The Greene County Democrat

Category: Newswire

  • Newwire : Niger coup: fear and anger in Niamey as Ecowas threatens force

    Protestors in Niger oppose French influence on Ecowas

    By Catherine Byaruhanga, BBC News

    Zara Kada serves up dishes of rice, fish and vegetables in plastic bowls to her customers sitting on wooden benches in the capital of Niger’s capital, Niamey. This business is a lifeline for the widowed mother-of-seven but it’s under threat as food prices have shot up after economic sanctions were imposed after the military seized power. 

    “Not only has the price of rice increased but also that of cooking oil. It’s an increase of 2,500F CFA ($4: £3) in just one week,” she says standing by her small food stall. “This causes us problems because if I prepare the rice and I can’t sell it, there will be no profits, only losses.”
    Two weeks ago, Niger’s army deposed the country’s democratically elected President, Mohamed Bazoum, attracting widespread international condemnation. 
    The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) is determined to stop yet another military takeover in the region – the sixth in just three years. 

    “We are drawing the line in the sand,” Ecowas security chief Abdel Fatau Musah tells the BBC. “There is a contagion and if we do not determinedly stop what has happened there, then which country is next?” he asks.
    So Ecowas has reacted quickly, by cutting off financial transactions, electricity supplies and, in a move particularly painful for landlocked Niger, closed its land borders, blocking crucial imports. 
    Now, after a second emergency summit on the crisis in Niger, regional heads of state have ordered the activation of a standby military force, ready to invade the country should the military continue their hold on power. 

    Protesters gathered outside a French military base after Ecowas announced the activation of a standby military force on the streets of Niamey, there is real anger at the way regional governments have reacted and the threat of military intervention. 
    “The Niger soldiers are ready to face any aggression against our country of any kind. They should count on our support, the support of the population and its partners. We are ready,” says Bana Ibrahim.
    The 46-year-old is one of the leaders of a so-called self-defense unit that has been set up in response to the Ecowas announcement.
    Another member of the unit, Moudi Moussa, agrees: “We are here to defend our country because the country is threatened by Ecowas mercenaries. I call them mercenaries in the pay of [French President Emmanuel] Macron. So we are here to protect our Niger and the people of Niger.”

    “People buy it [Russian flag] because we are in conflict with France. For years, France has only caused us problems and the military wants to put an end to it,” Mr Souleymane, a tailor sewing f;lags adds. 
    The coup has unleashed widespread anti-French sentiment in the country. Paris is accused of continuing to wield undue influence in Niger long after independence and unfairly benefiting from its natural resources while most people live below the poverty line. 
    Moscow has built close ties with neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso – two other former French colonies which have seen recent military takeovers. Its propaganda networks promote Russia as a better ally for African countries. 
    France has lost public goodwill in many Francophone countries and it’s now backing the unpopular intervention by Ecowas in Niger. In a statement, the government in Paris said it “affirms its full support for all the conclusions” of this week’s summit.
    On social media networks, regional heads of state are facing accusations of working in the interests of Western powers – Mr Bazoum was a close ally of both the US and France and allowed them to have military bases in the country to help fight Islamist insurgents who are targeting the entire Sahel region of West Africa. 

    But how likely is it that Ecowas will carry out its threat to use force?  “They still say it’s on the table, but I think it’s up for negation,” argues Marie-Roger Biloa, a West Africa analyst. 
    “The military option will prove to be very delicate, and there are many voices against it. Even former prime ministers, former dignitaries of Niger are saying: ‘Please, please don’t launch a military attack against our country. That will be terrible for the population.’”
    However Ms Biloa believes regional leaders will have to find a solution otherwise there could be more coups on the continent, especially where military elites can capitalize on the weaknesses of civilian authorities to seize power. 
    “African governments are having a hard time trying to deliver on the needs of the people,” she says. “You have a huge population, which is very young, jobless, and they are not sure of the future. In this political context, you can always find people who support you when you overthrow the incumbent.” 
    Back at her food stall in Niamey, Ms Kada is worried an Ecowas invasion could open a deadly pandora’s box for her country.  “Conflicts like this one, we just know how it starts but the end, we don’t know.”

