Killing White Innocence

Stephen Brookfield reviews "Backlash: What Happens When We Talk Honestly About Racism in America" by George Yancy and reflects on the importance of understanding identity within a racist system.

Racism After Charlottesville

Rabbi Michael Lerner writes: "...at a vigil to honor the Charolttesville victims I attended last night in Berkeley where the fascists promise to hold their next large rally August 27th, I encountered not only sadness, but fear and confusion as many yearned for a coherent strategy that the American Left sorely needs."

The Empty Chair

After dinner his father would sit across the formica kitchen table and fire words at him. Bellicose, symbiosis, cartilaginous, revenant. The rule was, he did not have to go to bed until he got a word wrong.

Obery Hendricks on MLK jr. and His Legacy

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 Editor's note:  Having just returned (Monday, Jan. 16, 2016) from participating in a demonstration and march in Oakland, Ca. today in honor of the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr, I was glad to receive this submission to Tikkun  (below) by African American studies professor (and Tikkun magazine author) Obery Hendricks. It is an important counter to the kind of rhetoric and tone I heard at today's demonstration. At the rally before the march began  I heard one of the M.C.s ask the crowd to repeat "we will win by ANY MEANS NECESSARY" — a slogan I first heard from the Black Panther Party in 1968 — in clear attempt to repudiate King's message both then and now about how to fight racism.