Politics and Current
USVI Governor Albert Bryan Jr. Supports Kamala Harris
U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. was at the middle of the thrill on the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where some moments from the second day went viral on social media. Speeches by former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, a performance by DJ Cassidy who highlighted music from each state throughout the ceremonial roll call of delegates, and a surprise appearance by Lil’ Jon, who accompanied Georgia’s performance, setting the mood for the Georgia statewide roll call, were just a number of of the highlights.
“It was like a party,” says Albert Bryan Jr. “There’s so much energy, it seems insurmountable, given the amount of energy in the room.”
Byran was first elected governor of the USVI — a U.S. territory where greater than 90% of the population identifies as Black — in 2018. He is currently one in all two Black governors within the country. All 13 delegates representing the USVI are supporting Vice President Kamala Harris at the highest of the party ticket for president and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for vice chairman.
As a U.S. territory, that is the one official a part of the voting process that the USVI may have. Residents of the USVI and other U.S. territories aren’t eligible for electoral votes for president, in order that they cannot vote within the presidential election, but they will vote within the primaries.
Bryan spoke with BLACK ENTREPRENEURSHIP on energy on the DNC, the priorities he hopes the following president will consider within the USVI, and what it’s wish to be one in all only two black governors within the US
BLACK ENTERPRISE: Can you describe the emotions on the Democratic convention??
BRYAN: You know the way I do know individuals are excited? I passed (famous) people within the hallway like Spike Lee, U.S. Reps. Bennie Thompson and Gregory Meeks, and nobody paid any attention to them because they were all there for one reason: to support Vice President Harris.
There are loads of young voters and voters who were previously unengaged who’re enthusiastic about Harris running. There are loads of people of color within the room that made me say, “Have the demographics in America changed?” because (it’s clear) African Americans are coming out to vote for Vice President Harris. It’s inspiring.
BE: This is your first DNC. Can you talk more in regards to the excitement you see within the USVI? Is it much like 2008, when former President Barack Obama ran?
BRYAN: It suits that 2008 energy because individuals are excited that she’s a lady, she’s African-American, and he or she’s just person; she’s young and vivacious and caring, so individuals are enthusiastic about that aspect.
BE: What are the highest priorities for the USVI now that a brand new president has been elected?
BRYAN: At the highest of the list is constant to rebuild. We just went through a tropical storm that only had winds of 65 miles per hour, and yet we had people without power for per week. We need to finish rebuilding and provides individual homes energy independence, so if the facility lines go down or the facility goes out for any reason, they will get power.
In 2017, we had Hurricanes Irma and Maria. We need $1.5 billion to finish this rebuild, and our budget is simply $1.2 billion a yr. Because people within the administration are listening to our case, we have been in a position to get that right down to something we are able to digest and consider.
Healthcare is a very powerful thing. The baby boomers are getting older and living longer, and caring for them goes to be an enormous stress on us. We only have one hospital on each island. We had universal healthcare before anyone else. We’ll handle you regardless of what ails you. It’s going to be an enormous drain on the overall budget. Right now, we’re pushing for people to be healthier.
Inflation is one other big priority. An inexpensive home within the USVI is half one million dollars, and it’ll worsen because we’re constructing a lot. We’re growing so fast that it’s putting loads of pressure on people. We have already got a 33% poverty rate.
BE: How would you react to the undeniable fact that you became one in all two black governors within the country?
BRYAN: It’s lonely. We need greater than me and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore. Moore is a dynamic guy with a shiny future (…) but we’d like more.
BE: You are a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. Can you talk in regards to the excitement of being within the Greek community?
BRYAN: We’re all excited. We have a nationwide (campaign) to register 1,911 voters for every chapter. We’re calling our friends within the states to be certain that they’re registered to vote.
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.”
Politics and Current
Why is Trump delaying signing the ethics agreement?
The campaign’s legal department reports that President-elect Donald Trump is stalling the presidential transition process by refusing to sign an ethics pledge that is legally required of each sitting president
Under the Presidential Transition Act, Trump and his transition team must sign a document ensuring he avoids any conflicts of interest once he takes office. Only after the document is signed and sent to the General Services Administration (GSA) can the incoming administration gain access to federal agencies.
The transition, which President Joe Biden has promised will likely be “orderly and peaceful,” sets the tone for the Trump-Vance administration’s approach to transparency, accountability and earning the trust of Americans, all of that are seen as essential to making sure the administration fulfills its responsibilities to the U.S. people mean .
The reasons for withholding Trump’s documents are unknown, but some speculate it has to do along with his latest financial disclosure reports and for one reason particularly. Many of his holdings might be considered conflict of interest red flags, equivalent to his latest cryptocurrency business, a majority stake in his social media platform Truth Social, real estate, books and licensing deals.
It’s not only the GSA that the president-elect is avoiding. According to , Trump also refused to make use of the State Department’s secure phone lines and interpreters and kept away from using the FBI’s security clearance system. That’s why House Democrats issued latest laws on November 19 requiring Executive Office employees to have FBI security clearances. If not, Congress will likely be warned.
Democratic lawmakers and powerful Trump opponents like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) are baffled by his transition team’s refusal to sign an ethics agreement.
“Donald Trump and his transition team are already breaking the law. I would know because I wrote the law myself,” Warren wrote in X on November 11. “Future presidents are obliged to prevent conflicts of interest and sign an ethics agreement. This is what illegal corruption looks like.”
Skepticism towards the bill, presented by Representatives Don Beyer (D-VA) and Ted Lieu (D-CA)persists. The upcoming GOP-controlled Congress is seemingly leaning toward Trump. Once back in office, Trump will give you the chance to issue security clearances to anyone he wants, no matter the FBI’s objections or whether the person faces legal charges. This latest situation involves two of Trump’s Cabinet picks – Matt Gaetz as attorney general and Pete Hegseth as defense secretary, each of whom have faced allegations of sexual misconduct.
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