  • Newswire: Covid makes a comeback, but new vaccines are around the corner

    CDC Photo of vaccination for COVID

    Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from Ethnic Media Services

    By Sunita Sohrabji


    (TriceEdneyWire.com) – The US is experiencing a summer swell of infections, though hospitalization rates remain relatively stable. Three eminent experts conclude that Covid-19 will continue to pose a health threat over many years, as it continues its evolution. But updated vaccines are expected to mitigate the severity of infections.
    Covid-19 cases are rising once again, possibly fueled by the emergence of the EG.5 variant. Hospitalization rates jumped by 12.5% nationwide in July, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This uptick comes even as the public health emergency has ended, taking with it free testing and therapeutics. And Covid fatigue has set in. People no longer wear masks in public, and a study has determined that the majority of Americans will forego new boosters, which will be available this fall.
    At an Aug. 11 panel discussion organized by Ethnic Media Services, three eminent Covid experts examined the rise in cases, the new variant, and the new monovalent vaccine which will be available this fall.
    Panelists included:
    ● Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, Associate Dean for Regional Campuses, University of California, San Francisco and Medical Educator, specializing in treating infectious diseases
    ● Dr. Benjamin Neuman, Professor of Biology and Chief Virologist, Global Health Research Complex, Texas A&M University
    ● Dr. William Schaffner, Professor of Preventive Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
    What are the origins of the EG.5 variant? Does it differ substantially from its predecessors?
    Dr. Neuman: EG.5 is one of the variants that’s spreading the fastest right now. It is a child of a thing called XBB 1.9. Basically, it’s another version of Omicron. And everything that is circulating in the world right now has about 100 to 110 differences from the original version.
    This variant is spreading because it has a lot of changes at the receptor binding site that is the target of most of the vaccines and of some of the most useful parts of the immune system.
    Will the new vaccines recognize the new variant and be effective against it?
    Dr. Neuman: When the target changes, you have to change your aim. It has been over a year since we have had an updated version of the vaccine. It’s coming slowly, but uptake has not been great. The total uptake in the US for the bivalent vaccine is only 17%.
    The formulation of the new booster is supposed to be a monovalent against the XBB variant. From the studies that we have now, it looks like new variants like EG.5 are close enough that a vaccine against XBB seems to work against it pretty well. So I think it’s a good move, and I wish they’d hurry up to release it.
    Hospitalization rates remain relatively stable despite the summer surge of infections. Do you expect that hospitalization rates are going to rise at some point?
    Dr. Chin-Hong: There has been a slight uptick in hospitalizations, not a tsunami, not even a surge. The way I think about it is a swell. It’s kind of like a general wave coming. It doesn’t overwhelm you. You don’t get submerged into it, but you kind of ride it until it goes to the shore.
    So if you look at California, for example, one year ago, we had about 4700 people hospitalized at one point. And right now we have about 890 people hospitalized. So in perspective, it’s nothing compared to even one year ago when it was 4700.
    Paxlovid and Remdesivir are currently the only therapeutics we have in our arsenal to battle. But they are problematic.
    Dr. Schaffner: We know that if you administer Paxlovid — particularly to people at high risk — very shortly after they are infected, we can reduce their risk of developing severe disease. But Paxlovid has limitations, as any therapy does. There are drug interactions. So if you’re taking certain medications, you have to be careful about taking Paxlovid. Or you may not be able to get it if you have kidney failure.
    Remdesivir we now use very quickly once the patient is admitted to the hospital. But wouldn’t it be better if we had more therapeutic agents aimed at keeping people out of the hospital?
    Minority populations and low-income communities have always been at a higher risk for hospitalization and death from Covid. With the end of the Public Health Emergency, how can we ensure that everyone gets the tests, vaccines, and therapeutics they need to stay healthy?
    Dr. Chin-Hong: Throughout the pandemic, we’ve seen a lot of disparities, including and particularly amongst the African American communities, both in terms of who is dying first of all and who is being hospitalized.
    But then we began to address some of the root causes, which were related to access to testing and related to probably a lot of structural racism. Of course, politics played a role, but even after the new administration, those disparities still persisted.
    I think one silver lining was that vaccinations increased uptake in all communities, probably given the advocacy of a lot of grassroots organizations and community-based organizations.
    So what is still free, after the Public Health Emergency ended May 11?
    Vaccines are still free. There’s a bridge program that’s going to probably come into effect nationally that allows people — without demonstrating ability to pay — to get them at least until the end of the year in California, and probably extended with a national bridge program.
    And then if you have insurance or MediCal or MediCare, people are obligated to give you the vaccine for free without a copay because of the Affordable Care Act.

