The Greene County Democrat

Category: Newswire

  • Newswire : U.S. Supreme Court gives immunity to Trump’s alleged criminal acts

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    On Monday, July 1, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that former President Donald Trump has immunity for some of his conduct during his presidency in his federal election interference case. However, other actions may not be protected. This decision adds another layer of complexity to the potential trial proceedings.

    In a closely watched case exploring the boundaries of presidential power, the justices voted 6-3 along ideological lines to reject Trump’s sweeping immunity claim. The ruling means that charges related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results will not be dismissed outright. However, the court indicated that actions closely tied to his presidential duties are off-limits to prosecutors.

    Trump has already been convicted on 34 felony charges related to a hush-money scheme to conceal an extramarital affair with an adult film star while Melania Trump was pregnant.

    Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, emphasized the need for lower courts to examine further which actions Trump can be prosecuted for. Specifically, the court determined that Trump’s interactions with Justice Department officials and Vice President Mike Pence in the lead-up to the January 6 Capitol attack by his supporters are considered core presidential powers and thus immune from prosecution.

    “The president is not above the law,” Roberts wrote. “But Congress may not criminalize the president’s conduct in carrying out the responsibilities of the executive branch under the Constitution.”
    The ruling leaves the future of the case uncertain, requiring further proceedings before U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan. Judge Chutkan will now review other alleged conduct by Trump, including his communications with state election officials, private parties, and members of the public, to determine if they qualify as official acts.

    The court’s liberal justices dissented, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor arguing that the ruling undermines a fundamental constitutional principle that no individual is above the law. “Trump will now be insulated from criminal prosecution. In every use of official power, the President is now a king, above the law,” said Sotomayor.

    Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, in a strongly worded dissent, accused the conservative majority of creating a dangerous precedent by establishing a new model of presidential accountability that grants undue immunity to the highest office.

    “With that understanding of how our system of accountability for criminal acts ordinarily functions, it becomes much easier to see that the majority’s ruling in this case breaks new and dangerous ground,” Jackson wrote.

    “Departing from the traditional model of individual accountability, the majority has concocted something entirely different: A Presidential accountability model that creates immunity — an exemption from criminal law — applicable only to the most powerful official in our Government,” she added.

    Justice Jackson further warned of the broader implications of the ruling, suggesting that even a hypothetical president who commits grave crimes, such as ordering assassinations of political rivals or instigating a coup, could potentially claim immunity under the new model.

    Trump, who faces about 50 other charges related to the 2020 election, has openly discussed executing his rivals.

  • Newswire : Nearly 200 Baseball Hall of Famers have played at Rickwood Field in Birmingham

