Each year, Black History Month reminds us to do something we rarely do as a society: remember (or learn for the first time) and reflect on the truly breathtaking contributions of Black people over the centuries. Many outlets do a beautiful job of cataloging some of these contributions, including several of my colleagues here on this blog.
American immigrants—of which I am one—cannot pretend that America’s history as a slave society bears no relation and has no consequence for the America that they live in today. We cannot carve the history of racial oppression out of the history of America.
The New York State Senate and Assembly heard arguments for public financing of elections, the best policy tool we have to push back against the presence of big money in politics and to push forward on the march toward racial equity.
We talk about the Black people who overcame oppression but not about the people—overwhelming white and powerful—who created the oppression others had to overcome. This must change.
Loans may be one solution for helping students afford college and increase achievement, but grants that don't have to be repaid is another. The researchers are working on a new study that examines the academic effects of federal loans versus grant aid and agree that the effects of the federal Pell Grant may be stronger on academic performance, Marx said.
I talk to my children about how they—who have ethnic roots in Ireland, China, Samoa, Germany, Switzerland, and the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe, but as far as we know, no African ancestry—are beneficiaries of the struggles of black history.
Yesterday, Demos and 4 other civil rights legal organizations filed an emergency motion to stop Texas from discriminating against voters of color and purging naturalized citizens who are eligible to vote from the voter rolls.
Democrats have proposed H.R. 1, a bill that would make our democracy more equitable, improved access for vulnerable groups to have a real say in how we are governed, and roll back voting restrictions that have disproportionately harmed people of color.
As a child, I vividly remember my Puerto Rican mom always watching the Oprah Winfrey Show, and I distinctly remember Oprah Winfrey and her show being my first real exposure to black culture, besides my black father and his family.
Today, Black History Month is an invitation to face with confidence the tragedies and trials that break our hearts, to be fearless in hope and unyielding in our fight for justice — for all of us.
If the goal is to resegregate higher education, the efforts have largely worked. Amid budget cuts and attacks on affirmative action, elite public colleges are enrolling fewer black students than they were a generation ago.
We at Demos are acutely aware of, and actively fighting against, the racist policies, beliefs, political tactics and narratives that have created and deepened the racial divide in our country. On this third annual National Day of Racial Healing*, we are reflecting on the ways in which we can unite to heal the wounds of racial division and the centuries of trauma they have caused for people of color.
Racism has long driven pervasive political, economic, and social disparities in this country.
Those inequities arise not just from individualized and blatant forms of discrimination but also through historical, cumulative, structural policies that have combined to inhibit wealth, opportunity, well-being, and voice for communities of color.
New York City’s system has enabled candidates ― especially those from less affluent neighborhoods ― to more consistently rely on small donors in their districts.
The poll results indicate that politics may soon catch up to the reality borrowers are facing, said Mark Huelsman, the associate director of policy and research at Demos, a left-leaning think tank.
“It’s a sign of the increasing anxiety that voters and families are feeling about their own debt or their children going into to debt or them going into debt for their children,” he said.