  • Newswire: Explosive revelations spark renewed calls for Justice Thomas’ resignation

    Justice Clarence Thomas

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    In what activist Sherrilyn Ifill called a crisis in which everyone needs to start treating it as such, more stunning revelations have surfaced over lavish gifts accepted and not previously disclosed by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
    Now, Democratic lawmakers are taking to social media to demand Thomas step down. The calls for his resignation come after another shocking investigative report by ProPublica.
The exposé, released on Thursday, Aug. 10, delves into undisclosed luxury vacations and gifts Thomas received from affluent individuals.
The revelation has again ignited a firestorm of outrage and ethical concerns.
“Justice Thomas has brought shame upon himself and the United States Supreme Court with his acceptance of massive, repeated, and undisclosed gifts,” Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) tweeted on the social media platform now known as X.
“No government official, elected or unelected, could ethically or legally accept gifts of that scale. He should resign immediately.”
The damning ProPublica report exposed that Justice Thomas received a minimum of 38 destination vacations, 26 private jet flights, numerous VIP passes to sporting events, and two lavish resort stays, all financed by billionaire backers, during his tenure on the bench.
The report argued that Justice Thomas may have violated legal requirements by failing to disclose these extravagant travels and luxury engagements.
ProPublica reported that Thomas, typically “perched in the skybox at sporting events, had at least two stays at luxury resorts in Florida and Jamaica; and one standing invitation to an uber-exclusive golf club overlooking the Atlantic coast.
“This accounting of Thomas’ travel, revealed for the first time here from an array of previously unavailable information, is the fullest to date of the generosity that has regularly afforded Thomas a lifestyle far beyond what his income could provide. And it is almost certainly an undercount,” the report asserted.
ProPublica continued: “While some of the hospitality, such as stays in personal homes, may not have required disclosure, Thomas appears to have violated the law by failing to disclose flights, yacht cruises, and expensive sports tickets, according to ethics experts.”
Politico noted that at least four other House Democrats also called for Thomas’ resignation, including Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Bill Pascrell (D-N.J), Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), and Hank Johnson (D-Ga.).
“Unprecedented. Stunning. Disgusting. The height of hypocrisy to wear the robes of a #SCOTUS and take undisclosed gifts from billionaires who benefit from your decisions,” Jayapal posted on X. “Resign.”
Democrats in the Senate have attempted to push legislation that would reform the Supreme Court’s ethical guidelines to increase transparency. That bill passed committee but is unlikely to get through a full Senate.
“I said it would get worse; it will keep getting worse,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who helped spearhead the bill, said on X in response to the report. “The latest ProPublica revelation of unreported lavish gifts to Justice Clarence Thomas makes it clear: these are not merely ethical lapses,” Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin wrote on X.
“This is a shameless lifestyle underwritten for years by a gaggle of fawning billionaires.”
Perhaps even more significant, the pattern exposes consistent violations of judicial norms, experts, including seven current and former federal judges appointed by both parties, told ProPublica.
Earlier this year, ProPublica revealed Texas real estate billionaire Harlan Crow’s generosity toward Thomas, including vacations, private jet flights, gifts, the purchase of his mother’s house in Georgia, and tuition payments.
The new report said the New York Times also noted revelations about wealthy business people Thomas met through the Horatio Alger Association, an exclusive nonprofit.

