Renowned civil rights and womens rights leader Angela Davis spoke at Ebenezer Baptist Church in downtown Atlanta on March 24, 2009 for the keynote address of Emory Universitys Womens History Month. Davis’ long-standing commitment to prisoners’ rights dates to her involvement in the campaign to free the Soledad Brothers, which led to her own arrest and imprisonment in 1970.
Anita Hill speech at Simmons College on April 11, 2008, “The Power of Our Presence: African American Women Building Communities, Families, Ourselves,” focused both on the past by examining the racist and misogynist 1965 Moynihan report, and on the present by noting milestones achieved by black women since the report’s release.
Looking to the future, Hill urged the audience to take advantage of opportunities outside the community: in the workforce and in areas like education, politics, and law. She cited five ways, or “pledges,” for Black women to further their presence in leadership roles, including: moving beyond Brown v. Board of Education to change access and curriculum; integrating society, starting with the workplace; creating a safe-haven in the home and community; and saving the community’s soul by emphasizing religion and generating positive images of African American culture.
Professor Anita Hill
“We have to become the political leaders we deserve,” said Hill as the fifth and final pledge. “If we are serious about having a conversation about race and gender, we must have elected officials in leadership roles that are willing to talk about it.
“The burn of identity,” Hill said, both as a women and as an African American, “can be overwhelming but nothing for Simmons women.”
“Our hopes speak to all Americans,” said Hill. She urged the crowd to strive to leave the next generation inclusive, not just tolerant. “We are the American Dream,” she concluded.
BAKER: “…I think the basic “why” of S.C.L.C. has to do with what has taken place in the ’54 decision and the Montgomery bus boycott. But before you can evaluate the bus boycott, you have to understand how it came about. And it didn’t come out of a vacuum.
There were two people in Montgomery who had functioned with the N.A.A.C.P. over the years and they were Mrs. Rosa Parks and E.D.Nixon. Where did E. D. Nixon get his fire? He got his fire and his sense of social action from being a member of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and the struggle that it had waged through the years.
So when the Montgomery bus boycott ended successfully here you had a social phenomenon that had not taken place in the history of those of us who were around at that time, where hundreds of people and even thousands of people, ordinary people, had taken a position that put them in a very uncomfortable—at least made life less comfortable for them—when they decided to walk rather than to ride the buses.
And this was a mass action and a mass action that anybody who looked at the social scene would have to appreciate and wonder.
Those of us who believed that mass and only through mass action are we going to eliminate certain things, would have to think in terms of how does this get carried on.
So, whatever the reasons, or however the historical accidents of history or whatever else that precipitated Martin as the president—that’s quite a story I’m not going into because you didn’t come here for that—but whatever those factors were, he was there as the spokesman for the boycott. And out of the boycott he became a worldwide known individual articulating the strivings and the hopes and so forth of the people who were involved in the boycott.”
By Amy Goodman & Denis Moynihan It was a bad week for dictators, and a good one for international justice. Two brutal, U.S.-backed dictators who ruled decades ago were convicted for crimes they committed while in power. Hissene Habre took control of the northern African nation of Chad in 1982, and unleashed a reign of terror against his own people, killi […]
We continue our conversation with Dave Zirin, author of the book "Brazil's Dance with the Devil: The World Cup, the Olympics, and the Fight for Democracy," and Jules Boykoff, author of "Power Games: A Political History of the Olympics." In early August, more than 10,000 athletes across the world will convene in Rio de Janeiro's […]
Extended interview with Setsuko Thurlow, who survived the Hiroshima atomic bombing, about the bombing of 1945 and her push to eliminate nuclear weapons. On August 6, 1945, Thurlow was at school in Hiroshima when the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb on a civilian population. She has been an anti-nuclear activist for decades. Watch Part 1
Holocaust survivor and peace activist Hedy Epstein has died at the age of 91. Epstein was born in Germany and left in 1939 on a Kindertransport to England. Her parents died in Auschwitz. She later returned to Germany to work as a research analyst for the prosecution during the Nuremberg trials. She was involved in civil rights and antiwar movements throughou […]
By Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan Thursday, Jan. 28, was a cold morning in Durham, North Carolina. Wildin David Guillen Acosta went outside to head to school, but never made it. He was thrown to the ground and arrested by agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ). He has been in detention ever since. Wildin, now 19 years old, fled his home […]
The 24-year-old athlete had also taken drugs before he was fatally struck by a dump truck while walking on a Florida interstate highway just before dawn last month, an autopsy report concluded.
Officials gathered in Times Square for the removal of what they called New York City's last public pay phone, which is headed to a local museum. But a number of other pay phones are still standing.
The policy spells out situations in which officers have an "affirmative duty" — to prevent or stop other officers from using excessive force, and to render or call for medical aid when it's needed.
Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott continues her charity drive with a $122.6 million donation to Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, the group's largest gift ever from an individual.
Republicans have fought bitter primaries in Georgia. But just two years after Democrats flipped the state, it’s trending back in the G.O.P.’s direction.
The medical team for the Democratic nominee in Pennsylvania’s Senate race has not spoken about John Fetterman’s prognosis. But cardiac experts saw clues in campaign statements.
A detailed study of long-COVID patients fails to find any obvious physical explanation for their lingering health problems. The findings underscore the need for doctors to go beyond routine tests.
Writing for the 6-3 conservative majority, Justice Clarence Thomas said federal courts may not hear post-conviction evidence to show how deficient the trial or appellate lawyer in state court was.
This week we speak to the Athletic’s national NBA columnist about the 2018-2019 NBA season that has come and gone and whether anyone has a chance to upset the set up against the Warriors. We talk the Washington Wizards troubles, Lebron’s first year in Los Angeles, and MVP picks. We also have ‘Choice Words’ on the plan to demolish the San Jose State track and […]
This week we speak to NY Times bestselling author Jeff Pearlman about his book Football for a Buck: The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL. We go into the league’s history, why it went under, and lessons to be learned from its eventual demise. We also have ‘Choice Words’ about proposed cuts to the Special Olympics and we have the same person getting t […]
This week we speak to DC-based sports journalist and editor Patrick Hruby about the rot that envelops the NCAA, more visible than ever this March. We do all this through the prism of word association, talking coaches, players, apparel companies, and the NCAA. We also have ‘Choice Words’ about Mike Trout’s mega contract. We then got ‘Just Stand Up’ and ‘Just […]
This week we speak to Katie Barnes of ESPNW about the right wing movement against trans athletes particularly trans women, recent comments by tennis legend Martina Navratilova, and we get their thoughts about the future of the struggle as well. We also have ‘Choice Words’ about Russell Westbrook’s confrontation with a so-called fan in Utah. Also we’ve got ‘ […]
House ethics rules bar lawmakers from accepting travel and related expenses from registered lobbyists. The House Majority Leader has said that his expenses on a 2000 trip were paid by a nonprofit organization, and that the financial arrangements for it were proper.
Five months after President Bush launched his drive to overhaul Social Security, the difficult, if not impossible, task of drafting legislation begins Tuesday when the Senate Finance Committee holds the first hearing on options to secure Social Security's future.
Howard Dean's Democratic National Committee has been studying the electorate, and the party's problem with voters of faith is both worse and better than he feared.
Years ago, the federal government spent $117 million on an experimental "clean coal" power plant in Alaska designed to generate electricity with a minimum of air pollution -- but the project never got up and running.