Word In Black

Too many Black Americans wait longer for transplants — and some never get the chance they deserve. We’re asking Black voices across the country: What does organ donation mean to you?

Take our quick survey — your answers can save lives: wordinblack.com/organ-donati...

CA Leads U.S. in De Facto School Segregation. Here's Why The Golden State has surged past the South and other regions in reversing racial and ethnic integration among children.

California has surged past the South and other regions in reversing racial and ethnic integration among children. Here's why.
wordinblack.com/2025/10/cali...

Another Deadly Contaminated-Food Recall Spotlights Trump Cuts Repeated foodborne illness outbreaks raise concerns about access to safe and affordable meals.

In an all-too-familiar occurrence, four more people have died after consuming listeria-tainted food. These repeated food-borne illness outbreaks are raising concerns about access to safe, affordable meals for Black families under the Trump administration.
wordinblack.com/2025/10/anot...

Rev. Barber: Ignore Poor People at Your Own Risk The architect of the Moral Monday movement says low-wage voters could reshape U.S. politics, but only if leaders take their needs seriously.

Rev. William J. Barber II, the architect of the Moral Monday movement, says low-wage voters could reshape U.S. politics, but only if leaders take their needs seriously: "51% of our children, even before Trump, were in poverty."
wordinblack.com/2025/10/rev-...

No Wonder the Right Suppresses Lessons on the Constitution Educator and activist Jesse Hagopian writes that teaching truth doesn’t harm kids — it prepares them to fight for justice.

Who fears critical thinking?

In my new @wordinblacknews.bsky.social article, I show how the @zinnedproject.bsky.social’s “Teach Truth on Constitution Day” campaign teaches which rights it doesn’t protect—& how the rights we have were won by struggle. ✊🏾

#TeachTruth
wordinblack.com/2025/10/no-w...

Ruha Benjamin: In A.I. Era, Black Women Must Reclaim Tomorrow At Spelman, Benjamin urged Black women to push back against forces that would erase them and engage in individual acts of resistance.

To thrive in the A.I. era, sociologist and professor Ruha Benjamin told Spelman College students that Black women must resist forces that would erase or marginalize them, imagine themselves empowered, and engage in individual acts of resistance.
wordinblack.com/2025/10/blac...

Are Black Students More Likely to Succeed in Two-Parent Homes? Harvard’s Christina J. Cross says focusing on family structure masks deeper systemic barriers to academic achievement and success.

Are Black students more likely to succeed in two-parent homes? Harvard’s Christina J. Cross says focusing on family structure masks deeper systemic barriers to academic achievement and success.
wordinblack.com/2025/10/blac...

The Sacrificed Shutdowns don’t just pause government. They suspend lives — and Dr. Mustafa Ali says it’s time to stop treating the vulnerable as expendable.

Shutdowns don’t just pause government. They suspend lives — and @mustafasantiagoali.bsky.social says it’s time to stop treating the vulnerable as expendable.
wordinblack.com/2025/10/the-...

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A bill on California Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk faces fierce debate over equity, legality, and America’s unfinished history. Read more: wordinblack.com/2025/10/cali...

Do We Love You? Ruth Forman Says Yes Forman's poetry and children’s books carry a core truth: Black children deserve joy, affirmation, and the healing power of love.

Ruth Forman's poetry and children’s books carry a core truth: Black children deserve joy, affirmation, and the healing power of love. And her latest story, “Do I Love You? Yes I Do!” is set to arrive on shelves in January.
wordinblack.com/2025/09/do-w...

Bobby Faithful V doesn’t know what will kill him first: his brain tumor, failing heart, the infection in his device, or another Medicaid denial. In "On Borrowed Time," WIB's Anissa Durham examines systems affecting Black transplant patients: wordinblack.com/on-borrowed-...

One Weird Trick to Fix the Climate Crisis Trump’s EPA wants to roll back greenhouse gas reporting, leaving the U.S. blind in the fight against climate change.

Trump’s EPA wants to roll back greenhouse gas reporting, which climate justice correspondent Willy Blackmore says will “leave the U.S. blind” in the fight against climate change.
wordinblack.com/2025/09/one-...

Justice in the Algorithm Dr. Mustafa Ali says we must decide whether AI serves empire — or liberation. And if we don’t own our data, we’ll be owned by those who do.

@mustafasantiagoali.bsky.social says we must decide whether AI serves empire — or liberation. And if we don’t own our data, we’ll be owned by those who do.
wordinblack.com/2025/09/just...

Listen! The line to see @crockett.house.gov speak at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual conference is long!

Why did some Black men vote for Donald Trump? Rep. Maxine Waters tells WIB’s Joseph Williams that many haven’t had the careers, jobs, or opportunities they need. But she warns that folks who believe you change things “by appealing to those who have power — they don’t understand power.”