  • Newswire : ‘Criminal Enterprise’: Trump and 18 co-conspirators indicted in Georgia election case

     

    Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis , surrounded by staff, speaks during a news conference on August 14, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

    By; Jake Johnson, Common Dreams

    A grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia indicted former President Donald Trump and 18 others on Monday for taking part in a sprawling “criminal enterprise” aimed at overturning the 2020 presidential election results in the state.
    The 98-page indictment, which includes a total of 41 counts, marks the fourth time Trump has been charged in a criminal investigation since April.
    The indictment states that Trump and the other defendants—including former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Trump’s former personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani—”refused to accept that Trump lost, and they knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump.”
    Trump, Giuliani, Meadows, and more than a dozen others “constituted a criminal organization whose members and associates engaged in various related criminal activities including, but not limited to, false statements and writings, impersonating a public officer, forgery, filing false documents, influencing witnesses, computer theft, computer trespass, computer invasion of privacy, conspiracy to defraud the state, acts involving theft, and perjury.”
    The former president faces 13 charges under the Georgia indictment, including soliciting a public officer to violate their oath and breaching the state’s Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
    Georgia’s RICO law carries up to 20 years in prison for those convicted.
    The indictment—the product of a sweeping investigation led by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis—cites Trump’s early December phone call to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, during which the former president “solicited, requested, and importuned Kemp to call a special session of the Georgia General Assembly.”
    “This was an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy,” the indictment reads.
    Willis launched the election interference investigation after an audio recording obtained by The Washington Post revealed that Trump called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and said he wants “to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have.”
    During a press conference, Willis said arrest warrants have been issued for those charged in the indictment, including Trump, who is running for president again in 2024.
    “I am giving the defendants the opportunity to voluntarily surrender no later than noon on Friday, the 25th day of August 2023,” said Willis.
    Christina Harvey, executive director of the advocacy group Stand Up America, said in a statement that “the evidence of Trump’s criminal conduct is overwhelming” and “holding the former president and his co-conspirators accountable is vital to protect our democracy and freedom to vote in future elections.”
    “At the heart of this indictment are Trump’s concerted efforts to overturn the will of Georgia voters, Trump’s attempts to deliberately spread disinformation, pressure Georgia officials to violate their oaths of office, and unlawfully change the outcome of the election in his favor demonstrate his deep-seated contempt for the law, the American people, and our democracy,” said Harvey.

