Issues

Alicia Garza is a queer, civil rights activist who has spent much of the last decade battling state-sanctioned racism in the form of police brutality and working to create brighter futures for Black Americans everywhere. At 39, Garza, a longtime organizer who previously advocated for workers’ rights with the National Domestic Workers Alliance, co-founded Black Lives Matter in 2013 in response to the acquittal of former Florida police officer George Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin. Now, the hashtag that became a movement has taken center stage in today’s cultural landscape and birthed the expansive Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of over 50 organizations representing thousands of Black people nationally, placing Garza at the front of a turning point for social justice activ...

By Jorge Gutierrez Last week the Supreme Court brought unexpectedly good news to undocumented transgender and queer communities across the country related to the policy of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, and workplace protections. First, on Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects LGBTQ+ workers from workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. This ruling broadens the civil rights of trans and queer communities across the country, after years of questions of safety and economic uncertainty. According to the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, there are 667,100 trans adults in the United States who live 200 percent below the poverty line and, at the beginning of the coronavirus pande...

By Virginia Lowman When news of George Floyd’s death began to circulate in late May, I heard Dominique Fils-Aimé’s rendition of Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit” play in my mind. This is one of many death rituals I’ve assumed since Philando Castile was shot dead by police on Facebook Live in 2016. Other rituals include preliminary measures I take within my friend groups — screenshots or recordings during laughter-filled FaceTimes with Black friends, particularly male friends, just in case something happens to them after we hang up. I even have practices in place in the event that I become a headline, too. When we talk about freedom in America, we have to acknowledge it as a thing of cultural nuance. We have to reconcile America’s past and the commodification of the Black body as America’s b...

As demonstrators gather around the United States in response to the killings of unarmed Black citizens George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and Tony McDade, among countless others, to protest police brutality and systemic racism against the Black community, one slogan, brandished on cardboard signs and colorful posters, has had a particularly contentious reception among the American public: “Defund the police.” Its polarizing effect has pierced the national discourse to a degree that previous calls for public safety overhauls have not, largely thanks to its recent popularization by Black Lives Matter. Its origins, however, go back decades and, today, offer crucial insights about America’s current cultural landscape. Defunding the police today involves not only cutting money from po...

Prom season is here. Even in the face of dances being modified or outright canceled or due to COVID-19 — something one student told MTV News was “weird and upsetting” — springtime still means prom time. And it’s still a time to celebrate: That’s why MTV and When We All Vote, Michelle Obama’s nonpartisan organization, along with the 2020 Prom Challenge, are hosting a veritable virtual prom blowout event for the Class of 2020. The Prom-athon draws near. It’s a way to tie in proms to yet another important milestone — registering to vote for the first time. Earlier this year, the 2020 Prom Challenge selected 20 winning high schools across the United States that had successfully integrated voter registration “in the most creative and impactful ways.R...