African Political Analysis Think-Tank Vignettes

SUMMARY: In this write up, we construct the ways the statement "black lives matter" has been applied in the public domain and how it is a byline as people explore opportunities of mobility. I was walking down this street, in a city where I had gone to check on a friend who was said to be either missing or hospitalized. My bus was held like many other vehicles in a slow traffic. Ahead of us was a group of people in a parade, they were silent, they were orderly but were waving placards on which were the words: "Black Lives Matter." Earlier on, I had seen these three words on various wall faces. I wondered what to make of this. I also wondered about other events and experiences that prompted such galvanizing statements. History provides us with a long list of such events. Some of which brought wars, genocides, slavery, trafficking and forms of colonization that used codes and laws whose making the colonized never participated in and which codes and laws allowed repatr...

I was delicate, lest I am, construed as unbecoming, I never talked of my skin, that subject, being owned, not by me, even if, I carried, the skin around. That Holly place, where I go in, and come out, haloed, or, hollowed, makes me, a subject of whim and whip. Then, Du Bois, oh, that figure, of, astounding, brilliance, taught me, a management, of self and anger. Instead, of, anger, self-disparagement, self-questioning, count to seven, or even seventy, then you will, see, how gifted you are. The animosity, struggles, closed doors, half-smiles, wicked, back-stabs, open up, a veil of ignorance, in which the left arm tied you in, and a right arm will untie you from. Against your skin, a monolith, of destruction, was built, if it were not for you, a white flag, would not be raised, you are anchoring, a cargo ship on which, the flag flutters. One thing, that...

When it comes to birth control being rolled back, it is women who suffer the most. The Trump administration’s Health and Human Services (HHS) Division has expanded exemptions to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), requiring that employers’ health care plans no longer provide coverage for no-cost birth control. In doing this, they have singled out women and their benefits. The administration stated that requiring insurance plans to cover birth control imposes a substantial burden to the free exercise of religion guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, and could promote risky sexual behavior among adolescents. The list of no-cost birth control contains many options, including the combined pill, the contraceptive ring, and the Progestogen-only pill. However, only three proposed options birth control options being blocked can be used by men. Limiting birth control coverage is an attack on women and their families. Birth control services are opportunities for women to receive medical care ...