Race

How COVID exposed racial disparities in all aspects of the healthcare system

5:08pm June 20, 2022

by Karen Grigsby Bates

NPR's Karen Grigsby Bates from the podcast Code Switch talks with journalist Linda Villarosa about how COVID exposed racial disparities in all aspects of the healthcare system.

Onlookers react to a performance during a Juneteenth celebration in Times Square, in the Manhattan borough of New York, on Sunday.

National

How to properly celebrate Juneteenth in the age of commercialization

1:29pm June 20, 2022

by Destinee Adams

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman, editor of the Black Agenda, about celebrating Juneteenth without misappropriating the holiday.

Queue Listen Now

People take pictures next to a mural during a Juneteenth celebration in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 2021. Last year, the U.S. designated Juneteenth a federal holiday with President Joe Biden urging Americans "to learn from our history."

National

Four enduring myths about Juneteenth are not based on facts

11:28am June 20, 2022

by John Burnett

As the U.S. celebrates the second federal holiday honoring Juneteenth, several myths persist about the origins and history about what happened when enslaved people were emancipated in Texas.

Honoring Juneteenth with a reading of the Emancipation Proclamation

5:03am June 20, 2022

by NPR Staff

NPR staff members read the Emancipation Proclamation to celebrate Juneteenth.

Environment

Encore: A Hispanic community demands protection from pollutants

5:03am June 20, 2022

by Miguel Otarola

A Hispanic community is demanding action from state regulators after enduring decades of pollution from a neighboring steel mill in Pueblo, Colorado.

Sam Collins poses for a portrait at Reedy Chapel-AME Church.

National

The new Juneteenth federal holiday traces its roots to Galveston, Texas

5:00am June 20, 2022

by John Burnett

Union Gen. Gordon Granger set up his headquarters in Galveston, Texas, and famously signed an order June 19, 1865, "All slaves are free." President Biden made Juneteenth a federal holiday last year.

Activist and author Helen Zia stands next to a painting of Vincent Chin in Detroit. The city is partnering with The Vincent Chin 40th Remembrance & Rededication Coalition to honor civil rights efforts that began with Chin's killing in 1982.

National

Vincent Chin was killed 40 years ago. Here's why his case continues to resonate

10:18am June 19, 2022

by Wynne Davis

Forty years have passed since Vincent Chin was killed. But today's wave of hate incidents against Asian Americans make what happened in 1982 even more relevant in the fight for civil rights.

Abortion rights supporters march to the Supreme Court as part of a rally pegged to the Juneteenth holiday weekend.

On Juneteenth weekend, Black activists march for abortion rights

8:16am June 19, 2022

by Sarah McCammon

Black abortion rights leaders say reproductive justice and racial justice are inextricably connected.

Chef Nicole A. Taylor pictured next to her new cookbook, Watermelon and Red Birds.

Chef Nicole A. Taylor talks red birds, red drink, and Juneteenth

6:00am June 18, 2022

by Karen Grigsby Bates

Here on Code Switch, we love food just as much as we love history. So we couldn't let the Juneteenth pass by without getting into the culinary traditions that have been passed down for generations.

National

Civil rights activist Xernona Clayton looks back on her life and her work

4:27pm June 17, 2022

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with civil rights activist Xernona Clayton about growing up in segregation, her first racist experience and working with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.