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Overcoming Racism to Build a True Democracy: Two Authors Share the Way Forward

Confronting racism directly and building a fully inclusive democracy are completely intertwined. Two authors with strong history in the democracy movement have recently written forcefully and personally on the subject. Heather McGhee served as President of Demos before writing the New York Times bestseller The Sum of Us, and Theodore Johnson, after serving twenty years in the military, is the Director of the Fellows Program at the Brennan Center for Justice and the author of the just-published When the Stars Begin to Fall. Harvard Law Professor Guy Uriel-Charles engaged with them on their experiences, their arguments, and how they see the way forward.

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Institutional Antiracism and Accountability Project

Issues

Multiracial Democracy

More on this Issue

Bootstrap Blackness: Black Men, Conservatism, and Party Politics
A man voting.

Article

Bootstrap Blackness: Black Men, Conservatism, and Party Politics

A new research article by Dr. Christine Slaughter, Research Fellow at the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation, and co-authors examines a question that became especially prominent after the 2024 U.S. election: are Black men meaningfully shifting away from the Democratic Party, and if so, why? While Black men remain overwhelmingly aligned with the Democratic Party, a measurable subset expresses more conservative views than their Black female counterparts—differences that could carry meaningful implications in closely contested elections.

 

Before the Civil Rights Act, My Great-Uncle from Roxbury Took on Pullman in 1954 — and Won
A photo collage of some members of the Greenidge family.

Commentary

Before the Civil Rights Act, My Great-Uncle from Roxbury Took on Pullman in 1954 — and Won

As we commemorate 100 years of Black History Month, it is worth remembering that progress was not driven by headlines alone. Beyond the monuments and courtrooms, everyday people took risks to demand dignity and fairness. Among them was my great uncle, whose pursuit of a promotion became a catalyst for change.