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This is the story of a civil rights wrong made right 65 years later and the hope it offers


First, a quick note from Paste BN Columnist and Deputy Opinion Editor Suzette Hackney on her motivation as a writer. 

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I finished reporting and writing this column a few hours after the news of the shooting in Buffalo, New York – a massacre that left 10 people dead and three others injured. Almost all of the victims were African American.

The suspect posted a document online detailing his white supremacist ideologies and his plan to target Black people. I will continue to tell these stories because they are important. Our struggles and injustices, our broken bodies and broken spirits, deserve space.

America's racial reckoning didn't end with the Civil Rights Movement. It didn't end with George Floyd's death. It's not in the past. In many ways, it is just beginning.  

- Suzette Hackney 

Take a moment to read Suzette's latest column, written for subscribers. Don't subscribe? You can by clicking on this link. Already a subscriber? Thank you. 

65 years later, HBCU awards honorary doctorate to student protester

Earnest McEwen Jr.'s story is one of pain and triumph. Institutional repentance and ultimate redemption. A historical aberration and life-changing experience that should resonate with each of us.

After all, his is the story of an American dream – one initially stolen from a young Black man. It would only be rectified posthumously. Yet it is one that must give us hope in perseverance. In family. In accomplishment. In fight. And in healing. READ MORE

Read more of the columns Suzette has written specifically for our subscribers 

Suzette is a storyteller who focuses on the voices of people who have historically been ignored and oppressed. She writes the kind of columns you won't see anywhere else and the kind of pieces our subscribers have shown a great amount of interest in. 

So now is your chance to join the cool kids at the table by taking advantage of this sale and following along as journalists like Suzette continue to tell the stories of our communities. 

Here are some of her other columns, including a free one