Race and Class Discourse from an Ivory Tower in Connecticut

The black freedom struggle has entered a more radical phase ever since the murder of George Floyd and the thousands of street-level protests that followed. According to Gaye Theresa Johnson and Alex Lublin, in their edited book,   Future of Black Radicalism , “Black radicalism refers to demands and articulations of freedom by Black activists, artists, and intellectuals on behalf of everyone’s freedom.”   Radical protests by blacks have centered on demands such as paying poverty wage workers a living wage, defunding the police, reinvestments in education, urban infrastructure, black communities, and local economies, guaranteeing access to quality and affordable housing, healthcare for all, environmental justice, and ending food insecurity.   In response to black radicalism, the right has intensified its long-standing opposition to the black freedom struggle through denying the reality of systemic racism and opposing the expansion of social safety net programs such as Obama...

After centuries of preaching to the masses and proselytizing people, once small, fringe pagan cults, evolved into the largest religions in the world – Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. These religions now have billions of followers. America has been home to a lot of religious fringe groups/cults over the years: The Branch Davidians, the Mansion Family, Children of God/Family International, Heaven’s Gate, and People’s Temple are a few of the most notorious. Add Donald Trump to the list of famous American cult leaders and QAnon to the list of homegrown religious fringe movements. Let’s give this new cult a name: The Mar-a-Lago Club. Through both preaching at his massive political rallies and proselytizing daily over social media, Trump managed to win control of the hearts and minds of the base of the Republican Party and establish himself as a cult-like figure with millions of mostly-white followers, men and women, young and old, rich and poor. To the faithful, the Mar-a-Lago Club leade...

It’s hard to describe with words the relief I felt when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris took their oaths of office. Like most black people in America, I live with a constant sense of vulnerability, heightened of course, during the last four years by the presence of a white supremacist in the White House, Donald J. Trump. I listened closely to the words of the newly elected President, Joe Biden, during his inauguration address. I was quite moved by his speech, especially when he talked about the need to heal the nation by defeating white supremacy: “A cry for racial justice some 400 years in the making moves us," Biden said. "The dream of justice for all will be deferred no longer… And now, a rise in political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism that we must confront, and we will defeat. To overcome these challenges – to restore the soul and to secure the future of America – requires more than words.” “With unity,” he added, “we can do great things. Important things… We...