Greene County Democrat

Category: Health

  • Alabama Republican Party considers renewing redistricting battle after Figures win

    Shomari Figures and Caroleene Dobson 

    By Alex Jobin

    Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Alabama state legislature’s congressional map was gerrymandered, violating the Voting Rights Act by disadvantaging Black Alabamians. Despite making up 27 percent of the state’s population, the candidates preferred by Black voters only saw consistent success in one of the state’s seven congressional district since 2011.

    Despite repeated attempts to avoid redistricting, Alabama’s GOP leadership was ultimately forced to redraw the congressional map — twice — after SCOTUS sided with a panel of three federal judges who called for a second majority-Black district or “something quite close to it.” That redrawn map resulted in a new 2nd Congressional District that empowered Black voters in the state.

    On November 5th, Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, beat out his Republican opponent Caroleene Dobson to win that seat. Figures — the son of civil rights leader Michael Figures and Alabama State Senator Vivian Figures — will now be the state’s second Black member set to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2025. This will mark the first time in the state’s history that it will have two Black members of Congress serving simultaneously.

    However, some leaders in the state Republican Party are already looking to reconfigure the 2nd Congressional District yet again in response to Dobson’s loss.  “I can tell you that there is talk and it’s not going to go away,” said Terry Lathan, former chair of the Alabama Republican Party. “An election might be two years from now, but that does not mean our legislature might not take another look at it. It does not mean that we have to not file court cases and go to court over it.”

    Although the new district was drawn specifically with the intent to increase political equity in the state, Lathan claimed that the district lines, drawn by an independent court-appointed official, were “odd.”

    “I don’t know that it went wrong as much as the lines, the way the courts drew the lines,” Lathan said Tuesday, appearing to blame Dobson’s loss on the way the district was redrawn. “I don’t think we’re finished with this. But you have to accept the outcome of the race. It was very oddly drawn lines for CD-2.”

    U.S. Rep. Jerry Carl, R-Mobile, has also criticized the new district lines as being impractical.
    “It’s just about impossible for anyone in District 1 and District 2, both, to do the district justice,” Carl said after a speaking event Thursday. “You can’t serve two masters.”
    “Dothan is so much different than Mobile, and vice versa. It will be hard for anyone in this (1st congressional) district to serve two masters,” Carl continued. “Shomari will have the same problem (in congressional District 2) serving between Montgomery and Mobile. Looking at projects in Montgomery, Mobile will feel left out and vice versa. It’s the nature of the beast.”

    State Sen. Steve Livingston, R-Scottsboro, a sponsor of the failed map which the legislature proposed following the 2023 SCOTUS ruling, hesitated to echo his colleagues concerns. “Let’s let it run its course of action in the courts, and then we’ll see where we are,” Livingston said.

    Jeannie Negrón Burniston, the Communications Director for the Alabama Republican Party, told AL.com that the party had “not heard anything concerning redistricting in the legislature.”

    Questions remain about the future of Alabama’s congressional map. The 2023 SCOTUS ruling was only a preliminary injunction, allowing for the court-drawn map drawn to be used in this year’s elections. Moving forward, it is possible that federal judges in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama will decide to redraw the district lines once more.
    The relevant legal case — Milligan v. Allen — is ongoing and will likely go to trial in 2025. Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder compared Alabama’s fight against redistricting to voting rights backlash during the Civil Rights era.

    “State officials here in Alabama fought all along the way to not put into effect that which the very conservative Supreme Court interpreted of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which is the crown jewel of the Civil Rights movement,” Holder said while he campaigned with Figures ahead of Election Day. “(Alabama officials tried to) push back against the very conservative Supreme Court in a way that echoed which occurred from Alabama back in the 60s. It’s almost a resistance … that is what gives me concern.”

  • Newswire : Momentum builds for Shirley Chisholm Congressional Gold Medal ahead of centennial

    Shirley Chisholm 1972 campaign poster


     

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent


    As the 100th anniversary of Shirley Chisholm’s birth approaches on November 30, a growing effort to honor her legacy is taking shape. Chisholm, the first African American woman elected to Congress in 1968 and a trailblazer for equality and justice, remains a powerful symbol of courage and leadership. The Shirley Chisholm Congressional Gold Medal Act, spearheaded by Democratic Sen. Laphonza Butler of California, is moving closer to passage with bipartisan support.

