Flooding the zone
Commentary by Chitown Kev
I had to surf the net and check the date to remind myself that Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock won reelection to the U.S. Senate for a full six year term only a week ago.
I don’t think that I expected the celebration for Sen. Warnock becoming the first Black person to ever win a full term as United States Senator in the state of Georgia to last an entire week, the news cycle being what it is.
But...and maybe it’s just me, but it seems as if the zone has been flooded with waves of news steeped in anti-blackness more than usual.
I’m not alleging a conspiracy theory or anything like that; in fact, I’m pretty sure that the MSM news zone is no more flooded with anti-blackness than usual.
I mean, if it’s not the muted, confusing and...let’s face it, racist reaction the Biden Administration winning the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner, it’s watching the rapid descent of a social media platform into conspiracy theory and bigotry, an outpouring of racist commentary from across the pond because The Duke and Duchess of Sussex deigned to make a Netflix documentary, or even (check this out!) a comparison between the new coach of the Colorado Buffaloes and Number 45.
Sigh!
Now do people understand the need for Black owned and operated media? I mean, we’re swimming in anti-blackness in the media and it does affect Black mental, emotional, spiritual and, yes, physical health.
Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr./AFRO News
As the racial demographics of our nation continue to diversity, American media must intentionally become more representative of that growth. One reason is because diversity is simply good for business. Another reason is because it is right, and it is just to include the very people on which one’s business success depends.
But perhaps the ultimate reason is because the greatest issues of our day – economic inequity, health disparities and systemic racism – pure and simple – will be best impacted when addressed by a multiplicity of people of all races.
Truthfully, all that I would like to do today is to sit back and just be able to read some news—any news and on a number of subjects— on this laptop screen without feeling that I need to go see a therapist.
It’s exhausting, sometimes.
But I have no choice but to persist.
Congratulations, Senator Warnock!
That is all.
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News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
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On April 23, 1967, George C. Wallace sat for a television interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, ready to reintroduce himself to America. To most Americans outside of the South, Wallace was known as the openly racist, defiantly pro-segregationist governor of Alabama: the one who, four years earlier, bellowed, “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!” in the face of the swelling civil rights movement; the one who, a year later, stood in front of a University of Alabama building to prevent two Black students from enrolling; and the one who, in 1965, allowed local police to bludgeon civil rights activists marching for the right to vote in Selma. Now planning a presidential run, Wallace knew what the Northern liberal press wanted. To his aides, he privately parodied their caricatures of him: “Hi, y’all. Sho good to see y’all.… I’m jes an ig’rant ol’ hookwormy redneck from Alabama come up to visit yall.”
But instead of the hate-spewing backwoods bigot, viewers got a smooth-tongued politician speaking the language of freedom. When asked if he still supported segregation, he now said he would not “recommend” it, but it was ultimately a decision best left to the states. When journalists depicted him as the embodiment of the racist “backlash” to integration, he replied that there was certainly a backlash, but it was “against big government.” Every time reporters tried to goad him into making a racist remark, he dodged the punch and immediately hit them in the upper lip: Northern cities, he would say, were even more segregated than Southern ones. His message, he told Americans again and again, was not anti-Black at all: It was about freedom from a tyrannous federal government. “When a central government bureaucrat or judge takes from us our right to run our schools, to determine the destiny of our own children, to run our labor unions, our businesses, our hospitals and our very lives,” he said earlier that year, “I do not call that freedom, I call that abject slavery to government.”
Wallace’s new message resonated with many white Americans outside the South precisely because he did not explicitly endorse racism but cloaked it in the language of freedom against an overbearing federal government. Since the rise of Donald Trump, many journalists have noted the parallels to George Wallace. But where most see George Wallace as injecting something new into modern conservative politics, the historian Jefferson Cowie sees Wallace as tapping into something very old. Since the nation’s founding, he argues in his outstanding and urgent new book, Freedom’s Dominion: A Saga of White Resistance to Federal Power, one common understanding of the term freedom has been the “freedom to dominate others,” especially against a tyrannous federal government.
The idea that freedom has been closely tied to racial domination in American history is hardly new. But Cowie, one of the nation’s leading labor historians, has found a novel way to tell that story. Rather than an intellectual history that charts an abstract idea across space and time, Cowie gives us a visceral, flesh-and-blood narrative rooted in a very specific place: Barbour County, Alabama. Few have probably heard of it, but this rural southeastern county that borders Georgia—population 25,000, largely split between Black and white residents—was not only the birthplace of George Wallace but home to at least six other Alabama governors. Perhaps more importantly, Cowie convincingly argues, Barbour County’s history—from the ethnic cleansing of its Indigenous inhabitants to the enslavement, segregation, lynching, and disenfranchisement of its Black population, to the suppression of its labor unions, all in the name of freedom from federal intervention—encapsulates much of America’s history too.
