The Greene County Democrat

Category: Newswire

  • Newswire : The interconnected struggles: Black American and Palestinian solidarity

    Pro Palestinian demonstration last weekend in Washington, D. C.


    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    Writer, speaker, and author Leron L. Barton recently encapsulated the essence of solidarity between Black Americans and Palestinians, comments that offer one potential reason America continues to see pro-Palestine demonstrations at the White House and in locations throughout the nation. Importantly, Barton’s op-ed in Newsweek is a reminder of why President Joe Biden will continue to struggle to obtain the type of support from the Black community that helped propel him into office in 2020.
    “Black American and Palestinian solidarity is not only rooted in struggle but hope, fighting, resilience, laughter, endless battling, sadness, and doing it all over again the next day,” Barton observed. “This is what I see for my Palestinian brothers and sisters trying to hold on to a land that does everything it can to make them let go.”
    Barton’s words resonate with many, capturing the indomitable spirit that defines both communities’ quests for justice and self-determination. His sentiment extends to his sorrow for the lives lost on all sides of the conflict. He stressed the importance of seeing the situation not just as “The Conflict,” but as “The Occupation,” recognizing the power dynamics involved.
    The author underscored his belief that the struggles faced by Black Americans and Palestinians are intertwined. “This is why I cry for the deaths of Palestinian and Israeli people,” he declared. “This is why I do not refer to it as ‘The Conflict,’ but as ‘The Occupation.’ This why I have hope for and will continue to support Palestine as they fight to be recognized as people, human beings that deserve freedom and equal treatment as their Israeli neighbors, just as I, a Black man, will continue to fight for the freedom of my people in America. Our struggle is intertwined. When they win, we win.”
    The 2018 book “Black Power and Palestine: Transnational Countries of Color” by Michael Fishbach echoes the sentiments put forth by Barton. Fishbach delves into how conflicts in the Middle East significantly influenced the American Civil Rights Movement. He asserts, “Much about how American peoples of color create political strategies, a sense of self, and a place within U.S. and global communities.”
    According to Fishbach, the events of the 1960s and 1970s continue to have a profound, structural impact on the United States. This historical perspective underscores the enduring influence of these interconnected struggles.
    Recent controversies have illuminated the complexities of solidarity movements. Black Lives Matter Chicago received criticism for posting a graphic that appeared to celebrate Hamas’ violent attack on civilians at a concert. The graphic has since been deleted. The image featured a paraglider with the Palestinian flag and the words “I stand with Palestine.” The incident prompted a nuanced conversation about the expression of support for a cause. The group later clarified, stating, “We stand with Palestine and the people who will do what they must to live free.”
    Historians said the connection between the Black American and Palestinian struggles has been evident for many years. The proximity of protests over the Gaza war and the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, led to a cross-cultural exchange of advice on dealing with tear gas that included Bassem Masri, a prominent activist in Ferguson and a Palestinian American. In 2015, Black activists and Palestinian advocates displayed their support for each other by visiting occupied territories and making public statements of solidarity.
    In 2020, George Floyd’s murder by the police led to protests across the U.S., with comparisons made to the situation faced by Palestinians. Sam Klug, an expert in African American History, highlighted the resonance of the phrase “I can’t breathe” in both contexts. “People were painting George Floyd murals in Palestine,” Klug explained. “Palestinians were being attacked by Israeli security services, and saying, ‘I can’t breathe.’ Over time, African Americans have looked at Palestine, and Palestinians have also looked at what is going on in the United States.”
    Against this backdrop, Democrats have grown increasingly attuned to the challenges facing Biden’s reelection campaign. Concerns, and even alarms, have sounded regarding Biden’s support among Black voters, a pivotal demographic in his 2020 victory. Cliff Albright, co-founder of the Black Voters Matter Fund, said that supporting Biden for practical reasons might not mean being equally enthusiastic. Disillusionment over policies and stances, including Biden’s stance on Israel, may influence voter engagement in the upcoming 2024 election, Albright told the Washington Post
    .“People fundamentally misunderstood what Black voters said in 2020,” Albright said. “The depth of support was never there. The enthusiasm was never there for Biden. We were very pragmatic. We knew he was the best chance to beat Trump.”

