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'May We Forever Stand' Explains Why "Lift Every Voice and Sing" Is an Immortal Song

"Lift Every Voice and Sing" has been embedded in black America's DNA for more than 100 years. We've sung it every February ever since Black History Month was a thing, and every December since Kwanzaa was a thing.

Books

On a Turning Point for Martin Luther King, Jr.

Biographer Patrick Parr takes readers through a vital and decisive phase of Martin Luther King Jr.'s life virtually unexplored by other biographers.

Books

'Dorothy Day: The World Will Be Saved by Beauty' Memoir Rejects Hagiography

In Kate Hennessy, a cautious voice emerges over the pious chatter about her famous grandmother, activist Dorothy Day.

Books

Historian Martin Duberman Puts Us to Task with 'Has the Gay Movement Failed?'

Has the "gay movement" failed? Not yet, suggests this historian's survey. But it urgently needs to reinvent itself.

Books

Daryle Lamont Jenkins of Antifa Doc 'Alt-Right: Age of Rage' Isn't Waiting for Approval

Jenkins, founder of One Peoples Project, tells PopMatters that contrary to the fear many Americans feel, it's actually life-affirming to talk about fascism and racism.

Film

'The Heavens Might Crack: The Death and Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.'

Martin Luther King, Jr. was a monolith of a man in his time and remains so today. But he was also a rebel, a necessary disrupter, a thorn in the feet of all who stood in his way.

Books

'Soul of a Nation' and 'The Wall of Respect' Prompt New Looks at Cutting-edge Black Art

No matter where you are on the wokeness spectrum, the Black Power era has yet to stop informing.

Books

Louise Thompson Patterson and the Long Tradition of Radical Struggle

Reading the struggle of Patterson and her comrades a century ago reminds us that today's racist violence is not a temporary aberration but a deeply rooted and pervasive flaw in American society.

Books

'Blood at the Root' and the Cultivation of Racial Hatred in America

The story of Georgia's all-white Forsyth County and how they made it that way.

Books

James Baldwin Matters

There's a reason why Ta-Nehesi Coates is often compared to James Baldwin, and there's a reason why Baldwin's work is so relevant in the age of Black Lives Matter.

Books

'The Force' Explores The Complexities of Law Enforcement Reform

The Force, which details the Oakland Police Department's recent reform efforts, is best viewed as a complementary work to prior Black Lives Matter documentaries, such 2017's Whose Streets? and The Blood Is at the Doorstep.

Film

In 'The Blood is at the Doorstep', a Family Suffers From an Intransigent Criminal Justice System

Erik Ljung's work is an auspicious cinematic debut which reminds that for every criminal justice statistic, there's a stirring story which deserves to be deeply considered.

Reviews

Conscience of Congress John Lewis Hopes You'll 'Get in the Way' of Things

Lewis’s lifelong philosophy on civil disobedience is admirable and urgent. Interview with Get in the Way Director, Kathleen Dowdey.

Interviews

The FBI, MI5, the State Department and Paul Robeson

Paul Robeson was a powerful singer and orator whose towering intellect and strong beliefs in the dignity of all mankind may have cost him his reputation and career.

Reviews

AIF Docs 2013: 'American Revolutionary' + 'The Trials of Muhammad Ali'

American Revolutionary and The Trials of Muhammad Ali are both portraits of civil rights icons, people as well as symbols of struggles that continue.

Film

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"Lift Every Voice and Sing" has been embedded in black America's DNA for more than 100 years. We've sung it every February ever since Black History Month was a thing, and every December since Kwanzaa was a thing.

Biographer Patrick Parr takes readers through a vital and decisive phase of Martin Luther King Jr.'s life virtually unexplored by other biographers.

In Kate Hennessy, a cautious voice emerges over the pious chatter about her famous grandmother, activist Dorothy Day.

Has the "gay movement" failed? Not yet, suggests this historian's survey. But it urgently needs to reinvent itself.

Jenkins, founder of One Peoples Project, tells PopMatters that contrary to the fear many Americans feel, it's actually life-affirming to talk about fascism and racism.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was a monolith of a man in his time and remains so today. But he was also a rebel, a necessary disrupter, a thorn in the feet of all who stood in his way.

No matter where you are on the wokeness spectrum, the Black Power era has yet to stop informing.

Reading the struggle of Patterson and her comrades a century ago reminds us that today's racist violence is not a temporary aberration but a deeply rooted and pervasive flaw in American society.

The story of Georgia's all-white Forsyth County and how they made it that way.

There's a reason why Ta-Nehesi Coates is often compared to James Baldwin, and there's a reason why Baldwin's work is so relevant in the age of Black Lives Matter.

The Force, which details the Oakland Police Department's recent reform efforts, is best viewed as a complementary work to prior Black Lives Matter documentaries, such 2017's Whose Streets? and The Blood Is at the Doorstep.

Erik Ljung's work is an auspicious cinematic debut which reminds that for every criminal justice statistic, there's a stirring story which deserves to be deeply considered.

Lewis’s lifelong philosophy on civil disobedience is admirable and urgent. Interview with Get in the Way Director, Kathleen Dowdey.

This book is about society. Shifting the focus from the individual (crime) to the social (punishment) is not so much a political choice as it is an ethical imperative.

Paul Robeson was a powerful singer and orator whose towering intellect and strong beliefs in the dignity of all mankind may have cost him his reputation and career.

American Revolutionary and The Trials of Muhammad Ali are both portraits of civil rights icons, people as well as symbols of struggles that continue.