Enough is enough
Commentary by Chitown Kev
At some point in the middle of the night as I was preparing today’s Abbreviated Pundit Roundup, I ran across this X/Twitter post.
“We Charge Genocide?” So original.
I generally try to steer clear of the Israel/Palestinian/Gaza/Hamas conflict in my work.
I have linked to many stories about Israel’s war with Hamas since October 7, 2023 when Hamas massacred ~1,100 people of Israeli and other national origins in a number of kibbutzim along Israel’s border with Gaza and the Nova Music Festival.
Israel has a right to defend itself, yes, but I also think that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the IDF, and his far-right acolytes have gone far far far overboard in seeking retribution for that most heinous of crimes, killing tens of thousands of innocent Gazans and even not an insignificant number of Palestinians that live in the West Bank.
Given that journalism and the arts are passions of mine, I have been particularly incensed about what I feel is the wanton murder of Gazan/Palestinian journalists reporting on the war and the utter decimation Gaza’s cultural heritage by the IDF.
In this country, I have seen what I feel are legitimate protests against Israel’s conduct of war. I have also watched protests drenched in antisemitism.
I won’t say that I understand the history of coalitions with regard to the issue that well. I do know that, historically, Black Americans have formed coalitions with both Jews and Palestinians (coalitions with Jews are much older).
As the Democratic National Convention (taking place in Chicago August 19-22) approaches, I have seen posts on X/Twitter pleading for Black support cross the line into bullying and out and out racism.
It’s not the first time that I’ve seen racism from Palestinians and other Arabs, either.
A cartoon of former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pregnant with a monkey that appeared in some Palestinian Media publications
And I was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and have dealt with Arab people all my life. Don’t get me started.
“Killer Kamala?” Or even the more offensive and tone-deaf “Holocaust Kamala?”
Really?
No. No. No...just no.
Any of the people in this Chicago-based group can vote for whom they wish. And while I don’t consider this video to be as over-the-top a threat that some of my Twitter buddies do, it’s still menacing.
I’m all for the Palestinian freedom to be and to thrive and to have a state but if you want to use the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement as your model, than you can’t be pro-Hamas and want my support.
In fact, I would suggest that you don’t ask.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hundreds of Black hospitals in the U.S. closed after passage of the Civil Rights Act when health care became integrated. Black communities lost a source of employment and pride. NPR: Black hospitals vanished in the U.S. decades ago. Some communities have paid a price
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the center of this historically Black city, once deemed “the jewel of the Delta” by President Theodore Roosevelt, dreams to revitalize an abandoned hospital building have all but dried up.
An art deco sign still marks the main entrance, but the front doors are locked, and the parking lot is empty. These days, a convenience store across North Edwards Avenue is far busier than the old Taborian Hospital, which first shut down more than 40 years ago.
Myrna Smith-Thompson, who serves as executive director of the civic group that owns the property, lives 100 miles away in Memphis, Tennessee, and doesn’t know what's to become of the deteriorating building.
“I am open to suggestions,” said Smith-Thompson, whose grandfather led a Black fraternal organization now called the Knights and Daughters of Tabor.
In 1942, that group established Taborian Hospital, a place staffed by Black doctors and nurses that exclusively admitted Black patients, during a time when Jim Crow laws barred them from accessing the same health care facilities as white patients.
“This is a very painful conversation,” said Smith-Thompson, who was born at Taborian Hospital in 1949. “It’s a part of my being.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you missed it, both viewers and judges in Paris were unimpressed by Gunn’s performance, as she didn’t even make it past the first round.
Many of us used her moves as an opportunity to make jokes, but some found it disrespectful and a mockery of an art that Black people originated. It was even more offensive after people learned that she has a a Ph.D. in cultural studies and breakdancing and hip-hop culture and is a lecturer at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.
Some expressed that if she was so educated about the art, why did she go out and make a fool of herself?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The last known U.S. slave ship is too “broken” and decayed to be extracted from the murky waters of the Alabama Gulf Coast without being dismembered, a task force of archaeologists, engineers and historians announced following a years long investigation.
The task force headed by the Alabama Historical Commission said Thursday that the Clotilda, the last ship known to transport enslaved Africans to the United States, had been broken in half by a large vessel and severely eroded by bacteria. The 500-page report says that the “responsible” way to memorialize the ship is to protect it under the water where it was discovered in 2019.
“There is no other site in the world that presents such physical evidence as the Clotilda,” said James Delgado, a lead marine archeologist on the investigation who said the priority was preserving that physical evidence. “The Clotilda is the scene of the crime, so everything we did was in that crime scene investigation manner.”
The wooden schooner at the heart of the investigation was commissioned in 1860 by Timothy Meaher, one year before the Confederacy was created and decades after the importation of slaves was made punishable by death in 1808. Captained by William Foster, the ship traveled to West Africa and illegally smuggled 110 Africans back to Alabama. Foster then attempted to burn and sink the ship to hide the crime.
After the Civil War freed the survivors of the Clotilda, historical records show 32 of them bought land from Meaher and established what is now Africatown, formally known as Plateau, about 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) north of Mobile.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pressure is mounting on Kenyan police officers to deliver on their promise to help bring Haiti's rampant gangs under control, six weeks after setting foot in the Caribbean nation.
When the first contingent of 200 elite Kenyan police officers flew into Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince on 25 June, they filed confidently off their Kenyan Airways flight clad in helmets and combat gear, carrying their weapons and holding high the Kenyan national flag.
They chanted in Swahili while they psyched themselves up on the airport tarmac, as did a second batch of 200 Kenyan officers who landed three weeks later.
"Let's go!" and "We're moving!" came the cries.
Hopes were high that the Kenyan police would bring much-needed muscle to Haiti's beleaguered National Police (PNH), as they struggled to hold back a deadly offensive by Haitian criminal gangs that have terrorised the capital and large swathes of the country for more than three years.
The Kenyans are the advance guard core of a UN-mandated, multinational force that will seek to restore peace to Haiti.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WELCOME TO THE TUESDAY PORCH
IF YOU ARE NEW TO THE BLACK KOS COMMUNITY, GRAB A SEAT, SOME CYBER EATS, RELAX, AND INTRODUCE YOURSELF.