    Willie Mays in Birmingham Barons uniform, 1948

    By Solomon Crenshaw Jr. | The Birmingham Times

    Generations of minor league baseball players have lived with the dream that they’ll get called up to the big leagues, playing in a Major League Baseball (MLB) game.
    Even announcers like Curt Bloom, the radio voice of the Birmingham Barons, had that dream, which was fulfilled two seasons ago when he was part of the broadcast crew for the Chicago White Sox, the parent club of the Barons.
    But Bloom admits that he couldn’t imagine that Birmingham’s Rickwood Field, the longtime home of the Birmingham Barons and the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues, would get the call to host an MLB game.
    “I never thought that Rickwood would get the call to the big leagues,” Bloom said. “It was our city jewel, our city gem. If you want to come see a game where Willie Mays played, you come to Birmingham. Now, come June 20, if you want to see where Willie Mays played, turn on your TV.”
    Mays is one of 182 Baseball Hall of Famers who have played at Rickwood. Those legends include Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, Satchel Paige, Oscar Charleston, Mule Suttles, Josh Gibson, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Roberto Clemente, Rollie Fingers and Reggie Jackson.
    Willie Mays, died last week at 93, two days before the game to honor him and other Negro League players who got their start at Rickwood. Mays was revered for his hitting, fielding and base runni9ng abilities. He finished his career with 3286 hits, 660 home runs, 12 golden gloves, and a batting average of .302. Mays’ career spanned from 1951 to 1972 with the Giants, where he won a World Series in 1954, was a 24-time All-Star, and was a two-time National League MVP. 
    And while he’s not in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Bo Jackson played at Rickwood as a prep star for McAdory High School, a collegiate slugger for the Auburn Tigers and as a pro with the Memphis Chicks. Jackson was the 1989 MLB All Star Game MVP with a leadoff homerun.
    Another football player, Auburn University’s and the New Orleans Saints’ Frank Warren, played a football game at Rickwood. His Phillips High School Red Raiders fell 7-3 to the West End Lions on Sept. 17, 1976.
    While those legends all got a chance at the big league America’s oldest baseball park is indeed getting its chance as it hosts the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants on June 20 in the MLB Tribute to the Negro Leagues.
    This is no preseason and it’s no exhibition. This is a real MLB game that has come to Birmingham. The game is part of a three-day baseball extravaganza where the real stars of the show are the ballpark that sits a block south of Third Avenue West and north of Lomb Avenue in the Fairview Neighborhood and the Negro League teams and players who applied their craft there.
    Where Hall of Famers Played
    Gerald Watkins is chairman of the Friends of Rickwood, the organization that has worked to maintain the baseball gem that is Rickwood.
    Rickwood Field opened August 18, 1910, to a wildly enthusiastic crowd that saw their beloved Birmingham Barons beat the Montgomery Climbers, and unknowingly made history. Rickwood was the newest ballpark in the land that day, and 114 years later, stands as the oldest baseball park in America.
    Industrialist A.H. “Rick” Woodward, for whom the ballpark was named, was not only the owner of the Barons. He never lost his passion for playing the game of his youth, inserting himself into the starting lineup on Rickwood’s opening day.
    Woodward threw the first pitch ever in his new ballpark. It was not a ceremonial pitch, but it was a ball.
    Since opening, Rickwood Field has been home to the Minor League Birmingham Barons, the Negro League Birmingham Black Barons and the Birmingham A’s, which was in the farm system of the Oakland A’s. When UAB Baseball began under coach Harry “The Hat” Walker, the Blazers played at Rickwood.
    “Rickwood Field was a true Field of Dreams,” Watkins said, “where someone like Willie Mays dreamed of playing in the big leagues.”
    The Birmingham Barons, a Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, played their final season at Rickwood in 1987 before heading to the Hoover Met. The Barons moved to their current home – Birmingham’s Regions Field – in 2013, when the team won a league-best seventh Southern League championship.
    “It’s a special place for baseball fans and history fans,” Watkins said. “Even folks who are on a Civil Rights trail will come here after they go to the (16th Street Baptist) Church and they go to the Civil Rights (Institute and) the Negro Southern League Museum.
    “We’re a tourist spot. A lot of folks don’t see that but we really are,” he said. “Over the years, we’ve had as many as 38 states represented and eight foreign countries. If you look at our guest book today, you won’t see anybody from local places. You’re gonna see people from out of town or out of the country.”
    These days, the message on Watkins’ cellphone refers callers to Major League Baseball in their pursuit of tickets to the Giants-Cardinals game. Alabama residents entered a lottery to have a chance at buying tickets to that game. That allotment of tickets sold out in 45 minutes.
    “The teams (Cardinals and Giants) have an amount and Major League Baseball has an amount,” Watkins said. “Those numbers are not known but they come out of the total somewhere, some way. In the overall ticket numbers, those come out before the (public) tickets go on sale.”
    Television Experience
    Capacity at Rickwood Field will be approximately 8,100, down from about 9,500 before the renovations.
    “We have lost some seating capacity due to the improvements that we made, allowing better access for handicapped individuals,” the Friends of Rickwood chairman said. “We will have to have areas for more press and there’ll be some VIP areas that we’ve never had to deal with before. But, as MLB looks at it, they’re thinking about a television game.”
    That television experience will be enhanced by a Jumbotron that will be temporally installed in right centerfield.
    While access to the Major League game is limited, the MLB (Minor League Baseball) game between the Biscuits and Barons and the Barnstorm Birmingham softball contest will have greater access.
    Prices for Barnstorm Birmingham tickets are $24 in a nod to Birmingham’s own, the great Willie Mays, whose jersey number was 24. As with the other games, MLB will make a select number of tickets for Barnstorm Birmingham available for free to local youth and community groups.
    Watkins said he’s learned from his conversations with Major League Baseball that it is interested in coming back for a second game.
    “There’s no guarantees, but we have been told that the main thing we have to do is keep the field up at a Major League level,” he said. “That means we can’t overplay on it. That means we’ve got to make sure it’s cut properly, it’s watered properly, all the chemicals are applied properly.”
    Simply put, Birmingham must keep its gem polished.