Tough it Out? Been There, Done That Black women have been told to endure pain for generations. We deserve policy, not slogans.

Black women are often told to endure pain — and the debate over acetaminophen use during pregnancy is no different. The AFRO’s Frances "Toni" Draper says Black women "don’t need lectures about resilience. We need expanded access to maternal health care."
wordinblack.com/2025/09/toug...

“A movement has got to happen to try and protect and save what we have already fought for, died for, and sacrificed for, and what we’re trying to do to improve the future,” Rep. Maxine Waters tells Word In Black’s Joseph Williams.

What does the Congressional Black Caucus do — and is it doing what it needs to during this second Trump administration? Our Deputy managing director, Joseph Williams, asked a few folks at the CBC 54th Annual Legislative Conference.

3 Ways to Prevent Suicide Death Word In Black's health reporter shares three things she's learned in the last three years of reporting to prevent suicide death.

If a loved one is expressing suicidal behavior, should you call 911? Word In Black’s health reporter shares three things she’s learned about preventing suicide deaths.
wordinblack.com/2025/09/3-wa...

Clergy Declare Operation Liberty Is a Moral Response to ICE Raids Bishop Barber joined California faith leaders and the Save America Movement to launch rapid-response vans to resist authoritarianism.

Bishop William J. Barber II joined California faith leaders and the Save America Movement to launch rapid-response vans to resist ICE. “When government agencies target our neighbors in the shadows, we shine a light," Barber says.
wordinblack.com/2025/09/oper...

Rae Lewis-Thornton Wants Us to Stop Lying About HIV HIV activist and 40-year survivor Rae Lewis Thornton shares her story and warns that secrecy won’t help maintain health.

Activist and 40-year HIV survivor Rae Lewis-Thornton shares her story and warns that secrecy “will kill you quicker than the disease.”
wordinblack.com/2025/09/rae-...

No One Knows the Day or Hour of the Rapture — Except for TikTok A pastor’s prediction that Jesus will return on Sept. 23 went viral, leaving believers with the same old question: What if?

Pastor: “Jesus is coming back Sept. 23.”
TikTok: “So what happens on Sept. 24 if we’re still here?” wordinblack.com/2025/09/rapt...

Actively Black’s New York Fashion Week show served as a powerful reminder of Black history — and that come what may, “we ain’t neva scared.” Read more:
wordinblack.com/2025/09/acti...

After the assassination of Charlie Kirk, sermons in Black churches expressed sympathy for Kirk’s family but warned against casting him as a martyr. “I can be sorry about your death and not celebrate your life,” Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley said.
wordinblack.com/2025/09/blac...

Voices of Protest: Black Women Won’t Be Silenced Black women raise their voices even when it costs them everything. And every time they are silenced, the world loses power and possibilities.

From Ida B. Wells to Katrina Brooks, Black women raise their voices even when it costs them everything. And Unerased’s Levi Perrin says every time they are silenced, the world loses power and possibilities.
wordinblack.com/2025/09/blac...

Magic Sounds the Alarm: The HIV Crisis Isn't Over for Black Folks The NBA legend worries that Gen Z'ers think HIV infection is no big deal because he has survived three decades with the virus.

On this National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day, NBA legend Magic Johnson wants to spread the word to Black Gen Z’ers that though the virus doesn't have to be a death sentence, it's "still killing Black people, and should be taken seriously."
wordinblack.com/2025/09/magi...

Survey: Millennials and Gen Z Are Going to Church Again Drawn by new traditions that speak to them, adults age 45 and under are returning to the pews more frequently than Boomers.

Driven by spiritual hunger fueled in part by the COVID-19 pandemic, younger folks have supplanted Baby Boomers as the generation attending church most frequently per week.
wordinblack.com/2025/09/mill...

HBCUs Are America’s Hidden Engines, and Now They’re Under Fire Tramelle Howard, Louisiana state director for The Education Trust, says HBCU survival depends on urgent action now.

Tramelle Howard, Louisiana state director for @edtrust.bsky.social, says HBCU survival depends on urgent action now: "These institutions are more than a tradition. They are our future. It is time to ensure they are not just surviving, but thriving."
wordinblack.com/2025/09/hbcu...

Rev. Barber: America Must Decide That Death Is No Longer an Option On the anniversary of the Birmingham church bombing, clergy involved in Moral Mondays urged the nation to reject death by policy.

On the anniversary of the 1963 Birmingham church bombing, clergy urged the nation to reject death by policy.

"America’s got to decide that death is no longer an option, that destroying one another is no longer an option," Rev. William J. Barber II said.

wordinblack.com/2025/09/rev-...