Discourses

Renowned Black journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones and Black scholar and activist Cornell West faced racial prejudices during their tenure cases and had to make tough decision: take a stand, resign, and move forward, setting an example as role models. The Netflix series, The Chair, starring Sandra Oh, an Asian-American, explores the similar struggles for the people of color, including Asian-Americans and African-Americans, in institutions, more specifically in academia. The two unrelated sagas and fictional work highlight the widely known issue in America: the elusiveness of career development, promotions, and tenure, or leadership acceptance for and prejudice against Blacks and other people of color in corporations, academia, and other institutions in the United States of America.

Jay-Z, the hip hop and rapper mogul and star, had not released a music video for quite some time. Hence, no wonder why  his new album 4:44 has garnered widespread attention.  On the album is one song: The Story of O.J.

When the Black Panther Party of Self-Defense was created in 1966, its reputation was quickly mostly misunderstood, said Bobby Seale, one of its two co-founders in an interview with NPR's Rachel Martin, aired on October 23, 2016, during 50th Anniversary celebration. 

Inspired by the teachings of human rights leader and activist Malcolm X, who was assassinated in 1965,  Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton created, in October 1966,  the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. Although seeking changes through peaceful means, they adopted Malcom X's slogan

Bob Dylan has won the 2016 Nobel Prize in literature, being the first American to win  since Toni Morrison won in 1993.

According to the statement from Sara Danius, the permanent secretary of the Nobel Prize Academy committee, Bob Dylan won the prize for "having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition." 

It has been more than 100 years that an African American museum was proposed. Today, on September 24th, 2016, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture became a reality when it opened its doors in Washington, D.C.

 Carla Hayden, 64,  the first African American to head the Library of Congress, was sworn in today, on Wed Sep 14, 2016. The longtime CEO of Baltimore's library system was nominated in 2015  by President Barack Obama and was confirmed by the Senate to head the Library of Congress in March 2016.  She will serve under the new law enacted by President Obama that limits the lifetime appointment to a 10-year term.

Akilah Johnson, the native of Washington, D.C, has won the 2016 Google Doodle. The theme of the year's contest is "What Makes Me ...Me". Focusing on her background, Akilah titled her work "My Afrocentric Life". She created her work using black crayons, color pencils and Sharpie markers.

Amelia Boynton Robinson,  one of the prominent civil rights activists, who nearly died while leading what is known as the "Bloody Sunday" march in Selma, Alabama has died. She was 104. Mrs Robsinson championed voting rights for Blacks and was the first black woman to run for Congress in Alabama.  In March 1965, beaten unconscious during the "Bloody Sunday" voting rights march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., she became the rallying symbol against the brutality of the police in South during the Civil Rights era.

He was one of the prominent early civil rights activists. One of the co-founders of Student Nonviolent Co-ordinating Committee in early 1970s and a prominent leader of the anti-Vietnam War campaign, he chaired the Board of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), 30 years later. The man, Julian Bond, widely viewed, as stated by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), as "visionary and tireless champion for civil and human rights", died in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, after a short illness.

Commenting after his death, US President Obama said that "Julian Bond helped change this[US] country for the better - and what better way to be

After four unclaimed awards in five years, Mo Ibrami Prize for Achievement in African Leadership prize for 2014 was awarded to the outgoing Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba. Mr Pohamba, a former independence movement freedom fighter who became president of Namibia for two terms, has won  the $5 millions award, for leading and leaving behind  "a well-governed, stable and inclusive democracy with strong media freedom and respect for human rights, " Salim Ahmed Salim, the chairman of the Mo Ibrahim Prize Committee and former Chair of  Organization of African Unity, now African Union,   said while awarding the prize.

Tributes to civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. were held  the Unites States  nationawide, on Monday January 19, 2015. The day was marked by  massive march protests over the treatment of minorities by law enforcement. "This march is about reclaiming Martin Luther King. He was a radical organizer - he's been arrested, he believed in non-violence, but he was also disruptive," said  Linda Sarsour, spokeswoman for the Justice League NYC, which organized the #Dream4Justice March, a well attended tribute and protest march.