     

  • Newswire : Denver Court hears arguments on Trump’s eligibility for 2024 ballot

    Members of mob, incited by Trump, surround U. S. Capitol on January 6, 2021

     

    Stacey Brown, NNPA Newswire National Correspondent

    Denver district court is considering a lawsuit to prevent former President Donald Trump from appearing on Colorado’s 2024 ballot due to his alleged involvement in the U.S. Capitol attack on January 6, 2021. Colorado Judge Sarah Wallace recently rejected Trump’s attempt to dismiss the case, which was filed last month on behalf of six voters in the Denver district.
    The lawsuit is based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. It argues that people who have participated in insurrection or rebellion after promising loyalty to the Constitution should not be able to hold office. Trump, who is currently facing 91 criminal charges after four federal and state indictments, could potentially receive a prison sentence of over 800 years. The lawsuit accuses him of breaking his promise as president by attempting to overturn the 2020 election, which ultimately led to the January 6 insurrection.
    Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), along with several law firms, filed a lawsuit on behalf of six voters from the Republican Party and independent voters. Eric Olson, from CREW, began his testimony by explaining what Trump did before January 6. This included a tweet he sent in December 2020 asking his supporters to come together in Washington, D.C. Olson highlighted Trump’s frequent mentions of January 6. He stated that Trump motivated his followers by making false allegations of election fraud.
Olson showed a video clip of Trump’s speech on the Ellipse on January 6. In the speech, the former president said, “Let’s go to the Capitol.” He argued that Trump was acutely aware of the influence of his words and that his speech before the Capitol riot exacerbated the situation.
    Olson also pointed to a post-speech tweet where Trump criticized then-Vice President Mike Pence, asserting that Pence lacked “the courage to do what he should have done.” That followed a clip of Trump supporters outside the Capitol chanting, “Hang Mike Pence.”
    “We are here because Trump claims, after all that, that he has the right to be president again,” Olson asserted. “But our Constitution, the shared charter of our nation, says he cannot do so.”
    During his opening arguments, Scott Gessler, Trump’s legal representative, decried the lawsuit as “antidemocratic” and said Monday’s hearing was “politicized.” Gessler argued that Trump used the word “peace” several times during his speech at the Ellipse on January 6, as well as in his tweets on the same day. He claimed that the lawsuit wants the court to approve the January 6 Committee’s report, which he described as a biased and harmful report.
    Officer Daniel Hodges, from the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department, testified about his terrifying ordeal during the Capitol attack. Hodges described observing Capitol rioters donning tactical gear, an occurrence that left him “very uncomfortable.” He suffered many injuries when rioters attacked the Capitol, including bruises, a head injury, cuts on his face, and bleeding from his mouth. Hodges also attested that a rioter attempted to gouge his eye. He remembered protesters yelling that the election was stolen and encouraging others to fight for Trump. They also criticized law enforcement for being on the wrong side of history.
During his remote testimony, Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Democrat from California, stated that Trump had clearly indicated before the 2020 election that he would not acknowledge the results if he was not the winner. Swalwell claimed that Trump escalated his rhetoric after legal challenges to the election results were dismissed. He told the lawmakers’ increasing worry when Trump announced, “We’re going to the Capitol” in his Ellipse speech. He then described the distressing experiences of himself and his colleagues as rioters entered the Capitol.

    In her ruling last week, Wallace dismissed Trump’s argument that Congress, not the courts, can handle questions about ballot eligibility. She disagreed with Trump’s statement that state election officials cannot enforce Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
    Wallace argued that the clause allows Congress to remove a constitutional disability if a person is disqualified. However, the clause does not specify which government body would decide on such disability initially.
    “The Court notes, however, it would be strange for Congress to be the only entity that is empowered to determine the disability and then also the entity that is empowered to remove it,” Wallace wrote. “States can, and have, applied Section 3 pursuant to state statutes without federal enforcement legislation,” Wallace said.
    The judge’s ruling followed a decision by Chief U.S. District Judge Philip A. Brimmer to dismiss Trump’s request to move the Colorado ballot case to federal court. In a four-page order, Brimmer, a nominee of George W. Bush, stated that Trump, who was found responsible for sexually assaulting a journalist by a civil jury this year, did not properly follow the necessary procedures to involve Colorado’s Democratic Secretary of State, Jena Griswold, or get her approval to transfer the case to federal court. As a result, Trump’s attempt to move the case is considered “defective.”

