Bookmarks (657)

As a young black writer, I feared being pigeonholed as a ‘race reporter’. Now I see my role as vital to the national narrativeWhen I started my training to be a journalist eight years ago, I didn’t want to be a black reporter who only reported on race. I was interested in the topic, but when people spoke of ambitious beats, they pointed to...

Sit down with Tucker Carlson, one of Fox’s most extreme hosts, is likely to cement Rittenhouse’s popularity among conservativesKyle Rittenhouse, the teenager acquitted of murdering two men during anti-racism protests, is set to appear next week on Fox News’s Tucker Carlson show amid fears that the not guilty verdict in the Kenosha killings might encourage militia violence.Rittenhouse’s shooting of three people, including two he...

Reactions to the verdict show a city as divided and beset by inequality as on the night of the killings in August 2020Unrest in Portland as Kyle Rittenhouse verdict divides USKyle Rittenhouse is now a free man after fatally shooting two men and wounding a third during anti-racism protests last year, but his trial has left behind a divided America – and done little...

When white people find Black protesters scary, and white vigilantes heroic, where does that leave the legal concept of ‘reasonable belief’?Before sending a Kenosha, Wisconsin, jury to deliberate if Kyle Rittenhouse is a murderer, Judge Bruce Schroeder informed Rittenhouse’s hand-picked jury that his fate rests on the “privilege” of self-defense.We now know what the jury decided. Continue reading...

A jury on Friday found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty on charges related to his shooting dead two people at an anti-racism protest and injuring a third in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year, after a tumultuous trial that gripped the USKyle Rittenhouse found not guilty in Kenosha shooting after tumultuous trial Continue reading...

The landmark children’s television program introduces Ji-Young, its first Korean American puppet, inspired by a desire to counteract race hateWhat’s in a name? For Ji-Young, the newest muppet resident of Sesame Street, her name is a sign that she was meant to live there.“So, in Korean traditionally the two syllables they each mean something different and Ji means, like, smart or wise. And Young...

A defense attorney in the trial over the killing of Ahmaud Arbery has caused outrage after asking the court to limit the number of Black pastors in the public gallery, claiming their presence could influence the jury. Kevin Gough said the presence of high-profile figures such as Rev Al Sharpton and Rev Jesse Jackson could be 'intimidating' for members of the almost entirely white...

The murder case against Kyle Rittenhouse has been thrown into jeopardy after his lawyers requested a mistrial over what appeared to be out-of-bounds questions asked of him by the prosecution. On the seventh day of the trial, Rittenhouse took to the stand to insist he had acted in self-defence. The 18-year-old is on trial on charges of killing two men and injuring a third...

The former South African president FW de Klerk recorded a message to the nation shortly before his death on Thursday, in which he apologised for 'the pain and the hurt and the indignity and the damage' the apartheid regime had caused. De Klerk oversaw the end of white minority rule as the country's last apartheid president and shared the Nobel peace prize with Nelson...

Rekindle, run by young pioneers, aims to reignite a love for learning in working-class kidsWhen Black Lives Matter protests swept the UK last year, Brother Nia Imara said his phone “went crazy”. Imara is the founder of the National Association of Black Supplementary Schools (Nabss), a network of Saturday or after-schools set up to tackle the underachievement of black children in mainstream education. “I...

More than a dozen accused of civil rights violations related to racist mayhem in trial that has driven judge to exasperationTwo blocks from the oak and boxwood trees slowly turning amber in the downtown Charlottesville park that saw one the most violent political confrontations of the Trump era is the tightly-secured federal courtroom where the origins of the racist mayhem that struck over that...

Figures delayed as police and borders bills pass through parliamentThe Home Office has failed to release its annual stop-and-search data, prompting concern that the figures will reveal a further increase to disproportionate targeting of black people.At the same time, the department is refusing to publish the results of its own public consultation into its heavily criticised “anti-refugee” legislation. Continue reading...

