If you don't see the video above, click here.
Mae Jackson is a New York City based writer, poet, dreamer and doer whose record of activism on behalf of her people stretches back to SNCC. A founder of Art Without Walls, an art program for the children of imprisoned women, she is well acquainted with the difference between surface change, and fundamental, revolutionary change.
Here are a few minutes of her address to the crowd at May 31, 2009 event memorializing the early 20th century Harlem activist Hubert Harrison, in which she lays out a clear understanding of whose lips move when our First Black President speaks. Referring to some of Barack Obama's widely acclaimed orations at the Democratic convention, atop Lincoln's tomb, and other places, she tells us
â..those wonderful speeches made by the young man from Chicago were actually crafted, that's written, by three young white men 25, 26 and 31 years old. We got the unfortunate opportunity once again to see the world through their eyes. Obama was the spokesperson. Same as when you buy a painting, that doesn't make you the painter...â
She explains how the establishment turned took the politics out of activism, neutralizing and de-politicizing young political activists by turning them into âcommunity organizers."
Donald Trumpâs new âSafe and Beautifulâ task force is little more than a thinly veiled assault on Black working-class communities in Southeast D.C., accelerating policing, displacement, and whiteâŚ
As Ecuador heads into a pivotal runoff election, left-wing candidate Luisa GonzĂĄlez emerges as the favoriteâbut the shadow of foreign interference and political violence looms large. In an exclusiveâŚ
The world has lost a champion of justice with the passing of Mario Joseph, a Haitian human rights lawyer who spent nearly three decades fighting for victims of state violence, cholera negligence, andâŚ
Monther Abed, the sole survivor of the Israeli attack on paramedics in Rafah, reveals the details of the crime in which 15 humanitarian workers were killed.
Betar U.S., a far-right Zionist organization with ties to violent extremism, is quietly shaping Trump administration policy, compiling lists of pro-Palestine activists for deportation while openlyâŚ
