic style, but also his popularization of cruelty, humiliation and dehumanization of political opponents – especially college students – that attracted millions to his audience. He famously said empathy was “a made-up, new age term that does a lot of damage”. Read more
Related: Don’t worry — Erika Kirk will never replace her husband. By Amanda Marcotte / Salon
Trump Appointees Roll Back Enforcement of Fair Housing Laws. Debra Kamin / NYT
In one email, a Trump appointee at the Department of Housing and Urban Development described decades of housing discrimination cases as “artificial, arbitrary and unnecessary.” President Trump stands with Scott Turner, his HUD secretary, who has publicly said “D.E.I. is dead” within the department.
In another, a career supervisor in the department’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity objected to lawyers being reassigned to other offices; the supervisor was fired six days later for insubordination. In a third, the office’s director of enforcement warned that Trump appointees were using gag orders and intimidation to block discrimination cases from moving forward. The urgent message was sent to a U.S. senator, who is referring it to the department’s acting inspector general for investigation. Read more
Five things we learned from 107 Days, Kamala Harris’s campaign trail memoir. By David Smith / The Guardian
Former Democratic nominee uncovers bizarre campaign moments, Biden tension, and other running mate choices
Kamala Harris’s new memoir, 107 Days, offers a postmortem of her whirlwind 2024 presidential campaign, launched in the wake of Joe Biden’s abrupt departure from the race. The title is a reference to the brutally short window she had to convince Americans she should become their first female commander-in-chief. The Democrat lost all seven swing states and the election to Donald Trump. Here are five things we learned from 107 Days: Read more
Education
How Charlie Kirk’s Professor Watchlist reshaped free speech on campus. By and
Experts say the project laid the groundwork for subsequent attempts to limit what professors and teachers say in the classroom.
In 2016, Charlie Kirk wasn’t yet a household name. The young activist had co-founded Turning Point USA four years earlier to help spread conservative ideas on college campuses. But shortly after President Donald Trump’s first election, the group launched an ambitious new project — the Professor Watchlist — aimed at highlighting what it saw as left-leaning bias in higher education. Read more
Related: Randi Weingarten on Why Fascists Fear Teachers. By Eleanor J. Bader / The Progressive Magazine
‘It’s a capitulation’: Berkeley grieves as its university bends to Trump. By Eric He and Will McCarthy / Politico
Over the past week, UC Berkeley has faced backlash over its decision to disclose the names of 160 students, faculty and staff to Trump administration officials investigating claims that Berkeley administrators have allowed a culture of antisemitism to take root.
Union representatives argue that by choosing not to resist the government’s demand for names, the Berkeley administration has betrayed the school’s “legacy of free speech” and, in an open letter to Chancellor Rich Lyons, warned the university was inching toward becoming an arm of an “authoritarian regime.” Read more
Related: In fight with universities, Trump leverages funding and international students. By Up First / NPR
Related: Trump team is worried about Harvard after attacking Harvard. By Lisa Needham / Daily Kos
Billionaire MacKenzie Scott gifts UNCF $70 million for historically Black colleges and universities. By Arthur Jones II / ABC News
This gift follows Scott’s $10 million contribution in 2020, which helped bolster the UNCF emergency reserve fund, according to the release from the organization. Overjoyed, UNCF President and CEO Michael L. Lomax said he nearly “lost it” when he received the news of the donation — which was seven times the amount of Scott’s 2020 gift.
“She is Saint MacKenzie Scott,” Lomax told ABC News, adding, “She is rewriting the book on philanthropy, not just in this country, but in the world.” Read more
World
America Is Blowing Up Boats and Asking Questions Later. The Editorial Board / NYT
Somewhere mingled in the foam and debris of the Caribbean Sea are the remains of at least 17 people who were killed this month by U.S. military forces on the orders of President Trump. They were aboard three speedboats that the Trump administration said were carrying drugs and smugglers from Venezuela.
