Civil Rights & Social Justice
Colin Kaepernick Graces Cover Of ‘Ebony’ Mag, Talks Activism, New Projects & A Possible Return To NFL
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Joshua Kissi / Courtesy of Ebony Colin Kaepernick—the athlete and activist who put his convictions before his career and flooded the world with a Pacific Ocean’s worth of white tears just by starting the practice of kneeling during the national anthem as a show of support for Black lives—will be gracing November’s cover of Ebony in an issue that features an exclusive interview with The View’s Sunny Hostin and two members of the Lower Eastside Girls Club. The aforementioned four discussed Kaepernick’s “journey over the last four years, his continued fight for change, his adoption by a white family and how that shaped him, and the possibility of him returning to the NFL,” per a release. The former 49ers QB also talked about his nonprofit Know Your Rights Ca...
Team Roc Files For Clemency for Man Serving 20 Years On Weed Charge
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Shareif Ziyadat / Getty Jay-Z and Team Roc have made a formal plea to a judge in North Carolina to free a man serving a 20 year sentence for marijuana-related offenses. First reported by the New York Post, the legal group that comprises the criminal reform arm of the rapper’s label sent a plea to a judge in North Carolina asking them to reconsider an initial request for the compassionate release of Valon Valles. “Mr. Vailes has exhausted his administrative remedies with the [Federal Bureau of Prisons]; extraordinary and compelling reasons warrant compassionate release in his case; the relevant factors support release; and Mr. Vailes is not a danger to the community,” Alex Spiro, attorney for Team Roc argued in the filings on Wednesday (September 29th). Va...
Jay-Z and Team Roc File Lawsuit Against Kansas City Police
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Kansas City Star / Getty Jay-Z and his philanthropic group Team Roc are continuing to push for greater transparency and police reform, with a new lawsuit filed against a Midwestern city’s police department alleging that it has committed serious misconduct. The philanthropic coalition that is part of the Roc Nation record label filed a lawsuit on Monday (September 20th) in Wyandotte County, Kansas against the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department. In the filed documents, the lawsuit is seeking access to records that would provide more information on complaints that were filed against the investigative division of the department and to shed more light on the training and supervision of officers with the KCKPD and the corresponding guidelines. “For decades, ...
Philadelphia Agrees To Pay $2M to Black Woman Beaten By Police
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: W.Wade/WENN / WENN The city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has agreed to pay a young Black woman $2 million as part of a settlement after she was confronted by police officers, pulled out of her car, and beaten as they took her young son away from her. Rickia Young, a nurse’s aide, was heading home from work on October 27, 2020, when she ran across a protest organized to demand justice for the killing of Walter Wallace, Jr. by law enforcement. She tried to drive away so she wouldn’t be mistaken for being involved, but officers on the scene stopped her and smashed her window in with batons. Young was then handcuffed for several hours and separated from her 2-year old son and teenaged nephew who were in the car with her. There were no charges levied against ...
Elijah McClain’s Alleged Killers Indicted By Colorado Grand Jury
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Boston Globe / Getty The senseless death of 23-year old Elijah McClain on August 2h, 2019 sent shockwaves throughout the country after it happened because it was another Black man dying at the hands of law enforcement. But a ruling yesterday may bring about much-needed justice in the case. On Wednesday (September 1st), Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announced that a grand jury indicted Aurora Police officers Randy Roedema and Nathan Woodyard, former officer Jason Rosenblatt and Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec for criminally negligent homicide and manslaughter. Cooper and Cichuniec received additional indictments on three counts of assault along with six counts of crime of violence, while Roedema and Rosenblatt receiv...
Meek Mill & REFORM Alliance Celebrate Criminal Justice Reform in Virginia
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Brian Stukes / Getty Meek Mill has been a significant activist voice for criminal justice reform, and he got to see how his criminal justice organization helped to create systemic change in the state of Virginia. On Thursday (June 10), Meek Mill was in Richmond, Virginia along with Philadelphia 76ers executive and fellow co-founder of REFORM Alliance Michael Rubin at the invitation of Governor Ralph Northam to witness the signing of HB 2038 into law. Also in attendance were REFORM Alliance CEO Robert Rooks, and the Justice Forward Virginia, American Conservative Union, and Faith and Freedom in Virginia groups. HB 2038, authored by Delegate Don Scott, limits adult probation sentences to a maximum of one year for a misdemeanor and five years for a felony. M...