    Trump is also facing other challenges to his eligibility to appear on the 2024 presidential ballot. The Minnesota Supreme Court will hear arguments on Thursday concerning a lawsuit to remove Trump from the ballot in Minnesota. The current lawsuit also references a lesser-known provision in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. Similar legal challenges are underway in New Hampshire, Arizona, and Michigan.

  • Newswire: UAW ends historic strike after reaching tentative deals with Big 3 automakers

    UAW workers on strike
    The United Auto Workers called off its six-week strike last week after union leaders reached a tentative labor agreement with General Motors — the last of the Detroit Big 3 car manufacturers to strike a deal with the union.
    “Now that we have a groundbreaking tentative agreement at GM, we’re officially suspending our stand-up strike against each of the Big 3,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a video message posted on X (formerly Twitter), while stopping short of saying when striking employees will return to work. 
    The GM deal features a 25% wage increase across a four-and-a-half year deal with cost of living adjustments, the UAW said. Employees from GM’s parts distributors, car care facilities and a plant in Brownstown, Michigan, also will be removed from the two-tier wage system. 
    The deal also brings employees from GM’s manufacturing subsidiary, GM Subsystems, and Ultium Cells — a battery joint venture with LG Energy Solution in Ohio — under the UAW national contract. 
    The tentative agreement with GM, which still needs to be ratified, mirrors a tentative agreement UAW leaders reached last week with Ford and Stellantis. GM confirmed the pact on Monday, saying the terms will still allow the company to provide good jobs. 
    “We are looking forward to having everyone back to work across all of our operations, delivering great products for our customers and winning as one team,” GM CEO Mary Barra said in a statement.
    The deal came only one day after GM workers expanded their strike by walking out of a company factory in Spring Hill, Tennessee, that employs nearly 4,000 and that produces Cadillac and GMC SUVs. Spring Hill joined about 14,000 other GM workers who were already striking at company factories in Texas, Michigan and Missouri.
    President Biden said the GM deal attests to the power of unions and collective bargaining. “This historic tentative agreement rewards the autoworkers who have sacrificed so much with the record raises, more paid leave, greater retirement security, and more rights and respect at work,” Mr. Biden said in a statement. “I want to applaud the UAW and GM for agreeing to immediately bring back all of the GM workers who have been walking the picket line on behalf of their UAW brothers and sisters.”
    GM was the last of the Big 3 to ink a deal with the UAW.
    “In a twist on the phrase ‘collective bargaining,’ the UAW’s strategy to negotiate with and strike at the three automakers simultaneously paid off with seemingly strong agreements at all three organizations,” Lynne Vincent, a business management professor at Syracuse University and labor expert, told CBS MoneyWatch. “Once a deal was reached at Ford, the UAW could use that agreement as the pattern for the other two automakers, which gave the UAW leverage to apply pressure on the automakers.”
    Mike Huerta, president of UAW Local 602 in Lansing, Michigan, was hesitant to celebrate the deal before seeing more information, saying that “the devil’s in the details.” “Our bargainers did their job,” he said. “They’re going to present us with something and then we get to tell them it was good enough or it wasn’t.” 
    The UAW launched its historic strike — the first time the labor group has targeted the Big Three simultaneously — last month when thousands of workers walked off the job after their contracts with the automakers expired on Sept. 14. 
    The union’s initial demands included a 36% wage hike over four years; annual cost-of-living adjustments; pension benefits for all employees; greater job security; and a faster path to full-time status for temporary workers. 
    At the peak, about 46,000 UAW workers were on strike — about one-third of the union’s 146,000 members at all three companies. Thousands of GM employees joined the work stoppage in recent weeks, including about 5,000 in Arlington, Texas, the company’s largest factory. 
    GM and the other automakers responded to the strike by laying off hundreds of unionized, non-striking workers. GM laid off roughly 2,500 employees across Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, New York and Ohio, according to a company tally. It’s unclear if GM will invite those employees back to work if the new UAW contract is finalized. 
    The union’s work stoppage intensified at a time when the Big 3 is looking establish dominance in the burgeoning electric vehicle. The companies’ biggest competitors in the EV space are Tesla and overseas automakers like Hyundai and Toyota, which don’t employ unionized workers. Electric vehicles will constitute half of all auto sales worldwide by 2035, according to a Goldman Sachs estimate. 
    In the aftermath of the agreement, Toyota of America, which is not unionized, agreed to raise the hourly pay of its workers by $2.49 an hour. Toyota also shortened the time from eight years to four years for a worker to get to the top of the pay scale.
    The UAW strike caused an estimated $4.2 billion in losses to the Big 3 and resulted in $488 million in lost wages for workers. The work stoppage also rippled and caused layoffs at auto supplier companies. But the dispute also led to breakthroughs, with GM earlier this month agreeing to place its electric vehicle battery plants under a national contract with the UAW. —The Associated Press contributed to this report.

