Fake News: List of fake news websites

List of fake news websites

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a list of websites that have been called fake news sites. These sites intentionally publish hoaxes and disinformation to drive web traffic rather than for a humorous purpose, as in news satire. This list also excludes sites that promote conspiracy theories based on apparently genuine belief (as opposed to a conscious intent to misinform or to gather web traffic).

Some of these sites use a URL that ends in .co or otherwise resembling genuine news site.

Fake news websites deliberately publish hoaxes and disinformation to drive web traffic inflamed by social media. These sites are distinguished from news satire (which is humorous) as they mislead and profit from readers' gullibility. While most fake news sites are portrayed to be spin offs of other news sites, some of these websites are examples of website spoofing, structured to make visitors believe they are visiting trusted sources like ABC News or MSNBC. The New York Times pointed out that within a strict definition, "fake news" on the Internet referred to a fictitious article which was fabricated with the deliberate motivation to defraud readers, generally with the goal of profiting through clickbait. PolitiFact described fake news as fabricated content designed to fool readers and subsequently made viral through the Internet to crowds that increase its dissemination.

The New York Times noted in a December 2016 article that fake news had previously maintained a presence on the Internet and within tabloid journalism in the years prior to the 2016 U.S. election. Prior to the election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, fake news had not impacted the election process and subsequent events to such a high degree. Subsequent to the 2016 U.S. election, the issue of fake news turned into a political weapon, with supporters of left-wing politics saying those on the opposite side of the spectrum spread falsehoods, and supporters of right-wing politics arguing such accusations were merely a way to censor conservative views. Due to these back-and-forth complaints, the definition of fake news as used for such polemics became more vague.

List of fake news sites[edit]

Name!	Notes	Sources
ABCnews.com.co	Owned by Jestin Coler. Mimics the URL, design and logo of ABC News.	[9][10][11][12][13][14]
Bloomberg.ma	Designed to imitate Bloomberg.com. Was used to issue a false report announcing that Twitter had received a USD $31 billion takeover offer, the false report resulted in an 8% stock price spike of Twitter. Site now defunct.	[15][16]
DrudgeReport.com.co	Owned by Jestin Coler (mimics the name of the Drudge Report).	[9][14]
MSNBC.com.co		[9]
MSNBC.website		[9]
usatoday.com.co	Owned by Jestin Coler.	[14]
washingtonpost.com.co	Originally registered by Jestin Coler	[14][17]
Celebtricity	Has claimed that: *President Obama declared a state of emergency in Chicago after more than 300 people were shot in one night. *That an employee at a Wendy's put vaginal discharge on a burger as revenge against a partner. *Bryshere Y. Gray is Jay-Z's son.	[18][19][20]
Cream BMP		[9]
Empire News	Many of this website's fake news hoaxes were widely shared on social media, with stories based off social or political controversies, or were simply appalling to readers.	[9][10][21]
Empire Sports		[22]
The Enduring Vision		[9]
Firebrand Left	Owned by Jestin Coler.	[14]
Global Associated News		[22]
Huzlers	Fake news from this website often involve popular restaurants and brands to disgust readers with its gross-out stories. One story by the site falsely reported that Dong Nguyen, the creator of Flappy Bird, killed himself. Another story made up an incident where a person working at a McDonald's restaurant put his mixtapes in Happy Meals.	[21][22][23][24]
Indecision Forever	A fake news site owned by Comedy Central.	[9]
KMT 11 News	Falsely reports celebrity appearances and filming locations in random local towns.	[25][26][27]
National Report	Founder Jestin Coler told Columbia Journalism Review "When it comes to the fake stuff, you really want it to be red meat. [...] It doesn’t have to be offensive. It doesn’t have to be outrageous. It doesn’t have to be anything other than just giving them what they already wanted to hear."	[9][10][14][21]
News Biscuit		[9]
Newslo		[9][28]
News Mutiny		[9]
React 365	This user-created fake news generator, supposedly for "pranking your friends", had at least two stories that went viral.	[21]
Rile News		[9]
Stuppid	This fake news purveyor specializes in articles with stories that are morally offensive.	[21]
The Boston Tribune	Starting in February 2016, this website's outright hoaxes quickly became popular with its readers.	[21]
The News Nerd		[22]
World News Daily Report	Has often published many hoaxes that are mistaken for being true, with topics ranging from religion, science, and political conspiracy.	[10][21][29][30]
Conservative Frontline	Owned by Jestin Coler.	[14]
Denver Guardian	Owned by Jestin Coler.	[14]
International Report	Owned by Jestin Coler.	[14]
Naha Daily	This fake news website is now defunct, and was active in a span of five months with popular fake news articles, including a fake quote by Michael Kors.	[21]
News Hound		[9][22]
United Media Publishing	Owned by Jestin Coler.	[14]
InfoWars	Managed by Alex Jones. Has previously claimed that millions of people have voted illegally in the 2016 presidential election, that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax, and that the Democratic Party was hosting a child sex slave ring out of a pizza restaurant.	[28] [31] [32] [33] [34][35] [36] [37] [38]
Natural News	Formerly NewsTarget, a website for the sale of various dietary supplements, promotion of alternative medicine, controversial nutrition and health claims, and various conspiracy theories, such as "chemtrails", chemophobic claims (including the purported dangers of fluoride in drinking water, anti-perspirants, laundry detergent, monosodium glutamate, aspartame), and purported health problems caused by allegedly "toxic" ingredients in vaccines, including the now-discredited link to autism.	[28][39][39][40][41][42]
Prntly	A politically conservative news site described by Snopes as "a disreputable outlet that has a penchant for publishing both fake news and spurious pro-Trump articles."	[43][44]
Red Flag News		[28]
70 News	a Wordpress-hosted site that published a false news story, stating that Donald Trump had won the popular vote in the 2016 United States presidential election; the fake story rose to the top in searches for "final election results" on Google News	[9][45][46]
Activist Post		[28]
American News	Published a false story claiming actor Denzel Washington endorsed Donald Trump for president. The fictional headline led to thousands of people sharing it on Facebook, a prominent example of fake news spreading on the social network prior to the 2016 presidential election.	[9][28][47][48]
Before It's News	Cited by US President-elect Donald J. Trump at his 2016 campaign rallies. Before Its News and Infowars were described as "unabashedly unhinged 'news' sites" in 2014 by the Washington Post following its promotion of conspiracy theories relation to Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.	[28][49][50]
Civic Tribune		[9]
Daily Buzz Live		[28]
DC Gazette		[9][28]
Disclose TV		[28]
Empire Herald	Starting in January 2016, this fake news site had spread many of its hoaxes online in just a few weeks.	[21]
Liberty Writers News	Established in 2015 by Paris Wade and Ben Goldman, who told the Washington Post their stories focus on "violence and chaos and aggressive wording" to attract readers. The stories reflect the positions of supporters of Donald Trump.	[51][52][52]
Media Mass		[9][22]
News Examiner	Started in 2015 by Paul Horner, the lead writer of the National Report. This website has been known to mix real news along with its fake news.	[21]
News Breaks Here		[53]
The News Buzz Daily	This fake news website mostly consists of celebrity gossip and death hoaxes, but a few of its other stories became popular on social media.	[21]
NewsWatch33	Starting in April 2015 under the name NewsWatch28 and later becoming NewsWatch33, the website disguises itself as a local television outlet. It has also been known to mix real news along with its fake news in an attempt to circumvent Facebook’s crackdown on them.	[21]
Now 8 News	Starting in 2015, this fake news website is also designed to look like a local television outlet. A lot of hoaxes were successfully spread on social media.	[21][54]
Real News Right Now		[9]
The Reporterz	Starting in early 2016, this fake news website penned several different hoaxes, including one about a murder over a Twitter trend.	[21]
World Truth TV		[28]