  • Newswire : Federal Judge halts Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness Plan: Administration vows to fight on

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    President Joe Biden’s ongoing efforts to alleviate the burden of student loan debt have hit another significant obstacle. U.S. District Judge John A. Ross, an Obama nominee, issued an order halting further loan forgiveness under the Biden administration’s income-driven repayment plan known as SAVE. This decision is a component of a more significant legal conflict that several Republican-led states started.
    Judge Ross stated that the administration is “preliminarily enjoined from any further loan forgiveness for borrowers under the Final Rule’s SAVE plan until such time as this Court can decide the case on the merits.” The ruling is a major setback for Biden, whose administration launched the SAVE plan after the Supreme Court quashed a more comprehensive debt relief initiative last year. That plan had aimed to eliminate up to $20,000 in federal student debt for approximately 43 million borrowers.
    The judge rejected the administration’s motion to dismiss the case, affirming that the states involved had standing and “are likely to succeed on the merits of their argument that the early loan forgiveness provisions… were promulgated in a manner exceeding the Secretary’s statutory authority.”
    The Biden administration, undeterred, quickly responded. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre vehemently disagreed with the ruling, asserting that the Department of Justice would continue to vigorously defend the SAVE Plan. “Since day one, the President and his Administration have fought to fix a broken student loan system and make sure borrowers aren’t saddled with unmanageable student loan debt,” she emphasized.
    Jean-Pierre pointed out the SAVE Plan’s immediate benefits: lower monthly payments for 8 million Americans and accelerated debt cancellation for hundreds of thousands of borrowers. She criticized Republican officials and their allies for obstructing these efforts, accusing them of fighting to prevent their constituents from accessing much-needed financial relief.
    Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, representing one of the states that filed the lawsuit, celebrated the ruling. “By attempting to saddle working Missourians with Ivy League debt, Joe Biden is undermining our constitutional structure,” Bailey declared. “Only Congress has the power of the purse, not the President. Today’s ruling was a huge win for the rule of law and for every American who Joe Biden was about to force to pay off someone else’s debt.”
    Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin echoed this sentiment: “With Independence Day fast approaching, another court has reminded President Biden that he is not a king. He can’t go around Congress and unilaterally cancel student loans. He should have learned that from Schoolhouse Rock!”
    According to the lawsuit, which Florida, Georgia, North Dakota, Ohio, and Oklahoma have joined, the SAVE Plan allegedly violates the Constitution’s guarantee of the separation of powers. Despite the ruling, Judge Ross noted that other beneficial aspects of the program, such as lowering monthly payments and limiting interest accrual, could continue, acknowledging that the states had not demonstrated harm from these provisions.
    Adding to the administration’s challenges, U.S. District Judge Daniel D. Crabtree issued a separate ruling blocking parts of the SAVE Plan set to take effect on July 1. Crabtree found that while the states had not shown irreparable harm from provisions already in effect, they had demonstrated potential harm from the forthcoming provisions.
    The Biden administration has made significant strides in debt relief, forgiving substantial amounts under the SAVE Plan. Last month, officials announced $613 million in debt cancellation for over 54,000 borrowers, part of a broader effort that has resulted in $167 billion in loan forgiveness for 4.75 million people through various administrative actions.
    Despite legal setbacks, the Biden administration remains resolute. “Today’s rulings won’t stop our Administration from using every tool available to give students and borrowers the relief they need,” Jean-Pierre affirmed. “President Biden and his administration will continue to build off of the progress made in delivering debt cancellation to over 4.75 million Americans through various actions, and we will never stop fighting for students and borrowers, no matter how many roadblocks Republican elected officials and special interests put in our way.”

  • Newswire : Biden and Trump to square off in first debate

    President Joe Biden and Donald Trump

    Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from BlackMansStreetToday

    The first presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle is set for Thursday, June 27, when President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will take the stage without an audience cheering for the candidates. Black voters will play a key role in determining the outcome of the 2024 presidential election.

Both Biden and Trump will go head-to-head at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. CNN in Atlanta will broadcast the debate. The debate will be moderated by CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.

 Biden and Trump are virtually tied at 41.0 percent for Biden, compared with Trump at 40.6 percent going into the debate. The candidates will hold the debate prior the Democratic and Republican conventions, although the selection of both candidates is assured.
    
The Democratic Party will hold its nomination event in Chicago beginning Monday, August 24 through August 22.