    Butler, the bill’s primary sponsor, has garnered backing from key lawmakers, including Democratic Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York. The legislation seeks to award Chisholm one of the nation’s highest civilian honors, cementing her place as one of the most transformative figures in American history.

    Carlo Jerome Juntilla, Education and Labor Policy Advisor for Butler, acknowledged the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) for its critical role in advancing the bill.
    The NNPA is the trade association of the more than 200 African American-owned newspapers and media companies that comprise the 197-year-old Black Press of America.

    “Thanks to your efforts, we have secured the necessary number of co-sponsors to move the bill forward, and we are now in a strong position to pass it,” Juntilla wrote in an email to the NNPA. “With the late Shirley Chisholm’s 100th birthday approaching on November 30, we are looking for ways to collaborate further in order to elevate her legacy.”

    Juntilla also emphasized the importance of continuing to amplify Chisholm’s story through additional collaborations, including op-eds and media campaigns. Juntilla even noted the value of highlighting Butler and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), who is leading the effort in the House.

    NNPA President & CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. and members of the NNPA’s main office had organized a meeting with Butler where they discussed the honor for Chisholm. “The legacy of the Honorable Shirley Chisholm lives radiantly today and for generations to come,” Chavis remarked.  “The NNPA stands resolutely in support of the leadership of The Honorable Laphonsa Butler to bestow to Chisholm with the Congressional honors that she deserves.”

    Bobby Henry, Chairman of the NNPA, also expressed the organization’s unwavering support for the bill and its significance.“As Chairman of the NNPA, I am honored to stand in support of the Shirley Chisholm Congressional Gold Medal Act, a vital recognition of one of the most transformative figures in American history,” said Henry, who also publishes the Westside Gazette Newspaper in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. “Shirley Chisholm’s legacy as the first African American woman elected to Congress and a fearless advocate for equality and justice continues to inspire generations.

    “We commend Senator Laphonza Butler and Representative Barbara Lee for championing this historic legislation and for their commitment to ensuring Chisholm’s contributions are celebrated and remembered. As we approach the centennial of her birth, the NNPA is proud to collaborate in elevating her enduring impact on our nation and the world.”
    Chisholm’s groundbreaking career includes her historic 1972 presidential campaign, during which she became the first Black woman to seek the nomination of a major political party. Her slogan, “Unbought and Unbossed,” embodied her commitment to justice and refusal to conform to traditional political norms.

    Butler, who made history herself as the first Black lesbian to serve in the U.S. Senate, has made the bill a top priority. With growing bipartisan support and co-sponsors from across the political spectrum, the legislation represents a unifying effort to honor Chisholm’s legacy.

    “Shirley Chisholm’s legacy continues to inspire generations,” Henry said. “As we approach the centennial of her birth, we must ensure her enduring impact is celebrated, remembered, and elevated for the nation and the world to see.”
     

  • Newswire :Rep. Jasmine Crockett teaches white people the definition of ‘oppression’ at anti-DEI bill meeting

    Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas

    By Zack Linly, NewsOne

     


    On Wednesday, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability held a meeting on the House floor to debate the GOP’s Dismantle DEI Act of 2024, which, of course, is essentially a “White People Want To Be Oppressed So Bad” bill aimed at ending any and all diversity, equity and inclusion practices throughout the federal government.

    As we previously reported, the bill was introduced by Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas), and an identical bill was introduced earlier this year by Vice President-elect and passionate Haitian hater JD Vance, both of whom have convinced themselves and the rest of MAGA America that “the DEI agenda is a destructive ideology that breeds hatred and racial division.”

    Well, there was one congresswoman who we could all count on to keep it real while ruffling delicate Caucasian feathers, and it was none other than Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), who gave GOP lawmakers a “vocabulary lesson,” because if they truly believe DEI “oppresses white men,” then they simply misunderstand the definition of oppression.

    “Let me tell you that the reason that my colleagues wanted to make sure you understood the same Black history that your side of the aisle wants to delete out of classrooms is because you can then misuse words like ‘oppression’ — there has been no oppression for the white man in this country,” Crockett began.

    “You tell me which white men were dragged out of their homes. You tell me which one of them got dragged all the way across an ocean and told that ‘you are going to go and work. We are going to steal your wives, we are going to rape your wives’ — that didn’t happen [to white people]. That is oppression,” she continued. “We didn’t ask to be here. We [are] not the same migrants that y’all constantly come up against. We didn’t run away from home, we were stolen.”