Civil rights activists report a ‘cozy’ relationship between Kenosha law enforcement and rightwing vigilantesAs a wind swept leaves past the steps of the Kenosha county courthouse last week, the streets were sparsely trafficked as another day of proceedings came to a close in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, who shot three people last year, wounding one and killing two.The muted scene around the courthouse...

Harlow joins seaside resorts on charity’s list of 52 vulnerable areas in England and WalesIt was conceived as an “essay in civilisation”, but some have argued that Harlow has on occasion fallen short of this lofty ambition. Now a new analysis heralds fresh woe for the Essex new town – designed in 1947 – by labelling it one of the places in England and...

Potential sale in Maryland halted after local activists opposed the deal as judge says: ‘Bodies of African Americans remain there’A judge has blocked the sale of a suburban apartment complex in Maryland that was previously used as a cemetery for freed Black slaves, arguing that “many bodies likely still remain on the property”.The potential $50m sale of Westwood Tower in Bethesda, Maryland, 30 minutes...

The actor has just directed her first film, an adaptation of Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel Passing. She discusses the family story that inspired her, cultural appropriation and class in HollywoodIt would be easy to assume that Rebecca Hall has never had to fight for anything in her life. Now 39, she made her screen debut at the age of 10 in The Camomile Lawn,...

Judge estimates jury selection could take at least two weeks after duty notices were mailed to 1,000 people in Glynn county GeorgiaThe trial of three white men accused of pursuing and murdering Ahmaud Arbery in one of Georgia’s most notorious racial killings is scheduled to begin on Monday with jury selection, a process the judge estimates could take at least two weeks.Jury duty notices...

At the 1968 Olympics, Tommie Smith, winner of the men’s 200 metres, stood on the podium and lifted his hand to protest racism. That moment would end his running career – and shake the worldTommie Smith still gets chills when he hears the opening bars of The Star Spangled Banner. It takes him right back to that night in October 1968 when he stood...

Survey of 1,718 performers, creatives and staff reveals microgression, pay disparities and discrimination are rifeDespite increased representation within the British music industry, the UK sector remains hostile to Black creators and professionals, according to a report that highlights the effects of systemic racism on mental health and a racial pay gap that disproportionately affects Black women.The first Black Lives in Music study found that...

In rural Minnesota, a fringe Heathen group known as the Asatru Folk Assembly has purchased a local church – and membership is strictly whites-only. They worship Nordic, pre-Christian gods and they call themselves a 'folk religion' that only accepts those with northern European ancestry. Their racially exclusive ideology is protected by the first amendment. Amudalat Ajasa visits the church to understand how it is gaining...

The creation of the modern, interconnected world is generally credited to European pioneers. But Africa was the wellspring for almost everything they achieved – and African lives were the terrible costIt would be unusual for a story that begins in the wrong place to arrive at the right conclusions. And so it is with the history of how the modern world was made. Traditional...

Erasing his two-decades-old record would require the rightwing Texas governor’s goodwillCriminal justice reform experts are hopeful that if Texas governor Greg Abbott approves a pardon request for George Floyd’s drug-related charges, which are almost two decades old, it will send a strong message about the prejudices of a justice system that disproportionately incarcerates Black and Latino people.Floyd was killed by a white Minneapolis police...

When informal heirs’ property owners cannot access disaster aid the racial wealth gap grows larger Margaret Alston doesn’t remember the night that Hurricane Matthew hit, but she remembers how afraid she was of the flooding that followed.The biggest hurricane to hit South Carolina since 1999, the storm caused massive inland flooding across large swaths of the south-east. In Bucksport, the small, unincorporated town where...

Coverage of Gabby Petito’s death highlights deep-seated beliefs about gender, race, patriarchy and who deserves protectionGabby Petito was eulogized last week, her father celebrating the adventurous spirit who took her final road trip. To the many people who followed her story in the news, she was Gabby. Like a daughter, a sister, a niece. Someone who should be cared for.Petito was also white, young,...