The Republican Party will hold its nomination event in Milwaukee. It is scheduled from July 15 through Thursday, July 18.

Voters will choose between two White septuagenarians with dramatically different prescriptions for health care, climate change, foreign policy, and leadership in an era of extreme partisanship.

At 81, Biden becomes the oldest major party presidential nominee in modern history.
In Trump, Biden is up against an adversary the likes of which he has never faced in his decades-long political career. Trump, who is 78 years old, opens with a cash advantage and a well-established willingness to win at any cost.

Biden reportedly is hunkered down with advisors going over potential questions at Camp David, and Trump continues on the campaign trail.

And while Black voters remain overwhelmingly Democratic and support Joe Biden over Donald Trump by a wide margin, Biden’s advantage among this group is not as wide as it was four years ago, according to Pew Research Center.

  • Newswire: Vice President of the Republic of Malawi and none others are killed in an airplane crash

    By BlackmansStreetToday

     

    Dr. Saulos Chilima, the vice president of the Republic of Malawi, and nine others were killed in an airplane crash. 

    Chilima, 51, and the other passengers were on their way to the funeral of the country’s former attorney general when their plane veered off the radar. 

    Air traffic officials said the plane had been unable to land at Mzuzu airport, about 200 miles north of the capital, due to poor visibility. The pilot had been advised to return to Lilongwe when the flight disappeared.

    Soldiers had been searching Chikangawa Forest overnight and into the morning in an effort to find the plane.

    In a news briefing on Tuesday, President Lazarus Chakwera said the Malawi Defence Force commander informed him that the search and rescue operation had been completed and the plane was found.

    President Chakwera said he was “deeply saddened and sorry” to inform Malawians of the terrible tragedy.

    Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa.

  • Newswire: Oklahoma Supreme Court dismisses Tulsa Race Massacre Survivors’ lawsuit

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

     

    The Oklahoma Supreme Court dismissed a case filed by the last two remaining survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre on Wednesday, June 12, casting doubt on racial equality campaigners’ aspirations for justice and reparations for one of the most heinous acts of racial violence in American history.
    The nine-member court upheld a previous ruling by a district court judge in Tulsa, stating that the plaintiffs’ grievances, although legitimate, did not fall within the purview of the state’s public nuisance statute. “We further hold that the plaintiff’s allegations do not sufficiently support a claim for unjust enrichment,” the court declared in its decision.
    Attempts by the Black Press to contact both parties were unsuccessful.
    Lessie Benningfield Randle and Viola Fletcher, two survivors who are both over 100 years old, filed the lawsuit in 2020 to compel the City of Tulsa and other parties to make amends for the destruction a white mob caused to the thriving Black neighborhood known as Greenwood. On May 31 and June 1, 1921, the mob, which included individuals hastily deputized by local authorities, looted and set fire to the district, famously dubbed “Black Wall Street.”
    The massacre resulted in the deaths of up to 300 Black Tulsans and forced thousands of survivors into internment camps managed by the National Guard. Today, only remnants like burned bricks and part of a church basement remain of the once-thriving 30-block area.
    Benningfield Randle and Fletcher, along with the now-deceased Hughes Van Ellis, sued to secure what their attorney termed “justice in their lifetime.” Van Ellis, affectionately known as “Uncle Redd,” was a WWII veteran and a symbol of resilience who died last year at age 102. The lawsuit was grounded in Oklahoma’s public nuisance law, arguing that the massacre’s legacy of racial division and economic disparity persists in Tulsa to this day.
    The plaintiffs contended that the city’s history of racial tensions and the economic fallout from the massacre still reverberate, citing the lack of compensation for victims by the city and insurance companies. The lawsuit sought an exhaustive accounting of the property and wealth lost or stolen during the massacre, the construction of a hospital in north Tulsa, and the establishment of a victims’ compensation fund, among other reparations.
    In reflecting on Van Ellis’s legacy, advocates emphasized his lifelong commitment to seeking justice for massacre survivors. “He bravely served America, even as he spent a lifetime awaiting atonement related to the Tulsa Race Massacre,” Oklahoma Democratic Rep. Regina Goodwin stated after Van Ellis’s death. “Mr. Ellis urged us to keep fighting for justice. In the midst of his death, there remains an undying sense of right and wrong.”
    Rocky Dawuni, a three-time Grammy-nominated artist, also paid tribute to Van Ellis, remarking on his indomitable and uplifting spirit. “Uncle Redd had a larger-than-life presence. His life and story have become part of our collective struggle as a people,” Dawuni said. “His experiences give us a unique glimpse into what Black people had to endure and still have to endure to this day.”
    Despite the legal setback, advocates vow to continue their fight for justice, drawing inspiration from the survivors’ unwavering resolve.
    “If this truly is a nation of laws and a state based on the law, then my clients, the last-known survivors of the massacre, should get the opportunity that no one else who suffered the devastation had the privilege of,” Damario Solomon-Simmons, a National Civil Rights Attorney and founder of Justice for Greenwood, recently asserted.
     

