Guest Editorial by Rev. Irene Monroe Black Pride reaffirms our identity. And it dances to a different beat. What started out in Washington D.C. in 1990 as the only Black Gay Pride event in the country has grown to over 35 gatherings nationwide. Each year celebrations start in April and continue to October. Over 300,000 […]


Guest editorial by Rev. Irene Monroe The professional sports world has been waiting for a Jason Collins moment?? a gay athlete currently playing in a major league to come out publicly.  What you may not know is that the subtext is that it was hoped the moment would star an African American male. The African […]


Guest editorial by Rev. Irene Monroe This week, April 8- 12, marks the 27th annual observance of Holocaust Memorial Week. The week is about remembering not only the 6 million Jews murdered but also remembering the millions of allies, martyrs and victims who survived Nazi Germany’s reign of brutality. The enormity of the mass slaughtering […]


Dear Leaders: Boston Mayor Thomas Menino??s decision to not seek re-election presents a profoundly unique and opportunistic occasion for the city??s black community. Not since the mayoral candidacy of Mel King in 1983 has the black community been strategically positioned to substantively sway the policy direction of the city. Because Boston??s black community??which includes African-Americans, […]


Guest Editorial by Rev. Irene Monroe Marco McMillian was a trailblazer, and the pride of the Mississippi Delta. Just in his twenties Ebony magazine in 2004 hailed him as on the nation’s 30 leaders under the age of 30. And in his thirties the Mississippi Business Journal hailed him as one of the “Top 40 […]


In commemoration of Rosa Parks’ 100th birthday, Detroit Public Television and The Henry Ford Museum are presenting A National Day of Courage: a full day of performances, speakers and tributes (livestream below.)   In 2010, TIME Magazine called Rosa Parks one of the 25 most powerful women of the past century. Relevant links: National Day […]


Guest editorial by Rev. Irene Monroe 2013 is making it difficult to avoid one of America??s greatest sins??slavery. We??ve just marked the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, and a plethora of films, documentaries and TV specials are scheduled to address slavery. One blockbuster hit that’s playing in cinemas now, and is likely to walk […]


Editor: Valerie Linson   The Cleveland Uppercut, Lil Reese and camera phone savagery Akiba Solomon, Colorlines.com, October 29, 2012 In my neck of the online woods, two violent camera phone videos have been making the rounds and sparking disturbing reactions about if and when it??s OK for a man to strike a black woman. The […]


Editor: Valerie Linson Associate Professor Jeffrey Taliaferro joined WGBH News Morning Edition host Bob Seay for a conversation on the major takeaways from the presidential debate on foreign policy.  Professor Taliaferro is in the Department of Political Science at Tufts University (Medford, MA). Professor Taliaferro was a guest on Basic Black last year in a […]


Editor: Valerie Linson Peniel Joseph, professor of history at Tufts University and current fellow at the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute at Harvard University, spoke with WGBH News radio anchor Bob Seay the morning after the second presidential debate: Professor Joseph is a regular panelist on Basic Black, Friday’s at 7:30 on Channel 2 (PBS) in […]