theblackbottom

We at theblackbottom.com want you to take some time out to remember Chicago Black Power Movement Activist Fred Hampton!
Fred Hampton: (August 30, 1948 – December 4, 1969) was an African-American activist and deputy chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP). He was killed as he lay in bed in his [...]

The troublesome economy is worrisome to all of us, but especially for young people! The data, no matter who is reporting it, is abysmal. The Great Recession as pundits have called this economic era is doubly difficult on Black communities; especially our young people who are just now trying to enter the workforce. This recession [...]

Austin Black’s love of Detroit goes deep.
“Detroit created my love affair with cities and urban planning,” says Black, a Cornell grad who grew up in and around the city. “I see what as I do now as giving back to a place that really influenced who I am today. Detroit is not dead. There are [...]

Two weeks ago while in the hood shooting his latest street anthem Jizzle. Young Jeezy over heard some of the parents in the community talking about how the kids were getting ready to go back to school yet still lacked supplies. Atl’s kids going without weighed heavy on Jeezy’s mind over the weeks while on [...]

In 1990, Activist and Legendary actors, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis visited Fort Wayne, IN to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of Gingerbread House Preschool center. A portion of their Panel Discussion appeared on a talks show entitled “A New Generation”.
Via www.SoulVisionTV.com

Green the Block is a campaign led by the Green For All and Hip Hop Caucus, and a coalition of over seventy organizations. This is a national campaign and coalition aimed at helping low-income communities of color become driving forces of the clean-energy economy. On August 4th, 2009 we publically announced Green the Block at [...]

When Charles Pugh was campaigning for city council, he held a workshop at his home with a handful of his team to prepare for what he calls the “gay question.” They spent the night working through 25 different scenarios that might come up during the race about his sexual orientation.
“We over prepared,” he says. “None [...]

GOOD Education > Nikhil Swaminathan on August 11, 2010 at 3:00 pm PDT
Much like the achievement gap in K-12 schooling, higher education is plagued by its own gap—with respect to minority graduation rates. Nationwide, 60 percent of white students earn a degree within six years on a college campus, compared to only 40 percent of [...]

Antiviolence Ritual From a Faraway Land
By RACHEL CROMIDAS
August 12, 2010
After years of frustration, Cheryl Graves was ready to consider a different solution to Chicago’s problem of youth violence.
Ms. Graves, a community organizer, had spent more than 10 years training representatives of the intervention group CeaseFire and administrators of violence-ridden Fenger High School in conflict-resolution techniques [...]

Daughter of Independence
By ANGéLIQUE KIDJO
Like a true revolutionary, I was born on Bastille Day (July 14), 1960, in Dahomey, which was then a part of the French Empire in West Africa. A few days later, on August 1st, 50 years ago this month, my country was declared independent: I was French for [...]