Solitary confinement is a major pillar of criminal justice reform. As a punishment often outweighing the violation and impacting psyches years after it has ended, activists have held hunger strikes, filed class-action lawsuits and testified before the Senate in opposition to the practice. In order to balance against cases where solitary confinement is undue due to mental illness, or perhaps necessary …
The Original Empire: Madam C.J. Walker
During the holiday season we also celebrate the birthdate of one of America’s first self-made millionaires. Madam C.J. Walker, born Sarah Breedlove, was born on December 23, 1867 on a cotton plantation in Louisiana. As the daughter of recently freed slaves, Walker used her own scalp ailment as an impetus to invent a line of hair care products specifically tailored to …
Progress for Black Political Power
While the need for Black political power could not come at a more opportune time, we wanted to share some positivity as young millennials continue to break ground in the realm of public service. Just last month and at the age of 21, Jewell Jones became the youngest member of the Michigan state legislature as a representative for District 11. In …
Buy Black – But Not at Wal-Mart
Black Lives Matter activists once praised Walmart’s 2015 decision to remove Confederate flags from its online retail market. However, after Breitbart complained that Walmart sold “Bulletproof. Black Lives Matter” paraphernalia and the national Fraternal Order of Police wrote the retailer to ask for its removal, the multinational corporation decided to drop that merchandise, too. While the merchandise was sold through a third-party merchant …
#BlackJoyMatters for Happy Black People
At PushBlack we’re committed to discussing real issues, turning a lens towards history, and highlighting the awesomeness that is and always will be BLACK. That’s why, in this week’s #BlackJoyMatters post, we want to highlight some melanin-latent smiles that are worthy of a Crest commercial. Special thanks to Essence for promoting these shots of #BlackJoy, available for purchase in hardback form in Andre L. …
Interrupting the Prison-Debt Cycle
While mass incarceration remains a serious problem for Black and Brown folks in this country, we’re proud of President Barack Obama for continuing to implement criminal justice reform during his final hours in office. According to the Marshall Project, the prison-debt cycle has been interrupted: “The Obama administration Tuesday unveiled a new regulation that allows incarcerated parents to reduce their …
It Goes Down on Black Twitter
While Facebook fights to control the fake news swarming its site, PushBlack turns the spotlight on Black Twitter – – which uses its own tactics to ward off imposter profiles. It’s no surprise that #BlackTwitter has been a source of refuge, information and healing for the Black community. Which is why white supremacist groups have tried to infiltrate the collective …
Black Joy Matters
Because the news – and reality – can sometimes be daunting on our psyches and a burst of positivity is needed to start the weekend right. In this TED talk, Shonda Rhimes discusses how committing to a “Year of Yes” fueled her life with positivity, reconnected her to her family and reenergized her historic career. [Read here] Via Ozy
Supporting Black Women Entrepreneurs
Social media is inundated with opportunities to #BuyBlack and tap into the $1 TRILLION of buying power we have as a community. But how many of us are actually taking advantage of these resources? And, quite literally, willing to put our money where our mouths are? Author Maggie Anderson did just that – and more. Not only did she and …
We Have More Black Doctors…Right?
The recent announcement of Dr. Ben Carson as President-elect Trump’s selection for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, despite it’s controversy, got us thinking: where do Black medical professionals stand within our communities, and what impact does history have the growth of this sector? Putting party politics aside, we wanted to shed light on historical underrepresentation of Black medical professionals in the field …