Politics and Current
OP-ED: DC just passed a draconian crime bill, showing that black faces in positions of power are not enough
WASHINGTON – FEBRUARY 01: Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser speaks on stage during Black History Month observance through the Welcome Black kickoff event on the Carlyle Room on February 1, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Brian Stukes/Getty Images)
Thirty years ago, Congress, under the leadership of now President after which Senator Joe Biden, passed the 1994 crime bill – a bill that became infamous for his disastrous role in the mass incarceration of many Black people.
Today that is the law widely criticized amongst progressives and Black people as an obvious indicator of anti-Blackness Hillary ClintonJoe Biden and each politician considered to support this bill as well heavily criticized. Not enough to maintain them out of the White House (in Joe Biden’s case), but strong nonetheless.
Despite this criticism – and despite making a great show of A Black Lives Matter mural in the sphere and changing the name of the square in the face of the George Floyd protests – Washington city council passed the criminal law This would give the police unfettered power in the town. This includes, but is not limited to:
- have the power to designate any neighborhood as a high-risk area, and once they accomplish that, they’ll stop, search or arrest anyone walking with up to at least one other person
- the suitable to arrest any person wearing any face covering on the police’s sole discretion;
- the suitable to require any person traveling on the subway to discover themselves to the police without lawful reason, regardless of whether the police identified themselves or not;
- the suitable to legally kill suspects during automotive chases;
- the power to review body camera footage before writing a statement; AND
- making weapons a crime – it will develop into a separate crime the moment the weapon touches the bottom.
It doesn’t take much imagination to understand how deadly the results of this latest law could be in a country where police have repeatedly killed black individuals with the justification that they thought the black person was armed, legally or not. . Imagine that a law that makes it a crime discourages you from putting your gun down, when keeping a gun in your person could easily be a death sentence from the police.
This laws initially blew me away. Not only is that this why – despite the general public condemnation that followed the 1994 Crime Bill – they determine to introduce one of essentially the most openly draconian, dangerous, excessive and possibly unconstitutional expansions of police powers that will certainly be implemented on a racist basis, but precisely because she was introduced by DC Mayor Muriel Bowser – a black woman.
But then I began pondering seriously concerning the 1994 crime bill and realized that the racist legacy of the law’s effects often overshadows the grim reality that we must seriously reckon with: the bill was supported by many black leaders.
With that in mind, as an alternative of viewing Mayor Bowser in isolation, I see her amongst other Black politicians across the United States pursuing troubling policies. They have exploited their blackness – or, more specifically, the black community’s receptivity to supporting black candidates who present themselves as avatars of black excellence, black success/wealth, and black respectability. However, our community often fails to critically examine how clinging to those myths harms other Black individuals who do not or cannot model themselves after these myths.
Moreover, they provide their blackness as a shield for white individuals who do not wish to be called racists. White voters can thus elect Blacks who promise to police Blacks more rigorously, thus strengthening the racist system without being called racists. If you remember the movie where a white father met his daughter’s black boyfriend, played by Daniel Kaluuya, to speak that he would “vote for Obama for a third term.”
This shield may explain why so many white and black people support and defend District Attorney Fani Willis – the lady famous for bringing RICO charges against Donald Trump, while people conveniently forget that she often abuses RICO charges against Black people.
Willis is identical woman who desired to bring RICO charges against Atlanta public school teachers, refused to prosecute the officer who killed Rayshard Brooksand – although Georgia’s attorney general has filed RICO charges to indict activists protesting the development of a massive police training facility called Cop City – she has not yet brought charges police who shot one of the activists.
This is the curse of representation for its own sake. The fundamental problem is the idea that diversifying racist institutions will change those institutions, when in fact diverse members are required to punish their very own more harshly in order to prove their price and purpose to the institutions they serve.
