Policing, Racism And The Black Lives Matter Movement In Albany

By Jackie Orchard (WAMC)

WAMC journalist Jackie Orchard speaks to Dr. Alice Green, executive director of the Center for Law and Justice, about identifying and fighting against systemic racism in the Albany Police Department. Orchard also interviews APD officer Devin Anderson during a ride-along. The article provides context for how a tumultuous year of uprisings in the face of police violence have shaped far-reaching conversations on racial injustice in the policy and street level.

"I Need Transformation"

By Center for Law and Justice & All of Us

Shawn Young (co-founder of All of Us), Queen Simba Fox (founder of Community Matters) and Brielle Sophia (community and transgender activist) discuss why transformation of policing is needed, and methods for achieving lasting change.
 

Magpie

By D. Colin

"I wrote this poem after seeing the video of Ahmaud Arbery gunned down while around the same time dealing with the stress of my mother recovering from Covid-19. It is deeply unconscionable that simple things like walking, jogging, sleeping, waiting, driving...among so many other ordinary daily life activities could be a Black person's last in the presence of police and racist vigilantes.  While it speaks to the presence of two pandemics, the one of systemic racism has been with us for far too long and what I want the reader to pull from this piece is the urgent necessity to speak out."

Derik Smith Interview

With Paul Grondahl

A recorded interview with SUNY Albany Professor Derik Smith. Professor Smith works in Critical Race Studies in a transnational and global context, African American poetry, American popular culture, and relations between esthetic movements and radical Black politics in America.

Nub of The Issue

By Black Theatre Troupe of Upstate NY

Written by Barbara Howard, "The Nub of the Issue" takes us back to September 1987, when Nixon-era Justice Department official Robert Bork was being considered as an appointee to the U.S. Supreme Court. In the scene, pioneering black politician Barbara Jordan goes toe-to-toe with Republican Senator Gordon Humphrey.

Community Microgrants

Thanks to the Steve McKee Foundation

A generous gift from the Steve McKee Foundation of Troy will provide for microgrants to be awarded to local activists, grass-roots community groups, artists, writers, filmmakers and people of all ages, especially students, who are actively engaged in collaborative efforts to address systemic racism and to create work and actions to overcome it. Proposals are being accepted now, through the end of October.

Studying Systemic Racism

Browse our routinely updated list of links to resources for learning more about systemic racism and how we can work together to destroy it.

The 1619 Project

View a collection of educational resources based on The NY Times far-reaching historical project re-examining the legacy of slavery in the US.

Time for Reckoning Video Collection

View a collection of original interviews and videos produced throughout the original The Time for Reckoning campaign.

Capital Region Antiracism Training Initiative

This dynamic and inclusive training initiative is designed to provide our community with the tools they need to identify and combat racism at all levels. The initiative seeks to provide robust interactive training with a variety of experts intended to cultivate your inner antiracist.

James Baldwin's Words

View a collection of videos where Baldwin shares his thoughts about race, culture and the fight for equality. His words are just as poignant and meaningful today.

Barbara Smith: Ending White Supremacy

Barbara Smith, author and activist, discusses how to destroy the system of white supremacy in the US on this Democracy Now interview.

Ibram Kendi: The Difference between Being "Not Racist" and Antiracist

Ibram Kendi discusses antiracism in this informative TED Talk.

Ijeoma Oluo On Talking About Race And Racism

Ijeoma Oluo is the author of the New York Times bestseller, So You Want to Talk About Race (paperback 2019), a frank how-to manual for engaging in conversation about one of the most sensitive issues of our time.

American Forum Interviews

Interviews with Bryan Stevenson, Michael Eric Dyson, and others.