    If you listen closely, you can hear the faint sounds of white conservatives rolling their eyes into the back of their heads because whenever they have to hear references to Black history that they didn’t have a chance to run through their whitewashing fragility filter first, their one and only instinct is to get their Confederate-clad drawers all in a bunch. Crockett likely knew that Republicans only want to hear about slavery when it’s time for them to remind America that Democrats were largely responsible for it — as if they’re not the ones currently the Confederacy, its leaders, its monuments and its flag as a legacy that should be celebrated.

    But Crockett was far from done.
    “So yeah, we are going to sit here and be offended when you want to sit here and act like — and don’t let it escape you that it is white men on this side of the aisle telling us, people of color on this side of the aisle that y’all are the ones being oppressed — that y’all are the ones being harmed,” she said. “That’s not the definition of oppression. You tell me the prolonged, cruel or unjust treatment that you’ve had, and we can have a conversation.”

    “The final thing that I will say: diversity works, and until you can show me data that says otherwise, I think that we need to go back to being a country that listens to experts and gets out of our feelings and recognizes again that racism is real in this country. And until we stop pretending that it’s not, we will not solve the problems that we are consistently facing. And that will bring real unity we seek when we’re looking for a more perfect union.”

    Now, we all know that when it comes to the MAGA world, everything Crockett said, no matter how truthful, fell on deaf ears. These are, after all, the same people who went to war against critical race theory without ever being able to demonstrate that they had a clue what CRT is. They also went to war against “wokeness,” a term they have all struggled to define. Conservatives don’t really want to get into the nitty-gritty of DEI and why the practice ever became necessary, because they can’t rely on hollow, self-serving platitudes during an in-depth discussion on diversity, equity and inclusion. They would have to show substantial evidence — not anecdotal nonsense and absurd white grievance pontificating — that DEI actively hurts white people, and, as Crockett indicated, that data simply doesn’t exist while statistical evidence of systemic racism exists in abundance.

    As I’ve written plenty of times in the past, white men only dominate every major industry and entity in America, including the federal government, because they are the only demographic that has not been excluded from full access to the “American dream” for the overwhelming majority of American history. That’s why DEI exists, and it’s also why the only discussion white-and-fragile America wants to have about diversity is a discussion about dismantling it.

    White supremacy is America’s default, and the current GOP, especially under Donald Trump’s chokehold, is dedicated to making that aspect of America great again

  • Newswire : Columbus Black leaders organize counter protest after neo-Nazi march in their city

    Columbus, Ohio’s 100 Black Men and others march to protest Nazi march and  Nazi marchers with flags

    By Char Adams, NBC News

    A group of Black leaders and locals marched through Columbus, Ohio, in a unity rally Sunday, one day after neo-Nazis walked through the same streets carrying Nazi flags and chanting racial slurs and white nationalist slogans.

    The Rev. Derrick Holmes, senior pastor at Columbus’ Union Grove Baptist Church, said he received frantic calls from members of his congregation as people walked along North High Street dressed in all black with red masks, carrying black flags with swastikas on them. They yelled, “Bow down, [N-word]!” and other racist chants as they made their way through the state capital’s Short North Arts District.

    “Two members were actually in the Short North area while that was happening and their prevailing feeling was fear,” Holmes said. “There was a feeling of sadness. They’re older … so it really harkened them back to a time they thought that the country had graduated from.”

    President Joe Biden condemned the march, and White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said Nazism is “hostile to everything the United States stands for.” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther and other city leaders condemned the neo-Nazis in statements and on social media. 
    But Black locals like Holmes wanted to do more and send a message of solidarity, they said. The 100 Black Men of Central Ohio, a service organization that mentors young Black men, along with attorney Sean Walton Jr., Holmes and other locals, joined for the counter-rally Sunday afternoon. 

    Dozens of men walked, many side by side, down North High Street, many dressed in all black. They were largely silent, sharing handshakes and smiles among one another. Brian Winston, president of 100 Black Men of Central Ohio, and Walton led the group, and they all posed together for photos with raised fists at the end of the march.

    “It was basically just bringing Black men together, to be able to allow our Black women, children and anyone else who were fearful or scared of what they saw … just to be able to redirect them with unity and love,” Winston said, noting that he called on Walton to help organize the event. 

    Walton said he was in Houston over the weekend and rushed home to check on his wife and children when he learned of the neo-Nazi march. He said the atmosphere among Black Columbus residents was one of fear and anxiety, with many wondering if they were safe in the city. But Sunday’s march helped ease some of the despair, he said.