  • Newswire: Rev. James Lawson Jr., original Freedom Rider and Apostle of Nonviolence, dies at 95

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    Rev. James Lawson Jr., a foundational figure in the Civil Rights Movement and an original Freedom Rider, passed away at 95, his family announced on Monday. Lawson, who dedicated his life to advocating nonviolent protest, died on Sunday in Los Angeles following a short illness.

    Lawson’s commitment to nonviolence and civil rights profoundly impacted the movement. He was a close adviser to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who hailed him as “the leading theorist and strategist of nonviolence in the world.” During a three-year stay in India, Lawson’s studies of Mohandas K. Gandhi’s independence movement significantly influenced his understanding of nonviolent resistance.

    Born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, on September 22, 1928, and raised in Massillon, Ohio, Lawson’s early experiences with racism and the contrasting influences of his parents—his father, an itinerant African Methodist Episcopal minister, and his Jamaican-born mother, who believed in resolving conflicts peacefully—shaped his lifelong commitment to nonviolent resistance. At age 10, an incident where he slapped a white child who had insulted him was a pivotal moment. His mother’s admonishment that love and intelligence were stronger than hate left an indelible mark on him.

    Lawson’s activism began in earnest as an Ohio Oberlin College student. After spending 13 months in prison for refusing to register for the draft during the Korean War, he met King in 1957. The two young pastors quickly bonded over their admiration for Gandhi’s ideas. King urged Lawson to use these ideas in the American South due to his firsthand experiences.

    In 1960, Lawson orchestrated sit-ins that led to the desegregation of public accommodations in Nashville, one of the first major Southern cities to do so. His workshops trained activists, including future leaders like John Lewis, Marion S. Barry, Diane Nash, James Bevel, and Bernard Lafayette, to withstand violent reactions from white authorities.

    Lawson’s activism placed him at the heart of several key events in the Civil Rights Movement. In 1961, he was one of the first Freedom Riders arrested in Jackson, Mississippi, for attempting to integrate interstate bus and train travel. During the 1965 “Bloody Sunday” march in Selma, Alabama, he was among the protesters beaten by authorities at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. In 1968, while pastoring in Memphis, he persuaded King to support the city’s striking sanitation workers. King’s assassination followed shortly after, and years later, Lawson visited James Earl Ray, King’s convicted assassin, in prison. Lawson ministered to Ray and publicly supported theories suggesting Ray had been framed.

    Throughout his career, Lawson remained steadfast in his commitment to nonviolence, even as segments of the Black community shifted towards militancy and separatism. His activism extended beyond civil rights to include opposition to the Vietnam War, support for labor unions, gay rights, expanded abortion access, and liberalized immigration policies.
    In 1974, Lawson became the senior pastor of Holman United Methodist Church in Los Angeles, where he served until his retirement in 1999. His teachings continued through his role as a visiting professor at Vanderbilt University, which had expelled him 46 years earlier for his activism. Vanderbilt invited him back in 2006 and requested his papers for their archives.

    Rev. Lawson is survived by his wife, Dorothy Wood, his son, John C. Lawson II, a brother, and three grandchildren. His son, C. Seth Lawson, died in 2019. His life and work are a testament to the nonviolent resistance’s power and the ongoing struggle for social justice.

