Our national conversation about anti-Black racism made 2020 a pivotal year painful for many, cathartic for others, memorable to all. Now a new year brings new opportunities to listen to Black voices and stories. Pick up one of these titles to deepen your knowledge of our country’s past, and join the chorus of voices advocating for a better future.
Ida B. the Queen
Ida B. Wells gets the royal treatment in
Ida B. the Queen: The Extraordinary Life and Legacy of Ida B. Wells, written by Michelle Duster, Wells’ great-granddaughter.
From the 1890s through the early 20th century, Wells was a pioneering activist and journalist who fought racism by publicizing heinous acts of violence toward Black Americans during the Jim Crow era. Crafted with empathy for and intimate knowledge of this American icon, the book recounts Wells’ many groundbreaking achievements, which caused the FBI to dub her a “dangerous negro agitator” in her time. Unlike in a typical biography, however, Duster
The conversation in the Facebook group is documented in more than 90 pages attached to the criminal complaint. It is peppered with memes and apparent humour and covers topics like systemic racism in the US, police violence, and comments by Page’s mayor about alcoholism among Indigenous communities, for which he later apologised.
Michael German, a fellow with the Brennan Center for Justice’s Liberty & National Security Program and former FBI agent, reviewed the Facebook conversation referenced in the indictment and said law enforcement took “an overwrought response to” what appears as “a private group of people engaging in shock talk”.
The Youthful Movement That Made Martin Luther King Jr.
In this moment made so dark by white nationalism and truth denial, Americans should look to the country’s legacy of young leaders with forward-thinking wisdom.
By Rich Benjamin
Mr. Benjamin is the author of “Searching for Whitopia: An Improbable Journey to the Heart of White America.”
Jan. 17, 2021
Martin Luther King Jr. at home in Montgomery, Ala., in May 1956.Credit.Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
There’s an image of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that’s seared into my mind. Eyes inviting and innocent, face relaxed, the casually dressed Dr. King reminds me of a cousin at a card party he looks so young. When Dr. King elucidated his dream at the March on Washington in 1963, he was 34 younger than most Americans now, given the national median age of 38.
Guests
Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons is assistant professor of religion at the University of Florida. She is also a member of the National Council of Elders. Her account of her work as an activist in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) is featured in the book,
Hands on the Freedom Plow: Personal Accounts by Women in SNCC.
Lucas Johnson leads The On Being Project s work in social healing as Executive Director of Civil Conversations and Social Healing. He is a community organizer, writer, and a minister in the American Baptist Churches. Read his full bio here.
Transcript
Lucas Johnson, host: Well, good morning, Zoharah.