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Howard University Gets $2M Grant to Digitize Archive of Black Newspapers

The project will create the largest and most accessible archive of historical Black newspaper content in the world. 

Baltimore Sun: "Deeply and Profoundly Sorry" for Advocacy of White Supremacy

From its sympathies for slavery and the Confederate cause to support for disenfranchisment and coverage of crime that has given the views of the police priority over the voices of the city's Black communities, the newspaper acknowleges its role in inequality. 

The Communist Takeover in China is the Better Parallel to the Ukraine Crisis

Will American politicians repeat the error of asking who "lost China" instead of asking whether it was ours to lose? 

Texas Lt. Gov. Links Tenure Abolition to Banning Critical Race Theory

The call makes explicit that academic freedom is on shaky ground in Texas. 

The Paranoid Style Comes to Canadian Politics

by Eric Merkley

Canadian politics, until recently, seemed free of the kind of extreme sorting taking place in other democracies, where partisan affiliation, cultural values, and religious or ethnic identity all align closely. The Ottawa protests show cracks in the nation's liberal order that the far right is trying to exploit, says a political scientist.

For Black History Month, Honor the Environmental Justice Activism of Hazel Johnson

Hazel Johnson was pushed to environmental justice activism when her husband's cancer death made her aware of the toll of industrial pollution on her Chicago neighborhood. Today, it remains important to connect environmental protection and social justice.

The Ukraine Crisis Represents Kleptocracy Coming Home to Roost

Western powers have precipitated the possible war over Ukraine not by seeking to expand NATO but by allowing the unchecked reign of kleptocrats since the end of the Cold War. 

Death Threats and Intimidation on the Rise Against Local School Boards

As national conservative groups have mobilized voters and resources around the idea that schools are under seige by radical leftist indoctrination, some school board members have experienced death threats and other serious harassment. 

New Documentary Highlights Unsolved Civil Rights-Era Murder

Black citizens in Natchez, Mississippi secretly organized for community self-defense in 1965, risking certain reprisals from local whites. Wharlest Jackson was killed by a car bomb in an act of intimidation that was never solved. 

Cherokee Nation Seeking To Collect Family Histories Of Slave Descendants

The outreach to collect family stories is part of the efforts by the Cherokee Nation to address slaveholding and the exclusion of Black descendants from tribal membership. 

A Guide to Touring Alabama's Civil Rights Trail

Two AJC reporters offer a guide to those interested in marking Black History Month with a tour of Alabama's major civil rights sites, memorials and museums. 

New Laws have Teachers Confused, Scared, and Self-Censoring

Few new laws have (yet) impacted the curriculum or resulted in the prosecution of teachers. But nevertheless, history and social studies teachers across America report a real chilling effect from laws that subject them to community surveillance and censure. 

A Civil Rights Tour of America

Writer Garrett Martin identifies the key sites on a tour of civil rights history institutions in Atlanta, Alabama, Memphis and Washington. 

Art Spiegelman Interviewed on Maus, Art and History, and his Missing Glasses

The graphic memoirist says that the Tennessee controversy probably doesn't reflect any antisemitic bigotry, but a desire to find a catharsis that fixes the horror of the Holocaust instead of recognizing it as ongoing. 

Republicans are Reviving the 1980s Crack Panic; People will Die as a Result

Harm reduction policies are evidence-based and proven to reduce the negative impacts of drug abuse, which makes the effort to turn them into a culture war particularly discouraging. 

U of Alabama to Rename Building for Desegregation Pioneer Autherine Lucy (Without Name of KKK Leader)

A massive public outcry pushed the university's trustees to name the building solely after Lucy, without the name of former governor and Klansman Bibb Graves. 

Shirley Ann Higuchi: Sen. Lee is Obstructing Establishment of National Historic Site for former Internment Center

The Utah Senator is blocking unanimous consent rules for a bill that would establish a historic site commemorating the internment of 8,000 Japanese Americans at Camp Amache in Colorado. 

It's Wrong for Biden to Punish Afghans for 9/11

by H.A. Hellyer and Farid Senzai

It's unconscionable to punish ordinary Afghans, who were themselves victimized by the Taliban, by seizing frozen bank funds as restitution to the families of 9/11 victims. 

Songs for a South Underwater: Music that Carried People Through the Great 1927 Flood

After the devastating flooding of 1927, and an indifferent response from the government, another flood of songs of protest and resilience ensued, creating a southern musical and cultural tradition. 

Nominating a Scalia of the Left is Biden's Best Chance to Influence the Courts

by Aziz Huq

Republicans won't support any Biden nominee, even a moderate. Instead, Biden should put forward a judge who is bold enough to put a stamp on the law in dissent and shift dominant interpretations to the left.