The hot new thing in the world of media is websites that are completely bogus. 

Facebook, a primary driver of traffic to publications, has come under fire for allowing the promotion of fake news websites and sites that deal in conspiracy theories rather than facts. Some Facebook employees even reportedly revolted and took matters into their own hands.

Many have questioned whether the rise of fake news contributed to the election victory of President-elect Donald Trump, and both Facebook and Google have responded by cutting these sites out of their advertising networks and otherwise making their stories harder to find. And PolitiFact, a Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking site, has launched a new section devoted to fake news.

But those sites are still out there, and someone on your Facebook friend's list is probably sharing one of their stories right now. If you want to check out whether a story is from a dubious source yourself, you can use one of these three Google Chrome plugins.

For a quick look at sites that publish suspicious stories that may confuse readers, Melissa Zimdars, a media professor at Merrimack College in Massachusetts, compiled a list of “fake, false, or regularly misleading websites” that purposefully publish fake information or are otherwise entirely unreliable. The list, which has since been removed due to threats and harassment Zimdars says she received, also included sites that “may circulate misleading and/or potentially unreliable information” or “sometimes use clickbait-y headlines and social media descriptions.”

The list included both left- and right-wing publications, and it is regularly updated or amended. Here is how Zimdars has categorized them:

“CATEGORY 1: Below is a list of fake, false, or regularly misleading websites that are shared on Facebook and social media. Some of these websites may rely on “outrage” by using distorted headlines and decontextualized or dubious information in order to generate likes, shares, and profits. These websites are categorized with the number 1 next to them.

“CATEGORY 2: Some websites on this list may circulate misleading and/or potentially unreliable information, and they are marked with a 2.

“CATEGORY 3: Other websites on this list sometimes use clickbait-y headlines and social media descriptions, and they are marked with a 3.

“CATEGORY 4: Other sources on this list are purposefully fake with the intent of satire/comedy, which can offer important critical commentary on politics and society, but have the potential to be shared as actual/literal news. I’m including them here, for now, because 1.) they have the potential to perpetuate misinformation based on different audience (mis)interpretations and 2.) to make sure anyone who reads a story by The Onion, for example, understands its purpose. If you think this is unnecessary, please see Literally Unbelievable.”

Below is the complete list, which Zimdars originally published under a Creative Commons license that allows publishers to freely reprint the list. Keep in mind: Not all of these sites are intentionally spreading fake news, so pay attention to the rating.

Here are all the 'fake news' sites to watch out for on Facebook

100PercentFedUp.com (2,3)

EnduringVision.com (1)

21stCenturyWire.com (2, 3)

70news.wordpress.com (1)

The Free Thought Project (3)

Abcnews.com.co (1)

Politicalo (1)

ActivistPost.com (2, 3)

Addicting Info (3)

AmericanNews.com (1)

AnonNews.co (3)

Private-eye.co.uk (includes 4)

Huzlers (4)

Indecision Forever (1)

RealNewsRightNow.com (1, 4)

Bipartisan Report (3)

Infowars.com (1, 2)

Red State (3)

Blue Nation Review (2,3)

Reductress (4)

Breitbart (2, 3)

RileNews.com (1, 4)

Call the Cops (4)

Cap News  (4)

Sportspickle.com (4)

ChristWire.org (4)

The Free Thought Project (3)

CivicTribune.com (1)

Borowitz Report (4)

ClickHole.com (4)

The Onion (4)

CoastToCoastAM.com (2)

The Other 98% (3)

CollectiveEvolution (3)

MediaMass.net (1)

ConsciousLifeNews.com (2)

MegynKelly.us (1)

ConservativeOutfitters.com (2)

MSNBC.com.co (1)

ConspiracyWire (WideAwakeAmerica.com) (2)

MSNBC.website (1)

CountdownToZeroTime.com (2)

Naha Daily (4)

NationalReport.net (4*)

CreamBMP.com (1)

NaturalNews.com

Twitchy.com (3)

News-Hound.com (1)

NewsBiscuit.com (1)

US Uncut (3)

DCGazette.com (1)

Newslo (1, 4)

NewsMutiny.com (1, 4)

DrudgeReport.com.co (1)

DuffleBlog.com (4)

World News Daily Report (4)

Empire News (1)

Occupy Democrats (3)

In addition to the list, Zimdars has created a tip sheet for news consumers so that we all might better decipher what's real, what's fake, and what's simply misleading in ways that have nothing to do with whether you agree with a particular article or not:

*Avoid websites that end in “lo” ex: Newslo (above). These sites take pieces of accurate information and then packaging that information with other false or misleading “facts” (sometimes for the purposes of satire or comedy).

*Watch out for websites that end in “.com.co” as they are often fake versions of real news sources  

*Watch out if known/reputable news sites are not also reporting on the story. Sometimes lack of coverage is the result of corporate media bias and other factors, but there should typically be more than one source reporting on a topic or event.

*Odd domain names generally equal odd and rarely truthful news.

*Lack of author attribution may, but not always, signify that the news story is suspect and requires verification.

