Joseph Williams, Word In Black Journalist Profile

Articles

Is the New Pope Black? The Answer Isn't So Simple

6 days ago | wordinblack.com | Joseph Williams

Did the Catholic church just choose its first African American pope? That question set Black social media on fire in the hours following the election of Robert Prevost, the first American to become pontiff in the church‚Äôs 2,000-year history.¬†The facts about Leo, the former Peru-based cardinal who won the papacy on Thursday, seem to say so ‚ÄĒ including documents suggesting he is descended from people of color with roots in a well-known Creole neighborhood in New Orleans.
Why Black Catholics Have Hope for Pope Leo XIV

1 week ago | wordinblack.com | Joseph Williams

As a plume of white smoke billowed from the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, Rev. Stephen Thorne, priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, was in the middle of a board meeting with the Catholic Mobilizing Network in Washington, D.C. The meeting quickly came to a standstill, though, as people soaked in the news: the College of Cardinals had chosen a successor to the late Pope Francis. And in a historic first, the new Bishop of Rome, Robert Prevost, is an American.
Equity in Action: How SBVC’s New CTE Building Is Expanding Economic Opportunity in the Inland Empire

3 weeks ago | westsidestorynewspaper.com | Joseph Williams

By Joseph R. WilliamsCommunity College Month is a time to reflect on how local institutions create opportunity, close equity gaps, and drive economic mobility. In the Inland Empire, that mission is being realized through San Bernardino Valley College’s new Applied Technology Building—a bold, future-facing investment in career education. This facility is more than just steel and concrete. It’s a symbol of progress.
Experts warn court case could end life-saving preventive care

3 weeks ago | afro.com | Joseph Williams

An ideologically driven, little-known Supreme Court case could bring back pricey copays and gut essential health coverage. A group of public health experts warned on April 17 that a Supreme Court case set for arguments next week could lead to the end of a central, highly popular component of the Affordable Care Act — one that has improved a range of health outcomes for Black Americans. The case hasn’t received widespread notice, but Braidwood Management v.
Experts Warn Court Case Could End Life-Saving Preventive Care

4 weeks ago | wordinblack.com | Joseph Williams

A group of public health experts warned on Thursday that a Supreme Court case set for arguments next week could lead to the end of a central, highly popular component of the Affordable Care Act — one that has improved a range of health outcomes for Black Americans. The case hasn’t received widespread notice, but Braidwood Management v. Becerra has the potential to cause millions of Americans to avoid ACA-mandated free screening and services for preventable diseases, like diabetes or colon cancer.
Cory Booker's Call to Action

1 month ago | wordinblack.com | Joseph Williams

After weeks of watching President Donald Trump playing fast and loose with the most powerful office in the world — and seeing his party, condemned to minority status in Congress, fecklessly stumble around Washington without coordinated or meaningful pushback — Sen. Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, decided he’d had enough.
Black General Fired for Daring to Fix Military School's Racism

2 months ago | wordinblack.com | Joseph Williams

When he took command of Virginia Military Institute six months after the murder of George Floyd — and five months ahead of a blistering report on rampant racism and sexism at the institution — Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins, a retired two-star Army commander, accepted a difficult mission: take on an entrenched, racist “good old boy” culture at the nation’s oldest state-funded military college.
60 Years After Malcom X's Assassination, It's Time to Wake Up

2 months ago | wordinblack.com | Joseph Williams

Overview: Radical in its time — and anxiety-provoking to white America , Malcolm X's fight or Black liberation worldwide was cut short when he wss gunned down on this date 60 years ago. Though three men were convicted, two were exonerated and the third was released on parole. Experts long suspect the federal government was involved. His image, peering through curtains while holding a rifle, is iconic, seared into the collective memory of Black America.
Trump 2.0 Is Here - and So Is the New Black Resistance

Jan 20, 2025 | wordinblack.com | Joseph Williams

Overview: Black intellectuals and thought leaders remind us we've seen hard political times before — particularly the Jim Crow era. They believe useful strategies from those times, such as self-reliance and community organizing, will be critical to protecting our rights during Trump's second term.
Biden Grants 11th-Hour Pardon to Marcus Garvey

Jan 19, 2025 | wordinblack.com | Joseph Williams

Overview: Garvey’s pardon caps a 15-year effort by Garvey’s son, Julius Garvey, and Justin Hanford, a Howard University law professor. They argue J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI wanted Garvey, who advocated for Black liberation during the Jim Crow era, deported as an undesirable alien ‘In his final days as president, Joe Biden has made history, issuing a record number of individual pardons, mostly to nonviolent drug offenders.