When you think about the necessities of the cohort to which Mayor Bowser belongs, it becomes easier to discover other members. New York Mayor Eric Adams, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens come to mind.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams is a black man, but he can also be a former NYPD officer who seems to discover more with the latter than the previous. Despite a campaign that aired ads targeting the Black community depicting his childhood experiences with police brutality and his desire to develop into a police officer to fight it, Adams is not only liable for restoring stop and friskbut for doing it worse than even in the Bloomberg era, when it was ruled unconstitutional in 2011 because of racist use by New York police against blacks and Latinos.
Since Adams took power, the New York Police Department has detained tens of 1000’s of people 97 percent of people detained are black or Latino. Worse still, Adams not only oversaw the NYPD’s use of stop and search warrants, but he in particular revived and renamed the NYPD unit which was disbanded on account of the disproportionate number of police shootings in 2020 to perform arrests. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg for Adams.
Meanwhile, just down the road in Philadelphia, Mayor Parker is busy hiring tons of of recent cops, ban and criminalization of ski masksAND also promising to implement the Stop and Frisk function.
And all of this still pales in comparison to Atlanta Mayor Dickens presiding over one of the blackest cities in the country and responding to the demands of those black voters protests against the police brutality they face, which killed 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks in 2020 spending $90 million for Cop City– which might cut down acres of forest needed to guard Atlantis from flooding and overheating so cops could learn war tactics to police black voters.
While people rejoice Atlanta as its own Black meccaits politicians routinely ignore i over-criminalize Atlanteans who live in povertyoften arming the RICO charges against themso that they’ll create the looks of a Black mecca for a few wealthy Black individuals who can model themselves on the parable of Black perfection and, by supporting the police state, show that they keep other Black people in line.
It is time for Black people to query Black leadership and reject the concept that it’s enough to have any Black person on the table so long as they give the impression of being the part, or to repeat the myths of Black excellence and respect that harm most of us in practice.
It’s time to ask ourselves which Black people we put on the table, since the plethora of anti-Black laws supported by Black politicians across the country indicate that now we have many individuals representing us, but only a few serving us.
Politics and Current
Matt Gaetz withdraws from Trump’s nomination for attorney general
Former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz is withdrawing from President-elect Donald Trump’s presidency nomination for attorney general after backlash.
In an announcement released Nov. 21 via X, Gaetz withdrew from the nomination, saying his confirmation was a “distraction.” “I had excellent meetings with senators yesterday. I appreciate their thoughtful opinions and the incredible support from so many people. While momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation unfairly distracted from the critical work of the Trump-Vance transition,” he wrote.
“There isn’t any time to waste on an unnecessarily prolonged fight in Washington. “I am therefore withdrawing my name from consideration for the position of Attorney General.”
Knowing that the appointed attorney general should be able to serve on the primary day of the brand new Trump-Vance administration, waiting for legal proceedings would make it harder for Gaetz to meet that commitment. A former lawmaker is under federal investigation for allegedly paying two women to have sex and watch him appear on Fox News. Both women claim that in 2019, Gaetz also paid them to accompany him to a Broadway show. During testimony before the bipartisan House Ethics Committee, the ladies alleged that Gaetz paid them to travel across state lines to have sex almost twice.
The women were between 19 and 21 years old on the time of the alleged encounters. They testified that the disgraced congressman paid them to travel to the Bahamas with other young women – including one who alleged that she had had sex. with Gaetz when she was a minor.
After Trump announced his nomination to move the Department of Justice (DOJ), attention focused on outdated allegations, prompting the discharge of an Ethics Committee investigation report.
As committee members failed to determine whether to release the report’s findings, Sen. John Cornyn (Texas) characterised Gaetz’s potential confirmation as “Kavanaugh on steroids” in reference to the 2018 racial and sexual misconduct hearings. – Judge Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. “He’s a smart guy, I’m sure he realizes that,” Cornyn said, in line with .
A senior member of the Judiciary Committee warned that each one details of the FBI’s investigation and committee report – each good and bad – will eventually develop into public. “It will reach us a technique or one other. There are not any secrets here,” Cornyn said.
