Despite heightened awareness, Black Lives Matter, multiple marches, protests and even Derek Chauvin’s conviction, scores of Black people still died in the year after George Floyd’s death at the brutal hands of reckless, misguided police officers and other hate-motivated people.

The Federal Bureau of Investigations reports that anti-Black crimes continue to be the single largest category of hate crime incidents. The latest information is for 2019, but with more people emerging from Covid-19’s cover post-vaccine, it’s reasonable to think that the number and intensity of hate crimes and so-called ‘casual racism” attacks against people of color could escalate.

Experiencing racial…

BLACK SCHOLARSHIP MATTERS

Right now, Nikole Hannah-Jones deserves a round of applause. Whether you love her or hate her, it’s time to admit she won the culture war. While conservatives started the conflict, she ended it with poise. So, how did Hannah-Jones stare into the belly of the beast and come out triumphant? Let’s unpack this.

Ever since becoming the lead contributor for the New York Times’ 1619 Project, Hannah-Jones’ journalism has taken center stage, winning her the 2020 Pulitzer Prize. Before this, she received the MacArthur Fellowship in 2017, also known as the “Genius Grant.” …

Summertime has finally arrived. After a lengthy pandemic-inspired hibernation, many women feel excited about their hot-girl summer plans. Tourism around the globe has recently hit record heights. And while these vacations are well-deserved, conservative voter suppression tactics are surging. Systemic racism does not take time off, but that does not mean Black women have to stick to the picket line to make a difference.

According to MSNBC : “Stacey Abrams has launched her ‘Hot Call Summer’ campaign to get Congress to pass the For the People Act. The ‘Hot Call Summer’ campaign asks supporters to call their U.S. …

True to its origins, this year’s Juneteenth combines incremental victory and continued struggle.

Juneteenth is now an official federal holiday, with legislation creating “Juneteenth National Independence Day” having passed in the House and Senate and signed into law by President Joe Biden. This victory is hard-won, the fruit of decades of activism from people like 94-year-old Opal Lee, who once walked from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., (at 89!) to push for federal recognition.

So finally, the U.S. is getting a national holiday dedicated to the emancipation of our enslaved ancestors. But it’s happening amid a concerted right-wing effort…

With six months under our belts in 2021, many have begun to refer to 2020 as the “lost year.” Twenty-twenty was the year that brought us so much — trauma, a reset, inner peace, anxiety. Essentially, it was a basket case of a year. If you are Black, however, it brought with it the persistent reminder that even in the midst of a global pandemic, where a trip to the grocery store could land you in the hospital or worse, being Black in America was still just as deadly as contracting Covid-19. …

What’s in a name? Apparently a lot when it comes to royal babies. After Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, announced they were pregnant with a girl during that infamous Oprah interview, speculation began over both the name and the due date.

Earlier this week, royal watchers received their answer. Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten-Windsor was born on Friday, June 4 at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, weighing in at 7 pounds and 11 ounces, according to an announcement on Harry and Meghan’s Archewell website. A fine name if you ask me, especially considering how the first name is a…

It Has to Be Said

Throughout the decades of my life as a Black woman, I have worn nearly every hairstyle known to humankind. I spent my childhood quivering at the sizzle of a hot comb that transformed my hair into neat plaits or ponytails. From there, it just got more creative with the Jheri curl, Leisure curl, Halle Berry cut, kinky puff, bone-straight shoulder length weave, curly weave, cornrows, Marley-assisted ponytails, and the occasional wig.

I have worn everything except a bonnet out of the house, but I guarantee you that my personal choice of leaving it in the dresser hasn’t saved me from…

GEORGE FLOYD: ONE YEAR LATER

It is now a year after the murder of George Floyd, and Black people are still exhausted.

“There’s something called racial battle fatigue, and it is the exhaustion that comes from event after event, assault after assault,” says Thema Bryant-Davis, a professor of psychology at Pepperdine University and the director of the university’s Culture and Trauma Research Center. “Because although this milestone is very significant, there have been many others right before that and after that.”

Death at the hands of police has not stopped. Since May 26, 2020 — the day after former officer Derek Chauvin killed Floyd —…