Perhaps they were. Yet the administration has produced no evidence for its claims. And even if the allegations are correct, blowing up the boats is a lawless exercise in the use of deadly force. Read more
Israel-Gaza live updates: G7 warns of ‘immense suffering’ of Palestinians in Gaza. By David Brennan and Nadine El-Bawab / ABC News
The Israel Defense Forces is continuing its operation to take control of Gaza City, the largest urban area in the Gaza Strip, despite international outcry over the deteriorated humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory.
Meanwhile, in protest of Israel’s continuation of its military operations in Gaza, several nations including France, the U.K. and Canada recognized Palestinian statehood as leaders gathered in New York this week for meetings at the United Nations General Assembly. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “There will be no Palestinian state.” Read more
Related: As Israel’s isolation mounts at U.N., full toll remains limited. By Susannah George / Wash Post
‘Your countries are going to hell’: Trump bashes United Nations, world leaders in speech. By Alexandra Hutzler / ABC News
“Not only is the U.N. not solving the problems it should, too often it’s actually creating new problems for us to solve,” Trump said. “The best example is the No. 1 political issue of our time, the crisis of uncontrolled migration. It’s uncontrolled. Your countries are being ruined.”
He also encouraged leaders to reject policies geared toward fighting climate change and global warming, falsely calling climate change “the greatest con job ever” and touting his administration’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. Read more
Related: Trump vs. Lula was a window into MAGA at the U.N. By Ishaan Tharoor / Wash Post
Ethics / Morality / Religion
Black clergy grapple with Charlie Kirk’s rhetoric and his treatment as a hero. By AP and NBC News
From the pulpits of Black churches, pastors used their sermons to denounce Kirk’s beliefs that some said conflict with the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Gospel. Rev Patrick Wooden
How Charlie Kirk is being memorialized — with many conservatives and white Christians, particularly evangelicals, emphasizing his faith and labeling him a martyr — has sparked debate among Black clergy, who are trying to square a heroic view of the 31-year-old with insulting statements about people of color that were key to his political activism. Read more
Christianity After Charlie Kirk. By Ross Douthat / NYT
The Kirk service was more religious than political, the posthumous portrait of the slain father and husband emphasizing his faith over his political activism — but his memorial was still a fundamentally right-wing and Republican affair.
It was a statement of evangelical resilience and an indicator of enduring religious influence within the G.O.P. (something that was by no means guaranteed a decade ago). But controlling a political coalition is not the same thing as converting a culture, and indeed the two can often be at odds. Read more
Related: Charlie Kirk’s Memorial Was Christian Nationalism’s Biggest Moment. By Garrison Hayes / Mother Jones
Related: Why MAGA Evangelicals Can Cheer Love and Hate at the Same Time. By David French / NYT
American Catholicism at the crossroads in the face of rising political violence. By Stan Chu Ilo / NCR
Faith communities — especially the Catholic Church, with its deep intellectual and social gospel tradition — can play a decisive role in shifting the culture of discourse. Stan Chu Ilo is a Catholic priest from Awgu Diocese, Nigeria. He is also a senior research professor at the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology at DePaul University, Chicago.
In many African traditions, crossroads are spiritually charged places — sites where a traveler pauses, reflects and reorients before continuing the journey. Crossroads can be places of healing and reconciliation, where sacrifices are left as signs of gratitude and rituals of wisdom are performed. They are places to cast one’s gaze beyond immediate short-term gains, to embrace courageous decisions that allow the journey to continue with safety, solidarity and purpose. This is how I read contemporary American Catholicism as well as American democracy: Both stand at the crossroads. Read more
Related: Christianity’s Role in American History Explained. By Dennis McIntyre / Patheos
Historical / Cultural
How Black Ancestors Overcame Adversity, Racism, Discrimination. By Phenix S. Halley / The Root
They say history repeats itself, and if that’s the case, Black Americans can learn a lot from how our ancestors dealt with the trouble times of the past.
As racial and political tensions continue to plague Black America, it’s easy to feel a sense of hopelessness. When you feel directionless, remember to call upon the ancestors—they’ve navigated these challenges before. From voter suppression to environmental racism, Black communities have fought these battles for generations. Let’s explore how those who came before us found their strength and chose to resist oppression. Read more
Activists vow to protect display on George Washington’s tie to slavery. By Phaedra Trethan / USA Today
The President’s House in Philadelphia educates visitors about Washington’s ties to slavery and is a memorial to the people who were enslaved.