  • Sat. workshop on USDA 22007 Discrimination Assistance Program

    Cornelius Blanding and Xernona Clayton


    Federation of Southern Cooperatives  to hold 56th Annual Meeting-August 17-19 The Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund will hold its 56th Annual Meeting in Birmingham and Epes, Alabama, from August 17 to 19, 2023.
    On Friday, August 18th at the Federation’s Rural Training and Research Center, there will be a workshop from 1:00 to 4:00 on the USDA 22007 Discrimination against Farmers Assistance Program (DFAP) for farmers to learn the latest information on this process.
    The Federation is the oldest, largest, and most effective organization of Black farmers in the nation. The Federation aids and support Black and other family-size farmers in cooperative development, land retention and advocacy for public policies beneficial to farmers and other rural people living in distressed communities.
    The meeting will begin on Thursday, August 17, 2023, in Birmingham at the Sheraton Hotel downtown. There will be roundtables with cooperative and land retention allies in the afternoon, followed by the Estelle Witherspoon Lifetime Achievement Awards Banquet. The banquet is named in honor of the Manager of the Freedom Quilting Bee in Alberta (Gees Bend) Wilcox County, Alabama, who was also a founding member of the Federation in 1967.
    The recipient of this year’s Lifetime Achievement award is Xernona Clayton of Atlanta.
    Ms. Clayton is an American civil rights leader and broadcasting executive. During the Civil Rights Movement, she worked for the National Urban League and Southern Christian Leadership Conference, where she became involved in the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, and worked closely with him in press and public relations. Later, Clayton went into television, where she became the first African American from the southern United States to host a daily prime time talk show. She became corporate vice president for Turner Broadcasting.
    Clayton created the Trumpet Foundation. She was instrumental in the development of the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame that was developed by the foundation to honor the achievements of African Americans and civil rights advocates. She convinced a Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan to denounce the Klan. Clayton has been honored by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the city of Atlanta for her work.
    On Saturday, the meeting shifts to the Federation’s Rural Training and Research Center, near Epes, Alabama, which is the programmatic center of the organization of over 75 cooperatives and community development credit unions. At 10:00 AM there will be a panel of program leaders from the United States Department of Agriculture in credit, conservation, marketing, cooperative development, land retention and other areas of rural development explaining their programs, recent changes, and answer questions from the stakeholder audience.
    On Saturday afternoon, from 1;00 to 4:00 PM, there will be a special workshop on the recently announced 22007 USDA Discrimination Farmers Assistance Program (DFAP) that provides an opportunity for farmers, who were discriminated against for any reason by USDA in farm lending, up to January 1, 2021. This process is similar to but different than the process in the prior Black farmers class action lawsuits. The Federation has been funded by USDA, as one of nine ‘cooperator organizations’ to provide technical assistance to farmers on the 40-page DFAP application.
    Some Federation staff will be available during the Annual Meeting to help farmers with their DFAP applications and to make appointments or future one-on-one technical assistance sessions. The application is complicated, requires the submission of documents to provide evidence of discrimination and takes 4 to 5 hours and possibly more than one TA consultation to complete.
    There will be other workshops on Friday afternoon on land retention, heirs property solutions, climate-smart agricultural practices, the upcoming Farm Bill advocacy and other topics.
    There will be tours of the facility, focused on forestry and agroforestry demonstrations. The Saturday events will culminate in a fish fry and informal social and cultural gatherings.
    Saturday morning will begin at 7:30AM with a prayer breakfast, which is named in honor of Ms. Mattie Mack, a small tobacco farmer from Kentucky, who served on the Federation Board of Directors for many years. Ms. Mack always wore fancy hats to the prayer breakfast, so women are encouraged to wear their finest hats for this occasion.
    After the Prayer Breakfast, at 9:30 AM the Federation will hold its members-only business meeting and hear a report from its Board of Directors and Executive Director, Cornelius Blanding on the programmatic activities, financial status, and future plans of the organization. Members will meet in state caucuses to evaluate and comment on these reports and make suggestions for future work.
    After lunch on Saturday, the Federation will award five $1000 scholarships to youth from the membership who are planning to attend college and other post-secondary educational programs. The scholarships are made possible by a generous donation from Sharing Inc. of Braintree, Massachusetts that holds a Good Friday Walk, each year, to raise funds for groups engaged in social change in the rural South.
    Reports will be given from the state caucuses and the states of Georgia and South Carolina will elect members to the Federation’s Board of Directors.
    Farmers and others interested in registering for the Federation’s Annual Meeting, may contact this website: http://www.federation.coop for details and fees. You may also call the Federation’s RTRC in. Epes at 205-652-9676 for more information.

  • Newswire: Witnesses recount brawl at Montgomery riverfront

     Harriot II Dinner Cruise Riverboat

    Witnesses say the brawl began when a group of boaters refused to move their pontoon and attacked a dock worker in Alabama’s capital.


