By Nikki Igbo

A Southern Poverty Law Center report based on a national study conducted in 2017 has revealed a sad truth about how American slavery is taught and learned. Plain and simply, American kids don’t know much about it and teachers are ill-equipped to provide students with information on the key concepts surrounding slavery. How bad is the problem? Only 8% of high school seniors know that slavery was the central cause of the Civil War. 68% of high school seniors don’t know that it took a constitutional amendment to end slavery. America’s youth don't know that white supremacy sustained and protected slavery. The vast majority of textbooks present a sanitized, downright nostalgic version of the institution. Slavery was not just a fragment of American history; it was the foundation.

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Photo of Sharanda Jones via CNN

 By Nikki Igbo

If you’ve ever signed an online petition then you probably receive at least two invitations a week to sign another one to stop, combat, protest, prevent, derail, support, fund, defund, rescue, remove, rebuild, renew and/or cancel one thing or another. You’ve also most likely forwarded an online petition. You may have even created an online petition. Why? Because we’re living in the age of internet activism, you’re woke, and woke people in the age of internet activism have to do SOMETHING. In the midst of all of this digital signing, you’ve probably wondered if these online petitions actually make a difference. The answer is yes. In fact, here are five examples of countless online petitions that have made a significant impact and will inspire you to keep signing, forwarding and creating.

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By Nikki Igbo

Many of us of a certain age can easily recall growing up with the desire to see our own faces, stories, opinions, style and identities reflected in magazines, newspapers and on television. We understood that we had a unique perspective of the world—a valuable perspective—and we were eager for others to recognize, appreciate and uplift it. Today, we are happy to be able to name many black women in mass media who are shattering glass ceilings to have our voices acknowledged and applauded on a grand scale. Here are just a few of those luminaries making moves, voicing the true and unedited spectrum of beauty that is the Black woman. 

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By Nikki Igbo

Colin Kaepernick: The fashionisto.com

By Nikki Igbo

By Nikki Igbo

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By Nikki Igbo

By now, most, if not all have heard about the Equifax data breach in which hackers gained access to potentially 143 million consumers’ sensitive data including social security numbers and driver’s license numbers. Based in Atlanta, Equifax is the oldest of the three biggest American consumer credit reporting agencies. Its breach did not take place in a vacuum.

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