Don Scott makes history as Virginia’s first Black house speaker
The Virginia General Assembly unanimously elected Democrat Don Scott as the new House speaker, marking a watershed moment for the state. Del. Scott's inauguration as the first Black speaker in the Virginia House of Delegates' 400-year history was met with shouts and a standing ovation across the Read More...
Honorary Pulitzer awarded to teen who filmed George Floyd murder
The Pulitzer Prizes came out last week and one honorary award went not to an established journalist, but a teen who showed immense courage and quick thinking in the face of a crisis. Darnella Frazier, the young woman who filmed the murder of George Floyd last year, was honored for her Read More...
Plywood that once boarded up Minneapolis finds new life as historical art
In the midst of racial justice protests last summer in response to the killing of George Floyd at the hands of the police, many businesses in Minneapolis boarded up their windows with plywood. Now, nearly a year later, the plywood that once boarded up the city has found new life as artwork honoring Read More...
When will police budgets be discussed in your area? This site will tell you
Calls to defund the police need to be heard by the local politicians who make city budget decisions. But the meetings where those decisions are made can be difficult to find out about, or full of confusing bureaucratic language; those who have never attended a city council meeting before may not Read More...
Petition website Change.org to dedicate $6 million to racial justice
Change.org is a petition website that has been hugely instrumental for getting online communities to rally together in order to amplify a particular message or demand. The two biggest petitions ever seen on the website call for justice for George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, two names we should all Read More...
Values before profit: This man turned his restaurant into a donation center
At the Optimist Daily, we like to honor the everyday heroes that make communities thrive. Today we bring you a story out of Minneapolis where a local restaurant owner has turned his restaurant into a community outpost for those protesting police violence. Here’s his story. Tomme Beevas Read More...
Minneapolis to disband its police force and adopt community safety model
These days, we find ourselves writing stories that would have been unthinkable just weeks ago. Yesterday we published a groundbreaking story out of Los Angeles where Mayor Eric Garcetti recently announced that he was defunding the police department. By defunding the police, what is really meant is Read More...
This is what happens when police respond to protesters with compassion
In many cities where the George Floyd protests are taking place, the police have responded to protestors using rubber bullets, riot gear, and tears gas, which seemed to demonstrate the very need for these protests in the first place. But not every interaction between police and protestors turned Read More...
Cities are finally removing Confederate monuments following protests
Shocking as it may seem, more than 700 Confederate monuments remain on display in public spaces in America. Now, thanks to protests in the name of George Floyd, calls for cities to remove monuments dedicated to the Confederacy and its racist ideology have grown louder. And in many places, the Read More...
How the words of James Baldwin can help guide us towards racial justice
Protests in the name of George Floyd have served as a vital moment of contemplation and introspection, for asking ourselves the tough questions we often avoid: How does my own racial bias operate? How can I amplify black voices? There are many questions, but the answers aren’t always so Read More...