#BlackWomenLead
Commentary by Black Kos Editor Denise Oliver-Velez
One of my favorite follows on Twitter is a sister named Reecie Colbert, who goes by the handle of BlackWomenViews @blackwomenviews on Twitter, has a YouTube channel and is also a guest commentator on Roland Martin Unfiltered.
Sister Reecie is outspoken, pulls no punches (as #KHive members are already aware of) and is an astute observer of electoral politics.
Saw her tweet, and the accompanying thread, and wanted to give her props for highlighting these sisters — as well as others who were named by folks who participated in the conversation.
Here’s the thread:
She added in her final tweet in that thread:
PS- Like I said this doesn't include every Black woman. I encourage yall to create your own thread with another set of 9. It took me 90 minutes to compile this
A while ago I created a #BlackWomenLead Congress list to help keep up with their great work
Other folks chimed in, mentioning Lauren Underwood, Lori Lightfoot, and Val Demings. I agree.
There are many more, and I hope we will see all the sistahs who are kickin’ ass and taking names increase in number after the next election.
Though we regularly cover these sisters in our Black Kos twitter roundup, it’s important that we ensure they get more coverage.
All power to my sisters!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NEWS ROUND UP BY DOPPER0189, BLACK KOS MANAGING EDITOR
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Supreme Court’s Shelby County v. Holder decision left a gaping hole in our Constitution’s promise of democracy, opening the door to rampant voter suppression. Now COVID-19 is making things worse. Slate: The Roberts Court Has Made the Looming Coronavirus Election Crisis So Much Worse
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The 5–4 ruling in Shelby County transformed our multiracial democracy, eliminating our nation’s most successful weapon against racial discrimination in voting. It gutted the Voting Rights Act, the crown jewel of the civil rights movement. By preventing states with a long history of discrimination from instituting discriminatory voting changes, the act—until Shelby County—helped safeguard the constitutional mandate of equal political opportunity for all citizens regardless of race. Turning a blind eye to the Constitution’s explicit grant of power to Congress to eliminate racial discrimination in voting, Chief Justice John Roberts’ majority opinion claimed that, because the South had changed, the act’s formula defining which states were covered by the requirement to preapprove voting changes was unconstitutional.
Our democracy has not been the same since. After the ruling, polling places, particularly those located in communities of color, have been closed en masse. In the six years following the ruling, 13 states slashed nearly 1,700 polling places, forcing people to travel further to vote and making polls more crowded and lines longer. On Super Tuesday this year—seemingly a lifetime ago—black and brown voters waited upward of seven hours into the night to vote at a polling place at a historically black college in Texas. These long lines, as Ari Berman observed, were due in part to the fact that Texas closed 750 polling places—many in growing communities of color—after the Roberts court gutted the Voting Rights Act.
In recent years, millions of citizens, disproportionately voters of color, have been purged from the rolls, needlessly forcing them to reregister. From 2016–18, 17 million citizens were subject to voter purges, predominantly in jurisdictions previously under federal voting rights supervision because of their long history of voting discrimination. These purges—many targeting brown citizens based on supposed noncitizenship—have only picked up speed. And, on top of that, harsh voter identification laws—based on the lie that in-person voter fraud is a real problem—have made it harder for black and brown citizens to exercise their constitutional right to vote.
The pandemic is exacerbating these problems. States are moving and consolidating polling places, and eliminating voting in senior citizens’ centers and nursing homes and other places designed to make it easier for older Americans to vote. This is a sensible precaution to protect public health—as COVID-19 represents a particular threat to the elderly—but, on top of years of closures spurred by Shelby County, it means that it is harder than ever for individuals to find a polling place to exercise the right to vote, particularly for communities of color.
Polling place closures are likely to be most severe in urban communities, where voters of color are concentrated and where concerns about the spread of the virus are heightened. For example, in Milwaukee, where a primary election is supposed to go forward next week, polling places for the upcoming primary went from 180 to five. Holding an election under these circumstances would be cruel and undemocratic, and we are likely to see a replay of the situation in November unless we act soon.