    “I think there was a lot of focus on the fear,” Walton said. “What we did Sunday changed the tone of the entire weekend. If anything, this has made us stronger. I think it was a test, in a sense, when it comes to whether we can come together in the face of threats to our civil rights, our human rights and our way of life.

    In a statement posted Monday on social media, Columbus police said officers responded to calls about the neo-Nazi demonstration, but the “available evidence did not support the filing of criminal charges.” They said evidence showed pepper spray being deployed, but “probable cause has not been established to make any arrests.” The incident is still under investigation, they said.

    The Columbus Division of Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Chief Elaine R. Bryant said in the statement that law enforcement was bound to protect constitutionally protected actions, “no matter how hateful.” She added: “No one in our community should experience intimidation or harassment. We will continue to strive to make Columbus a city where all residents feel welcome and safe.”

    Holmes, Winston and Walton said the outcome of the presidential election and Donald Trump’s rhetoric have encouraged neo-Nazi behavior. Earlier this month
     outside a community production of “The Diary of Anne Frank” in Michigan, to the shock of performers and theatergoers. 

    Far-right groups have made headlines in Ohio in recent months. A white nationalist activist in Springfield took credit for the false story that Haitian immigrants in the city were stealing and eating pets, which Trump repeated during the presidential debate and campaign rallies. Police said there was no evidence for the claim.

    Right-wing extremism has increased dramatically since 2016, according to research that has linked Trump’s rhetoric about racial and ethnic minorities to vigilantism, hate crimes, and more. After the election, white nationalists, Proud Boys, Christian supremacists, and right-wing conspiracy theorists praised Trump’s win and said they saw it as a victory for their far-right visions of America, according to the Washington Post. In 2017, Trump said there were “very fine people on both sides” after a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, which led to the death of a counter protester. 

    Trump has dismissed accusations that he has encouraged extremism or that his supporters include Nazi and fascists. “President Trump is backed by Latinos, Black voters, union workers, angel moms, law enforcement officers, border patrol agents, and Americans of all faiths,” his campaign press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said in a statement last month.

    Oren Segal, vice president of the Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism, told The New York Times that a St. Louis-based group called Hate Club took credit for the Columbus march.

    Jon Lewis, a research fellow at George Washington University’s Program on Extremism, said in an interview that these groups may have different names, but share white nationalist ideologies.

    “I think ‘emboldening’ is the perfect way to describe it,” Lewis said. “Neo-Nazis and white supremacists increasingly feel as though they can act with impunity, that they can mobilize to the streets of towns and cities across the country to incite hatred, to spread fear among primarily nonwhite communities.

    “At the end of the day, this is about fearmongering and hate-mongering. These groups are designed to make the average nonwhite American feel unsafe in their everyday live

     

  • Newswire : Medicaid faces uncertain future as Republicans target program under Trump Administration

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent


     Medicaid, a critical lifeline for millions of Americans, faces an uncertain future as Republicans prepare to take control of Washington. The program, along with the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), provides health and long-term care coverage to 80 million low-income children, pregnant women, adults, seniors, and people with disabilities, is under scrutiny with proposed funding cuts and new eligibility requirements.

    In Washington, D.C., Medicaid and CHIP collectively covered 260,218 residents as of June 2024, with total spending reaching $4.2 billion in fiscal year 2022. The federal government accounted for 78.2% of these costs. Since pandemic-era continuous enrollment provisions ended in March 2023, the District has disenrolled 67,619 individuals, even as total enrollment remains 7.7% higher than pre-pandemic levels. These numbers reflect growing pressures on state budgets and federal support.

    Nationally, Medicaid’s expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) added 23 million people to its rolls, but that growth has made it a target for Republican lawmakers. With President-elect Donald Trump returning to office, proposals to cut Medicaid funding and impose work requirements have resurfaced. These measures, they argue, could help fund the extension of tax cuts that primarily benefit corporations and the wealthy.

    GOP Rep. Jodey Arrington of Texas, chair of the House Budget Committee, has described work requirements as “responsible and reasonable,” while Texas GOP Sen. John Cornyn has advocated for block grants to replace the current funding model. Critics caution that these changes could destabilize Medicaid, leaving states with significant funding gaps.

