BlackState

State of the Black Union

[afriblaq]

Ernest Crim III, a Chicago native and former high school history teacher of 12 years, has built one of the largest independent Black history education platforms online, reaching an estimated 4 million people a month across Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, where his combined following runs into the millions. He left the classroom to teach on a global scale instead, offering live virtual courses like “The Black History Book Club” for K-5 students, an Emmy-nominated CBS series, and two bestselling books, “How Black History Can Save Your Life” and “The ABCs of Affirming Black Children.”

Crim’s path into this work traces back to a 2016 incident where he was targeted with racial slurs during a night out, which he captured on video and which sparked national conversation about racism at the time. Rather than let the moment define him, he built his career around using overlooked Black history as what he calls a tool for equity, awareness and action, working with schools and organizations to shift culture through education.

Source: ernestcrim.com

[afriblaq]

The Bori Collective joins the organizing community and @new_era_young_lords in mourning the passing of a trailblazer in our movement, Denise Oliver-Velez!

Our new ancestor wore many hats including that of the former Minister of Economic Development of The Young Lords Party and member of the Black Panther Party.

She challenged the norms of how women were treated in our movement, bringing change to the Young Lords 13-point program which would include “We want equality for women. Down with machismo and male chauvinism.”

Minister Denise was many things (journalist, organizer, anthropologist, professor) but she was most proud of being “militantly black”.

Her life is a reminder that women are more than capable to lead in our movement and that there’s so much power in being proud of who you are.

May her name never be forgotten and may her spirit live on.

[afriblaq]

✨ Grace Wisher was 13 years old when she sewed the Star-Spangled Banner — the flag that inspired our national anthem.

She was an indentured servant in Mary Pickersgill’s home, working alongside an enslaved Black woman whose name history never bothered to record. Together, they stitched their place into the foundation of this country.

Yet when the story got told, only one name made it to the history books. Only one woman got remembered. Only one got the credit.

Grace Wisher didn’t just sew fabric. She stitched herself into America’s story. And it’s time we say her name. 

[afriblaq]

@repjeffries i just want to know how much you indebt to Israel.That way , we can get you out of it , because as a black man , you are serving them aid to unalive millions of people and I know this is not what you signed up for.. So What do we have to do to get your soul back????

[afriblaq]

Donyale Luna (born Peggy Ann Freeman, August 31, 1945 – May 17, 1979) was an American model and actress who is widely regarded as the world’s first Black supermodel. She broke barriers in the fashion industry at a time when Black models were rarely featured in major fashion publications. Some of her groundbreaking achievements include: * Becoming the first Black model to appear on the cover of British Vogue in March 1966, photographed by David Bailey. * Working with legendary photographers such as Richard Avedon and appearing in avant-garde films by Andy Warhol. * Starring in films including Qui êtes-vous, Polly Maggoo? (1966), Skidoo (1968), and Fellini Satyricon (1969). Although she found greater success in Europe than in the United States, Luna’s influence reshaped the fashion industry. Many later Black supermodels—including Beverly Johnson, Naomi Campbell, and Iman—have benefited from the barriers she helped break. Sadly, her life was marked by personal struggles. She died in Rome, Italy, in 1979 at the age of 33 from complications related to a heroin overdose, leaving behind her husband, Luigi Cazzaniga, and their young daughter, Dream. In recent years, her legacy has been rediscovered through the documentary Donyale Luna: Supermodel, which highlights both her pioneering career and the challenges she faced as a Black woman in the fashion world. #reels #reelsinstagram #donyaleluna #vogue #black

[afriblaq]

n 1931, in Scottsboro, Alabama, nine Black teenagers were pulled off a freight train. Two white women accused them of rape. No evidence. All-white jury. Eight sentenced to death. One, 13-year-old Roy Wright, got life because he was a child. The case became international news. But inside Kilby Prison, the boys were alone. Except for one woman: Jane Newton, 57, a white seamstress from Birmingham. She read about it in the paper and took a bus. She wasn’t a lawyer. She wasn’t an activist. She just sat in the visitors’ room every Tuesday. She brought fried chicken, cornbread, and pencils. She taught them to write their names. Most were illiterate. The guards called her “N!gger Lover.” She said: “I’m a Christian. You boys write your mothers!” She mailed the letters herself. When Olen Montgomery went blind from prison beatings, she read to him. When Andy Wright turned 18 in a cell, she baked him a cake and sang through the glass. The Supreme Court overturned the convictions twice. It took 6 years, 4 trials. Four boys were finally freed. Four served decades. One, Haywood Patterson, escaped in 1948 and died in a bar fight. Jane died in 1946. She left no family. The boys chipped in for her tombstone. It says: “She came when no one else did.” In 2013, Alabama posthumously pardoned the Scottsboro Boys. Olen Montgomery, 95, the last survivor, was asked if he was angry. He said: “No. Miss Jane taught me to write my name. That’s how I signed the pardon. That’s enough. #alabamarapnews🚀

[afriblaq]

Don't forget this was around 1943

3 million deaths

india

British

Afro Think Tank

[afriblaq]

Nina Simone didn’t write songs to make people comfortable. She challenged people to think about power, freedom, identity, and the stories societies tell themselves. This quote is one of her most discussed because it forces a difficult question: Who benefits when people are taught to accept injustice today in exchange for promises tomorrow? Whether you view it through the lens of race, economics, politics, religion, or history, the quote speaks to a larger idea. People often have the power to shape their own reality, yet systems can convince them to wait, settle, or believe their circumstances cannot change. That’s why Nina Simone’s words still spark debate decades later. Some hear a criticism of oppression. Others hear a warning about dependency. Others hear a call for self-determination. What makes the quote powerful is that it forces you to decide what it means for yourself. The conversation isn’t really about heaven. It’s about who controls the future and who gets told to wait for it.