*Some news organizations are also letting bloggers post under the banner of particular news brands; however, many of these posts do not go through the same editing process (ex: BuzzFeed Community Posts, Kinja blogs, Forbes blogs).

*Check the “About Us” tab on websites or look up the website on Snopes or Wikipedia for more information about the source.

*Bad web design and use of ALL CAPS can also be a sign that the source you’re looking at should be verified and/or read in conjunction with other sources.

*If the story makes you REALLY ANGRY it’s probably a good idea to keep reading about the topic via other sources to make sure the story you read wasn’t purposefully trying to make you angry (with potentially misleading or false information) in order to generate shares and ad revenue.

*It’s always best to read multiple sources of information to get a variety of viewpoints and media frames. Some sources not yet included in this list (although their practices at times may qualify them for addition), such as The Daily Kos, The Huffington Post, and Fox News, vacillate between providing important, legitimate, problematic, and/or hyperbolic news coverage, requiring readers and viewers to verify and contextualize information with other sources. 

1.  "Watch out for this fake news website masquerading as The New York Times". businessinsider.com. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
2. Jump up^ "Would you believe the pope endorsed Trump? Five tips for spotting fake news". NBC News. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
3. Jump up^ Weisburd, Andrew; Watts, Clint (6 August 2016), "Trolls for Trump - How Russia Dominates Your Twitter Feed to Promote Lies (And, Trump, Too)", The Daily Beast, retrieved 24 November 2016
4. ^ Jump up to:^a b LaCapria, Kim (2 November 2016), "Snopes' Field Guide to Fake News Sites and Hoax Purveyors - Snopes.com's updated guide to the internet's clickbaiting, news-faking, social media exploiting dark side.", Snopes.com, retrieved 19 November 2016
5. Jump up^ Lewis Sanders IV (11 October 2016), "'Divide Europe': European lawmakers warn of Russian propaganda", Deutsche Welle, retrieved 24 November 2016
6. Jump up^ Ben Gilbert (15 November 2016), "Fed up with fake news, Facebook users are solving the problem with a simple list", Business Insider, retrieved 16 November 2016, Some of these sites are intended to look like real publications (there are false versions of major outlets like ABC and MSNBC) but share only fake news; others are straight-up propaganda created by foreign nations (Russia and Macedonia, among others).
7. ^ Jump up to:^{a b c d e} Tavernise, Sabrina (7 December 2016), "As Fake News Spreads Lies, More Readers Shrug at the Truth", The New York Times, p. A1, retrieved 9 December 2016, Narrowly defined, 'fake news' means a made-up story with an intention to deceive, often geared toward getting clicks.
8. Jump up^ Kertscher, Tom (13 December 2016), "PolitiFact's Lie of the Year 2016: Fake news", Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, retrieved 14 December 2016
9. ^ Jump up to:^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t} Andrew Couts, Here are all the 'fake news' sites to watch out for on Facebook, Daily Dot ( November 16, 2016).
10. ^ Jump up to:^a b c d "How fake news sites frequently trick big-time journalists". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
11. Jump up^ "Here's how to outsmart fake news in your Facebook feed". Retrieved 2016-11-20.
12. Jump up^ "No, someone wasn't paid $3,500 to protest Donald Trump". @politifact. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
13. Jump up^ Dewey, Caitlin (2016-11-17). "Facebook fake-news writer: 'I think Donald Trump is in the White House because of me'". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
14. ^ Jump up to:^{a b c d e f g h i j} Sydell, Laura (23 November 2016). "We Tracked Down A Fake-News Creator In The Suburbs. Here's What We Learned". All Things Considered. NPR.
15. Jump up^ Merced, Michael J. De La; Goldstein, Matthew (2015-07-14). "Twitter Shares Jump After Faked Bloomberg Report". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-12-27.
16. Jump up^ FORTUNE. "Fake Bloomberg News Report Drives Twitter Stock Up 8%". Fortune. Retrieved 2016-12-27.
17. Jump up^ "NATIONAL ARBITRATION FORUM". www.adrforum.com. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
18. Jump up^ Dewey, Caitlin (2015-11-06). "What was fake on the Internet this week: amazing cows, the KKK and a 'Secret Sister' gift exchange". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2017-01-02.
19. Jump up^ Dewey, Caitlin (2015-08-28). "What was fake on the Internet this week: Selfie lice, Joey Fatone and James Earl Jones RIPs". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2017-01-02.
20. Jump up^ Dewey, Caitlin (2015-09-25). "What was fake on the Internet this week: Casey Anthony's death and Chipotle's 9/11 ad". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2017-01-02.
21. ^ Jump up to:^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n} LaCapria, Kim. "Snopes' Field Guide to Fake News Sites and Hoax Purveyors". snopes. Retrieved 2016-11-24.
22. ^ Jump up to:^{a b c d e f} Rensin, Emmett (2014-06-06). "These Satire News Sites Are Taking Advantage of You". New Republic. Retrieved 2016-11-26.
23. Jump up^ Campbell, Jon (12 February 2014). "Flappy Bird Game Creator Dead? Dong Nguyen Suicide Death Rumors Confirmed as Malicious Hoax". www.christianpost.com. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
24. Jump up^ Wile, Rob (8 July 2015). "A Story About Mixtapes in Happy Meals Shows Viral Fake News Sites Still Run the Internet". Fusion. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
25. Jump up^ Paulson, Dave (30 June 2016). "Sorry, Forrest Gump 2 NOT filming in Brentwood". The Tennessean. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
26.  "No, a new 'Harry Potter' movie will not be filmed in Arizona". KTAR.com. 20 June 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
27. Jump up^ Cataldo, Laurie (14 June 2016). "'The Notebook 2' Not Filming in Atlantic City...or Anywhere Else". 94.3 The Point. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
28. ^ Jump up to:^{a b c d e f g h i j k} Dicker, Rachel (November 14, 2016). "Avoid These Fake News Sites at All Costs". usnews.com. U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
29. Jump up^ "Fact Check: This is one you could call a 'giant' hoax". jacksonville.com. Retrieved 2016-11-27.
30. Jump up^ Post, The Jakarta. "Orangutan sexually assaulted by zoo employee report a hoax: Zoo official". The Jakarta Post. Retrieved 2016-11-27.
31. Jump up^ "Don't get fooled by these fake news sites". CBS News. 9 December 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
32. Jump up^ Mak, Tim (4 December 2016). "'Pizzagate' Gunman Liked Alex Jones". thedailybeast.com. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
33. Jump up^ Blake, Andrew (9 December 2016). "Alex Jones, Infowars founder, appeals to Trump for aid over fears of 'fake news' crackdown". The Washington Times. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
34. Jump up^ "Radio Conspiracy Theorist Claims Ear Of Trump, Pushes 'Pizzagate' Fictions". NPR. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
35. Jump up^ Tracy, Abigail. "The InfoWars Presidency Arrives in Washington". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
36. Jump up^ "Why Won't Donald Trump Denounce Sandy Hook Deniers?". newyorker.com. 22 November 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
37. Jump up^ Page, Clarence. "Does the First Amendment protect fake news?". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
38. Jump up^ http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2016/1215/Why-fake-news-holds-such-allure
39. ^ Jump up to:^a b Novella, Steven (2010-12-14). "H1N1 Vaccine and Miscarriages – More Fear Mongering". Neurologica (blog). New England Skeptical Society.
40. Jump up^ Pearce, Matt (2013-02-07). "Conspiracy theorists harassing, impersonating Aurora victims". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
41. Jump up^ Novella, Steven (2010-01-25). "Mike Adams Takes On 'Skeptics'". Neurologica (blog). New England Skeptical Society.
42. Jump up^ Orac [David Gorski] (2011-10-27). "Mike Adams vs. the flu vaccine". Respectful Insolence. ScienceBlogs. Retrieved 2014-03-11.
43. Jump up^ Evon, Dan. "False: A tweet ostensibly posted by vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine allegedly acknowledges that he has an open marriage.". Snopes. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
44. Jump up^ "The pro-Trump fake news website that's finding an audience — with Trump's help". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-01-02.
45. Jump up^ Bump, Philip (14 November 2016). "Google's top news link for 'final election results' goes to a fake news site with false numbers". Washington Post.
46. Jump up^ Jacobson, Louis (14 November 2016). "No, Donald Trump is not beating Hillary Clinton in the popular vote". Politifact.
47. Jump up^ Collins, Ben (16 November 2016). "48 Hours in Facebook's Unreality". Daily Beast.
48. Jump up^ Bump, Philip (14 November 2016). "Denzel Washington endorsed Trump, according to AmericaNews, Breitbartt, USANewsHome — and Facebook". Washington Post.
49. Jump up^ Schwartz, Rafi (August 15, 2016). "Inside the extremely crazy conspiracy website that Donald Trump has been citing". Fusion.
50. Jump up^ Dewey, Caitlin (July 18, 2014). "A comprehensive guide to the web’s many MH17 conspiracy theories". Washington Post. (subscription required)
51. Jump up^ "5 important stories that aren't fake news". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved 2016-11-27.
52. ^ Jump up to:^a b McCoy, Terrence (20 November 2016). "For the 'new yellow journalists,' opportunity comes in clicks and bucks". Washington Post. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
53. Jump up^ Mcintire, Andrew Higgins, Mike; Dance, Gabriel J. x (2016-11-25). "Inside a Fake News Sausage Factory: 'This Is All About Income'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-11-26.
54. Jump up^ Dewey, Caitlin (2015-12-04). "What was fake on the Internet this week: bear rapes, 'false flags' and gold testicles". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2017-01-02.