    “If you want to avoid a debt spiral, there have got to be reforms made to federal health programs,” Brian Blase, a former Trump adviser who supports reducing federal contributions to Medicaid expansion, told the New York Times. Proposals under discussion include lowering the federal match rate for expansion enrollees from 90% to as low as 40%, a move that could force some states to drop the program entirely.

    Medicaid’s role in American healthcare is substantial. It supports nearly half of all children in the U.S., covers significant portions of mental health and nursing home care, and plays a vital part in managing chronic conditions. In D.C., for instance, 95,577 Medicare beneficiaries and 71,021 enrollees in Medicare Part D also depend on Medicaid for supplemental support.

    Advocates for the ACA’s expansion and consumer protections warn that cutting Medicaid would disproportionately harm vulnerable populations. “Without Medicaid coverage, you’ve got folks choosing between how to put food on the table or pay for their kids’ health care,” said Daniel Tsai, head of Medicaid at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

    The appointment of Dr. Mehmet Oz to lead CMS signals the Trump administration’s intention to focus on cost reduction and fraud prevention. However, significant resistance is expected to sweeping cuts. In 2017, similar efforts met with public outcry, and polls show that over 70% of Americans support keeping Medicaid largely unchanged.

    State officials are revisiting measures such as work requirements, which faced legal and logistical challenges during Trump’s first term. Arkansas saw thousands lose coverage due to work requirements before the court struck down the program. Georgia remains the only state that has implemented these requirements successfully.

    The financial strain on states is already mounting, with federal Medicaid funding reduced by $60 billion for fiscal year 2024. Technical and administrative hurdles have left eligible Americans needing more coverage, exacerbating the problem.
    Crystal Harp, a mother from Tennessee, described to the New York Times how Medicaid enabled her to manage her daughter’s rare epilepsy. “It’s unbearable to think about the medical debt we would be in if we did not have Medicaid,” she said.

    As Republicans advance their policy agenda, Medicaid’s future is in peril. With millions depending on the program for basic healthcare needs, the debates in Congress will determine whether Medicaid continues as a cornerstone of American life or faces sweeping changes. “It could be the most consequential year in Medicaid’s life,” said Joan Alker of Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families.
     

  • Newswire: Trump finally nominates a Black person to serve in his Cabinet

    President-elect Trump with Scott Turner

    By NewsOne Staff

     

    President-elect Donald Trump on Friday night announced that he was nominating Scott Turner to be the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), marking the first selection of a Black person to serve in the upcoming presidential administration.

    Trump announced in an email: I am pleased to nominate Scott Turner, from the Great State of Texas, as the Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

    .Scott is an NFL Veteran, who, during my First Term, served as the First Executive Director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council (WHORC), helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities. Those efforts, working together with former HUD Secretary, Ben Carson, were maximized by Scott’s guidance in overseeing 16 Federal Agencies which implemented more than 200 policy actions furthering Economic Development. Under Scott’s leadership, Opportunity Zones received over $50 Billion Dollars in Private Investment!

    After graduating from University of Illinois, Scott was drafted by the Washington Redskins, and spent nine years in the NFL before he went on to win a State House Race in Texas, where he was born and raised.

    Scott is the Founder & CEO of his Family’s Foundation, Community Engagement & Opportunity Council (CEOC), working to revitalize communities across America through Sports, Mentorship, and Economic Opportunity. He is also on the Board of the American Cornerstone Institute, and an Associate Pastor at Prestonwood Baptist Church.
    Scott will work alongside me to Make America Great Again for EVERY American. Congratulations to Scott, his wonderful wife, Robin, and his son, Solomon!

    The announcement came after calls grew for Trump to pick a Black person following two weeks of nominations that excluded any person of Black heritage, including a handful of suspected white supremacists and other extremists.

    In fact, there was a question of whether there were any “Black jobs” in Trump’s second administration, considering the people he’s surrounded himself with, including people who refer to gainfully employed Black people as “DEI hires.”

    Namely, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and Florida Rep. Byron Donalds were both cozying up to Trump during the election cycle in a likely effort to jockey for a position in his administration. Thus far, they and several other notable Black Trump supporters have effectively been snubbed and left out of the equation of cabinet members and the most senior presidential advisers.

    Instead, Trump opted to go with Turner, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican from 2012 to 2019, when he was appointed to lead the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council.

    If confirmed, Turner would succeed Adrianne Todman, the Deputy HUD Secretary who was named acting HUD Secretary when then-HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge, the former longtime Congresswoman from Ohio, unexpectedly resigned in March.

