NOTE: Since writing this blog I have gained more information and have written a longer paper with more details that gives a somewhat different slant on some events. I will link to that paper when I’ve finished revising it. There was a huge wave of Black protests in the wake
Read moreOrganizing the Million Man March
Most of the discussions of the Million Man March (MMM) have focused on interpretations of Louis Farrakhan’s ideology or about the meaning of the widespread Black support for the MMM for what it implied about what Black people thought about Farrakhan. Few have discussed the significance of the obvious: the
Read moreOrganizing the Million Woman March
The Million Woman March (MWM) was held in Philadelphia on October 25, 1997, nine days after the second anniversary of the Million Man March (MMM). Although crowd size estimates are always problematic, there were probably more people at the Million Woman March than the Million Man March. Unlike the Million
Read moreBen Chavis and the Million Man March
The 1995 Million Man March was arguably the most important event in Black History of the 1990s. News accounts at the time clearly listed both Louis Farrakhan and Ben Chavis as jointly responsible for organizing the Million Man March. However, nearly all news coverage and subsequent discussions of the Million
Read morePrison Gerrymandering (From Prison Policy)
This post from Prison Policy explains why local prison gerrymandering is a problem and how local governments have been prohibited from addressing the issue by a 1981 Wisconsin attorney general decision.
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Black Protests in the US, 1994-2010
Although many discussions imply nothing happened between the Civil Rights Movement and Black Lives Matter, we find that Black protests in the 1990s and 2000s seem continuous with what came later.
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Racial Disparity in Wisconsin Felony Sentences
Columnist Daniel Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel broke the news last week that Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Patience Roggensack has been sitting on a year-old study that showed a clear pattern of racial disparity in Wisconsin prison sentences. Specifically, the study shows substantial racial differences in the likelihood
Read moreDebunking Myths about the Civil Rights Movement
Jeanne Theoharis. A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History (Beacon Press. Kindle Edition) [E]ven those civil rights heroes we recognize today were reviled in their day and made to feel crazy. Today’s lamentation—that we need another King—misses the fact that we have many
Read moreWhen the NYPD Rioted
(updated March 4, 2024 to include quotations from Black newspapers & December 6, 2024 to include a citation to a 2021 article in New York Magazine about the riot. ) In New York in 1992, about 10,000 off-duty police officers and their supporters protested and about 4,000 of them rioted
Read moreResisting Repression: Black Lives Movement in Context
The huge wave of protests against police violence that is happening this week has new features tied to the current moment, but is grounded in a movement that has been building for decades. Its direct ties to the Black Lives Matter protests of 2014-2016 should be obvious, but that movement,
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