President Obama's Final Speech: We The People...

While acknowledging decades of progress on racial issues, he said that "race remains a potent and often divisive force in our society” and noted there was an unrealistic idea after his election that we had entered a "post-racial America."

“If we’re going to be serious about race going forward, we must uphold laws against discrimination – in hiring, in housing, in education and the criminal justice system. That’s what our Constitution and highest ideals require. But laws alone won’t be enough. Hearts must change," Obama said.

“For white Americans, it means acknowledging that the effects of slavery and Jim Crow didn’t suddenly vanish in the ‘60s; that when minority groups voice discontent, they’re not just engaging in reverse racism or practicing political correctness; that when they wage peaceful protest, they’re not demanding special treatment, but the equal treatment our Founders promised," he continued.

He also warned that “stark inequality is also corrosive to our democratic ideas.”

“While the top one percent has amassed a bigger share of wealth and income, too many of our families, in inner cities and rural counties, have been left behind – the laid-off factory worker; the waitress and health care worker who struggle to pay the bills – convinced that the game is fixed against them, that their government only serves the interests of the powerful –that’s a recipe for more cynicism and polarization in our politics,” he said.

President Barack Obama's Farewell Address: Full Text

It’s good to be home. My fellow Americans, Michelle and I have been so touched by all the well-wishes we’ve received over the past few weeks. But tonight it’s my turn to say thanks. Whether we’ve seen eye-to-eye or rarely agreed at all, my conversations with you, the American people – in living rooms and schools; at farms and on factory floors; at diners and on distant outposts – are what have kept me honest, kept me inspired and kept me going. Every day, I learned from you. You made me a better President, and you made me a better man.

I first came to Chicago when I was in my early twenties, still trying to figure out who I was; still searching for a purpose to my life. It was in neighborhoods not far from here where I began working with church groups in the shadows of closed steel mills. It was on these streets where I witnessed the power of faith, and the quiet dignity of working people in the face of struggle and loss. This is where I learned that change only happens when ordinary people get involved, get engaged and come together to demand it.

After eight years as your President, I still believe that. And it’s not just my belief. It’s the beating heart of our American idea – our bold experiment in self-government.

It’s the conviction that we are all created equal, endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

It’s the insistence that these rights, while self-evident, have never been self-executing; that We, the People, through the instrument of our democracy, can form a more perfect union.

This is the great gift our Founders gave us. The freedom to chase our individual dreams through our sweat, toil, and imagination – and the imperative to strive together as well, to achieve a greater good.

For 240 years, our nation’s call to citizenship has given work and purpose to each new generation. It’s what led patriots to choose republic over tyranny, pioneers to trek west, slaves to brave that makeshift railroad to freedom. It’s what pulled immigrants and refugees across oceans and the Rio Grande, pushed women to reach for the ballot, powered workers to organize. It’s why GIs gave their lives at Omaha Beach and Iwo Jima; Iraq and Afghanistan – and why men and women from Selma to Stonewall were prepared to give theirs as well.

So that’s what we mean when we say America is exceptional. Not that our nation has been flawless from the start, but that we have shown the capacity to change, and make life better for those who follow.

Yes, our progress has been uneven. The work of democracy has always been hard, contentious and sometimes bloody. For every two steps forward, it often feels we take one step back. But the long sweep of America has been defined by forward motion, a constant widening of our founding creed to embrace all, and not just some.

