NBA legend and Hall of Fame point guard Earvin “Magic” Johnson joined Vice President Kamala Harris at her rally in Flint, Michigan on October 4 and he focused most of his energy on getting the message across to Black men to vote for Harris within the upcoming November presidential election.

According to , Johnson began his comments with a temporary history of his and his wife Cookie Johnson’s support for Harris’ political profession.

“I’m here because I’ve known Kamala for over 20 years. Cookie (his wife) and I supported her run for California Attorney General, her run for Senator, and now we support her as Vice President, but now could be crucial moment for all of us, November fifth, we must do the whole lot we are able to, to elect Kamala Harris as the following president of the United States,” Johnson said.

Johnson continued, “There are loads of Black men here and I’m not going to, , not talk to other people, but this is significant. We have to force them to vote, that’s issue primary. Kamala’s opponent last time promised the black community loads of things that he didn’t deliver on, and we’d like to be sure we help black men understand that.

How BLACK ENTERPRISES as we previously reported, Johnson’s speech coincides with the “Athletes for Harris” coalition, which was presented in September as a part of the Harris-Walz campaign.

Johnson, who co-chairs the initiative, has been a centerpiece of the campaign and before appearing on “Flint” with Vice President Harris functionally endorsed Harris in an announcement introducing the coalition.

“I have known Vice President Harris for over 25 years and she can be counted on to deliver on what she promises,” Johnson said. “He will be a president for all people, regardless of race, language, sexual orientation or party line.”

Johnson continued: “During this debate, she showed all of us – and she or he showed the world – that she is prepared to be president, how smart she is and what her plan is for the country. We don’t back down; we’re moving forward. Call on all athletes: do not be afraid to use your platforms – we’d like the involvement of all of you. Share this information with your pals that Vice President Harris has a plan that may move the country forward. Magic Man is on board.

Although the campaign has made it a degree to court black men, and Vice President Harris herself has made it clear that she is specializing in this demographic during a panel of interviews with journalists from the National Association of Black Journalists in September, Trump and the Republican Party trying to capitalize on Black men’s dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party.

According to , interviews with several Black voters, influencers and strategists reflect broader frustrations with the Democratic Party that Republicans have been willing to exploit and are willing to play the long game to ultimately gain their support.

Kenneth Clark, a 43-year-old cybersecurity executive and entrepreneur, reflected that while Trump was sowing discord within the country, he couldn’t immediately see a tangible difference in his life.

“What exactly has this done to us? What exactly has this done to our communities?” Clark told the outlet. “Did it make us stronger? Did it hurt us? We were in the same situation as before.”

Clark continued: “I am not a Trump supporter. But at the same time, I don’t know for sure what plans either side has that directly impact us and our culture.” According to Clark, politicians “work on our emotions, but they don’t really empower us. They want our vote.”

However, the Justice, Equality and Economy PAC, a company that claims to represent 50,000 Black men across Georgia, decided to endorse Harris after previously endorsing Georgia Governor Brian Kemp in 2022. Part of that reasoning is, according to the group’s leader Omar Ali. is that Vice President Harris, unlike Trump, has offered material commitments to minority-owned businesses.

As Ali said, “We finally have a Democratic candidate who actually listens to us and asks what we want and actually understands that we are about more than just criminal reform,” Ali said, referring to Harris. “So it’s a very simple message.”

On Wednesday, a judge overturned an arbitration panel’s decision to reinstate a Pittsburgh police officer fired for his role in the death of a homeless man suspected of attempting to steal a bicycle.

Officer Keith Edmonds was fired in March 2022, five months after he tasered Jim Rogers 10 times. The meeting was captured on police cameras.

“They’re terrible to watch.” he said Citizens Police Review Board Executive Director Elizabeth Pittinger. “The inhumanity we see in these films is simply unthinkable.”

The city settled the Rogers family’s lawsuit for $8 million. Edmonds, nonetheless, argued that his actions had nothing to do with Roger’s death and won his appeal before the arbitration panel by a 2-to-1 majority.

In his ruling, Judge Alan D. Hertzberg he wrote that the two arbitrators who supported Edmonds’ reinstatement “deprived the city of its due process rights by unfairly concluding that Police Officer Keith Edmonds had not violated city policies, rules or regulations when he admitted that he had done so and when the evidence of violations was overwhelming.”

Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 1 President Robert Swartzwelder, one of the arbitrators named by Hertzberg, called the decision “an egregious departure from legal precedent” and predicted that a state court would overturn it.

(*10*) Swartzwelder said. “The medical evidence overwhelmingly established that Officer Edmonds did not cause the unfortunate death of Jim Rogers. It appears that local politics, rather than legally binding precedent, are at play here.”

The police praised this decision. In a statement, the Pittsburgh branch of the NAACP called the ruling “a significant step forward and should only be considered the beginning of a broader movement for justice.”

Rogers, who was already in custody, told officers he couldn’t breathe and asked to be hospitalized. However, body camera footage showed that officers delayed leaving the scene until EMS staff arrived to treat their injuries. By the time Rogers reached the hospital two blocks away, he was unconscious and later died.

