Think Progress

The Other Slain Black Teenager Kendrick Lamar Honored At The Grammys

When a shackled Kendrick Lamar walked on the Grammys stage with a chain gang in tow, everyone knew he was getting ready to make an explosive statement about violence against black bodies. And he did just that, performing the “Blacker the Berry” — while surrounded by men in cages — and then launching into the hit single-turned-black-power-anthem “Alright.”

The Day The World Discovered The Power Of The Black Male Student-Athlete

As reporters descend on the University of Missouri, a campus reeling from the recent resignation of the president of the university system, Tim Wolfe, much of the attention was focused on an unlikely group: the football team.

A week ago, graduate student Jonathan Butler began a hunger strike after a series of troubling events on campus — racial slurs being hurled at black students, a Nazi swastika written in human feces — and a number of attempts by students to engage administrators failed to yield substantive change. On Saturday night, 32 of the team’s black players joined the cause, refusing to play or practice until Butler ate. Their coach, Gary Pinkel, publicly expressed his support for the players on Sunday. The entire team appeared to be on strike.