    By Char Adams and Lori Daniel, NBC News

    Witnesses say a large brawl that broke out on an Alabama riverfront Sunday was fueled by alcohol and adrenaline. 
    Bystanders said the incident began when a worker tried to clear the dock along the Alabama River so the Harriott II Riverboat could dock. A group of rowdy boaters refused to move their pontoon and attacked the dock worker when he untied the boat to make way for the Harriott II.
    “They just didn’t think the rules applied to them. It was so avoidable. This never had to have happened,” said a witness, Leslie Mawhorter, 52, who was aboard the Harriott II, said in an interview. Video of the incident shows a group of what appear to be white men running to the boardwalk one by one and attacking the worker, who is Black. 
    The man who was initially attacked and the people involved in the fight have not been publicly named. 
    “Everything just spiraled from there,” Mawhorter said. “I knew something was going to go down, because their attitude was just, ‘You can’t tell us what to do.’ They were going to be confrontational regardless of who you were.” 
    A spokesperson for the city Parks & Recreation, which oversees the riverboat attractions, declined to comment. The Montgomery Riverfront is a popular summertime destination with a riverboat, a park, an amphitheater, a stadium and more. 
    After the initial attack, several people appeared to rush to the worker’s defense, one of them even swimming from the Harriott II over to the dock to take part in the brawl. Mawhorter said officers turned to the onlookers for help identifying the aggressors. “They were listening to us and to other people telling them who was involved and who needed to be cuffed,” she said.
    Montgomery police had multiple people in handcuffs by the end of the melee, which started shortly before 7 p.m., and there were at least three active warrants for people believed to have been involved afterward, according to NBC affiliate WSFA.
    Mayor Steven L. Reed said in a statement Sunday: “The Montgomery Police Department acted swiftly to detain several reckless individuals for attacking a man who was doing his job. Warrants are being signed and justice will be served.” 
    He reiterated his response at a news conference Monday, calling the fight “an unfortunate incident.” He said police are still investigating. 
    Christa Owen, 47, was on the Harriott II with her husband and their daughter when the fight began. She and Mawhorter said they and the other passengers had been waiting several minutes for the group to move their pontoon and allow the Harriott to dock. Owen said the worker who was attacked was initially the only crew member trying to handle the rowdy boaters.
    “What was hard is we were all on the boat and witnessing our poor crewman being attacked by these guys, and we couldn’t do anything about it,” Owen said. “It was really difficult to watch, and, like I said, we felt helpless, because we were forced to be spectators.”
    Owen said she decided to record the incident to make sure the “right people” were arrested. Her and Mawhorter’s videos were among many that began circulating on the internet. Many social media users have shared memes and colorful commentary, noting that the combatants were split along racial lines. Many praised the group of Black men for coming to the Black worker’s defense as he battled the group of white men. 
    “It was inexcusable behavior,” Owen said, adding that she believes alcohol was a factor. “I can’t imagine anyone just disregarding moving their boat 2 feet so that a three-story dinner cruise boat could park back in that spot.

  • Newswire: Conservative group files lawsuit against venture capital fund that offers help to Black women-owned businesses

    Black women who head Fearless Fund


    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    With the white sheets removed, the hoods now off, and the dog whistles as overt as they were during Jim Crow and the struggle for civil rights in the mid-20th century, a conservative group that spearheaded the Supreme Court’s overturning of affirmative action now has set its sights on Black women.
Edward Blum, a conservative activist, founded the American Alliance for Equal Rights nonprofit, which has filed a lawsuit against Fearless Fund, an Atlanta-based venture capital fund.
The lawsuit alleges that Fearless Fund “is engaging in unlawful racial discrimination by restricting eligibility for its grant competition to only Black women entrepreneurs.”
The legal action cited the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and was filed in federal Court in Atlanta.
Fearless Fund, established in 2019 by prominent Black women, including Cosby Show actress Keshia Knight Pulliam, entrepreneur Arian Simone, and corporate executive Ayana Parsons, aims to support and empower Black women who own small businesses.
Notable investors in the fund include Bank of America, Costco Wholesale, General Mills, Mastercard, and JPMorgan Chase.
The lawsuit reportedly marks Blum’s first legal challenge since his organization’s victory in the Supreme Court in June.
The Court rejected affirmative action in collegiate admissions, ruling against race-conscious student admissions policies used by institutions like Harvard University and the University of North Carolina.
Blum’s group had argued that such policies unfairly discriminated against white and Asian American applicants.
Blum’s lawsuit focuses on Fearless Fund’s “Fearless Strivers Grant Contest,” which provides $20,000 in grants, digital tools, and mentorship opportunities to Black women business owners.
The American Alliance for Equal Rights claims that white and Asian American members of their organization have been excluded from the grant program solely based on race.
Fearless Fund has yet to respond to the allegations.
In an interview with Reuters, Blum stated that the lawsuit is just the beginning of his efforts to challenge race-based policies used by private corporations through the American Alliance for Equal Rights.
He said he aims to build upon the success of the cases against Harvard and UNC, filed by his organization, Students for Fair Admissions, which led to the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in June.
“The common theme of these organizations is to challenge in the courts the use of racial classifications and preferences in our nation’s policies,” Blum said, as reported by Reuters.