Further, millions of purged voters have to reregister at a time when states around the country are insisting that people stay at home. And purges are not stopping, even as voter registration has been crippled by DMV closures and social distancing rules. Recently, Georgia instituted a mass purge of hundreds of thousands of voters. The courts restored the registration of some of these voters, but much of the purge was upheld, due in part to a recent Roberts court ruling that gutted federal voting rights protections. In 2018, in Georgia and elsewhere, as gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams put it, “democracy failed” without the protection of the Voting Rights Act. This year, the pandemic is making efforts to purge the electorate even more destructive of our democracy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After successfully launching Fenty Beauty in 2017, an inclusive makeup line valued at $570 million, a Savage x Fenty lingerie collection that is giving Victoria’s Secret a run for its money, and Fenty Maison, which made her the first black woman to lead a major luxury fashion house, the 32-year-old mogul is gearing up to drop a highly anticipated skincare collection.
Born Robyn Rihanna Fenty, the superstar confirmed in the May 2020 issue of British Vogue that the Fenty Skin line is set to drop soon. “Skincare, it’s the truth. It either works or it doesn’t. There’s nowhere to hide,” she told the publication.
There is no set date on when fans can expect the skincare line or an indication of the type of products that will launch. However, the Fenty Skin trademark that she filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office last year states that it covers “medicated and non-medicated skincare, soap, body care and personal care products (excluding color cosmetics, perfume and other fragrance-only products), and related accessories such as kits, tools and applicators.” According to the magazine, fans can also expect the line to meet the same standards of perfection and quality that distinguishes Fenty Beauty.
During the interview, Rihanna also revealed that she has complete control over everything Fenty Beauty releases, including the shade names and the marketing language. “Oh yeah! I write all of the copy for the websites, the product descriptions, product names, the color names…” said the. “I do have a huge team, but I just don’t necessarily think their tone is mine. I’d feel like a fraud selling something that I can’t stand by.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The industries that have been most actively shedding jobs are disproportionately filled by young and non-white workers. US News: Virus Job Losses Hit Young, Minorities First
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MINORITY POPULATIONS and some of the labor market's youngest workers have been hit hardest by the initial wave of job losses sweeping across the country, as the coronavirus pandemic upends the U.S. economy.
Data published Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows American employers shed more than 700,000 jobs last month. The severity of the losses surprised analysts who weren't expecting such dramatic employment upheaval so early in the outbreak.
"The number of jobs lost and the rise in the jobless rate were worse than expected, reflecting the difficulty measuring the magnitude of the calamity we're all too painfully aware of," Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst and Washington bureau chief at Bankrate.com, said in a statement on Friday. "We know the current situation is already much worse."
[...
Particularly at-risk industries for coronavirus job losses also employ a larger-than-average share of minority populations. Nationally, a little more than 36% of all U.S. workers last year identified as black, Asian or Hispanic or Latino. But 44% of leisure and hospitality jobs, 47.5% of food services and drinking places jobs and 55.7% of accommodation jobs – which includes many hotel employees – are filled by such workers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The tears began flowing immediately after Stella Nyanzi began to speak.
It was a cool mid-March afternoon, three weeks after Ms. Nyanzi, a Ugandan scholar and feminist, was released from prison for insulting the country’s longtime president, Yoweri Museveni. Before her was an array of political activists and community organizers, many of whom had traveled long distances to celebrate her newfound freedom at a hotel in Kampala, the capital.
“Thank you for loving me,” she said, drying her tears. “To love me is to invite hate. Some of us have been hated so much that we don’t know how to do love.”
But Ms. Nyanzi, who speaks with a ringing, authoritative voice, quickly got back to her remarks, urging activists in rural and urban areas to work together to build stronger grass-roots coalitions that could challenge the country’s political elite and empower marginalized people.
“We can laugh when we are liberated from Museveni,” she said of the 75-year-old president, once the darling of Western democracy advocates whose rule has devolved into outright autocracy.
“Please be bad for the sake of the cause,” she exhorted the activists, and with an impish grin added, “And don’t get caught while being bad.”