    Not for nothing, HUD is the one federal agency that has had the most Black secretaries of them all. HUD was first formed in 1965, and the following year its first Secretary — a Black man — was confirmed. Since Robert Weaver’s tenure leading HUD, the agency has had five other Black secretaries, including Ben Carson, who served in Trump’s first administration.
    That number could grow to six if Turner is confirmed.

     

  • Newswire : Harriet Tubman is named brigadier general Harriet

    By BlackmansStreetToday

    In a ceremony at the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park in the abolitionist’s home of Dorchester, Md., Gov. Wes Moore made Tubman a one-star brigadier general in the state’s National Guard. 

    “Today, we celebrate a soldier and a person who earned the title of veteran,” Moore said during Monday’s ceremony.

    Tubman is best known for freeing and saving the lives of more than 300 enslaved people during 19 trips she took along the Underground Railroad between 1850 and 1860. 

    She led friends, family, and strangers, moving like a phantom through woods and rivers on the perilous route north. 

    Known as “Moses” for her efforts, Tubman continued fighting for freedom and justice even after escaping slavery herself.

    Tubman was born into slavery in 1822 and later escaped from Dorchester County, Maryland, to Philadelphia where she lived as a freewoman for the remainder of her life.

    Once free, Tubman dedicated her life to the abolition of slavery as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. 

    Tubman remained a philanthropist well into her later years, founding the Home for Aged & Indigent Negroes and supporting women’s rights.

  • Everybody’s Birthday Celebration, a Community Event

    L to R: Mrs. Geraldine Walton, Mrs. Nancy Cole, Mrs. Johnni Morning, Mrs. Mollie Rowe, Mrs. Darlene Robinson, and Mrs. Miriam Leftwich. Seated: Mr. John Zippert and Mrs. Carol Zippert.

    Submitted by Debbie Duncan


    As part of its fundraising efforts, the Greene County Associates of the Black Belt Community Foundation (BBCF) hosted a lively Everybody’s Birthday Celebration on Friday, November 15, 2024. Local members invited friends and family to join in this cheerful event, which honored all attendees in their birthday months. Each table was decorated with symbols of the particular month. The event featured grown folk music provided by Birdman and an abundance of delicious food for all attendees.

    A highlight of the evening was the special recognition of John and Carol Zippert for their tireless dedication to enriching the community. In a heartwarming tribute, they were crowned King and Queen of the celebration. Mrs. Darlene Robinson, the event’s host, along with BBCF associate members, presented the couple with gifts. In a nod to John’s nickname, “The Rooster,” he was humorously gifted a colorful metal rooster, symbolizing his steadfast commitment to the organization’s success amid a team of devoted women. Carol was honored with a “money flower” and heartfelt words of appreciation, symbolizing her invaluable contributions.

    In her acceptance remarks, Carol expressed her surprise and gratitude, thanking everyone for their support, acknowledging the love from her Alabama Family. True to his straightforward nature, John wished everyone a happy birthday. Though their children were unable to attend in person, they sent touching video messages, and a slideshow highlighted the Zipperts’ long-standing involvement in community initiatives.

    The celebration was filled with smiles, laughter, and a spirit of camaraderie, reflecting the joy and purpose of the occasion. Congratulations to John and Carol, who both celebrate their birthdays in November, and best wishes to all in attendance for many more joyful celebrations to come.

  • Newswire: Brazil hands over G20 Presidency to South Africa

     Leaders of the G20 Summit

    By Rédaction Africanews

    Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva closed the Group of 20 summit on Tuesday and handed over the presidency to South Africa.

    “After the South African presidency, all the G20 countries will have exercised leadership of the group at least once. It will be a good time to evaluate the role we have played so far and how we should act from now on,” said Lula da Silva.

    Leaders of the world’s 20 major economies gathered once again on Tuesday with a lighter schedule after they issued a joint declaration the night before.

    The document, which includes calls for a global pact to combat hunger, more aid for Gaza and the end of the war in Ukraine, was heavy on generalities and short on specifics.

    The joint statement was endorsed by group members but fell short of complete unanimity. It also called for a future global tax on billionaires and for reforms allowing the eventual expansion of the U.N. Security Council beyond its five permanent members.

