Category Archives: TMSJRC

Freddie Jackson, R&B icon, now 66, ‘counts the moments not the numbers’  By D. Kevin McNeir In 1979, President Jimmy Carter declared that June would be Black Music Month – setting aside a month to recognize the incredible influence that Black music has had on the U.S. and the world. Now more than four decades later, the annual observation continues for at least three reasons: 1) It’s a celebration of history as a lot of African American music is also linked to important historical events in America including the Harlem Renaissance and the Civil Rights Movement; 2) It’s a celebration of diversity, reminding us that not only is there unity […]

By D. Kevin McNeir Just over a year ago (April 2022), The Washington Informer, in a news report written in collaboration with Word in Black, an initiative of 10 of the nation’s leading Black publishers that frames narrative and fosters solutions for racial inequities in America, examined how D.C. Public School (DCPS) librarians were responding to the growing push for book bans across the U.S. One librarian, as the reporter, Sam P.K. Collins noted, described the controversial issue of banning books from the perspective of her Ward 6 school – a perspective which stood in stark contrast to the experiences of her colleagues in more conservative strongholds like South Carolina […]

Thurgood Marshall’s Hard Work Led to the End of Legalized Racial Segregation in Schools But Standardized Tests Have Surreptitiously Succeeded in Keeping Black Students Back By D. Kevin McNeir @mcneirdk On May 17, 1954, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous ruling in the landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. State-sanctioned segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th Amendment and was therefore unconstitutional. Thurgood Marshall, a brilliant lawyer, and jurist who later broke the color barrier as the Supreme Court’s first African-American justice, served as the lead attorney for the plaintiffs. This historic decision marked the end of the “separate but equal” […]

WASHINGTON, DC (July 19, 2020) – Today, Thomasina W. Yearwood, President and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall Center Trust, Inc. (TMCT), offers her thoughts regarding the death of civil rights icon, Rep. John Lewis.    “As condolences continue to pour in, I, too, confess that my heart remains heavy as our community, nation and the world acknowledge the loss of the final member of the Civil Rights Movement’s ‘Big Six’ – Congressman John Lewis –  the last living soldier to speak to the cause for true equality and justice for all during the historic March on Washington.”  “True to his God-given calling, John Robert Lewis, illustrated the importance of opening […]

WASHINGTON, DC (July 19, 2020) – Today, Thomasina W. Yearwood, President and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall Center Trust, Inc. (TMCT), offers her thoughts regarding the death of civil rights warrior, the Rev. C.T. Vivian.   “Today, I join millions of others from across the nation and the world in mourning the loss of an ardent soldier and leader in the Civil Rights and Human Rights Movements – the Rev. C.T. Vivian. In his decades of service in the quest for justice for all, he inspired us all while putting his very life on the line to register African Americans to vote in Selma, Alabama and across the South, participating […]

Film Screening, Panel Focus on Music and Activism of Mavis Staples By Sam P.K. Collins Founder and Host of AllEyesOnDC.com @SamPKCollinsmensclub24 Photo: Mavis Staples (Courtesy)  “You can’t have a movement without music!” Isisara Bey, executive producer of the annual March on Washington Film Festival told an audience of more than 100 music aficionados who gathered in the lobby of NPR headquarters in Northwest during the festival’s “Black Radio and Civil Rights” event earlier this week. What transpired later that Tuesday evening would speak to the spirit of Bey’s words. After enjoying the musical stylings of Victoria Purcell, Byron Nichols, Robert Ellis, and the NEWorks House Band, guests followed Bey and other […]

Community Members Celebrate Kwame Ture’s 75th Birthday By Sam P.K. Collins Founder and Host of AllEyesOnDC.com @SamPKCollinsКак составить семантическое ядро для сайта By the end of his life, Kwame Ture cemented a legacy as a master organizer and staunch Pan-Africanist. As a leader of the All African People’s Revolutionary Party (A-APRP), he helped internationalize the Black freedom struggle and inspired countless young people in the process. On what would’ve been his 75th birthday, a cadre of former colleagues and mentees gathered at Sankofa Video Books & Cafe on Georgia Avenue in Northwest to remember Ture and ensure that today’s grassroots activists keep his memory alive in the ongoing fight for […]

PHOTO: Actor and award-winning humanitarian Jesse Williams/ Courtesy КАК Я НАШЕЛ СВОЙ БИЗНЕС У СЕБЯ ДОМА By now, most, if not all of the African world has watched or heard about Jesse Williams’ five-minute oratorical masterpiece at the BET Awards earlier this week. Upon accepting the 2016 BET Humanitarian Award, Williams, a Black actor who rarely minces words in his analyses of domestic racial affairs, called out the United States for the litany of crimes it commits against Black people. A multi-ethnic audience of his wealthy and famous peers, and much of Black America, listened as he… Full article here.

Community College Preparatory Academy, the only adult charter school in the United States, gives adults of all ages living east of the Anacostia River an opportunity to attain their high school diploma and prepare for college-level work see here. Connie Spinner, founding executive director, launched the program after seeing students struggle at the University of the District of Columbia. This video features commentary from Spinner and students enrolled at Community College Preparatory Academy.http://rpk-tramplin.ru

#OurLivesMatter: One Year Later By Sam P.K. Collins Founder and Host of AllEyesOnDC.com @SamPKCollinskahovka-service.ru If there’s any doubt that District youth want to quell violence in their community and boost civic engagement among their peers, young people at a local recreation center are slowly but surely laying those concerns to rest, all the while sharpening their leadership skills. Since launching the #OurLivesMatter campaign at the FBR Branch of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Washington more than a year ago, this special group of students has engaged 600 middle and high schoolers in discussions about systemic inequality, cultural heritage, conflict resolution, and other topics. With the guidance of adult leaders, […]