Author: TheConversation

By Kristina Hook, Assistant Professor of Conflict Management, Kennesaw State University Svitlana Popova’s students did not realize she was leading their online math class while outside the charred remains of her home in Ukraine until they saw a news video about it on social media. Her students were in their own difficult circumstances, too – seeking refuge away from their homes, some in other countries. Popova is a mathematics teacher in the town of Borodyanka, in the Kyiv region of Ukraine. Her school was seized as a headquarters by Russian military forces and heavily damaged before their retreat. After...

By Geremy Grant, Assistant Professor of School Psychology, Alfred University When William A. Smith, a scholar of education and culture, introduced the term “racial battle fatigue” in 2003, he used it to describe the cumulative effects of racial hostility that Black people, specifically faculty and graduate students, experience at predominantly white colleges and universities. In short, it takes a toll on their psychological, physical and emotional well-being. Since then, the term has been applied by scholars to Hispanic undergraduates and women of color. Scholars have also applied the term to groups beyond the college campus, such as teachers of...

By Rashad Shabazz, Associate Professor at the School of Social Transformation, Arizona State University Once again, Americans are left reeling from the horror of video footage showing police brutalizing an unarmed Black man who later died. Some details in the latest case of extreme police violence were gut-wrenchingly familiar: a police traffic stop of a Black male motorist turned violent. But, for many of us, other details were unfamiliar: The five police officers accused of using everything from pepper spray to a Taser, a police baton and intermittent kicks and punches against the motorist were also Black. After pulling...

By Deion Scott Hawkins, Assistant Professor of Argumentation & Advocacy, Emerson College Before the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Philando Castile and Sandra Bland were propelled into the media spotlight, their names were Twitter #hashtags. In 2020, Twitter was essential to the spread of historic Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality across the world. But Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter has thrown the future of Black Twitter into question. Social media users argue that the takeover has already had an impact on the Black social media community. For instance, not only do multiple sources report an almost...