If I had told you eight years ago that America would reverse a great recession, reboot our auto industry and unleash the longest stretch of job creation in our history…if I had told you that we would open up a new chapter with the Cuban people, shut down Iran’s nuclear weapons program without firing a shot, and take out the mastermind of 9/11…if I had told you that we would win marriage equality, and secure the right to health insurance for another 20 million of our fellow citizens – you might have said our sights were set a little too high.

But that’s what we did. That’s what you did. You were the change. You answered people’s hopes, and because of you, by almost every measure, America is a better, stronger place than it was when we started.

In ten days, the world will witness a hallmark of our democracy: the peaceful transfer of power from one freely-elected president to the next. I committed to President-Elect Trump that my administration would ensure the smoothest possible transition, just as President Bush did for me. Because it’s up to all of us to make sure our government can help us meet the many challenges we still face.

We have what we need to do so. After all, we remain the wealthiest, most powerful and most respected nation on Earth. Our youth and drive, our diversity and openness, our boundless capacity for risk and reinvention mean that the future should be ours.

But that potential will be realized only if our democracy works. Only if our politics reflects the decency of the our people. Only if all of us, regardless of our party affiliation or particular interest, help restore the sense of common purpose that we so badly need right now.

That’s what I want to focus on tonight – the state of our democracy.

Understand, democracy does not require uniformity. Our founders quarreled and compromised, and expected us to do the same. But they knew that democracy does require a basic sense of solidarity – the idea that for all our outward differences, we are all in this together; that we rise or fall as one.

There have been moments throughout our history that threatened to rupture that solidarity. The beginning of this century has been one of those times. A shrinking world, growing inequality; demographic change and the specter of terrorism – these forces haven’t just tested our security and prosperity, but our democracy as well. And how we meet these challenges to our democracy will determine our ability to educate our kids, and create good jobs, and protect our homeland.

In other words, it will determine our future.

Our democracy won’t work without a sense that everyone has economic opportunity. Today, the economy is growing again; wages, incomes, home values, and retirement accounts are rising again; poverty is falling again. The wealthy are paying a fairer share of taxes even as the stock market shatters records. The unemployment rate is near a ten-year low. The uninsured rate has never, ever been lower. Health care costs are rising at the slowest rate in 50 years. And if anyone can put together a plan that is demonstrably better than the improvements we’ve made to our health care system – that covers as many people at less cost – I will publicly support it.

That, after all, is why we serve – to make people’s lives better, not worse.

But for all the real progress we’ve made, we know it’s not enough. Our economy doesn’t work as well or grow as fast when a few prosper at the expense of a growing middle class. But stark inequality is also corrosive to our democratic principles. While the top one percent has amassed a bigger share of wealth and income, too many families, in inner cities and rural counties, have been left behind – the laid-off factory worker; the waitress and health care worker who struggle to pay the bills – convinced that the game is fixed against them, that their government only serves the interests of the powerful – a recipe for more cynicism and polarization in our politics.

There are no quick fixes to this long-term trend. I agree that our trade should be fair and not just free. But the next wave of economic dislocation won’t come from overseas. It will come from the relentless pace of automation that makes many good, middle-class jobs obsolete.

And so we must forge a new social compact – to guarantee all our kids the education they need; to give workers the power to unionize for better wages; to update the social safety net to reflect the way we live now and make more reforms to the tax code so corporations and individuals who reap the most from the new economy don’t avoid their obligations to the country that’s made their success possible. We can argue about how to best achieve these goals. But we can’t be complacent about the goals themselves. For if we don’t create opportunity for all people, the disaffection and division that has stalled our progress will only sharpen in years to come.

There’s a second threat to our democracy – one as old as our nation itself. After my election, there was talk of a post-racial America. Such a vision, however well-intended, was never realistic. For race remains a potent and often divisive force in our society. I’ve lived long enough to know that race relations are better than they were ten, or twenty, or thirty years ago – you can see it not just in statistics, but in the attitudes of young Americans across the political spectrum.

But we’re not where we need to be. All of us have more work to do. After all, if every economic issue is framed as a struggle between a hardworking white middle class and undeserving minorities, then workers of all shades will be left fighting for scraps while the wealthy withdraw further into their private enclaves. If we decline to invest in the children of immigrants, just because they don’t look like us, we diminish the prospects of our own children – because those brown kids will represent a larger share of America’s workforce. And our economy doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game. Last year, incomes rose for all races, all age groups, for men and for women.

Going forward, we must uphold laws against discrimination – in hiring, in housing, in education and the criminal justice system. That’s what our Constitution and highest ideals require. But laws alone won’t be enough. Hearts must change. If our democracy is to work in this increasingly diverse nation, each one of us must try to heed the advice of one of the great characters in American fiction, Atticus Finch, who said “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

For blacks and other minorities, it means tying our own struggles for justice to the challenges that a lot of people in this country face – the refugee, the immigrant, the rural poor, the transgender American, and also the middle-aged white man who from the outside may seem like he’s got all the advantages, but who’s seen his world upended by economic, cultural, and technological change.

For white Americans, it means acknowledging that the effects of slavery and Jim Crow didn’t suddenly vanish in the ‘60s; that when minority groups voice discontent, they’re not just engaging in reverse racism or practicing political correctness; that when they wage peaceful protest, they’re not demanding special treatment, but the equal treatment our Founders promised.

For native-born Americans, it means reminding ourselves that the stereotypes about immigrants today were said, almost word for word, about the Irish, Italians, and Poles. America wasn’t weakened by the presence of these newcomers; they embraced this nation’s creed, and it was strengthened.

So regardless of the station we occupy; we have to try harder; to start with the premise that each of our fellow citizens loves this country just as much as we do; that they value hard work and family like we do; that their children are just as curious and hopeful and worthy of love as our own.

None of this is easy. For too many of us, it’s become safer to retreat into our own bubbles, whether in our neighborhoods or college campuses or places of worship or our social media feeds, surrounded by people who look like us and share the same political outlook and never challenge our assumptions. The rise of naked partisanship, increasing economic and regional stratification, the splintering of our media into a channel for every taste – all this makes this great sorting seem natural, even inevitable. And increasingly, we become so secure in our bubbles that we accept only information, whether true or not, that fits our opinions, instead of basing our opinions on the evidence that’s out there.

