The judicial system is so tired of giving Alabama F's on its congressional map assignment, federal judges will draw the map themselves. What's so hard about giving Black voters equitable representation? Also, the whitelash continues with RICO charges against Cop City protesters and its intended impact to future forms of Black resistance.
What the Health
It’s estimated that over 100K people in the US are living with sickle cell anemia. You can help save someone with the disease by doing this one thing in your local community.
COVID cases are rising, but the federal government isn’t planning to roll out any federal mask mandates. Not now anyway.
When it comes to deaths related to pollution, Black people are disproportionately affected.
Keeping Up with Biden & Harris
The POTUS went to India for the G20 summit and made a stop by Vietnam on his way back home. He mentioned his time in Asia was not to “contain China,” but to strengthen the US’ relationship with them.
According to a conservative-leaning appeals court, the White House violated the First Amendment rights of social media users who posted misinformation tied to the 2020 election and COVID-19. While the Biden Administration had the right to be concerned about all the alternative facts floating around, the court says they had no right to direct social media platforms to suppress users’ viewpoints.
Kamala Harris hosted an event marking the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop music. MC Lyte, Lil Wayne, Common were among her guests of honor.
Congress, What’s Good?
PSA: We have 20 calendar days until that government shutdown gets here and the verdict is still out on whether House Leader Kevin McCarthy can wrangle his party.
83-year old Nancy Pelosi is going to run again in 2024. Girl, why? We really can’t understand why these people don’t want to ride off into the sunset already. That money they’re making outside of their $174K salaries must really be good good.
On this week’s committee meeting agenda:
Looking to 2024
If Joe were to drop out of the race, here are some people who could replace him.
All those lies about “the steal” from 2020 could come back to bite Donnie in the ass.
Believe it or not, states can do something to ensure greater election integrity..if they wanted to. Here’s how.
Social Justice Round Up
There’s been a lot of talk about those smash and grabs contributing to retailers losing profit. Would you be surprised to learn that a lot of that is overblown? Yeah, neither were we.
Alabama is really trying to push their tired-ass, racist congressional maps through and the courts keep saying, “Nah, nope, no.” The courts have rejected Alabama’s maps so much that the judges will have a new map drawn themselves, finally giving the state a 2nd majority Black district. Florida, hopefully y’all will be next.
Activists protesting Cop City in Atlanta were recently hit with RICO (racketeering) charges. While these protesters have been targeted extensively since they started protesting in 2021, these charges were brought by a Republican state attorney in an apparent tit-for-tat response to Trump facing the same charges in Georgia. (BTW, just know that these charges, especially if the protestors are convicted, will have an effect on other forms of resistance moving forward.)
Around the Diaspora
Many of us know by now about the earthquake in Morocco that took an estimated 2,000 lives. Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone impacted. (In the coming weeks, we will do our best to share reputable humanitarian efforts that will ensure relief goes directly to the people, including Morocco’s Black population.)
As fighting between the military and a paramilitary group continues in Sudan, the estimated number of people that have been displaced has skyrocketed to 7M.
According to officials, Russia has been trafficking Cubans to the frontlines of the Ukraine war.
More than 50 organizations across the Caribbean are putting pressure on the US to do its share to address climate change.
Getting to the Money
Despite being nowhere near retirement age, a lot of us are already looking forward to the days where [insert your favorite chill song] is our life’s daily soundtrack. Until we get to that point—and hopefully it’s sooner rather than later—let’s make sure we’re employing smart retirement strategies.
Buying Black
Here are 10 Black-owned skincare and beauty brands to help make sure your Black don’t crack.
Culture that Pops
Coco Gauff did it! The 19-year-old won her first Grand Slam title at this year’s US Open.
Steph and Ayesha Curry pledge $50M to Oakland public schools.
Check out these books from Black authors that are being released this month. Works by Omar Epps and Cedric the Entertainer are amongst the list. Who knew?