  • Newsire : Africa’s ‘youth boom’ – could it change the World

    crowded African street

    Oct. 30, 2023 (GIN) – “By 2050, one in four people on the planet will be African… Early tremors of this seismic change are already registering around the world…. The world is becoming more African.”
    So opens an in-depth look at our changing world by Irish author and journalist Declan Walsh. His research fills a special section of 40 pages that appeared in a recent edition of the New York Times.
     
    The text is framed by the stunning work of Hannah Reyes Morales, a freelance photographer who spent five weeks this year traveling in Africa for the project.
     
    From its opening double-page shot of the Center for Girls Education in Zaria, Nigeria, a program for married adolescents and mothers to the closing shot of fishers in Praia Nova, Mozambique, showing the impacts of climate change battering African countries, the pictures tell a thousand words.
     
    Africa the Cultural Powerhouse
     
    Here, the author profiles Nigerian star Burna Boy, who became the first African artist to sell out an American stadium after filling an 80,000 capacity venue in London where he sang his new single, “Sittin’ on Top of the World.”
     
    “It’s a great time to be alive,” Laolu Senbanjo, a Nigerian artist living in Brooklyn was quoted to say. “Whether I’m in Target or an Uber, I hear the Afrobeats. It’s like a bridge. The world has come together.”
     
    This year Gamma, a music company owned in part by Apple, set up an office in Lagos. “We’re going straight to the source,” Sipho Dlamini, a Gamma executive was heard to say.
     
    Once the target of bullies, “African” today  is a badge of pride, Sebanjo says. Images of kids starving and swollen bellies are giving way to new images driving tourists who are dying to come to Cape Town, to Mombasa, to Zanzibar, he notes, adding “It’s cool to be African!”
     
    Foreign companies are mentioned here as “eager allies, including Russia, China, the United States, Turkey and Gulf petrostates” as African leaders spurn the image of victim and demand a bigger say.
    Once the big idea for enabling Africa to leapfrog its way out of poverty, technology is now sharing the stage with start-ups sprouting in Nigeria, South Africa and Morocco. Akinwumi Adesina, head of the African Development Bank, observes: “On top of the $96 billion in remittances from African migrants, three times more than the sum of all foreign aid, the African diaspora has become the largest financer of Africa!”
     
    “It feels like the opportunities are unlimited for us right now,” says Jean-Patrick Niambe, a 24 year old hip-hop artist from Ivory Coast.
     
    The author does not overlook Africa’s weaknesses. “It’s a young continent run by old men,” he says. “Under their grip, democracy has fallen to its lowest point in decades. Half of all Africans live in countries considered ‘not free’ by Freedom House.”
     
    While polls say young Africans admire and desire democracy, disillusionment with rubber stamp elections that camouflage authoritarianism is turning many toward more radical options.
     
    “Old World, Young Africa” is balanced, insightful reporting,” writes Unicef Africa, “that presents huge choices for African decision makers in coming years… But will this ‘youthquake be a blessing or a burden?”
     
     

  • Newswire : Richard Roundtree, trailblazing“Shaft” actor, dies at 81

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent


    Richard Roundtree, the iconic actor renowned for portraying the suave private detective in the groundbreaking “Shaft” film series, has died at 81. His longtime manager, Patrick McMinn, confirmed that Roundtree succumbed to pancreatic cancer at his residence in Los Angeles on Tuesday. The legendary actor, who also battled and triumphed over breast cancer in 1993, underwent a double mastectomy.
    