This trend represents a third threat to our democracy. Politics is a battle of ideas; in the course of a healthy debate, we’ll prioritize different goals, and the different means of reaching them. But without some common baseline of facts; without a willingness to admit new information, and concede that your opponent is making a fair point, and that science and reason matter, we’ll keep talking past each other, making common ground and compromise impossible.

Isn’t that part of what makes politics so dispiriting? How can elected officials rage about deficits when we propose to spend money on preschool for kids, but not when we’re cutting taxes for corporations? How do we excuse ethical lapses in our own party, but pounce when the other party does the same thing? It’s not just dishonest, this selective sorting of the facts; it’s self-defeating. Because as my mother used to tell me, reality has a way of catching up with you.

Take the challenge of climate change. In just eight years, we’ve halved our dependence on foreign oil, doubled our renewable energy, and led the world to an agreement that has the promise to save this planet. But without bolder action, our children won’t have time to debate the existence of climate change; they’ll be busy dealing with its effects: environmental disasters, economic disruptions, and waves of climate refugees seeking sanctuary.

Now, we can and should argue about the best approach to the problem. But to simply deny the problem not only betrays future generations; it betrays the essential spirit of innovation and practical problem-solving that guided our Founders.

It’s that spirit, born of the Enlightenment, that made us an economic powerhouse – the spirit that took flight at Kitty Hawk and Cape Canaveral; the spirit that that cures disease and put a computer in every pocket.

It’s that spirit – a faith in reason, and enterprise, and the primacy of right over might, that allowed us to resist the lure of fascism and tyranny during the Great Depression, and build a post-World War II order with other democracies, an order based not just on military power or national affiliations but on principles – the rule of law, human rights, freedoms of religion, speech, assembly, and an independent press.

That order is now being challenged – first by violent fanatics who claim to speak for Islam; more recently by autocrats in foreign capitals who see free markets, open democracies, and civil society itself as a threat to their power. The peril each poses to our democracy is more far-reaching than a car bomb or a missile. It represents the fear of change; the fear of people who look or speak or pray differently; a contempt for the rule of law that holds leaders accountable; an intolerance of dissent and free thought; a belief that the sword or the gun or the bomb or propaganda machine is the ultimate arbiter of what’s true and what’s right.

Because of the extraordinary courage of our men and women in uniform, and the intelligence officers, law enforcement, and diplomats who support them, no foreign terrorist organization has successfully planned and executed an attack on our homeland these past eight years; and although Boston and Orlando remind us of how dangerous radicalization can be, our law enforcement agencies are more effective and vigilant than ever. We’ve taken out tens of thousands of terrorists – including Osama bin Laden. The global coalition we’re leading against ISIL has taken out their leaders, and taken away about half their territory. ISIL will be destroyed, and no one who threatens America will ever be safe. To all who serve, it has been the honor of my lifetime to be your Commander-in-Chief.

But protecting our way of life requires more than our military. Democracy can buckle when we give in to fear. So just as we, as citizens, must remain vigilant against external aggression, we must guard against a weakening of the values that make us who we are. That’s why, for the past eight years, I’ve worked to put the fight against terrorism on a firm legal footing. That’s why we’ve ended torture, worked to close Gitmo, and reform our laws governing surveillance to protect privacy and civil liberties. That’s why I reject discrimination against Muslim Americans. That’s why we cannot withdraw from global fights – to expand democracy, and human rights, women’s rights, and LGBT rights – no matter how imperfect our efforts, no matter how expedient ignoring such values may seem. For the fight against extremism and intolerance and sectarianism are of a piece with the fight against authoritarianism and nationalist aggression. If the scope of freedom and respect for the rule of law shrinks around the world, the likelihood of war within and between nations increases, and our own freedoms will eventually be threatened.

So let’s be vigilant, but not afraid. ISIL will try to kill innocent people. But they cannot defeat America unless we betray our Constitution and our principles in the fight. Rivals like Russia or China cannot match our influence around the world – unless we give up what we stand for, and turn ourselves into just another big country that bullies smaller neighbors.

Which brings me to my final point – our democracy is threatened whenever we take it for granted. All of us, regardless of party, should throw ourselves into the task of rebuilding our democratic institutions. When voting rates are some of the lowest among advanced democracies, we should make it easier, not harder, to vote. When trust in our institutions is low, we should reduce the corrosive influence of money in our politics, and insist on the principles of transparency and ethics in public service. When Congress is dysfunctional, we should draw our districts to encourage politicians to cater to common sense and not rigid extremes.

And all of this depends on our participation; on each of us accepting the responsibility of citizenship, regardless of which way the pendulum of power swings.

Our Constitution is a remarkable, beautiful gift. But it’s really just a piece of parchment. It has no power on its own. We, the people, give it power – with our participation, and the choices we make. Whether or not we stand up for our freedoms. Whether or not we respect and enforce the rule of law. America is no fragile thing. But the gains of our long journey to freedom are not assured.

In his own farewell address, George Washington wrote that self-government is the underpinning of our safety, prosperity, and liberty, but “from different causes and from different quarters much pains will be taken…to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth;” that we should preserve it with “jealous anxiety;” that we should reject “the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest or to enfeeble the sacred ties” that make us one.

We weaken those ties when we allow our political dialogue to become so corrosive that people of good character are turned off from public service; so coarse with rancor that Americans with whom we disagree are not just misguided, but somehow malevolent. We weaken those ties when we define some of us as more American than others; when we write off the whole system as inevitably corrupt, and blame the leaders we elect without examining our own role in electing them.

It falls to each of us to be those anxious, jealous guardians of our democracy; to embrace the joyous task we’ve been given to continually try to improve this great nation of ours. Because for all our outward differences, we all share the same proud title: Citizen.

Ultimately, that’s what our democracy demands. It needs you. Not just when there’s an election, not just when your own narrow interest is at stake, but over the full span of a lifetime. If you’re tired of arguing with strangers on the internet, try to talk with one in real life. If something needs fixing, lace up your shoes and do some organizing. If you’re disappointed by your elected officials, grab a clipboard, get some signatures, and run for office yourself. Show up. Dive in. Persevere. Sometimes you’ll win. Sometimes you’ll lose. Presuming a reservoir of goodness in others can be a risk, and there will be times when the process disappoints you. But for those of us fortunate enough to have been a part of this work, to see it up close, let me tell you, it can energize and inspire. And more often than not, your faith in America – and in Americans – will be confirmed.