Before withdrawing, Gaetz met with Cornynand in addition Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and John Kennedy (R-La.) .). Vice President-elect J.D. VAnka also took part within the meetings. He encouraged lawmakers to present their former colleague a likelihood to present his vision for reforming the Justice Department and to carry off on making judgments about his fitness to serve.
At the time of Gaetz’s withdrawal, Trump had not yet issued an announcement.
Politics and Current
Missouri police officer fatally shot 2-month-old baby and her mother after relative called police for help, family says
A Missouri family and community are mourning the tragic death of a 34-year-old woman and her infant daughter who were killed in an officer-involved shooting earlier this month.
Family members say Maria Pike and her 2-month-old daughter, Destinii Hope, were shot to death on November 7 after police were called to an apartment in Independence, Missouri, in response to a domestic disturbance.
In the weeks for the reason that shooting, local law enforcement has released few details, but eyewitnesses have provided local media with their accounts of what happened.
said Talisa Coombs, the baby’s grandmother Kansas City Star that she was the one who called the police after a physical altercation with the kid’s mother. Family members say Maria Pike has had mental health issues, anger issues and most recently suffered from postpartum depression.
Coombs said that when she called the police, she thought authorities would arrive, arrest Pike and get her the assistance she needed. She told her son and Destinia’s father, Mitchell Holder, that she desired to press charges against Pike for assault.
When police arrived, Holder initially refused to allow them to inside, however the apartment constructing’s assistant manager persuaded him to let two officers inside.
Assistant manager Gavin Delaney told The Star that when police entered the apartment, Pike was sitting within the bedroom closet, holding Destinia, not doing or saying anything.
Destinia’s father, who witnessed the shooting, recounted the moments leading as much as the shooting to his sister, Ashley Greenfield.
Greenfield told The Star that when officers entered the apartment, she and Holder tried to take the baby from Pike as she moved from the closet to the bed. Greenfield stated that when Pike reached for an object on the nightstand, the officer shot the baby in the top while he was still in his mother’s arms.
Holder later recalled his horrified response to the shooting of “The Kansas City Defender.”
“They shot my baby,” Holder said outlet. “It looked like her head had exploded. Her blood splattered throughout my glasses and throughout me. All I could do was scream. I just kept repeating three words – the identical three words – “You killed her!” I screamed it. Time and time again.”
He added that Pike jumped after the primary shot and the officer opened fire on her.
Accounts vary as as to if Pike had a gun when officers entered the apartment.
Local news outlets reported that among the many few details police have released up to now concerning the shooting is that Pike was armed with a knife.
“When we arrived, officers encountered a woman who was ultimately armed with a knife,” said Independence Police Chief Adam Dustman. “As a result of this encounter, two people died, one was an armed woman and the other was a child.”
However, family members say otherwise. Before calling the police, Destinia’s grandmother stated that there have been no weapons in the home. Holder also said he never saw Pike holding a knife in the course of the encounter with police.
“Yes, I was in the room when it all happened,” Holder he said. “From what I saw, I never once saw Maria armed with anything. Honestly, I do not even know where that got here from. I heard crazy things like she held a baby hostage in a closet, that she had a knife, and all this crazy stuff that is not true. I mean, all I can say is that it’s possible she had a knife and I didn’t see it, but all I do know is that I never saw her holding anything – and I used to be there within the room.
Independence police said the investigation has been turned over to the Jackson County Police Involvement Investigative Team (PIIT), a team of detectives that investigates police shootings and use of force incidents.
Chief Dustman said just one officer, a “long-time law enforcement veteran,” fired in the course of the incident. The officer and two other people on the scene were placed on administrative leave.
Capt. Kyle Flowers, who heads the PIIT team investigating the shooting, said last week that investigators had reviewed body camera footage and planned to interview witnesses. According to KMBCthe team will turn over the findings of the investigation to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office, but Flowers didn’t specify exactly when that will occur.
