Tag Archives: race

Frederick Douglass’ “The Meaning of July Fourth

Posted on July 3, 2020 by jyourist

Almost a decade before the Civil War, Frederick Douglass was asked to speak at Rochester, New York’s Fourth of July celebration, (held on the fifth) in 1852. What the citizens, the white citizens, of Rochester heard was not what they … Continue reading →

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At the root, heart, character of this nation

Posted on July 9, 2016 by jyourist

Today is the anniversary of the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, perhaps the most important amendment in our Constitution. This is the amendment that is used most frequently in civil rights litigation, including the most recent same sex marriage decision … Continue reading →

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Memorial Day created by former slaves

Posted on May 30, 2016 by jyourist

Though Memorial Day was first formally declared in 1868 by General Logan, in charge of the GAR—an organization of Civil War vets, in order to decorate the graves of those who died in the Civil War, there are many cities … Continue reading →

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Malcom X…

Posted on May 19, 2016 by jyourist

…would be 91 today.

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Harper Lee 1926-2016 RIP

Posted on February 19, 2016 by jyourist

Some previous posts connected to Harper Lee: Ta-Nehisi Coates and Harper Lee Harper Lee is not immune Zack Graham’s To Kill a Mockingbird Problem…and Ours Scuppernongs  

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Lift every voice

Posted on January 15, 2016 by jyourist

Today started with an assembly celebrating Martin Luther King. The assembly was totally kid-centered, an authentic middle school experience. There were excerpts from a play the students had put on earlier this year, Brown Girl Dreaming. There were vocalists and … Continue reading →

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“A Subtlety” by Kara Walker

Posted on November 28, 2015 by jyourist

A year and a half ago, Kara Walker was asked to create a piece in the old Domino Sugar Factory that was due for demolition in Brooklyn in New York. She created a piece called “Subtlety or the Marvelous Sugar … Continue reading →

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Ta-Nehisi Coates at NYPL

Posted on October 25, 2015 by jyourist

A few days ago, on Oct. 22, Ta-Nehisi Coates was the speaker at the Schomberg Center at the New York Public Library. The Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture is an invaluable archive of African-American resources. Skillfully interviewed by … Continue reading →

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Four Young Girls

Posted on September 15, 2015 by jyourist

52 years ago today, Carol Denise McNair (age 11), Cynthia Wesley (age 14), Carole Robertson (age 14), and Addie Mae Collins (age 14) were killed in a bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Four members of … Continue reading →

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“The kids who die” by Langston Hughes

Posted on August 9, 2015 by jyourist

Michael Brown was shot and killed a year ago today in Ferguson, Missouri. This Langston Hughes poem, written in 1938 and read so powerfully by Danny Glover, is dedicated to Michael Brown and to oh too many others. This is … Continue reading →

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