Mine sure has been. Over the course of these eight years, I’ve seen the hopeful faces of young graduates and our newest military officers. I’ve mourned with grieving families searching for answers, and found grace in Charleston church. I’ve seen our scientists help a paralyzed man regain his sense of touch, and our wounded warriors walk again. I’ve seen our doctors and volunteers rebuild after earthquakes and stop pandemics in their tracks. I’ve seen the youngest of children remind us of our obligations to care for refugees, to work in peace, and above all to look out for each other.

That faith I placed all those years ago, not far from here, in the power of ordinary Americans to bring about change – that faith has been rewarded in ways I couldn’t possibly have imagined. I hope yours has, too. Some of you here tonight or watching at home were there with us in 2004, in 2008, in 2012 – and maybe you still can’t believe we pulled this whole thing off.

You’re not the only ones. Michelle – for the past twenty-five years, you’ve been not only my wife and mother of my children, but my best friend. You took on a role you didn’t ask for and made it your own with grace and grit and style and good humor. You made the White House a place that belongs to everybody. And a new generation sets its sights higher because it has you as a role model. You’ve made me proud. You’ve made the country proud.

Malia and Sasha, under the strangest of circumstances, you have become two amazing young women, smart and beautiful, but more importantly, kind and thoughtful and full of passion. You wore the burden of years in the spotlight so easily. Of all that I’ve done in my life, I’m most proud to be your dad.

To Joe Biden, the scrappy kid from Scranton who became Delaware’s favorite son: you were the first choice I made as a nominee, and the best. Not just because you have been a great Vice President, but because in the bargain, I gained a brother. We love you and Jill like family, and your friendship has been one of the great joys of our life.

To my remarkable staff: For eight years – and for some of you, a whole lot more – I’ve drawn from your energy, and tried to reflect back what you displayed every day: heart, and character, and idealism. I’ve watched you grow up, get married, have kids, and start incredible new journeys of your own. Even when times got tough and frustrating, you never let Washington get the better of you. The only thing that makes me prouder than all the good we’ve done is the thought of all the remarkable things you’ll achieve from here.

And to all of you out there – every organizer who moved to an unfamiliar town and kind family who welcomed them in, every volunteer who knocked on doors, every young person who cast a ballot for the first time, every American who lived and breathed the hard work of change – you are the best supporters and organizers anyone could hope for, and I will forever be grateful. Because yes, you changed the world.

That’s why I leave this stage tonight even more optimistic about this country than I was when we started. Because I know our work has not only helped so many Americans; it has inspired so many Americans – especially so many young people out there – to believe you can make a difference; to hitch your wagon to something bigger than yourselves. This generation coming up – unselfish, altruistic, creative, patriotic – I’ve seen you in every corner of the country. You believe in a fair, just, inclusive America; you know that constant change has been America’s hallmark, something not to fear but to embrace, and you are willing to carry this hard work of democracy forward. You’ll soon outnumber any of us, and I believe as a result that the future is in good hands.

My fellow Americans, it has been the honor of my life to serve you. I won’t stop; in fact, I will be right there with you, as a citizen, for all my days that remain. For now, whether you’re young or young at heart, I do have one final ask of you as your President – the same thing I asked when you took a chance on me eight years ago.

I am asking you to believe. Not in my ability to bring about change – but in yours.

I am asking you to hold fast to that faith written into our founding documents; that idea whispered by slaves and abolitionists; that spirit sung by immigrants and homesteaders and those who marched for justice; that creed reaffirmed by those who planted flags from foreign battlefields to the surface of the moon; a creed at the core of every American whose story is not yet written:

Yes We Can.

Yes We Did.

Yes We Can.


Thank you. God bless you. And may God continue to bless the United States of America.

Crooked Media: The Aftermath

With the second term of President Obama coming to an end one must wonder where do we go from here. 

Three former staffers to President Obama are launching an anti-Donald Trump media site called “Crooked Media.” 

Keepin’ It 1600 Crew Launches New Podcast, ‘Crooked Media’ Company

By Margaret Hartmann

Those distraught about the lack of Keepin’ It 1600 episodes in recent weeks can stop drowning their sorrows in Bloomin’ Onions. The popular podcast from former Obama administration staffers Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, and Tommy Vietor — which started last March and amassed 400,000 listeners by Election Day — is being retired. But it will live on as Pod Save America, the debut podcast from the trio’s new company, Crooked Media.

As the name suggests, their departure from the Ringer Podcast Network was inspired by the election of Donald Trump, which hit them particularly hard, since they regularly urged fellow liberals worried about Hillary Clinton’s chances not to “bed-wet.”


“If Hillary Clinton had won the election, like we all wrongly prognosticated, I think all of us would have been content to keep doing this as a hobby,” Vietor told the Daily Beast. “But that night changed things for a lot of people, us included. I woke up feeling like sitting on the sidelines wasn’t an option anymore. I wanted to be part of whatever is going to happen over the next four years to preserve the things we fought for at the White House.”

Thus, they’re leaving their consulting jobs to focus full-time on their new L.A.-based media venture. (Keepin’ It 1600’s Dan Pfeiffer is keeping his day job, but he’ll appear on Thursday episodes of Pod Save America.) According to the company’s mission statement, there will still be openly biased snark and analysis, “but with a new emphasis on activism and political participation.”

Eventually they hope to add more podcasts, live video, and written content to Crooked Media, but for now they’re still working out how they’ll challenge the Trump administration. 


“We want to give people an outlet and a vessel to figure out what to do,” Favreau told The Hollywood Reporter. “The biggest question we get is ‘What do I do now?’ and we didn’t have an answer in those early weeks. We want to find an answer.”

Trump's True Agenda: Smoke and Mirrors, Autocracy and Corruption

Autocracy seems to be what form of government Donald Trump thinks this country is instead of a Democracy. His love and admiration for Vladimir Putin is poof. Besides this is his blatant disregard of laws and rules as well as his lack of morals and manners. 
This country is about to witness corruption similar to that which exist in Putin's Russia.

According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Corruption in Russia is perceived as a significant problem in Russia impacting all aspects of life, including public administration, law enforcement, healthcare and education. The phenomenon of corruption is strongly established in the historical model of public governance in Russia and attributed to general weakness of rule of law in Russia. In the Corruption Perceptions Index published by Transparency International Russia was scored 136 in 2014.
A notable worsening of this ranking for Russia – from 90th place to 126th – occurred at the beginning of Vladimir Putin's second term as president; a drop of 36 places in only one year. An equally pessimistic picture emerges from the estimates of the average size of bribes which has substantially increased over the last five years.