     

  • Newswire: U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan to oversee former President Trump’s election interference case

    Federal Judge Tanya S. Chutkan

    By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    Judge Tanya S. Chutkan will preside over the case of former President Donald Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
This decision comes after Chutkan’s previous involvement in key motions related to the January 6 committee’s investigation.
Chutkan has a history with Trump. She denied his 2021 motion to prevent records from being given to the January 6 committee.
In her decision, she emphasized that “Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not president.” This ruling showcased her commitment to upholding the principles of democracy and the rule of law.
A trailblazer in her own right, Chutkan’s background is impressive.
She was born in Kingston, Jamaica and moved to the United States to pursue higher education.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from George Washington University and later graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Chutkan began her law career working in private practice and later at the District of Columbia Public Defender Service.
After that, she joined the law firm Boies, Schiller, & Flexner LLP, where she specialized in white-collar criminal defense for a total of 12 years.
Legal experts described Chutkan as incredibly dedicated to justice and fair representation as a public defender. They said her commitment to ensuring equal access to justice was evident.
Her colleagues said her extensive experience in complex legal matters and criminal defense undoubtedly contributed to her well-rounded understanding of the law.
Chutkan was appointed to the District Court for the District of Columbia by former President Barack Obama in 2014.
Chutkan has a reputation for being a fair and committed judge.
Still, she hasn’t shied away from imposing harsher sentences than the Justice Department initially requested in cases involving January 6 defendants.
When federal prosecutors suggested that Matt Mazzocco serve three months of home confinement and probation after he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, Chutkan insisted that there must be consequences “beyond sitting at home” for individuals involved in an attempted violent overthrow of the U.S. government.
“If Mr. Mazzocco walks away with probation and a slap on the wrist, that’s not going to deter anyone trying what he did again,” Chutkan asserted from the bench.
“It does not, in this Court’s opinion, indicate the severity – the gravity of the offenses that he committed on Jan. 6.”
Ultimately, she sentenced Mazzocco to 45 days in jail and 60 hours of community service.
Many observers said her stance reflects a belief in the importance of holding individuals accountable for their actions during the insurrection.
The judge has refused to bow to political pressure or executive privilege.
In addition to denying Trump’s emergency motion in 2021, attempting to prevent the National Archives from turning over his administration’s records to the January 6 committee, she has remained steadfast in upholding the law.
“For a lot of people, I seem to check a lot of boxes: immigrant, woman, Black, Asian. Your qualifications are always going to be subject to criticism and you have to develop a thick skin,” Chutkan was quoted as saying in a February 2022 profile posted by the federal judiciary.

  • Newswire: America’s demographic shifts and the racial generation gap: a spark for political tensions