“We are grateful that the court’s decision will allow the City of Pittsburgh to hold city employees accountable for their actions and ensure that every resident is treated with dignity and respect,” said Mayor Ed Gainey. “We hope this ruling will allow us to close a painful chapter for all those involved in the death of Jim Rogers.”

Since 2022, the Gainey administration has fired 16 officers, a rise from the previous administration led by Mayor Bill Peduto, which fired 10 officers between 2018 and 2021, in response to statistics obtained by a Pittsburgh-based advocacy group.

“I think the message is loud and clear that police misconduct will not be tolerated,” said Brandi Fisher, president of the Alliance for Police Accountability.

The day after two young Black Tennessee lawmakers were expelled by mostly white Republicans last yr, Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Nashville on a whim to denounce the ousters in an unscripted speech fiery speech.

Getting involved in such a state-level controversy was an unusual move for a sitting vp.

Reps. Justin J. Pearson, Justin Jones and Gloria Johnson were impeached in the state House of Representatives on expulsion charges after they joined anti-gun violence protesters in the Capitol constructing following a deadly school shooting that killed three 9-year-olds students and three lecturers.

Ultimately, Pearson and Jones – newly elected lawmakers of their 20s at the time – were expelled. Johnson, a white woman, survived the vote to maintain her seat. Pearson and Jones were later reinstated of their respective special elections.

“The vice president’s arrival in Tennessee on April 7, 2023 was one of the most important moments in our fight for justice in Tennessee in decades,” said Rep. Pearson, recalling Harris’ impromptu visit to Fisk University.

More than a yr later, Pearson is giving back to Harris, who’s traveling the country as a surrogate for her historic presidential campaign. Jones can also be a campaign surrogate.

“She came and wrestled for us in Tennessee, so I’m happy to wrestle for her,” Pearson stated.

Now a national figure, Pearson traveled to battleground states comparable to Georgia and North Carolina, in addition to states throughout the South comparable to Virginia and Florida. The 29-year-old state representative is reaching out to voters — particularly young Black voters — about Harris’ policies and what’s at stake on this yr’s election, scheduled for Nov. 5 in only five weeks.

“The energy is just palpable,” Pearson said of the overall mood in the field. “I believe Vice President Harris has high hopes for what she has expressed, whether it be helping first-time homebuyers and (or) enabling small business owners to provide more resources and capital.”

But polls show there continues to be a lag in support and enthusiasm amongst young voters of color. Although Harris leads Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, amongst voters under 35 (in line with a recent CNN poll, 52% to 40%). questionnaire), still lags behind President Joe Biden’s support in 2020.

Pearson found it “challenging” that young voters of color want to interact in the political process out of frustration.

“You don’t know if it’s actually going to benefit you,” he said of young Americans this election campaign.

But Pearson says the sense of apathy is basically resulting from the actions of Republican leaders like Trump and others at the state level.

“We had an administration that caused a million deaths due to mismanagement of the Covid-19 virus,” he said, referring to Trump’s presidency during the pandemic.

“We have seen policy at the state level expel and ban lawmakers instead of banning assault rifles,” he continued. “We have seen even more books being banned at a local level, rather than providing more resources for children to learn.”

Rep. Pearson, meanwhile, said Vice President Harris’ campaign raises issues that matter most to young people and Black and brown communities. That is why he is decided to be certain that as many communities as possible can vote.

“This campaign will be won and lost depending on who is able to knock on those doors, who is able to make those calls, who is able to get people to vote,” he explained.

Voting for Harris will come right down to highlighting her economic agenda and her commitment to solving national issues like gun violence. With just weeks to go before the election, he argues that Harris’ candidacy has “invigorated” voters who “may otherwise have been uninterested” in politics or government.

“The vision that he has and that he shares is more relevant to younger voters in a way that we haven’t seen in this campaign and we certainly don’t see in Donald’s campaign,” Pearson argued.

The economy is a key issue for voters, particularly concerning young voters who cannot afford living costs.

“People don’t have children… you worry about the consequences of increasing greed inflation in your life,” Pearson said. He added: “Or student loan debt… You can’t make the moves you need to if you take on $150,000 in debt.”

The Tennessee lawmaker highlighted Vice President Harris’s work with President Biden to cancel multi-billion dollar student loan debt so that Americans can “affirm their dreams… in a helpful and harmless way by giving money to billionaires.”

Harris also unveiled economic plans to extend the child tax credit to $6,000 for latest parents, provide $25,000 in aid to first-time home buyers and supply tax credits of as much as $50,000 for small business startups. She also vowed to pursue corporations for price gouging.

“We need someone who will show up and give her all on behalf of the entire country, not just the privileged few,” Pearson said of Harris, her support and her leadership.

Reflecting on the day Harris drove nearly 700 miles from the nation’s capital to Nashville, Tennessee, Pearson added: “And so she came in and fought for us, and now I’m fighting for her.”

“Because there will be a cult of Donald Trump,” he added. “We have to make sure our team shows up on the field.”

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