“Richard’s work and career served as a turning point for African American leading men,” McMinn said. “The impact he had on the industry cannot be overstated.”
Roundtree’s legacy extended beyond the 1970s classics. He reprised his iconic role in the 2000 “Shaft” film, sharing the screen with Samuel L. Jackson, who portrayed his nephew. The film was a revival that aimed to captivate a wider audience, and Roundtree and Jackson returned in the same roles for the 2019 rendition starring Jessie T. Usher.
    
In a heartfelt social media post, Jackson hailed Roundtree as the “prototype” and praised him as “the best to ever do it.” Jackson added, “SHAFT, as we know it is & will always be his Creation. His passing leaves a deep hole not only in my heart, but I’m sure a lotta y’all’s, too.”
    
Born on July 9, 1942, in New Rochelle, New York to John and Kathryn Roundtree, the young Roundtree showed promise in athletics and academics. He attended New Rochelle High School, earning recognition for his contributions to the school’s nationally ranked football team. In 1961, Roundtree’s athletic prowess earned him a scholarship to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. However, his passion for acting and modeling prompted him to leave school in 1963.
    
Roundtree’s career took off when Eunice Johnson of Ebony magazine recruited him to model at the Ebony Fashion Fair in 1963. He joined the Negro Ensemble Company in 1967, where he delivered a memorable performance as boxing legend Jack Johnson in “The Great White Hope.”
    
The pivotal moment in Roundtree’s career came in 1971, he landed the role of Shaft in the Gordon Parks-directed film. The film’s success catapulted Roundtree to stardom, culminating in two sequels: “Shaft’s Big Score” (1972) and “Shaft in Africa” (1973). In recognition of his exceptional talent, Roundtree received the Golden Globe Most Promising Newcomer Award in 1972.
According to the HistoryMakers, throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Roundtree graced the silver screen in an array of films, including “Earthquake” (1974), “Escape to Athena” (1979), “A Game for Vultures” (1979), and “Day of The Assassin” (1979). He also made a memorable appearance in the 1977 ABC television miniseries “Roots.”
    
In the ensuing decades, Roundtree continued to leave an indelible mark in the entertainment industry, appearing in various television series such as “Soul Food,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Heroes,” and “Grey’s Anatomy.” He secured a recurring role in the 2013 television show “Being Mary Jane” alongside Gabrielle Union and Margaret Avery. Roundtree further graced FOX’s television series “Star” with his presence in 2017 and 2018.
    
In 1993, Roundtree faced a rare form of male breast cancer with unwavering determination. His resilience led him to become a prominent advocate for breast cancer awareness, lending his voice to the Susan G. Komen Foundation and the Know Your Score Men’s Health Initiative.

    Roundtree earned numerous awards, including the MTV Lifetime Achievement Award for his iconic portrayal of Shaft, an Image Award nomination in 1998, a Peabody Award in 2002, and a Black Theater Alliance Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010.

  • Newswire: Sentenced: Montgomery riverboat brawl convicts given lenient punishments for viral assault

    Montgomery River Boat

    By; Zack Linly, NewsOne

    Two out of five people who were charged for their roles in the caucasity-slaying Riverfront Park brawl in Montgomery, Alabama, have received their sentences.
    According to CNN, 48-year-old Richard Roberts pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault for his part in the viral fight that occurred in August, and he was sentenced to 32 days in lockup. Curiously, he gets to serve that time in increments on the weekends over the course of four months. One can only wonder how many Black convicts in Alabama have been given the option to treat jail like it’s a timeshare. Todd will also pay all costs associated with his case and perform 100 hours of community service.
    Also sentenced was 21-year-old Mary Todd. (I know what you’re thinking: Her parents didn’t name her after Abraham Lincoln’s wife just so she could get herself arrested for crimes against slavery descendants.) Todd pleaded guilty to harassment as part of a plea agreement and was sentenced to anger management classes, which she has 90 days to complete. She also must pay court costs.
    Now, obviously, folks are going to notice both convicts have been treated leniently by the court. Maybe that’s because white privilege is what white privilege does, or maybe it’s because the judge thought they’d already suffered enough after the whole world watched them bully their way into the receiving end of a massive smackdown. Either way, the sentences have been handed down and it is what it is. Now, there are three more defendants awaiting their days in court.

