What Racial Justice Requires

February 23, 2023

Understanding history, and acting on it.

The Roosevelt Rundown features our top stories of the week.



To Build a Just Economy, We Must Understand Black History

This Black History Month comes at a hinge point for the nation: Amid the progress of a recently renewed, Black-led racial justice movement, a white supremacist backlash is making disturbing strides in erasing Black history—American history—from our education system.

Only by understanding the history of Black people—their activism, joy, labor, and struggles—and the ways anti-Blackness has shaped that history, can we actualize racial justice.

The insights, ideas, and research of Black experts have been central in deepening that understanding, and in championing an economy and democracy in which Black people can thrive. Here, we spotlight five foundational pieces:

 

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We believe that people are the foundation of the progressive movement. If you’re interested in joining our community of thinkers, advocates, and champions of a more democratic economy, check out this just-posted opening:

Digital Marketing Manager

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What We’re Reading

Mothers of the Movement: Black Environmental Justice Activists Reflect on the Women Who Have Paved the Way – The 19th [feat. Roosevelt’s Rhiana Gunn-Wright]

Blackness, Broke-ness, Brokenness & Bankruptcy. It’s Time to Remove the Racial Stigma from Debt.Essence

Reaching Maximum Employment Will Help Close the Racial Wealth Gap, Says Howard University Economics Professor William Spriggs – CNBC

How Monopoly Destroys Democracy – The American Prospect