Greene County Democrat

Tag: Founder and President of the National Action Network

  • Newswire : Don Lemon made the headlines, but Georgia Fort’s arrest shows no journalist Is safe

    A professional portrait of a woman in a pink blazer and a man in a tuxedo, both posing confidently against a grey background.

    Georgia Fort and Don Lemon

    By Stacy M. Brown
 NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    Famed journalist Don Lemon may draw the headlines, but Emmy-winning independent reporter Georgia Fort and Trahem Jenn Crews and Jamael Lydell Lundy were also taken into custody as federal agents moved against four Black journalists whose only apparent offense was documenting protests critical of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
    Lemon, a veteran broadcaster and longtime critic of President Donald Trump, was arrested late Thursday night in Los Angeles after livestreaming an anti-ICE demonstration connected to a January protest at a St. Paul, Minnesota, church. A short time later, Fort, a respected Minnesota-based journalist, was arrested by federal agents in her home state for reporting on the same protest, according to public statements and court records.
    Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the arrests signal a dangerous escalation by the Trump administration rather than any attempt to ease tensions following the fatal shootings of civilians by federal agents in Minnesot. She said Lemon was simply doing his job when agents arrested him and stressed that Fort’s detention made clear this was not an isolated incident but a broader assault on press freedoma.
    Federal authorities revived charges tied to a protest at Cities Church in St. Paul after a magistrate judge had already declined to approve arrest warrants against Lemon and others, citing insufficient evidence. Prosecutors then pursued indictments through a grand jury, a move civil liberties advocates say appears designed to sidestep judicial scrutiny and chill coverage of protests against ICE operations.
    Fort documented her own arrest in a brief livestream as agents arrived at her door, telling viewers she was being taken into custody for filming the protest as a member of the press. Her arrest, announced publicly by Attorney General Pam Bondi, placed an Emmy-winning journalist alongside protesters in a case the administration has described as a coordinated attack.
    Civil rights leaders said the symbolism was unmistakable. Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network, said Lemon’s arrest marked a direct blow against the First Amendment and warned that journalists critical of the president were being singled out.
    Press freedom advocates echoed those concerns. Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, said the arrests represent a constitutional crisis for journalism in the United States, adding that reporters have the right to document and share information with the public without fear of retaliation.
    Mayor Bass said she contacted the U.S. attorney to demand information about Lemon’s status and warned that arresting journalists for entering a church while reporting crosses a line the Constitution was written to prevent. “It’s an egregious assault on constitutionally protected First Amendment rights,” Bass said.

  • Newswire : Claudine Gay cites ‘racial animus’ as Harvard’s 1st Black President resigns

    Harvard President Claudine Gay

    By: Bilal G. Morris, Newsone

    Harvard’s first Black President, Claudine Gay, resigned Tuesday afternoon after claims of plagiarism and backlash from a congressional hearing. During the hearing, she discussed the university’s code of conduct policy about hate speech centered around Jews.
    In her resignation letter, Gay said it was an honor to hold the position and seemed saddened by the decision. 
    “It is a singular honor to be a member of this university, which has been my home and my inspiration for most of my professional career, Gay wrote. “My deep sense of connection to Harvard and its people has made it all the more painful to witness the tensions and divisions that have riven our community in recent months, weakening the bonds of trust and reciprocity that should be our sources of strength and support in times of crisis.”
    Gay also talked about the stress of her character being attacked, citing “racial animus” during her tenure as President. 
    “Amidst all of this, it has been distressing to have doubt cast on my commitments to confronting hate and to upholding scholarly rigor—two bedrock values that are fundamental to who I am—and frightening to be subjected to personal attacks and threats fueled by racial animus,” she wrote.
    Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network condemned the attacks on Gay and pushed back against hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman, who called on her to resign, calling her a DEI hire.
    “President Gay’s resignation is about more than a person or a single incident. This is an attack on every Black woman in this country who’s put a crack in the glass ceiling, said Sharpton. “It’s an assault on the health, strength, and future of diversity, equity, and inclusion – at a time when Corporate America is trying to back out of billions of dollars in commitments. Most of all, this was the result of Bill Ackman’s relentless campaign against President Gay, not because of her leadership or credentials but because he felt she was a DEI hire.”
    Sharpton also announced a picket outside Ackman’s office on Thursday to protest his campaign against Gay.
    “The National Action Network will show Ackman that his attacks on DEI, President Gay, and Black Americans have consequences,” said Sharpton. 
    “This Thursday, our team will picket outside of his office so New Yorkers, his investors, and Corporate America can see Bill Ackman for who he is. If he doesn’t think Black Americans belong in the C-Suite, the Ivy League, or any other hallowed halls, we’ll make ourselves at home outside his office.”
    Dr. Claudine Gay began working at the university in 2006 as a government professor and became an educator of African and African American Studies the following year.
    The university appointed her as a Wilbur A. Cowett Professor of Government in 2015, and she served as Dean of Social Science from then until 2018.
    Gay has also worked closely with Harvard’s previous president, Lawrence S. Bacow, for the past five years.
    According to the Harvard Gazette, Dr. Alan Garber, Harvard’s chief academic officer, will serve as interim presiden

  • Newswire: Civil Rights Leaders call on Congress to address disproportionate impact of Coronavirus on Black Americans

    Derrick Johnson, NAACP President


    (TriceEdneyWire.com) – The NAACP has requested an urgent meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer regarding racial equity in the coronavirus response proposal.
    According to a release, “Marc H. Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League; Melanie Campbell, President and CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and Convener of the Black Women’s Roundtable; NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson and Rev. Al Sharpton, Founder and President of the National Action Network, insisted that coronavirus response legislation must take racial equity into account.”
    “As we often say, when white America catches a cold, Black America gets pneumonia, and never has that metaphor been more apt,” Morial said in a statement. “Urban communities of color are likely to suffer the brunt of the health and economic impacts of the coronavirus crisis and any legislative response must contain targeted relief.”
    “We’re concerned about the impact it will have on children who are out of school and don’t have the broadband internet access they need for digital learning at home,” Campbell added, “And comprehensive paid family leave for all is needed now more than ever.”
    “Low-income workers, who are disproportionately African-American, are the least likely to have paid sick leave,” said Johnson, NAACP president. “Black workers are more likely to face short-term layoffs or total loss of employment. How is the country going to address their plight?”
    Sharpton noted in the release that urban neighborhoods and communities of color often lack access to quality health care facilities.
    “What efforts will be made to make testing freely available in urban and poor communities?” Sharpton asked. “We need to make sure that the relief offered in any coronavirus response plan does not bypass the communities most in need.”