Aaron Morrison

Bio

Aaron is a Senior Staff Writer for The Movement at Mic. He covers the intersection of race, justice, politics, diversity and civil rights. He has previously written for IB Times, Miami Herald, The Bergen Record of New Jersey and the Associated Press. Send tips to [email protected]
Common’s prison concert tour inspires incarcerated people on their path to rehabilitation
By Aaron Morrison
CHOWCHILLA, California — Grammy Award-winning rapper and activist Common has never served time in prison. But he has had an epiphany about the lives of hundreds of thousands of men and women incarcerated in the nation’s prison systems. Their stories…
Pedro Hernandez speaks out against bail system that kept him in jail for a year
By Aaron Morrison
A couple years ago, Pedro Hernandez went to court to handle a traffic summons, but ended up in handcuffs and on his way to jail. “They searched me, grabbed my ID, and they say, ‘Pedro Hernandez? Yeah, you’re the right person we’re looking for,’”…
Shaun King’s evolution as an online watchdog against racism and police brutality
By Aaron Morrison
Daniel Borden and Alex Michael Ramos would probably not be facing prison time were it not for Shaun King, the controversial activist, organizer and citizen journalist whose efforts led to their capture. The two men were caught on video assaulting…
Tyrone West died in police custody 5 years ago. Here’s how his sister is still fighting for justice.
By Aaron Morrison
It’s been over five years since Tyrone West’s scuffle with Baltimore police ended with his in-custody death. And his sister, Tawanda Jones, hasn't stopped leading weekly vigils calling for the officers involved to be held accountable. Jones often…
The fight to increase minimum wage will be a midterm election issue, the Poor People’s Campaign says
By Aaron Morrison
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Generational poverty and low pay have had a devastating impact on Kenya Banks. Being poor nearly cost Banks her life last year. She grew up in a household with a mother who worked multiple low wage jobs, often leaving Banks alone…
After Tyler Gebhard was killed by police in Missouri, his white family changed its views on race
By Aaron Morrison
Marlene Gebhard comes from a family of police officers, but her trust in law enforcement was betrayed when an off-duty officer shot and killed her black biracial grandson, Tyler Gebhard, in Lakeshire, Missouri, two summers ago. According to the St.…
Ron Stallworth, whose KKK probe inspired Spike Lee’s ‘BlacKkKlansman,’ blasts Trump-era racism
By Aaron Morrison
Nearly 40 years ago, Ron Stallworth became the first black detective on the police force in Colorado Springs, Colorado. After retiring from a 32-year career in law enforcement, Stallworth counts drug busts and jailing violent criminals as some of…
The Chico police shooting of Desmond Phillips still rattles the family, as justice remains uncertain
By Aaron Morrison
Aug. 20, 2018, 6:25 p.m.: Xavier Becerra, California’s attorney general, will not reverse the Butte County district attorney’s decision clearing the police officers in Chico involved in the fatal shooting of Desmond Phillips, his father told Mic on…
‘Mic Dispatch’ episode 1: Inside the FBI’s crackdown on “black identity extremists”
By Aaron Morrison and Mic Staff
In the debut episode of Mic Dispatch, Mic’s newsmagazine on Facebook Watch, we meet Rakem Balogun, whose legal name is Christopher Daniels. Balogun was arrested and spent five months in jail after he posted a Facebook post praising Micah Johnson,…
Meet Rakem Balogun, the Texas man whose support for a cop killer made him an FBI target
By Aaron Morrison
Texas-based community organizer Rakem Balogun says he exercised his constitutional right to free speech when he publicly praised Micah Johnson, the lone gunman who killed five Dallas police officers in July 2016. Balogun later learned the FBI was…
Dozens of racial justice groups join immigration protests in San Diego to “free our future”
By Aaron Morrison
For roughly 10 weeks, immigrant rights activist Alejandra Pablos has been free from a detention center in Arizona. She was detained in March during a routine check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, months after protesting…
As Starbucks closes for bias training, #CoffeeWhileBlack brews support for black-owned businesses
By Aaron Morrison
ST. LOUIS — As the owner of two Northwest Coffee Roasting Company stores in St. Louis, Jason Wilson spends countless hours navigating the challenges of running a coffee business. But Wilson said there is an added burden of doing almost anything…
The black Baltimore arabber tradition is on its last leg. For the city’s sake, it should continue.
By Aaron Morrison
BALTIMORE — James Chase begins most days at one of the city’s few remaining horse stables on Fremont Avenue. Located in the heart of West Baltimore, the stable is more of an urban barn surrounded by row homes and other dwellings, some of them…
Michigan mother who exposed Flint water crisis receives international environmental justice prize
By Aaron Morrison
If there is one thing LeeAnne Walters will never need, she says, it’s convincing her to trust her own instincts. Just over four years ago, Walters noticed the water coming out the faucets of her Flint, Michigan, home was cloudy and dark brown. The…
What If We Didn’t… jail people for marijuana use, possession or sale?
By Aaron Morrison
“What If We Didn’t...?” is a new series from Mic — read more here. Rodney Hampton is a 45-year-old entrepreneur and community activist, whose debut in the legal medical marijuana business almost didn’t happen. It was 28 years ago that Hampton had…
‘Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas’ brings comedy to the national dialogue on police abuse, social justice
By Aaron Morrison
What are some of society’s biggest problem areas? According to comedian Wyatt Cenac, one problem is cow poop and its polluting effect on the ozone layer. Converting the poop into fuel is one odoriferous solution, Cenac quips in a new HBO…
National Day of Action for Stephon Clark: Protests coincide with memorial events for MLK
By Aaron Morrison
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — On the day that the civil rights community is remembering the assassination of movement icon Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., activists in California’s capital city hope also to use Wednesday to draw more attention to the police…
50 years after King’s assassination, the symbolism of his death keeps the desire for change alive
By Aaron Morrison
For Xernona Clayton, the day of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination is as searing a memory as the days that preceded his death at a Memphis hotel. Clayton, 87, is among the closest confidants of the King family and an organizer in the civil…
Vigil for Stephon Clark started out peaceful, but clashes with police left one woman with injuries
By Aaron Morrison
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Community members held a vigil near the South Sacramento neighborhood for Stephon Clark, the unarmed 22-year-old killed by city police, on Saturday evening. The event, organized by the Party for Socialism and Liberation, started…
At Stephon Clark rally, families of victims of police violence call for justice and accountability
By Aaron Morrison
SACRAMENTO, California — Cecilia McClinton wishes she was cooking Easter dinner this weekend with her uncle, Joseph Mann, a black man killed by Sacramento police in 2016. On Saturday, she spent time with other families who have lost loved ones in…