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Resources Britney Achin Resources Britney Achin

A Leading Lady Takes a Civil Rights Journey

For a few days last week, my two college friends and I were bombarded by the truth. Truth about the history of our country. About slavery and the Middle Passage. About the North’s collusion and support of slavery both in the South and in their homes. About how and why Reconstruction failed and the ways in which slavery didn’t end but rather evolved into mass incarceration.

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Resources Britney Achin Resources Britney Achin

Dateline: Whitney Plantation, Louisiana

As we approached the Whitney Plantation an hour outside New Orleans, my mind returned to a family visit to Williamsburg, Virginia, when I was about seven years old. I remember lots of sunshine and blue sky and people, both black and white, dressed up in pastels, the women with wide skirts and ruffled bodices, the men with tight pants, fancy jackets and wigs. Everything looked very festive and happy. I knew in advance that Whitney would be a different experience.

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Government Britney Achin Government Britney Achin

The Truth About DEI

The destruction of DEI initiatives in schools and businesses throughout the country has left people scrambling to understand what it all means for those most affected and for all of us. We have come to understand that DEI programs and policies are not just for people of color, but also for the physically and cognitively challenged. That not only those on the right have criticisms but also some on the left.

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Resources Britney Achin Resources Britney Achin

Learning History at the Movies

We’d suggest finishing your Black History Month film odyssey with American Symphony, a documentary that explores the amazing genius of musician/composer/performer/singer/dancer/conductor Jon Batiste. Prepare to be wowed. (Netflix)

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Action, Education Britney Achin Action, Education Britney Achin

A Seat at the Table

I’ve reached the age when young people sometimes offer me their seats on the subway in New York City. I take it, knowing I could stand, if necessary. Is that cheating?

Some people think affirmative action is cheating. They say it’s giving seats to people who don’t deserve it.

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Government Brenda Riddell Government Brenda Riddell

We Want a KBJ Doll!

Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed last week as an Associate Justice on the US Supreme Court. She will be the first African American woman to serve on the Supreme Court, and her confirmation in the Senate was presided over by the first African American – male or female – vice president of the United States.

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Environment, Government Brenda Riddell Environment, Government Brenda Riddell

How's YOUR neighborhood's health?

President Biden’s administration last week expressed again its commitment to fighting the environmental hazards that disproportionately affect Blacks, Latinos, and other people of color in this country. However, the president and his team are reframing the problem as one that affects poor communities, rather than people of color. In other words, race is being taken out of the conversation.

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Good News, Action Brenda Riddell Good News, Action Brenda Riddell

Imagine you were visible only one month a year

February is Black History Month. Its roots are in Negro History Week, first sponsored in 1926 by the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), an organization founded by Harvard-trained historian Carter G. Woodson and the prominent minister Jesse E. Moorland to research and promote achievements by Black Americans and other people of African descent.

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Government, Education Britney Achin Government, Education Britney Achin

Think Global. Vote Local.

Election Day is next week, Tuesday, November 2, to be exact. We know it isn’t a presidential election year and only two gubernatorial positions will be decided (in New Jersey and Virginia), just two US House of Representatives seats will be determined in special elections (for vacancies in Ohio), and no US Senate races are on deck. Here in Massachusetts, there are only three ballot questions, all in Boston. So, unless we live in any of these places, why should we vote?

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Education, Social Justice and Equality Brenda Riddell Education, Social Justice and Equality Brenda Riddell

Never Too Late to Start Early Ed.

Access to quality education remains one of the primary concerns of Leading Ladies. Until all children in this country go to schools with equal resources, optimum class sizes, up-to-date books and technology, support services, trained teachers, and nutrition supplements and health care as needed, children in underrepresented communities and BIPOC populations will continue to fall behind and be unable to catch up in school and in life.

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Healthcare Brenda Riddell Healthcare Brenda Riddell

Ensuring Health

“As long as you have your health!” is a common refrain among friends, especially as we age and winnow our priorities down to the essentials. Yet, since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have become woefully aware of the unequal access to the means to stay healthy in this country.

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Social Justice and Equality Britney Achin Social Justice and Equality Britney Achin

Let’s rewrite history together

June marks LGBTQ Pride Month as well as Juneteenth, both celebrations of events and people notably absent from the history books of our 1960s and 1970s school years. Instead, we learned, by the omissions, that gay people did not live in our worlds and certainly did not contribute to our society in meaningful ways; and that the important people and achievements in history were all accomplished by white people, particularly men whose families came from northern Europe.

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