  • Newswire: Maryland Gov.Wes Moore set to pardon 175,000 people convicted of marijuana charges

    By Bilal G. Morris, NewsOne

    According to AP, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore plans to issue 175,000 pardons for marijuana convictions. Moore is scheduled to sign the executive order on Monday that will free low-level marijuana possession offenders for more than 100,000 people.
    “I’m ecstatic that we have a real opportunity with what I’m signing to right a lot of historical wrongs,” Moore told AP. “If you want to be able to create inclusive economic growth, it means you have to start removing these barriers that continue to disproportionately sit on communities of color.”
    Recreational cannabis has been legal in Maryland since 2023. Neighboring states such as Delaware, Virginia and New Jersey have all legalized recreational marijuana. There are 24 other states as well as the District of Columbia that have legalized recreational marijuana.
    Moore says criminal records have commonly been used to deny housing, employment and education and hopes the pardons will help change that.
    “If you want to be able to create inclusive economic growth, it means you have to start removing these barriers that continue to disproportionately sit on communities of color,” Moore told the Washington Post  “certainly long overdue as a nation” and “a racial equity issue.”
    Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, also told the Post that the pardons were “certainly long overdue as a nation” and “a racial equity issue.”
    “While the pardons will extend to anyone and everyone with a misdemeanor conviction for the possession of marijuana or paraphernalia, this unequivocally, without any doubt or reservation, disproportionately impacts — in a good way — Black and Brown Marylanders,” Brown said.
    The pardons will happen around the same time the nation celebrates the Juneteenth holiday, commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.
    Marijuana convictions coupled with the American prison system have perpetuated modern-day slavery in the form of a jail cell. According to studies, Black Americans are arrested for violating marijuana possession laws at nearly four times the rates of white Americans, yet both consume marijuana at roughly the same rates.
    In 2022, President Biden issued a mass pardon of federal marijuana convictions, pardoning more than 6,500 people. He also urged Governors to follow in his footsteps. As more states legalize marijuana, hopefully, more pardons will follow.

  • Newswire: Biden-Harris Administration celebrates Juneteenth with concert and new initiatives to honor Black History

    By Stacy M. Brown
    NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    The White House marked Juneteenth with a vibrant celebration on the South Lawn on Monday, June 10. The celebration featured performances by celebrated African American artists, including Gladys Knight, Raheem DeVaughn, Patti LaBelle, Charlie Wilson, and Doug E. Fresh. Over 2,000 guests, including President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, attended the event, which officials said emphasized the Biden-Harris Administration’s dedication to preserving and honoring African American history.
    Since taking office, President Biden and Vice President Harris have prioritized advancing racial justice and recognizing Black history as an essential component of American history. The White House said the dedication is reflected in significant actions such as signing the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law, establishing the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, and posthumously awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to civil rights icon Medgar Evers.
    Amid efforts to combat attempts to rewrite history and undermine racial progress, the administration hosted a live-streamed event featuring officials, artists, civil rights leaders, and scholars to discuss federal initiatives to protect African American history. The gathering highlighted ways the public can commemorate Juneteenth and emphasized the broader historical significance of African American experiences.
    In conjunction with the celebration, the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities organized the second annual Juneteenth National Independence Day event in partnership with the White House. The large-scale concert also honored Black Music Month, showcasing African American musical legends and underscoring the cultural importance of this federal holiday.
    Harris declared June 19, 2024, one of three National Days of Action on Voting, focused on enhancing voter engagement and safeguarding voting rights. The White House noted that National Days of Action will also occur on August 6 and September 17, 2024.
    Aligned with Biden’s Executive Order on Promoting the Arts, the Humanities, and Museum and Library Services, several federal agencies announced new initiatives to protect African American history and culture. The National Archives Museum will display the original Emancipation Proclamation and General Order No. 3 from June 18 to June 20, 2024, while the National Park Service will offer free entrance to park sites on Juneteenth.
    The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has launched a digital repository to deepen public understanding of African American history. Additionally, NEH will establish a nationwide program celebrating Juneteenth, leading to a grand 160th-anniversary celebration in 2025.
    In response to the rising incidence of book bans targeting historically marginalized groups, the U.S. Department of Education announced it had appointed a coordinator to address the impact of such restrictions on civil rights. The White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity will host events emphasizing the importance of culturally relevant education.
    The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) plans to announce new recipients of the NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship, celebrating the contributions of African American musicians to jazz. The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) will highlight projects that preserve African American history as part of its “250: All Stories. All People. All Places initiative.”
    The administration said it has significantly invested in preserving African American history through infrastructure and preservation projects. The Department of Interior’s National Park Service (NPS) and the Historic Preservation Fund have allocated substantial funds for these efforts, including grants to support underrepresented communities and historic site nominations.
    Federal agencies, including the Department of Transportation, are working to document and uplift the stories of communities affected by past federal policies. The NEH prioritizes projects that preserve historical collections on slavery and its legacies. At the same time, the President’s Committee on Arts and the Humanities will launch initiatives to support underserved creative and cultural communities.
    “Through these actions and policies, the Biden-Harris Administration reaffirms its commitment to advancing racial equity and ensuring that America’s promise is realized for all citizens,” the White House said in a Fact Sheet.

