Hammer&Hope
NO. 9
Winter 2025
The immigrant catchers, faces covered, chase the workers down the street in broad daylight. The enemy is the landscaper, the day laborer, the high school student born in Mexico, Honduras, Venezuela. In the masks and guns of the federal agents, we see the riot gear of the Ferguson cops, the billy clubs of the Alabama state troopers, the Klansman’s hood. And in the brave crowds who gather to confront them, we see the power of solidarity.
War at Home
A record of ICE’s assault on immigrants and the people’s resistance.
The Martin Luther King Jr. We Don’t Know
His work with gang members in Chicago shows how much he valued the part played by young people in the Black freedom struggle.
The Black Feminist Collective That Gave Us Identity Politics
The Combahee River Collective’s 1977 statement reshaped the politics of the Black left and beyond.
No. 8
Our National Nightmare
What’s the way out of the terrors of Trumpism?
Immigration Raids at This Home Depot Got More Aggressive but Less Effective. The LA Tenants Union Knows Why.
The union’s daily presence tries to give the city’s most vulnerable immigrant workers a measure of safety and gum up Trump’s deportation machine.
A Decade After Her Debut, Angela Flournoy Meditates on a Higher Standard for Friendship in Her New Novel
“The Wilderness” was shaped by grief, time, and an increasingly fascist political landscape.
Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” Sparked Many Conversations. But Something Was Missing.
Five critics and writers discuss what the popular discourse overlooked about the critical and box office hit.
Inside the Mamdani Campaign’s Appeal to Black Voters
Zohran Mamdani’s political director describes what the campaign did to engage Black communities and put together a winning multiracial coalition.
Trump Escalates Tyranny in Chicago
Having a common enemy sometimes unifies people, whether an unhoused Venezuelan migrant in Bronzeville or a mother in a South Shore apartment.
The Reaction to the “Untitled” Video Changed D’Angelo. His Reaction Changed Me.
The framework for Black men to be candid about body-based vulnerabilities had many architects. He was one of them.
Zohran Got New Yorkers to Hope. What’s the Plan to Deliver?
Organizers who brought him to the verge of victory are looking ahead to the challenges of democratic governance.
The Actor André Holland Paves His Own Path
Since his breakout role in “Moonlight,” the performer has made compelling moves driven by a desire not only to make meaningful art but also to be seen.
We Palestinians Exist Somewhere Between Fear and Faith in the Holy Land
Our faith — in Allah, the land, our own strength — is beyond the reach of Israeli settlers and soldiers.
The Black People Who Fled Slavery Had a Lot to Teach Their Northern Allies
Black-led vigilance committees not only protected and aided fugitives but also learned from the formerly enslaved as they built a movement pedagogy together.
Props for Vibe Magazine’s “Props” Column
The recurring feature was a bold curatorial endeavor that gave critics of color the freedom to articulate and archive culture on their terms.
Will Zohran Mamdani Win Over Black New Yorkers?
Five people talk about their experience of the Mamdani campaign — from the inside and the outside.
This Labor Leader Is Still Organizing After ICE Detention, But From Mexico
Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez Zeferino, a farmworker union organizer from Washington State, decided to return to his family’s village in Guerrero, where he continues the fight across the border.
Military Coups and the Struggle for Power in Africa’s Sahel Region
A political scientist looks at turmoil in his native Niger, as well as Burkina Faso and Mali.
The Long Aftermath of the Mass Cheating Trial in Atlanta Public Schools
In the wake of prison time, school closures, and extraordinary prosecutorial overreach, educators and activists are trying to reclaim their public schools.
A Free Black Woman, a Memorial to Enslaved Laborers, and the Battle Over U.S. History
How Charlottesville’s memorial landscape can help us understand — and combat — the White House’s violent plans to reshape the nation’s public spaces.
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