Michael Coard is a criminal defense lawyer, and he peppers his thoughts about The President’s House with a familiar courtroom phrase. “We need to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,” he said more than once while discussing the displays at The President’s House, steps away from the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall in Philadelphia’s historic district. Read more
The Little Rock Nine Made History On This Day 68 Years Ago. By Ahsan Washington / Black Enterprise
On Sept. 24, 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower deployed federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to guide nine Black students into Central High School. Known as the Little Rock Nine, these young students became icons of determination in a movement toward desegregation in America’s public schools.
Sixty-eight years later, we pay homage to their bravery —and remember their names. Here’s a glimpse at each of the nine and their enduring contributions. Read more
Members of Md. Black Caucus vow action to restore neglected graveyard. By Katie Mettler and Michael Brice-Saddler / Wash Post
Holding hands with heads bowed in prayer, members of Maryland’s legislative Black Caucus on Tuesday paid tribute to the boys buried at the long-neglected graveyard near what was once the House of Reformation and Instruction for Colored Children juvenile detention facility.
A Washington Post investigation published Monday found that the number of children who died while in the House of Reformation’s care from 1873 through 1939 is at least 230, far greater than the 67 the state estimated after former state delegate Troy Brailey, the founder of the state Black Caucus, learned of the site in 1972. Archival records show that Maryland officials have allowed the graveyard to remain neglected ever since, even as a veteran’s cemetery was built and well-maintained right next door. Read more
Sports
Former NFL team exec Bobby Grier has died. You need to learn about him. By Mike Freeman / USA Today
Bobby Grier’s career spanned seven decades, starting as an assistant coach with the New England Patriots in 1981 and later transitioning to the front office. His work with the Patriots and Texans, as well as his role as a consultant for the Dolphins, left a lasting impact on the NFL
Grier, whose sons Chris and Mike serve as general manager of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins and the NHL’s San Jose Sharks, respectively, was not a self-promoter. He seemed, in fact, to hate media attention. Several times throughout my years covering the league, we’d cross paths, and so many of our conversations involved him praising others. In a league full of people always taking credit, he doled it out. Read more
Dear WNBA, these Black female coaches should be top candidates for your open jobs. By Sean Hurd / Andscape
The league has no African American women at the helm of any of its 13 teams. Minnesota Lynx assistant coach Rebekkah Brunson (from left) sits with player Napheesa Collier during practice at the 2024 WNBA Finals in Minneapolis.
The WNBA is still a majority Black league. In 2023, 63.8% of 141 WNBA players polled by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport identified as Black or African American. There are two Black men coaching teams, Tyler Marsh of the Chicago Sky and Sydney Johnson of the Washington Mystics. Read more
Jayson Tatum Wanted to Give Up on Celtics Future After Heartbreaking Achilles Injury. By Adrija Mahato / Essentially Sports
“Why me?” Jayson Tatum asked his father, Justin, on that fateful day in May. His dad argued that it was God’s will. JT is young, and he will overcome all hurdles. Tatum also reminded his son, “Isn’t Kobe your idol? Kobe got through this.”
He admitted that he’d wake up in the middle of the night and stare at his left foot. “Just wondering how this could happen to me,” he said. At 27, Tatum had reached heights most dream of. A championship, a sneaker deal, the richest contract the league had seen. Jayson Tatum inked a five-year, $314 million extension with the Boston Celtics on July 1, 2024, setting a new benchmark as the richest deal in NBA history. Read more
Black Women’s Player Collective to host showcase to identify and nurture Black talent in soccer. By Tamerra Griffin / The Athletic
The Black Women’s Player Collective (BWPC) will cohost a showcase in November aimed at identifying and nurturing young Black soccer talent, the organization announced Wednesday.
In partnership with Allstate and Black Star media, the Next Wave National Showcase will take place on the campus of Prairie View A&M, an historically Black college in Texas, from Nov. 22-25. Allstate provided the funding for the event, and Black Star will serve as the chief storyteller. The group will select 20-30 of the best Black high school soccer players in the country. Read more
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