Illinois is expunging marijuana convictions from nearly 800,000 criminal records | CNN

Ryan Prior, CNN Yarygin, serazetdinov/iStock. Featured Image [dropcap]C[/dropcap]NN If you’ve been arrested for weed in Illinois, you can breathe a sigh of relief. [mc4wp_form id=”6042″] Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker just signed HB 1438 this week, which makes cannabis legal in the state for individuals 21 and over, along with sweeping criminal criminal justice reforms designed […]

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Milestone For FDNY As First African American In 30 Years Promoted To Deputy Chief | CBS New York

Dave Quinn, CBS New York CBS New York. Featured Image [dropcap]N[/dropcap]EW YORK (CBSNewYork) – There was a milestone for the FDNY Wednesday. [mc4wp_form id=”6042″] It promoted 80 members of the department, including the first African American to make deputy chief in 30 years. Malcolm Moore is one of 12 battalion chiefs promoted to deputy chief […]

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Florida Lynched More Black People Per Capita Than Any Other State, According to Report | Broward Palm Beach New Times

Reuben Stacy, a 37-year-old black man, hangs from a tree on Old Davie Road in Fort Lauderdale, blood trickling down his body and dripping off his toes. Behind him, a white girl, about 7 years old, looks on, a strange smile on her face as she takes in the sight of the “strange fruit” her […]

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The Changing Image of the Black in Children’s Literature | The Horn Book, Inc.

By Augusta Baker, The Horn Book, Inc. In the 1920’s and 1930’s, children’s books seemed to foster prejudice by planting false images in the minds of children. Most authors were white, with little knowledge about black life, and yet they wrote as if they were authorities. No wonder it was an accepted fact in children’s […]

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Five African Americans named ‘genius’ grant winners by MacArthur Foundation In their own way, each is working toward increasing understanding of black histories and communities | The Undefeated

Kevin Parrish Jr., The Undefeated This Aug. 30 photo shows MacArthur Foundation fellow Emmanuel Pratt, an urban designer with the Sweet Water Foundation in Chicago. Pratt is co-founder and executive director of the foundation, a nonprofit organization based on Chicago’s South Side that engages residents in the cultivation and regeneration of social, environmental and economic […]

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It took 10 minutes to convict 14-year-old George Stinney Jr. It took 70 years after his execution to exonerate him. | The Washington Post

By Lindsey Bever, The Washington Post In March 1944, deep in the Jim Crow South, police came for 14-year-old George Stinney Jr. His parents weren’t at home. His little sister was hiding in the family’s chicken coop behind the house in Alcolu, a segregated mill town in South Carolina, while officers handcuffed George and his […]

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Documentary to tell story of all-black Army unit that protected Hawaii in WWII | Hawaii News Now

By Jim Mendoza, Hawaii News Now HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – During World War II, the 369th Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment made up entirely of African-American soldiers was stationed in Hawaii. The troops hailed from New York and were known as the Harlem Rattlers. “I think it is a human interest story,” Monmouth University professor Nancy Mezey said. […]

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