According to economist Alexandra Kalinina corruption in Russia remains “not a problem, but a business.”

Corruption has penetrated all levels of government and most other aspects of life in Russia. According to Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, corruption in Russia is worse than in many African countries.

At the government level the five top areas for corruption are as follows:

1) Government contracts and purchases.
2) Issuance of permits and certificates.
3) Law-enforcement agencies.
4) Land distribution and land relations.

5) Construction.

Independent experts maintain that corruption consumes as much of 25 percent of Russia’s GDP. A World Bank report puts this figure at 48 percent. ~ Corruption in Russia as a Business Published: 29 January 2013 Written by Alexandra Kalinina

Trump's agenda will more than likely have our country in similar situation as in corruption filled Russia. Why else would most of his cabinet and advisors be millionaires, billionaires and generals? Why have most of them not submitted financial disclosures just as Trump has yet revealed his tax records and forms? Too many global conflicts of interest are not being revealed and we the people are supposed to just allow this to go down without a fight? NOT AT ALL! As patriots we must oppose this tyranny.

Trump's make America Great and White again was the message and tactic used to get him in the White House. It was a part of the smoke and mirrors. Now he is on his way to autocracy and corruption like we have never seen in this country at the highest levels of the government. Everything seems upside down!

  

Black and White:

Black is the darkest color, the result of the absence or complete absorption of light. Like white and grey, it is an achromatic color, literally a color without hue. It is one of the four primary colors in the CMYK color model, along with cyan, yellow, and magenta, used in color printing to produce all the other colors. Black is often used to represent darkness; it is the symbolic opposite of white (or brightness).

Black was one of the first colors used by artists in neolithic cave paintings. In the 14th century, it began to be worn by royalty, the clergy, judges and government officials in much of Europe. It became the color worn by English romantic poets, businessmen and statesmen in the 19th century, and a high fashion color in the 20th century.

In the Roman Empire, it became the color of mourning, and over the centuries it was frequently associated with death, evil, witches and magic. According to surveys in Europe and North America, it is the color most commonly associated with mourning, the end, secrets, magic, force, violence, evil, and elegance.


The word black comes from Old English blæc ("black, dark", also, "ink"), from Proto-Germanic *blakkaz ("burned"), from Proto-Indo-European *bhleg- ("to burn, gleam, shine, flash"), from base *bhel- ("to shine"), related to Old Saxon blak ("ink"), Old High German blach ("black"), Old Norse blakkr ("dark"), Dutch blaken ("to burn"), and Swedish bläck ("ink"). More distant cognates include Latin flagrare ("to blaze, glow, burn"), and Ancient Greek phlegein ("to burn, scorch").

The Ancient Greeks sometimes used the same word to name different colors, if they had the same intensity. Kuanos' could mean both dark blue and black.

The Ancient Romans had two words for black: ater was a flat, dull black, while niger was a brilliant, saturated black. Ater has vanished from the vocabulary, but niger was the source of the country name Nigeria the English word Negro and the word for "black" in most modern Romance languages (French: noir; Spanish and Portuguese: negro; Italian: nero).

Old High German also had two words for black: swartz for dull black and blach for a luminous black. These are parallelled in Middle English by the terms swart for dull black and blaek for luminous black. Swart still survives as the word swarthy, while blaek became the modern English black.

In heraldry, the word used for the black color is sable, named for the black fur of the sable, an animal.

For the ancient Egyptians, black had positive associations; being the color of fertility and the rich black soil flooded by the Nile. It was the color of Anubis, the god of the underworld, who took the form of a black jackal, and offered protection against evil to the dead.

For the ancient Greeks, black was also the color of the underworld, separated from the world of the living by the river Acheron, whose water was black. Those who had committed the worst sins were sent to Tartarus, the deepest and darkest level. In the center was the palace of Hades, the king of the underworld, where he was seated upon a black ebony throne.

Black was one of the most important colors used by ancient Greek artists. In the 6th century BC, they began making black-figure pottery and later red figure pottery, using a highly original technique. In black-figure pottery, the artist would paint figures with a glossy clay slip on a red clay pot. When the pot was fired, the figures painted with the slip would turn black, against a red background. Later they reversed the process, painting the spaces between the figures with slip. This created magnificent red figures against a glossy black background.

In the social hierarchy of ancient Rome, purple was the color reserved for the Emperor; red was the color worn by soldiers (red cloaks for the officers, red tunics for the soldiers); white the color worn by the priests, and black was worn by craftsmen and artisans. The black they wore was not deep and rich; the vegetable dyes used to make black were not solid or lasting, so the blacks often turned out faded gray or brown.[citation needed]

In Latin, the word for black, ater and to darken, atere, were associated with cruelty, brutality and evil. They were the root of the English words "atrocious" and "atrocity".

Black was also the Roman color of death and mourning. In the 2nd century BC Roman magistrates began to wear a dark toga, called a toga pulla, to funeral ceremonies. Later, under the Empire, the family of the deceased also wore dark colors for a long period; then, after a banquet to mark the end of mourning, exchanged the black for a white toga. In Roman poetry, death was called the hora nigra, the black hour.


The German and Scandinavian peoples worshipped their own goddess of the night, Nótt, who crossed the sky in a chariot drawn by a black horse. They also feared Hel, the goddess of the kingdom of the dead, whose skin was black on one side and red on the other. They also held sacred the crow. They believed that Odin, the king of the Nordic pantheon, had two black crows, Huginn and Muninn, who served as his agents, traveling the world for him, watching and listening.

In the second part of the 17th century, Europe and America experienced an epidemic of fear of witchcraft. People widely believed that the devil appeared at midnight in a ceremony called a black mass or black sabbath, usually in the form of a black animal, often a goat, a dog, a wolf, a bear, a deer or a rooster, accompanied by their familiar spirits, black cats, serpents and other black creatures. This was the origin of the widespread superstition about black cats and other black animals. In Medieval Flanders, in a ceremony called Kattenstoet, black cats were thrown from the belfry of the Cloth Hall of Ypres to ward off witchcraft.


Witch trials were common in both Europe and America during this period. During the notorious Salem witch trials in New England in 1692–93, one of those on trial was accused of being able turn into a "black thing with a blue cap," and others of having familiars in the form of a black dog, a black cat and a black bird. Nineteen women and men were hanged as witches.