     

  • Newswire: House Republicans elect Mike Johnson as new speaker after weeks of turmoil

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    U. S. Capitol
    In a protracted and contentious process that ground Congress to a halt for over three weeks, House Republicans have finally chosen a new Speaker. Mike Johnson, R-La., a lower-ranking member of the GOP leadership and notorious right-wing election denier, emerged as the victor on Wednesday, succeeding the ousted Californian Kevin McCarthy.
    The long and turbulent journey, which has lingered and prevented America from aiding its Israeli and Ukraine allies, saw Johnson become the party’s fourth nominee for the role since the MAGA wing of the caucus ousted McCarthy. On Tuesday morning, Republicans initially selected Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., as their nominee, only for him to withdraw later in the day, unable to muster the 217 votes required to secure the position.
    With only 221 Republicans in the House, the margin for error was slim for any nominee vying for the top spot. While the GOP celebrated the long-awaited appointment of a new speaker, some members struggled to break old voting habits. GOP Rep. Kay Granger of Texas initially voted for Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama before eventually changing it to Mike Johnson.
    In a routine unanimous show of Democratic support, all 212 members voted for New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the House Minority Leader, as Speaker.
    As he noted about a potential Jim Jordan speakership, Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California said Johnson would now preside over the counting of electoral votes in the next election. “After he was deeply involved in trying to overturn the last one. Just when you think they can’t be more irresponsible, they prove you wrong,” Schiff stated.
    Similarly, Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee expressed disbelief in a now-deleted social media post, saying, “I can’t believe this is happening after January 6. If Trump can get to another electoral college, House Speaker will be able to subvert votes of the people/ This is the first act in insurrection 2.0.”
    Johnson, a pro-Trump election skeptic, now holds a position that could influence future election outcomes. Notable for his involvement in various controversial matters, Johnson pressed Attorney General Merrick Garland on a conspiracy theory involving the Justice Department and Hunter Biden. He also advocated for the expunging of Donald Trump’s first impeachment and pushed for a national abortion ban.
    Johnson also took a more active stance in the attempt to overturn the 2020 election results. In 2020, he spearheaded efforts to rally House GOP members to support a Texas lawsuit seeking to invalidate election results in crucial states. Over 125 members eventually signed on.
    Essentially, Johnson was at the forefront of rallying support for a controversial theory posited by state Attorney General Ken Paxton, aimed at overturning a U.S. presidential election. His instrumental role earned him recognition as “the most important architect of the Electoral College objections” by The New York Times just a year ago.

  • Newswire: Biden applauded for prioritizing civil rights amidst growing Artificial Intelligence Technology

