The GOP is not extinct, it s more diverse than ever Follow Us
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In this Jan. 16, 2020, photo, from left, Harrison Floyd and Paris Dennard of President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign black voter outreach effort and Kamilah Prince, the Republican National Committee’s director of African American engagement participate in “Black Voices for . more >ANALYSIS/OPINION:
Time magazine’s May 2009 cover depicted the Republican National Committee (RNC) logo under the headline “Endangered Species.” If you recall, many had written the GOP off and felt the Republican Party, as they knew it, was essentially gone forever and on the brink of no return. Of course, history shows they were wrong, and the party bounced back to take back the House of Representatives and picked up seven seats in the U.S. Senate the following year.
Bruns EIC Ally Buchanan | Illustration by Jules Keenan
February marks Black History Month, also called African History Month, a tradition that originated in 1926 and was first acknowledged in Canada in 1978. It was recognized at the federal level in 1995 when Jean Augustine, Canada’s first Black female Member of Parliament, introduced legislation cementing it in Parliamentary consciousness.
Failing to learn and understand Black history is to uphold a system of violence that has oppressed a community of people for hundreds of years. Canada likes to delude itself in saying that it does not have racism ingrained into its history and institutions, often positioning itself as the refuge from the racism of the United States. That is not true; this country was just as much built on slavery, colonialism, and oppression as our neighbours to the South. We don’t learn about it in school – at least, I didn’t – allowing this myth to carry on for those privileged enough to be able t
In collaboration with the Connecticut League of History Organization, the Norwich Historical Society is sponsoring a free virtual winter lecture series based on topics from our Walk Norwich Trail system (walknorwich.org). The four-part lecture series is from January to April and is free and open to the public. The lectures will be recorded and available on our website and social media platforms for on-demand viewing.
In honor of Black History month, our second lecture will focus on topics from the Norwich Freedom Trail. Kerima Lewis will present the lecture: The Reign of Black Governors in Norwich, Connecticut, and Beyond. This talk will discuss a tradition that emerged in Colonial New England during the 18th century when enslaved Africans elected their own kings and governors when denied basic liberties including the right to vote. Many of these elected Black officials were African royalty and heirs to a throne in their homeland.