Author: BWNC Blog

New Podcast Documents Black History and Social Justice in Appalachia

BWNC Blog

With Black historical education joining the movement as a pivotal step toward racial progress less is known about the African Americans who make up the rural and mountain south. Synonymous with Folk music, Trump country, banjos and whiteness the geographical areas known as Appalachia are void of African American story telling on a broad scale and the Black in Appalachia Project is doing work to change that. Notable cities within Appalachia include Asheville, NC, Binghamton, NY, Knoxville, TN, Roanoke, VA, Pittsburg, PA, and Huntsville Alabama. However the entire Appalachian region…

Black Communities Arrested by Environmental Racism: An overview of the waves of Revolution and Reconstruction in America

BWNC Blog

By I. Malik Saafir, President & CEO of The Southern Renaissance A panoramic view of environmental racism allows Black Americans to see their communities through seven lenses of justice: housing, education, employment, healthcare, recreation, and religion.   Environmental justice gives Americans a panoramic view of environmental racism from the perspective of Black Americans. The history of this kind of panoramic view of racism can be traced back to what I call the First Wave of the Civil Rights Movement, a time when Black Americans first experienced racism through the seven lenses…

My Survival Story: Formerly Incarcerated in MDOC’s Hell, I Know The Reasons We Must Fight For Change

BWNC Blog

In 2012, despite the wonderful places I thought my life would go, I ended up in prison and how I got there is just as important as what I experienced, but that would require an entirely separate series of articles. Upon entering prison you realize a few things – that no one is safe, that your life no longer matters, and that no one can hear you scream. I entered on a hot day and smelled the feces and dirty bodies upon entering the zone. Temps in the summertime at…

Death toll rises to ten at Parchman State Penitentiary

BWNC Blog

New reports of the nearly month-long mayhem at Parchman State Penitentiary indicate another incarcerated person has died as a result of hanging. This latest death brings the total number of deaths at the prison to ten within less than a month. Details surrounding the latest death are still being updated at this time. In response to the horrendous events over the last month and the long-standing inhumane conditions of some of Mississippi’s prisons, activists have been busy with campaigns to call out the state’s handling of the prisons and to…

Video: Purportedly Shows Parchman Inmates Being Housed in Condemned Unit 32 & Forced to Sleep on Floors

BWNC Blog

As we reported on January 2nd and were the first to report nationally: inmates at Parchman that were being housed in Unit 29 have been moved to Unit 32. This is footage from inside that confirms the fact that the inmates are in Unit 32 – Parchman is a maximum security prison and there would be no way for them to be present in 32 without having been moved there.In our previous article describing a timeline of events at Parchman we wrote: Inmates that were in Unit 29 (where Walter…