Mood
Rant by Chitown Kev
As I am writing this rant, I am also listening to the Jan. 6 committee meeting featuring witness testimony by executive assistant to former Trump Chief of Staff Cassidy Hutchinson about, among other things, Trump wanting to choke a Secret Service Agent in the Presidential limousine on Jan. 6.
I am listening to the hearing in the aftermath of last Friday’s overturning of Roe v. Wade by a 6-3 extreme right wing majority by the Supreme Court which, in effect, turns the matter of legal and safe abortions over to the states.
I am also thinking of what I interpret as a threat by Justice Clarence Thomas in his concurring opinion.
In future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell. Because any substantive due process decision is “demonstrably erroneous,” we have a duty to “correct the error” established in those precedents.
I’ve been reading the reactions to the expected Supreme Court decision at Daily Kos, Twitter, and other places on the web. And...I mean…
Am I reading that some Democrats (or so-called “Democrats”) want to withhold votes and money from Democrats trying to get elected this November because they blame the overturning of Roe v. Wade on...Democrats?
Just a couple of points.
1) The extreme right-wing of this country played the long game and executed a plan that’s been in the making ever since Roe v. Wade was first decided in 1973.
Oh, and if Justice Thomas is to be believed, the extreme right-wing wants to do more than that. Much more.
2) For some reason, I seem to remember that we warned by the 2016 Democratic nominee for President that this could happen. In 2016. The response by some was that voting someone for President simply because of the power to appoint Supreme Court Justices wasn’t enough.
So here we are, and some Democrats want to blame the overturning of Roe v. Wade on...Democrats.
Some Democrats want to withhold money and votes which, with the system that we live in, gives the extreme right-wing more power and probably control of another branch of government.
If that happens...well, then we can’t call that a coup, now can we?
Look, we have enough of a hill to climb as it is.
The extreme right-wing is already pronouncing that certain people need to be put to death, among other things.
So...because of the execution of a plan that’s been in the making for decades, some people just want to...give up, in essence.
Over my dead body.
And if the extreme right-wing ever come into power in this country anytime soon, it could come to exactly that.
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NEWS ROUND UP BY DOPPER0189, BLACK KOS MANAGING EDITOR
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Mechanics and Farmers Bank — a Durham institution and America’s second-oldest Black-owned bank — has received $80 million from the U.S. Treasury as part of the agency’s Emergency Capital Investment Program.
M&F’s capital now exceeds $119 million, according to company president and CEO James J. Sills III.
“This investment is a testament to the strength of the M&F Bank franchise, the health and soundness of the Company and its abilities to positively impact disadvantaged communities within its markets,” Sills said in a statement Wednesday. “This investment will allow us to build on our recent successes by providing even more ways for us to support small businesses in our community.”
The ECIP is part of Congress’ Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, which “was created to encourage low- and moderate-income community financial institutions to enhance their support of small businesses and consumers in their communities,” according to the Treasury. The investment augments two years of historic growth for the 115-year-old company. Following the Great Recession, M&F nearly faltered. In 2017, the bank reported its first net loss since inception. Many of its patrons were aging.
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From Latto taking home Best New Artist to Jazmine Sullivan earning Best Female R&B/Pop Artist, the BET Awards featured some of the biggest and brightest stars in music, film and more snagging highly coveted awards at the show.
Each year, the BET Awards returns to celebrate what the network describes as the “accomplishments from Black icons in film, television, music, literature and philanthropy,” and this year was no exception. Taraji P. Henson hosted the show, which featured performances by Lizzo, Latto, Lil Wayne, Chloe, Giveon, Chance the Rapper and more. The program kicked off with a high-energy performance from Lizzo, who brought her viral hit “It’s About Damn Time” to the stage.
Latto, whose hit song “Big Energy” has found major success on the charts, took home Best New Artist. While accepting her award, the rapper tearfully referenced one of her songs saying, “It’s giving boss bitch!” She continued to reference the recent Supreme Court ruling that reversed Roe v. Wade, saying, “It’s giving pro-choice. It’s never giving a man policing my body.”
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The Young and the Restless star, 35, won best outstanding lead performance in a daytime drama: actress at the 49th annual ceremony on Friday night, making her the first Black actress to win an Emmy in the lead acting category.
Morgan, who portrays Amanda Sinclair and previously played Hilary Curtis on the long-running CBS soap opera, received a standing ovation upon winning the coveted award, and opened up about her upbringing during her acceptance speech.
"I was born on a tiny island in the Caribbean, and I'm now standing on an international stage and I am being honored regardless of the color of my skin, regardless of my passport, for being the best at what I do," she began. "Now there are little girls around the world and no matter what the industry, the vocation … they can strive to be the best."
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Las Vegas’ Historic Westside community is paving the way for an African American Museum and Cultural Arts Center, as part of its road map to revitalization.
The center is one of many implementation strategies under the community’s HUNDRED Plan — a comprehensive agenda, developed in 2016, to breathe new life into the Historic Westside.
The city of Las Vegas issued a request for proposals on June 6 from interested parties to develop a master plan for the museum. The application deadline is July 7.
Las Vegas Councilman Cedric Crear refers to it as “changing the course of the river.”
“If you look at the Historic Westside and you look at what all has taken place throughout the city, the growth of the city, everything has been sort of built up around it,” said Crear. “Then you’ll see that a lot hasn’t happened within the Historic Westside for decades.”
The center will serve as an educational opportunity for museum goers to experience and celebrate the contributions of African Americans. A timeline or cost of the project could not be confirmed by Crear, but he hopes the museum will materialize by within the next five to ten years.
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The Voting Rights Act of 1965 has been slowly whittled away over the last decade by the Supreme Court — and a case set to be heard in the fall could shrink the protections offered by the law to the smallest level yet.
The redistricting cycle preceding this year’s elections was the first in 50 years to take place without “preclearance” requirements under the law — a pillar of the Voting Rights Act as originally written, in which states with histories of discriminatory voting practices had to have new election laws or practices reviewed by a federal court or the Department of Justice. Chief Justice John Roberts ruled for a divided Supreme Court nine years ago, in Shelby County v. Holder, to strike down the part of the VRA that determined which states and counties were subject to preclearance.
Now, a still-more conservative Court will hear arguments in the fall about Alabama’s redistricting, in a case targeting the other central piece of the Voting Rights Act: Section 2, which prohibits voting practices and procedures that discriminate on the basis of race. The result of the case could make it more difficult for minority communities to claim new election laws are discriminatory — and raise the bar for what has to happen to get relief from the courts.
The diminished Voting Rights Act has already played a key role, in its absence, in the 2022 elections. Three states that were previously covered by preclearance requirements — Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana — have all seen their maps face significant challenges in federal court over whether or not they give Black voters adequate representation.
Federal judges threw out Alabama’s map in the spring, but it was reinstated for 2022 by the Supreme Court, which ruled 5-4 that it was too close to the election to draw a new map. A federal judge in Georgia wrote in another case that the state’s map may violate the VRA while letting it stand for 2022, and Louisiana is currently redrawing its map under court order — though the Supreme Court could step in to halt the process, as it did in Alabama.
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WELCOME TO THE TUESDAY PORCH.
IF YOU ARE NEW TO THE BLACK KOS COMMUNITY, GRAB A SEAT, SOME CYBER EATS, RELAX, AND INTRODUCE YOURSELF.