Author: Prof Patty

To be the Black mother of a child who appears white can raise all kinds of questions and comments from strangers. Even the “nice” comments are loaded with assumptions about beauty and belonging. By listening to her own family history, reading the narratives of women who raised children while enslaved in her home state of North…

Read More Raising Mixed Kids

By Katie Shepherd Oct. 30, 2020 at 4:34 a.m. EDT On Thursday, the nation’s largest police union posted a photo to social media taken during the unrest in Philadelphia this week, where hundreds of protesters clashed with officers over the police killing of Walter Wallace Jr. The Fraternal Order of Police’s posts showed a Philadelphia police officer…

Read More Police took a Black toddler from his family’s SUV. Then, the union used his photo as ‘propaganda,’ attorneys say.

By Elizabeth Nelson The English language can be tough. Our alphabet contains 26 letters that can make many, many different words. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary comes out with new words each year. Several words contain silent letters, meaning that when you pronounce a word, you may not be able to sound it out. One or more…

Read More The Only Letter That Is Never Silent

African-American folk artist Harriet Powers External, nationally recognized for her quilts, was born in rural Georgia on October 29, 1837. Using a traditional appliqué technique, Powers recorded local legends, Bible stories, and astronomical events on her quilts. Considered among the finest examples of nineteenth-century Southern quilting, Powers’ work is on display at the Smithsonian Institution and is featured…

Read More Harriet Powers

By Ian Shapira Oct. 29, 2020 at 6:55 p.m. EDT Virginia Military Institute’s Board of Visitors voted Thursday to remove the prominent statue of Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson as pressure builds for the state-supported military school to address allegations of racism. The board’s unanimous decision follows a Washington Post report this month detailing bigotry at the 181-year-old school in…

Read More VMI votes to remove Stonewall Jackson statue amid racism accusations by Black cadets