Black Lives Matter Co-Founder Steps Down As Director Amid Controversy
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Francine Orr / Getty Activist Patrisse Cullors announced on Thursday, May 27 that she is resigning her position as executive director of the Black Lives Matter Global Foundation that she helped to found in 2013. “I’ve created the infrastructure and the support, and the necessary bones and foundation, so that I can leave,” Cullors said in an interview with the Associated Press. “It feels like the time is right.” The move comes after a controversy arose concerning Ms. Cullors’ lifestyle while serving as executive director, focusing on decisions made to make multiple costly real estate purchases. One decision that drew the most scrutiny from a slew of conservative websites and pundits was her purchase of a home worth $1 million dollars in the Topanga Canyon ...
Nikole Hannah-Jones Denied Tenure For Her Work on The 1619 Project
Source: Marcus Ingram / Getty The conservative backlash to the acclaim of the widely-heralded 1619 Project by the New York Times Magazine has caused another controversy for journalist and 2020 Pulitzer Prize winner Nikole Hannah-Jones. Hannah-Jones was denied a tenured professorship at the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill this week. The position, a Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism, was denied her by the school’s Board of Trustees this week despite the recommendations of the dean, faculty and school Chancellor Kevin Gusciewicz. Instead, she will begin a five-year contract with her alma mater beginning July 1st as a Professor of the Practice with the option to have another tenure review at the end of her term. The move ha...
‘Urban One Honors’ Honoree Robin Rue Simmons Is A Trailblazer for Reparations
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Chicago Tribune / Getty Just a few miles north of Chicago, the city of Evanston, Illinois is known as the home to Northwestern University and regarded as one of the best places to live in the U.S. But in 2019, a vote by the city council gained Evanston more notoriety as the first city in the United States to officially install a program dedicated to repairing the widening gap between white and Black people in terms of opportunity and wealth. Resolution 126-R-19 made the world stop and take notice of the woman that helped to make it all possible—Robin Rue Simmons, Alderman of Evanston’s 5th Ward. Her personal journey to this point and her commitment to make this happen, is something to take note of as she gains more recognition with her recent nomina...
Where’s The 40 Acres & A Mule We’re Owed? – A Timeline of The Fight for Reparations
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Zach Gibson / Getty Last month, the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives took the highly significant first step of advancing House Resolution 40 by voting it out for full review by the entire House of Representatives. H.R. 40 is a bill that would put together a committee to explore the systemic effects of slavery on those African-American descendants and to detail how these people would receive reparations. This is the latest chapter in a journey for Black citizens of the United States that has gained more attention thanks to many in the past who’ve fought for what was owed to them. Let’s take a closer look at the timeline and the events that brought us one step closer to seeing reparations as promised to actually becoming a reality. Source...
Samaria Rice & Lisa Simpson Drop List of Demands Telling Activists Stop Profiting Off Black Pain
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Andrew Burton / Getty Samaria Rice and Lisa Simpson are making it perfectly loud and clear. They are not here for any of the activists and people they feel are making a buck off their dead sons’ names and Black pain. Earlier in the week, Rice took to Facebook to call out Tamika D. Mallory, calling her a clout chaser following her appearance during Lil Baby’s Grammy’s performance of his protest song “The Bigger Picture.” A very upset Rice also accused Mallory and others associated with the Black Lives Matter movement of profiting off their dead relatives. Now, Rice has teamed up with Lisa Simpson, the mother of Richard Risher, who was shot and killed after being accused of shooting at police officers to release a statement breaking down what exactly the tw...
Georgia Police Chief & Officer Caught On Bodycam Saying Disgusting Racist Remarks At BLM Rally
Source: picture alliance / Getty Here is one instance when police bodycam footage actually worked in getting racist cops fired. A police chief and an officer from the small Georgia town of Hamilton are now out of a job after being caught saying racist and misogynistic remarks on footage recovered from a bodycam one of the officers was wearing. The disgusting comments were made as the two law enforcement officials were preparing to patrol a Black Lives Matter protest last year. On the video, both officers can be heard having a conversation. Brooks can be heard using the N-word and made lewd comments about Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams asking which one they would rather sleep with? Complaining about the protests, Allmond also made...