Ms. Nyanzi, 45, has in recent years become one of the most potent foes of Mr. Museveni, who has governed the East African nation for 34 years. With over 212,000 followers on Facebook, Ms. Nyanzi mixes profanity and bawdy humor with razor-sharp political insights in both English and Luganda to taunt the president and his family and agitate for sociopolitical and economic change.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The seizure of 20 ventilators destined for Barbados appears to have thrust the Mia Mottley administration into a growing global battle for critical supplies to fight the outbreak of COVID-19.
But Minister of Health and Wellness, Lieutenant Col Jeffrey Bostic on Sunday morning assured there is no shortage of the critical supplies, dismissing such suggestions as “absurd”.
During a press conference at Ilaro Court, Bostic revealed that the ventilators donated to the Barbados Government as an act of philanthropy were barred from exportation.
“They were seized in the United States. Paid for, but seized, so we are trying to see exactly what is going to transpire there,” Minister Bostic disclosed.
“But I remind you that ventilators are one of the most in-demand items in the world today and Barbados is merely wrestling with the other 203 countries and territories around the world seeking to secure as many of these pieces of equipment as possible,” he added.
While initially indicating they were part of the $1.4 million in assistance pledged by Barbados-born international pop star Rihanna, he later corrected this and added that five of the ventilators sent by Rihanna would soon reach the country.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was the second time in two years that Michael (not his real name) had run for his life. In 2018 his village was attacked. At least five people were killed. A friend was decapitated. Today Michael, his wife and three young children live in Pemba, the provincial capital. They sleep outside, chicks and pigeons pecking at their feet.
Violence has engulfed Cabo Delgado since 2017. On one side is a poorly understood Islamist insurgency. On the other are the government’s heavy-handed security forces. Aid agencies estimate that more than 1,000 people have died and at least 100,000 have had to leave their homes. On March 23rd the rebels made their boldest move yet, taking the town of Mocimboa da Praia, before retreating. Two days later they took Quissanga, 100km north of Pemba.
Until recently southern Africa had been relatively free from the jihadist attacks that have wrought havoc in the Horn of Africa, Nigeria and the Sahel. No longer. South Africa, in particular, is worried. The uprising also threatens what could be Africa’s largest-ever energy project: the development of gasfields in the Rovuma basin. Before this year analysts forecast that energy firms would spend more $100bn by 2030 to turn Mozambique into “Africa’s Qatar”.
Cabo Delgado has long been the most neglected part of Mozambique. It suffered horribly in the war of independence (1964-74) and the subsequent civil war (1977-92). It has the country’s highest rates of illiteracy, inequality and child malnutrition. It is one of just a few provinces with a Muslim majority, which had long drawn on a moderate Sufi tradition.
That tradition began to be challenged in the 2000s. Muhammad Cheba of the mainstream Islamic Council of Mozambique recalls how some young believers began insisting on wearing shoes in mosques, ostensibly because the Prophet did so. Then around 2008 a sect known as Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jamo (“adherents of the prophetic tradition”) was set up. In a report last year, iese, a Mozambican research outfit, noted that the group was heavily influenced by Islamists from east Africa. Mocimboa da Praia lies on a long-standing migration route, near the porous border with Tanzania. Close links were made between the group and cells in Kenya, Somalia, the Great Lakes and Tanzania.
The fundamentalists argued that mainstream Muslim leaders were in cahoots with a corrupt elite made up of criminal bosses and the ruling party, frelimo. The result: a closed shop that locks out the province’s Swahili- or Mwani-speaking Muslims from opportunities in both the legal and illegal industries that flourish in Cabo Delgado. Smuggling ivory, rubies, timber and heroin is rampant. These trades reportedly involve close links between organised crime and politicians.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two French doctors have been accused of racism after a TV debate in which one suggested trials in Africa to see if a tuberculosis vaccine would prove effective against coronavirus. BBC: Coronavirus: France racism row over doctors' Africa testing comments
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
During the debate on TV channel LCI, Camille Locht, head of research at the Inserm health research group, was talking about a trial in Europe and Australia.
Jean-Paul Mira, head of intensive care at Cochin hospital in Paris, then says: “If I can be provocative, shouldn't we be doing this study in Africa, where there are no masks, no treatments, no resuscitation?”
