Hello! Welcome to my first blog. I’ve been thinking about starting this for a while, and after attending Netroots Nation with a Democracy for America scholarship that many of you helped me get (thanks!) and meeting many progressive bloggers and activists, here I am! My goals may be lofty, but you have to start somewhere. I want to raise awareness about stereotypes that divide and conquer us and prevent us from working together. If we can dismantle those, then we can build coalitions around common goals and interests, which will allow us to challenge the status quo and end systemic racism and economic inequality. I’ll be posting original commentary weekly as well sharing articles that I think contribute to this discussion. I’ll try to keep my blogs fairly short (and rein myself in!), so if you want additional context, plus look at the full website, which has pages about the divide and conquer ideas I’m exploring: https://dividednolonger.com/

The recent events in Ferguson, Missouri have just reinforced to me why we need to understand systemic racism and inequality with a new perspective now more than ever. Systemic racism means that racism is embedded in the system, in our institutions, and in our culture. The all too pervasive stereotype that black men are “thugs” is one of the most visible examples of systemic racism, and we see its deadly effects every day. Black men are portrayed as criminals and treated as such at the same time as the police are militarized across the country. Legal scholar Michelle Alexander has done an exceptional job of explaining this in her book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.

No justice, no peace. Know justice, know peace.