    By Hazel Trice Edney


    (TriceEdneyWire.com) – President Joe Biden is receiving wide applause among Black leadership for his executive order that attempts to assure that artificial intelligence (AI) remains within boundaries that respect civil rights and adhere to principles of democracy. But the question remains whether the executive order goes far enough to protect Black people – particular from abusive law enforcement.
    “We believe in the potential for AI to be a powerful tool to help advance our vision of opportunity and prosperity for Black and Brown people. But we cannot let the tools of the future reinforce the mistakes of the past. Guardrails must be implemented now to ensure that this emerging technology centers equity at every step of development and implementation,” said Damon Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (LCCR), in a statement issued following Biden’s signing of the executive order. “This executive order is a critical step to help guard against algorithmic bias and discrimination.  It can be the beginning of a pathway to a future where AI empowers instead of oppresses.”
    Hewitt says the executive order prepares the federal government “to prevent and address bias and discrimination in new technologies; but more action is needed to fully address harmful AI used by law enforcement.”
    Tech experts have pointed out that abusive AI tactics have been racially biased, especially against Black people.
    An article titled, “Racial Discrimination in Face Recognition Technology,” written by Harvard University biotech consultant, Alex Najibi, points out that face recognition technology, a form of AI often used by police departments and in airport screening, as well as employment and housing decisions, has been known to involve “significant racial bias, particularly against Black Americans.”
    Najibi adds, “Even if accurate, face recognition empowers a law enforcement system with a long history of racist and anti-activist surveillance and can widen pre-existing inequalities.”
    He writes that “despite widespread adoption, face recognition was recently banned for use by police and local agencies in several cities, including Boston and San Francisco” because face recognition “is the least accurate” of all recognition technologies such as fingerprinting.
    While applauding the Administration on its initial steps to direct agencies to determine how AI is used in criminal justice, the LCCR says Biden’s executive order does not go far enough to actually address “harmful uses of AI by law enforcement agencies, such as the discriminatory use of facial recognition technologies.”
    President Barack Obama, who also released a statement, pointed out that he asked his staff seven years ago to study “how artificial intelligence could play a growing role in the future of the United States.”
    He pointed out additional problems that could occur, including national security threats.
    “We don’t want anyone with an internet connection to be able to create a new strain of smallpox, access nuclear codes, or attack our critical infrastructure. And we have to make sure this technology doesn’t fall into the hands of people who want to use it to turbocharge things like cybercrime and fraud,” Obama states.
    He credited organizations such as the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and Upturn to the Alignment Research Center for “tackling these questions, and making sure more people feel like their concerns are being heard and addressed.”
    The Leadership Conference, led by Maya Wiley, president, wrote a letter to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on August 4, urging the Administration to focus Biden’s executive order on “protecting the American public from the current and potential harms of this technology— including threats to people’s rights, civil liberties, opportunities, jobs, economic well-being, and access to critical resources and services.” That letter was co-signed by LCCR, the NAACP, and the Center for American Progress among others.
    The Executive Order directs the following requirements for organizations using AI:
    Require that developers of the most powerful AI systems share their safety test results and other critical information with the U.S. government. 
    Develop standards, tools, and tests to help ensure that AI systems are safe, secure, and trustworthy. 
    Protect against the risks of using AI to engineer dangerous biological materials by developing strong new standards for biological synthesis screening.
    Protect Americans from AI-enabled fraud and deception by establishing standards and best practices for detecting AI-generated content and authenticating official content.
    Establish an advanced cybersecurity program to develop AI tools to find and fix vulnerabilities in critical software.
    Order the development of a National Security Memorandum that directs further actions on AI and security.
    The focus of the executive order is primarily to assure a fair and safe future while using AI, Biden says. But the LCCR insists the order needs more work and vows to continue working with the Administration to that end.
    Hewitt concluded, “To make that future a reality, civil rights-focused protections must apply to every aspect of our lives touched by AI technology, including the harmful use of AI by law enforcement. We look forward to working with the Biden Administration on how we can address the full scope of this challenge and fully leverage the opportunity before us.” 

  • Newswire : Monument erected to Dred Scott in North St. Louis

    Dred Scott

    By: BlackmansStreet Today

    The nine-foot monument was erected in Calvary Cemetery to honor Dred Scott, who was buried there. Scott challenged slavery in court and, in so doing, helped spark the Civil War.

    The monument was dedicated on September 30th in North St. Louis.

    Dred Scott had a “familiar name but an unfamiliar story,” said Lynne Jackson, founder and president of the foundation and great-great-granddaughter of Dred and Harriet Scott. “This monument has the real estate to tell people who he is and why he is important. We hope people walk away with a greater understanding and appreciation of his impact.”

    The foundation, which works to educate the public about the significance of the Dred Scott decision and the struggle for the freedom of Dred and Harriet Scott through commemoration, education, and reconciliation, held a GoFundMe campaign to fund the memorial. The monument also was made possible through a contribution from the Mellon Foundation.

    The Scotts claimed they should be granted their freedom because Dred lived in Illinois and the Wisconsin Territory for four years, where slavery was illegal, and laws in those jurisdictions said that slaveholders gave up their rights to slaves if they stayed in these areas for extended periods.

    In a landmark case, the United States Supreme Court decided 7–2 against Scott, finding that neither he nor any other person of African ancestry could claim citizenship in the United States, and therefore, Scott could not bring suit in federal court under diversity of citizenship rules.

    Moreover, Scott’s temporary residence in a free territory outside Missouri did not bring about his emancipation because the Missouri Compromise, which made that territory free by prohibiting slavery north of the 36°30′  parallel was unconstitutional because it “deprived citizens of their [slave] property without due process of law.”

    Although Chief Justice Roger B. Taney had hoped to settle issues related to slavery and congressional authority by this decision, it aroused public outrage, deepened sectional tensions between the northern and southern states, and hastened the eventual explosion of their differences into the Civil War.

    President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and the post-Civil War Reconstruction Amendments the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments—nullified the decision.

    The Scotts were manumitted by a private arrangement in May 1857. 
    Dred Scott died of tuberculosis a year later.