    A large diverse crowd of people

    By Stacy M. Brown
  NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    It’s been a poorly kept secret that the underlying reason for much of America’s hate seen in recent years revolves around the fear that white people are fast losing their grip on the nation’s majority.
That fear has resonated and is ever-present politically and socially.
The Jan. 6 insurrection, former President Donald Trump and his MAGA supporters, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ assault on Black history, the uptick in hate crimes, including police brutality against African Americans, and the continued wave of “Karens” and “Kens.”
Indeed, white supremacists and white nationalists and the politicians who fuel them see a new majority, people of color, and that has served to spark what’s more and more beginning to look like an all-out civil war – or more pointedly, a race war.
In April 2021, the Census Bureau released the first set of results from the 2020 decennial census, providing a snapshot of the U.S. population for use in congressional reapportionment and redistricting.
But recently, the agency released more detailed census information that shows a fuller picture of the population as it stood during the once-a-decade headcount.
“These new statistics make plain that substantial old-young racial gaps exist in much of the country, and are likely to persist in the near term,” William H. Frey, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, wrote.
“This is reflected in a cultural generation gap that underlies many aspects of the nation’s social fabric and politics, including views about the recent Supreme Court decision on affirmative action and state proposals to limit teaching about race and diversity in public schools,” Frey wrote in new researched released by the Brookings Institution.
The statistics show that the nation continues to age, with the fastest population growth occurring among the older population while the youth population declines.
Brookings’s data shows white Americans contributed substantially to older population gains compared to younger and middle-aged populations, which registered white declines.
Nonwhite residents accounted for all the gains in post-baby-boomer populations.
Although all race and ethnic groups are aging to some degree, the median age of white Americans is higher than all others in most geographic areas, researchers wrote.
They said these patterns have led to a “racial generation gap,” in which the younger population—more influenced by immigration in recent decades—is far more diverse than older age groups.
This demographic phenomenon has been shown to underlie many aspects of American social life, including its politics, Frey wrote.
“Generation Z will be the last generation of Americans with a white majority, according to census data,” Daniel De Vise wrote for The Hill.
“The nation’s so-called majority minority arrived with Generation Alpha, those born since about 2010.”
De Vise added that, “barely two decades from now, around 2045, non-Hispanic white people will fall below half a share of the overall U.S. population.”
The journalist concluded that “America’s white majority, and its numbered days, is a lightning-rod topic, given the nation’s history of slavery and enduring patterns of discrimination against minorities and immigrants.”
Additionally, “Race is the most complicated variable in the census, and it’s the one that draws people like moths to the flame,” Dowell Myers, a professor of policy, planning and demography at the University of Southern California, told The Hill.
Justin Gest, a professor at George Mason University’s Scholar School of Policy and Government, observed that, “In this environment, nationalism has experienced a rebirth.”
In an op-ed, Gest wrote that in the face of destabilizing demographic change and the uncertainties of globalization, nationalism is a familiar security blanket.
“In democracies particularly, nationalism asserts precisely what demographic change threatens: a specific ethno-religious people’s social dominance and entitlement to the state,” Gest concluded.

  • Kid’s Tent at annual festival to feature hands-on arts, pottery making and African drumming

    A special feature of the annual Black Belt Folk Roots Festival is the Kid’s Tent which provides hands-on-art activities for young people at the festival site on Saturday, August 26, 2023. The Kid’s Tent will welcome young people on the festival grounds (the Thomas Gilmore Courthouse Square – old courthouse square in Eutaw) to participate in the various hands-on-arts activities beginning at 1:00 pm on Saturday, August 26, 2023. The Kid’s Tent will be located on the Northern area of the town square.
    Greene County artist, Mynecia Steele, will lead the youth activities engaging them in creative exercises including drawing, painting, face painting and more. The participating youth will take home their creations as well as additional art supplies.
    Ms. Steele is a published author and graphic artists who will also have a selection of her works for display and sale at the festival. Her various children’s books, themed posters and myriad creations have become treasured items locally as well as throughout the worldwide web, under her brand This is Myne Design.
    A new feature of the Kid’s Tent will include pottery making, led by artist Kaitlin Whittle, an artist currently living in Eutaw, Alabama working primarily in graphite, oil paint, and clay. Ms. Whittle will engage the youth in the basic process of working with clay, guiding them to create their own products. Hopefully, at the close of the day, the participating young people will have small clay pots to take home.
    Ms. Whittle has taught formally in the K-12 school systems of Georgia and Alabama and in smaller, less formal art programs.
    A culminating event for the youth and others at the annual festival will be the presentation of an African Drum Line led by cultural artist LaVondia Bryant Smith of Birmingham, Founder/Artistic Director of Nathifa Dance Company & Outreach Inc. She is a professional dancer and choreographer in West African dance and Modern dance. Her closing presentation will instruct and engage the young people in the role and significance of the drums, specifically in African Cultures.