“A bit like as it is done elsewhere for some studies on Aids. In prostitutes, we try things because we know that they are highly exposed and that they do not protect themselves.”
Dr Mira had earlier questioned whether the study would work as planned on healthcare workers in Europe and Australia because they had access to personal protective equipment to prevent them catching the virus.
“You are right,” Dr Locht responded.
"We are in the process of thinking about a study in parallel in Africa," he said, referencing the existing trials in countries in other continents.
The comments received an angry response on social media, including from former footballers Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o.
.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mississippi State football player Fabien Lovett said he has entered the NCAA transfer portal.
The redshirt sophomore announced his decision on Twitter on Friday afternoon, saying he has three years of eligibility remaining.
The announcement comes a day after head coach Mike Leach apologized for a now-deleted Twitter meme that featured a noose. Lovett responded to the post with "wtf" on his Twitter account.
He did not say if the decision to enter the transfer portal was because of the controversial tweet. He did, however, retweet someone who wrote "Good for Fabien! This being the 21century, one would expect to know what is offensive. I hope more players leave MSU and not just football. Leach's apology is not enough." He also retweeted Shannon Sharpe's critical comments about Leach's tweet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Voices and Soul
by
Black Kos Poetry Editor, Justice Putnam
I keep hearing how can we get back to normal after this pandemic lessens, but I think the baseline for “normal” has never really been established. I keep hearing how this pandemic is hitting the black community especially hard and I think, what else is new? I’m old enough to remember “sheltering in place” was when the kids were hid under the floorboards when the KKK paid a late night visit and no one knew who might breathe their last. I remember the deaths of the young and the old and the intelligent and the simple and the beautiful and the unknown taken too soon by an insidious disease and it had been around forever.
Now I keep hearing about mob bosses and piracy on the high seas near Barbados as Trump’s pirates literally stole ventilators meant for the island. I keep hearing about safe distances, safety behind a mask and the danger of a kiss. I keep hearing about after all this, how can we possibly return to normal, and I think, define “normal.”
The Easter hats usually exploited gardens
and even when I took mine off, artificial bluebells
were braided into hair
just as they were (white lie)
when Deirdre's son dropped petals
into his mother's casket: one landed
as useless improvement of her mouth,
Years before, Deirdre and I ducked out of service
went to Little Italy's Murray Hill and slurped
things marinara with our decaf to support her crush
on Hill Street Blues' Ed Marinaro who played Coffey
who wasn't quite the palest thing in her life
considering what breathed down our necks
the most inhospitable air they had
but we anticipated bad breath,
we had assumed a garlicky existence
because miracles we then believed in made vampirism
just as plausible. No flowers on the checked-top table
wilted because of atmosphere. From a distance
the beret we saw on a stranger was telling us
walking wounded
and images from former Persian and Ottoman empires
say the same thing, distance failing to be what it was.
We learned Tigris and Euphrates
to help us learn the flowering of existence.
We learned fertile crescent
and we are somehow still amazed
by the fertility of experience: fully-swaddled
babies shaken like perverse maracas to silence
instead of make the music of rupture persistent:
light bulbs bandaged then fractured under wraps
and again and again those instruments
for crude concerts that parents applauded
with crackle that amplified the filaments' pitiful fizzle:
We didn't have to go much further to love Batman,
Spiderman, Zorro, the Lone Ranger, all masked men
illicitly patronizing convenience
stores
as I do for the implication that merchandise
has been skewed for the expediency of customers:
heads shrunken
and wrapped in price tags, Styrofoam, satin,
and certificates of authenticity. Real
old-school prissy passengers
in ling-finned convertibles wore nets on their heads
that when wind-whipped became fully bagged
as nets changed position, flimsy umpires appeared
stricken, the net a prototype of shrink-wrap
on these Sunday drives.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WELCOME TO THE TUESDAY’S PORCH
IF YOU ARE NEW TO THE BLACK KOS COMMUNITY, GRAB A SEAT, SOME CYBER EATS, RELAX, AND INTRODUCE YOURSELF.