Family members have called on authorities to release the body camera footage, which is able to hopefully reveal once and for all whether Pike was armed with a knife on the time of the shooting. They also call for punishment of the officers involved within the shooting.
“Why hasn’t the body camera footage been released?” Amber Travis, cousin of the victims, he said at a community vigil for Pike and her daughter. “Give my family a break.”
“It means a lot that the community feels the same way we do,” Holder he said. “It means the world. It won’t bring her back, but no less than we all know now we have loads of support here.
AND GoFundMe page was created to assist pay for Destinia’s funeral. As of Wednesday afternoon, greater than $3,000 had been raised.
On November 22, Destinii would have turned 3 months old.
Politics and Current
Jasmine Crockett blasts Republicans for so-called white “oppression” over anti-DEI bill
On Wednesday, during a passionate speech before the committee, Sen. Jasmine Crockett, R-Texas, chided her Republican colleagues for the content of an anti-DEI bill that calls for eliminating all diversity, equity and inclusion programs and offices within the federal government.
Crockett, a 43-year-old congressional student who has change into a star within the Democratic Party because of her quite a few viral committee appearances, condemned the Dismantle DEI Act of 2024. The bill, H.R. 8706 – first introduced by Republican Vice President-elect J.D. Vance – essentially prohibit all DEI-related activities within the federal government, including all related positions, offices, training, and funding. Strikingly, the bill also prohibits federal employees working in DEI positions from transferring to a different federal position.
During a House Oversight Committee hearing wherein she responded to Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., who repeatedly called DEI policies “oppression” — seemingly aimed toward white people, as many Republicans suggested — Crockett used the committee’s speaking time to criticize the suggestion that white individuals are oppressed in consequence of efforts to shut racial disparities in sectors resembling business, education, and health.
“You don’t understand the definition of oppression… I would ask you to just Google it,” said Crockett, who moments later read the dictionary definition of the word, adding: “Oppression is long-term cruel or unfair treatment or control, that’s the definition of oppression.” The congresswoman emphasized: “There was no oppression of the white man in this country.”
Referring to the history of chattel slavery and racial segregation within the US, the Texas lawmaker said: “Tell me which white men were dragged from their homes. Tell me which one was dragged across the ocean and that you will go to work. We will steal your wives. We will rape your wives. It didn’t happen. This is oppression.”
Attempting to further explain the importance of DEI, Crockett noted that she is barely the fifty fifth Black woman elected to Congress in its 235-year history, unlike the 1000’s of white men who’ve served on Capitol Hill.
“So if you want to talk about history and pretend it was that long ago, it wasn’t,” Crockett said, citing data showing that corporations perform higher and are more profitable after they are more diversified.
The anti-DEI movement, championed exclusively by Republicans, has led to several lawsuits invalidating federal programs, including debt forgiveness for Black farmers and business loans to Black and other disadvantaged businesses. Many states led by Republican governors have indicated that DEI – especially teaching about slavery and racism – is harmful to students, namely white students. In response, they banned such topics from public classrooms.
Jamarr Brown, executive director of Color of Change PAC, the political arm of the civil rights organization, said Congresswoman Crockett’s statements on DEI were “poignant and necessary.”
While the Dismantling DEI Act actually won’t be passed while Democrats control the Senate and President Joe Biden stays in office, it signals what may very well be a priority for Republicans next yr, as outlined within the pro-Trump “Project 2025” political manifesto “.
“According to Project 2025, diversity, equity and inclusion is synonymous with ‘White lives don’t matter,’” Brown noted. “Now more than ever, we at Color Of Change PAC, as well as advocates and activists across the country, must work to protect Black people and other people of color from harm resulting from anti-DEI attacks.”
Brown continued, “Civil rights protections have helped reduce mortgage discrimination, increase the number of Black physicians to counter problems such as Black maternal mortality, and provide financing for Black-owned businesses.”
He added: “Our country thrives and everyone benefits when diversity, equality and inclusion are valued rather than stifled.”
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