[afriblaq]

So many sleepless nights! Black boys! Black men! Black people will always be targets for their joy, their pleasure, their perversion! I grew up in the same city as #AllenIverson… who remembers his high school brawl with the white student??? Almost ended his career before it even started! Who remembers #KendrickJohnson ? The white boys who he was hanging with before he “fell” upside down in a tight stuffed mat has parents with political ties. I remember vividly my time in the military being the only “black” soldier with all white units at war and they making jokes about me not coming back or them killing me for feeding prisoners they were trying to starve for Information! I love all people. Most black folk will harm their own skin folk before any other race. Sadly, all races will spit on, step on, step over, despise and kill anything that they don’t deem pure to their race. So they killing us and we killing us… We have to get back to loving ourselves, loving our children, our wives, our brothers and sisters. We have to start showing how united we are! That’s the only thing that is going to save us. #MoorishChef #WarVeteran #NolanWells

[afriblaq]

Dr. Alexa Canady was the first black woman to become a neurosurgeon in 1981. She also co-invented a device to treat fluid buildup in the brain.

She turns 74 today, Happy Birthday! via @africanarchives

[afriblaq]

@thebricktv says say it with your chest! “I am a revolutionary.” ✊🏾🧱 That was Chairman Fred Hampton — 21 years old, leader of the Illinois Black Panther Party, feeding our children free breakfast, building coalitions across every color and creed, and frightening the powerful so badly the FBI had him assassinated in his sleep in 1969. They killed the man. They could never kill the message. Today, Judas and the Black Messiah comes home to The Brick TV — the Oscar-winning masterpiece that made history as the first Best Picture nominee with an all-Black producing team. Directed by Shaka King. Produced by Ryan Coogler and @proximitymedia. Starring @danielkaluuya, whose portrayal of Hampton won the Academy Award; @lakeithstanfield3 as the informant who betrayed him; and @domfishback as revolutionary Deborah Johnson. 🎬 And it’s the very first title in something bigger: THE TRUE STORIES — a section built to preserve our real history. They are coming for our history again, neighbors. Banning the books. Erasing the names. Rewriting what our children are allowed to learn. History that gets erased is history that gets repeated — and we will NOT let the truth be forgotten. 🖤 This is bigger than a subscription. When you press play here, you keep these stories breathing. You refuse the erasure. You stand where Fred stood. Repeat after Fred: I am… a revolutionary! ✊🏾Your subscription screams it to the world. Are you with us? 📲 Stream Judas and the Black Messiah now on The Brick TV 🗳️ Then vote on which true story we preserve next. Our Stars. Our Stories. Our Home. For us, by us. ✊🏾🧱

thebricktv.com

#TheBrickTV #JudasAndTheBlackMessiah #FredHampton #ForUsByUs #BlackOwned

[afriblaq]

When discussions about race and crime begin, many people immediately point to arrest statistics as proof that Black Americans commit more crime. But there is another statistic that deserves equal attention: Black Americans are also disproportionately represented among those later exonerated after wrongful convictions. If arrests and convictions told the whole story, there would not be thousands of people later cleared by DNA evidence, prosecutorial misconduct findings, witness recantations, suppressed evidence, or proof of actual innocence. That reality is important when discussing Karmelo Anthony. Too many people formed opinions before hearing all the evidence. Too many relied on headlines, edited clips, social media narratives, and assumptions rather than the full facts presented in court. The issue is not whether crime exists. The issue is whether Black Americans receive the same presumption of fairness, the same benefit of the doubt, the same jury representation, and the same treatment under the law as everyone else. When Black jurors are excluded, Black defendants are stereotyped, and statistical narratives are used to justify unequal treatment, confidence in the justice system suffers. Justice is supposed to judge individuals, not racial groups. And equal protection means the Constitution must protect everyone equally—even when the defendant is Black. Facts matter. Context matters. Equal justice matters. #JusticeForKarmelo #EqualProtection #Batson #CivilRights #blackhistory DueProcess

[afriblaq]

Another Black Boy

[afriblaq]

Why Nolan Wells " friends" go private 🤔. Rest In Power

It’s time to use the wisdom that our black grandparents passed down and stop rejecting it! Back in the day you always used to go places with your cousin, brother, sister or friend. That was for a reason! Wake up black people!

[fuckyeahsocialists]

Cuba in the early 70’s

[likitesplit]

[afriblaq]