  • Newswire: ‘Glimmer of Hope’ as UN Security Council approves Gaza Cease-Fire Resolution

    By Brett Williams, Common Dreams

    The ambassadors of the United Kingdom, United States, and Algeria raise their hands to vote in favor of a United Nations Security Council resolution for a cease-fire in Gaza in New York on June 10, 2024.


    In a move that boosts the three-phase plan announced by President Joe Biden late last month, the United Nations Security Council on Monday voted 14-0—with permanent member Russia abstaining—in favor of a U.S.-sponsored resolution for a cease-fire in Gaza.
    Russia chose not to exercise its power to veto the resolution, which urges Israel and Hamas to “fully implement its terms without delay and without condition.”
    Responding to the vote, Nihad Awad, national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a statement that “although the Biden administration should have allowed the U.N. Security Council to pass a permanent cease-fire resolution many months and many slaughtered Palestinians ago, we welcome today’s development as a positive and long overdue step toward ending the genocide.”
    “The Biden administration must now use American leverage to force [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu to agree to a permanent cease-fire so that the massacres of Palestinian civilians can end, all hostages and political prisoners can safely go free, international tribunals can begin holding those responsible for war crimes accountable, and the world can finally begin pursuing a credible end to the illegal occupation of Palestine that has fomented decades of injustice and oppression.”
    As U.N. News explained:
    Phase one includes an “immediate, full, and complete cease-fire with the release of hostages including women, the elderly and the wounded, the return of the remains of some hostages who have been killed, and the exchange of Palestinian prisoners.” 

It calls for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from “populated areas” of Gaza, the return of Palestinians to their homes and neighborhoods throughout the enclave, including in the north, as well as the safe and effective distribution of humanitarian assistance at scale. 

Phase two would see a permanent end to hostilities “in exchange for the release of all other hostages still in Gaza, and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.”

In phase three, “a major multi-year reconstruction plan for Gaza” would begin and the remains of any deceased hostages still in the strip would be returned to Israel.” 

The council also underlined the proposal’s provision that if negotiations take longer than six weeks for phase one, the cease-fire will continue as long as negotiations continue.
    “The only way to end this cycle of violence and build a durable peace is through a political settlement,” U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield—who vetoed several previous Security Council cease-fire resolutions— said following Monday’s vote.
    The Biden administration has provided Israel with billions of dollars in military aid, arms and ammunition sales, and diplomatic cover.
    In a statement, Hamas—which led the October 7 attack on Israel that left more than 1,100 people dead and over 240 others taken hostage—welcomed the resolution’s passage and affirmed its willingness “to enter into indirect negotiations on the implementation of these principles.”
    However, Reut Shapir Ben-Naftaly, Israel’s representative at the U.N., said her country’s objectives in the war have not changed and vowed to keep fighting “until all of the hostages are returned and Hamas’ military capabilities are dismantled.”
    “Israel will not engage in meaningless and endless negotiations which can be exploited by Hamas as a means to stall for time,” she added.
    According to Palestinian and international agencies, at least 37,124 Palestinians—mostly women and children—have been killed by Israeli forces during the 248-day Gaza onslaught, which is the subject of an International Criminal Court genocide case brought by South Africa and supported by more than 30 nations and regional blocs. Nearly 85,000 Palestinians have also been injured. At least 11,000 other Palestinians are missing and believed buried beneath the rubble of hundreds of thousands of bombed-out buildings.
    International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan is seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders for alleged crimes including extermination.
    Algerian Ambassador Amar Bendjama  said  after Monday’s vote that “as a free and dignified people, the Palestinians will never accept living under occupation. They will never abdicate their fight for liberation.”
    “This text is not perfect, but it offers a glimmer of hope to the Palestinians as the alternative is continued killing and suffering,” he added. “We voted for this text to give diplomacy a chance. It is time to halt the killing.”
    The Security Council resolution’s passage follows last month’s vote by the U.N. General Assembly to recognize Palestinian statehood—a move supported by 143 members of the World Body but vehemently opposed by Israel and the U.S. Only nine nations voted against recognizing Palestine as an independent state.