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In one of her last gifts, “Bigger Than Bravery: Black Resilience and Reclamation in a Time of Pandemic,” Boyd carefully curated works from some of the most influential Black authors, including Alice Walker, Pearl Cleage, Kiese Laymon and “The Secret Life of Church Ladies’” Deesha Philyaw. Through poetry and personal essays, writers shared their personal stories and reflections during the dual pandemic – COVID-19 and the increased calls for racial justice in the wake of the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Rosalind Bentley, who was one of the contributing writers, says Boyd was deeply committed to every aspect of the project, including her introduction. “Val was writing that thing until the last minute. She was a journalist to her heart,” she said.
Reflecting on Valerie Boyd’s legacy, Bentley says she loved her ability to make everyone around her feel special and says she’ll always remember her friend’s favorite words of encouragement, ‘You got this.’ “She always spoke to you in the positive. She truly felt it in her bones. She knew that writers of any age could have imposter syndrome. And so whenever I feel overwhelmed, I can hear her saying, ‘You got this.’”
“My friend had a zest for life. She always wanted to open a door for someone, and made you feel like you were the most important person on the planet. I always felt a greater sense of possibility after we hung out.”
And that sentiment was shared across the literary community. Upon Boyd’s passing, Alice Walker said, “Valerie Boyd was one of the best people ever to live, which she did as a free being.”
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A much-beloved children’s brand has been pulled into the ongoing battle over book censorship.
The book, “A Smart Girl’s Guide: Body Image: How to love yourself, live life to the fullest, and celebrate all kinds of bodies” by the American Girl brand, sparked outrage amongst some parents and conservative outlets, even garnering right-wing calls for a boycott in the midst of the holiday shopping season.
Released in February 2022, a synopsis of the book reads:
Every girl needs to learn to live comfortably in her own skin, and this book will show the way! In these pages, a girl will find everything she needs to know about loving her unique self, staying confident through her body‘s many changes, and appreciating her body for the life it lets her live… this book is a feel-good reminder that all bodies are worthy of love and respect.
Written to promote body acceptance and positivity, the 96-page book includes discussions of puberty, disabled and differently-sized bodies, as well as racism, colorism and beauty standards promoted by both international cultures and social media.
But at issue is the book’s inclusive take on gender issues. This reportedly includes an image of a transgender rights flag as well as a three-page discussion of young people who might identify as non-binary or trans, “including advice on transitioning and information about puberty blocker drugs,” according to the New York Post.
“If you haven’t gone through puberty yet, the doctor might offer medicine to delay your body’s changes, giving you more time to think about your gender identity,” a page of the text explains alongside an illustration of an adolescent speaking with their doctor.
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A charity led by a black woman who was repeatedly asked where she was "really" from at a royal event has temporarily stopped its work over safety. BBC: Ngozi Fulani's charity Sistah Space stops work over safety
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It says it has now "ceased many" of its operations over safety.
Ms Fulani has said she suffered online abuse after speaking out.
Lady Hussey - Prince William's godmother and the late Queen's lady-in-waiting - has since left her honorary role within the Royal Household.
In a statement on its Instagram page, domestic violence charity Sistah Space said: "Thank you for the continued support and messages.
"Unfortunately recent events meant that we were forced to temporarily cease many of our operations to ensure the safety of our service users and our team.
"We are overwhelmed by the amount of support and encouragement and look forward to fully reinstating our services as soon as safely possible."
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Sierra Leone is one of Africa’s poorest countries. About half of its adults cannot read. Its schools, few of which have electricity, are among the world’s worst. On any given day, perhaps a fifth of teachers are not in class as they should be.
In an attempt to improve things, Sierra Leone is undertaking a vast but little-noted educational experiment. If it succeeds, the country could write a road map that benefits even much wealthier places. In 2018 an incoming government increased public spending on education, which is now double what it was five years ago. The number of children enrolled in its schools has risen by more than half. With more bums on seats, it is now grappling with a problem that puzzles all of Africa: how to increase the woeful amount that children learn.
Over the past two decades, school-enrolment rates have shot up across sub-Saharan Africa. Yet as few as one in ten children can read by the time they leave primary school (in America and Britain more than 90% can). Politicians often underestimate the scale of this crisis, or waste money on headline-grabbing projects such as computers that do not push up grades.
To boost access and quality, Sierra Leone now allocates 21% of its budget on schools, one of the world’s highest rates. Much has gone on abolishing fees for tuition, exams and textbooks that many state schools had previously charged. Now almost two-thirds of youngsters are making it to senior-secondary school, up from a third. Behind his vast desk the president, Julius Maada Bio, says he has had to pinch funding from every other ministry to pay for the reforms. But he says the need for better schooling is “existential”.
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