Hidden Black women and their greatness, often unrecognized until death—if even then

A lone figure, small and far away, steps trailing behind then on a desolate hilltop

“Unfortunately, she exists in a long tradition of Black activist women who die impoverished, who die sick and alone and scared, because we love an activist until they need something.” – Mikki Kendall There is a long tradition of Black women fighting for social justice issues, raising awareness, and essentially spending their lives working to …

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Social media giveth; social media taketh away

Eerie digital face with X's for eyes beneath a red hood, with hands about to draw the hood away, all against a dark nightime background

For the past several months, millions of Americans have had their spirits boosted by a young librarian, Mychal Threets. Mychal is the supervising librarian at Fairfield Civic Center Library in Solano County, Calif., and he became social media (and general media) famous for sharing snippets of his life as a librarian on various platforms. Mychal …

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The cops and anti racists—They are not friends

View of the roof of a police car, with blue roller lights flashing

The past couple of weeks have been an emotional and mental whirlwind as I navigate the aftermath of unexpectedly putting myself in the crosshairs of a rabid racist. I have been writing about race and racism in Maine and beyond since 2003, and while there have been times when I have written pieces where I …

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