    At the start of the three-day meeting which formally ends Wednesday, experts doubted Lula da Silva could convince the assembled leaders to hammer out any agreement at all in a gathering rife with uncertainty over the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, and heightened global tensions over wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.

    Argentina challenged some of the language in initial drafts and was the one country that didn’t endorse the complete document

     

  • Newswire: Malcolm X’s daughters sue the CIA, FBI, and the New York Police Department for their involvement in their father’s murder

    By BlackmansStreetToday

    Three daughters of Malcolm X have charged the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), FBI, the New York Police Department, and others in a $100 million lawsuit Friday of playing roles in the 1965 assassination of their father, claiming his murder was prompted by then-FBI director J. Edgar Hoover.

    In the lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court, the daughters — along with the Malcolm X estate — claimed that the agencies were aware of and were involved in the assassination plot and failed to stop the killing.

    Attorney Ben Crump stood with family members as he described the lawsuit, saying he hoped federal and city officials would read it “and learn all the dastardly deeds that were done by their predecessors and try to right these historic wrongs.”

    Ilyasah Shabazz, the third oldest daughter of Malcolm X, filed a lawsuit against the US Government and NYPD for the wrongful death of her father and the alleged cover-up of his murder. Malcolm X’s widow Betty Shabazz died on June 23, 1997. 

    Malcolm X’s other daughters are Qubilah Shabazz, Attallah Shabazz, Gamilah Lumumba Shabazz, Malaak Shabazz, and Malikah Shabazz.

    The law enforcement agencies did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Nicholas Biase, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice, which was also sued, declined comment.

    That same year, a letter written by a former NYPD officer alleged that the NYPD and FBI covered up details of the assassination.

    The officer, Raymond Wood, wrote that he was ordered to coerce members of Malcolm X’s security team to commit felonious federal crimes “so that they could be arrested by the FBI and kept away from managing Malcolm X’s door security on Feb. 21, 1965.”

    The lawsuit alleges that under the direction of J. Edgar Hoover, then-head of the FBI, the entities “went beyond mere allegedly illegal surveillance of Malcolm X, actively conspiring to reduce his protection and leaving him vulnerable to an attack they knew was imminent.”

    For decades, more questions than answers have arisen over who was to blame for the death of Malcolm X, who was 39 years old when he was slain on Feb. 21, 1965, at the Audubon Ballroom on West 165th Street in Manhattan as he spoke to several hundred people during a speech.

    Just before Malcolm X was assassinated, a man in the crowd yelled “Get your hands out of my pocket,” which served as a signal to the assassins to begin firing their guns. Three men were arrested and convicted for the murder of Malcolm X in 1966: Muhammad Abdul Aziz, Khalil Islam, and Mujahid Abdul Halim

    However, two of the men, Aziz and Islam, were exonerated in 2021 after a reinvestigation of the case. Muhammad Abdul Aziz spent 20 years in prison. Khalil Islam spent 22 years in prison and died in 2009.

    The third man, Abdul Halim, admitted to shooting Malcolm X but said the other two men were innocent. He was released from prison in 2010. 

    The city and state of New York paid Aziz and Islam a reported $36 million in compensation. 

    Malcolm X’s family charged that the CIA, FBI, and NYPD suppressed information about the assassination. 

    The family’s lawsuit claims that there was a “corrupt, unlawful, and unconstitutional” relationship between law enforcement and the killers. They also charged that police and other agencies withheld information concerning the murder.

    Malcolm X’s birth name was Malcolm Little. He grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. His father, Rev. Earl Little, was an organizer for Marcus Garvey’s United Negro Improvement Association. 

    Rev. Little was murdered by members of the Ku Klux Klan. Malcolm Little grew up in foster homes after his father’s murder and his mother was relegated to a psychiatric hospital.

    He committed various crimes, being sentenced to 8 to 10 years in prison in 1946 for larceny and burglary.

    In prison, he joined the Nation of Islam, adopting the name Malcolm X to symbolize his unknown African ancestral surname while discarding “the white slavemaster name of ‘Little,’ and after his parole in 1952, he quickly became one of the organization’s most influential leaders.

    He was the public face of the organization for 12 years, advocating Black empowerment and separation of Black and White Americans, criticizing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the mainstream civil rights organizations for their emphasis on non-violence and racial integration. Malcolm X and Martin Luther King met once. Malcolm X became disillusioned with the Nation of Islam and resigned from the organization.

    At the time of his death, Malcolm X was trying to develop a new organization  Pan-African Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU).