By: Tamika Middleton Jamil Jackson believes in creating opportunities for young people that weren’t available for him. The organization that he founded in North Minneapolis, Change Equals Opportunity (CEO), is committed to “giving our kids the opportunity before they get to feeling hopeless,” he says. For the young Black men with whom Jamil works, lack …Read More
By: Elois Freeman Arinetta has spent nearly her entire life in Tennessee. She was the youngest of three girls, raised by her mother who worked full-time at the local university. Arinetta said as a young girl, she could often be found browsing the stacks in the university library. Here she developed her love for books …Read More
By: Elois Freeman Shvonne was raised in Minneapolis in a loving, two-parent home with her sister, but her nourishing home environment clashed with a community that was racially segregated and economically isolated. In her community, police brutality was a common occurrence. She witnessed young, unemployed Black men getting beat down and arrested in public by …Read More
By: Elois Freeman Joseph J. is a 42-year-old African American father of one child living in Nashville, Tennessee. As a middle-aged man, he is looking to start his life anew, recently enrolling as an incoming freshman at American Baptist College. He is studying to become a guidance counselor of youth and young men. “I want …Read More
This story was originally posted on MomsRising.org. By: Tamika Middleton Tamika Middleton is a lifelong social justice advocate committed to examining and fighting against racial, gender and economic oppressions. In this post, Tamika writes about black mothers being punished for being poor. Tamika is a Writing Fellow for the Center for Community Change. Last week, …Read More
I grew up in the ‘50s and ‘60s in a segregated community in Nashville, Tennessee where the only times I saw White people were on TV or when my family went downtown. I watched my grandmother go to meetings to learn about boycotts and sit-ins to demonstrate against the inhumane treatment of the “Negro” community. …Read More
I had a conventional middle class upbringing in an unconventional community. Descending from Gullah/Geechees, I grew up surrounded by multiple generations of family on rural St. Helena Island, SC. At an early age, I grew to love my skin, my culture, my heritage and my community. That love has informed all the decisions I have …Read More
