To Be in Love by JeNaé Nicole Taylor
— JeNaé Nicole Taylor
Read MoreOn the Fullness of Love
What could the world look like if we all showed up in the fullness of love? What could the world be like if we gave that love to others? Experiencing the fullness of love is a birthright ordained by our ancestors, who lived and fought for freedom so that we may live and experience love. […]
Read More#28DaysOfBlackLove: A Time to Celebrate Our Blackness and Our Love
Happy #BlackHistoryMonth! For us, every day is a celebration of unapologetic beauty, grace, and strength of our Blackness but February is a special time of the year where get to amplify our love for Black people. That is why we invite you to join us in our 2nd Annual #28DaysofBlackLove campaign, where we’ll take action […]
Read MoreIt’s Time to Talk About Race: Christine Blasey Ford, Anita Hill, and How Black Women Lead the Way
For the past several weeks, the United States has been enthralled in the confirmation process for Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh. While the process has been rushed and highly abnormal – par for the course for the Trump Administration and Congress – the most striking aspect of the process has been the allegation of […]
Read MoreBlack People Gon’ Win: Counter-Protestors Showed Up In Thousands to Fight Against White Supremacy
We told y’all Black folks are magic. On Sunday, August 12, Rise Up, Fight Back—a counter-protest lead by Black people and our comrades—took to the streets to protest white supremacy and promote the well-being, safety, and liberation of all people. Between Rise Up, Fight Back and our allies at Shut It Down DC, thousands of […]
Read MoreWhy Abolishing ICE Is A Call for Liberation
To our undocumented siblings, we see you, we value you, and we will not remain idle as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) violently terrorizes, surveils and disappears you. We affirm the demands uplifted by our undocumented comrades and their allies: all deportation proceedings should stop immediately; all undocumented people in ICE detention should be released; […]
Read More“Concrete: Pen & Pad” by Uptown Shane
Each day is an opportunity to celebrate Black art. Today we’re coming with some heat from DC-based rapper Uptown Shane and her poem “Concrete: Pen & Pad,” originally published in MelaNation’s third issue, we are family. “This work was inspired by the life and death of my 19-year-old nephew, Robert, and so many young black men […]
Read More“Integrating Baltimore Schools (circa 1960s)” by AJ Hayes
Illustration by Kira Coleman, BYP100 DC organizer and designer with MelaNation When we first started MelaNation, we were driven by the incredible dopeness we witnessed from Black artists and writers in the DC/Maryland/Virginia area. There are many valuable and brilliant perspectives held by people in our communities, and MelaNation is a space where those perspectives […]
Read More#StopMPD: Too Many Cops, Too Little Justice
Someone shouted that a neighbor’s son had been killed and was left in the street. They said that the cops did it. Someone said he was sixteen, while another speculated that he was in his twenties. A voice cried that he had a child. A fog of confusion and mourning enveloped a neighborhood in Southeast […]
Read MoreBYP100 DC and 30+ Organizations Demand Justice for Woman Assaulted by Metro Transit Police
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, May 30, 2018 CONTACT: Darya Nicol and Nnenna Amuchie dc.chapter@byp100.org BYP100 DC and 30+ Organizations Demand Justice for Woman Assaulted by Metro Transit Police Washington, DC – On May 21, 2018 a 24-year-old Black woman was assaulted by a Metro Transit Police officer at the Fort Totten Metro Station in Washington, DC. As […]
Read MoreThe Black Joy Experience Album
BYP100 organizers do it for the culture, so it’s only right we make an album. The Black Joy Experience is a musical collection dedicated to freedom songs, liberation chants, and holistic energy that keeps joy at the center of our fight for freedom. Let’s be clear. Without joy, we won’t win. Without joy, we won’t survive. […]
Read MoreFinding Divinity in Black Womanhood – The Story of Osun: A Graphic Novel
For the first decade and a half of my life, I did not identify as Black. I grew up in Nigeria, and I had no understanding of the meanings attached to racial differences because I was surrounded by people who looked, more or less, like me. I saw white people (and occasionally Latinx and Asian […]
Read MoreJustice for Sadat: Immigration is a Black Issue and a Queer Issue
In January 2016, Sadat Ibrahim fled from his home in Accra, Ghana. Ibrahim had been living for years under the constant threat of imprisonment for being gay due to homophobic criminal laws in his country. After an anti-gay group known for killing queer people strategically targeted and beat Ibrahim, he escaped Ghana in an attempt […]
Read More“Bag Lady” by Ayaana Marie
The following personal essay was written by Harlem native Ayaana Marie, a storyteller and photographer currently based in DC. “Bag Lady” is published in part in MelaNation’s third issue, “we are family.” The full story is published below. Explore a moving account of love, mental illness, strength, vulnerability, and Ayaana’s relationship with her grandmother. Bag […]
Read More#HBCUFutures: Black Education Matters
Before the Civil War, higher education for Black students was virtually nonexistent. The limited number of Black folks who did receive schooling often had to endure hostile circumstances or teach themselves. Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs) were created to provide access to higher educational opportunities for many Black people and still play a critical […]
Read More#UndocuDay: Support Black Undocumented Immigrants
For Black History Month 2018, MelaNation, BYP100, and several other collectives are engaging with #28DaysOfBlackLove – a social media campaign in which each day is devoted to uplifting different Black communities. February 5 is #UndocuDay, a day to discuss and support Black undocumented immigrants. BYP100 DC activist Trinice McNally explains the significance of this below. […]
Read More#NoNuisance: Stop Criminalizing Our Communities
On Thursday, January 25, 2018, the DC Council held a hearing for Bill 22-189, the “Drug-Related Nuisance Abatement Amendment Act of 2017.” This bill is intended to bring civil penalties “against an owner or a tenant, or both, for a property alleged to be a drug-, firearm-, and prostitution-related nuisance, and to establish a civil […]
Read MoreWe Will Not Be Silenced: Fighting for Digital Freedom and an Open Internet
A free and open internet is essential for Black people to get information, connect with each other, share joy and culture with one another, and build power to get free. On December 14, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said “eff that” and voted to repeal ‘net neutrality’ – an Obama-era policy that allowed all internet […]
Read MoreBYP100 DC Statement of Solidarity with J20 Arrestees
On January 20, 2017, over 200 people were detained, abused, and charged with false felonies while protesting the Trump regime’s inaugural rise to authoritarian rule. Those 200 people are now being used as pawns to prohibit political dissent within a system that regularly signals white terrorism should be the rule of law. Although no BYP100 […]
Read MoreFood Apartheid: DC Government Must Invest in Food for DC’s Black Neighborhoods
Your zip code should not determine your life expectancy. However, racial segregation and discrimination have led to a lack of investment in black neighborhoods and profound negative consequences for the health of our communities. Every year, the DC government invests large amounts of money into policing while advocates scramble to get enough funding for affordable […]
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