Jamil Smith

Boston

Editor-in-Chief at The Emancipator

Editor-in-chief, @the_emancipator.

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Articles

The Emancipator is moving to Howard University

2 months ago | theemancipator.org | Amber Payne |Jamil Smith |Amber Payne Publisher

We have some big news to share. This summer, our co-founder Dr. Ibram X. Kendi will be moving to Howard University to be a professor of history and build the Institute for Advanced Study, which will be dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of racism in the global African Diaspora. The institute will revolve around a competitive Residential Fellowship Program where an annual international class of fellows will pursue impactful projects across disciplines and fields.
Do not obey in advance

2 months ago | theemancipator.org | Jamil Smith

Along with a copy of the 13th Amendment, I typically carry a copy of historian Timothy Snyder’s “On Tyranny” in my satchel when I’m headed out of the door in the morning. Both are small and fit well into the pocket next to my laptop. The amendment, with its loophole for enslavement, remains a frank reminder of American imperfection.
The Emancipator’s best stories this year (in our opinion)

Dec 22, 2024 | theemancipator.org | Jamil Smith

We make lists for all sorts of reasons, especially in December. When it comes to year-end recaps, though, I’ve always felt we make them so we can argue. This is fine with me, actually. We here at The Emancipator cover race and racism, after all. We won’t fully understand — or end the problem — without a lot of vigorous and intellectually honest debate. With that in mind, we present to you a list of Emancipator staff picks.
Don’t wait until the worst happens

Dec 8, 2024 | theemancipator.org | Jamil Smith

This story was first published in Critical Thinking. Yoon Suk-yeol tried it. The increasingly unpopular South Korean president, still reeling from his party’s losses in the spring elections, attempted last week to become a dictator, issuing an emergency declaration of martial law, which would have banned political protest and subjected the press and their reports to government approval.
Election Day is not the end

Nov 5, 2024 | theemancipator.org | Jamil Smith |Amber Payne |Amber Payne Publisher

Today is Election Day, and we’re all tired. As journalists who work for a magazine that seeks solutions to racial inequity, we get it: Bigotry is exhausting. Donald Trump’s third run for the presidency has been enough to make anyone want to crawl under the covers until it’s over. Once again, his campaign rhetoric and policy proposals have been rife with racism, sexism, antisemitism, and apologia for autocrats and plutocrats alike.
Live DNC updates: Biden’s “surprisingly antiracist” opening night speech

Aug 20, 2024 | theemancipator.org | Jamil Smith |Tami Nguyen

August 20, 2024, 4:15 p.m. CDTPresident Joe Biden gave a forceful, and at times antiracist, keynote address on night one of the 2024 Democratic National Convention. Credit: Tami Nguyen / The EmancipatorDemocrats land blows on Donald Trump in night one speechesJamil Smith, Editor-in-chiefA momentous, historic, and joyous first night of the 2024 Democratic National Convention stretched past midnight here in Chicago, and few at the United Center seemed to mind.
The best offense is defense, this election and every election

Aug 19, 2024 | theemancipator.org | Jamil Smith

When Vice President Kamala Harris accepts the Democratic nomination for president on Thursday night, her campaign will only be a little more than a month old. It’s tempting to say that it feels longer than that, given all that has happened since President Joe Biden departed the race. But time flies when you’re having fun. The optimism, joy, and, yes, hope in the air is palpable.
How land is ‘a fellow victim and hostage’ to racial capitalism

Jul 16, 2024 | theemancipator.org | Jamil Smith

If this were a Family Feud questionnaire and I asked you about “things that are stolen,” I’d wager that personal property, food or merchandise for sale, or one’s heart may be the top answers on the board. Suggesting “land” as an answer might even earn you a strike. I suggest, then, that you read Rooted: The American Legacy of Land Theft and the Modern Movement for Black Land Ownership.
Melina Abdullah helps lead Black Lives Matter in Los Angeles

Jun 29, 2024 | latimes.com | Jamil Smith

The fight for Black liberation is, by definition, exhausting. It makes sense, then, that Melina Abdullah, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, and others who had gathered for a weekly protest in front of the Los Angeles Police Department’s union headquarters were taking part in some mild calisthenics.
Bryan Stevenson’s monuments to the Black American story

Jun 25, 2024 | theemancipator.org | Jamil Smith

It’s been nearly seven years since the proposed removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Virginia that culminated in a weekend of lethal white-supremacist rioting and terrorism. It was around that time that many people worldwide learned, seemingly for the first time, that the statue itself was terrorism. It was part of a long legacy of Jim Crow pushback against the reality that Black Americans are owed civil and human rights. It’s also meant to erase and reconfigure history.