The midterms are "over," but not really because Georgia is still on the line. Phone a friend in the Peach State & tell them we need them to save us. Again.
What the Health
The latest COVID numbers: 98M total cases & 1M total deaths (+298K & +2K from last week) in the US.
The headlines:
There’s a chance that we’ll be spared from a crazy holiday surge. While cases are up and will probably increase further post-Thanksgiving, last winter’s numbers are not expected. Hallelu.
BTW, now that we’re almost 3 years into this pandemic, what does “caring about” COVID look like?
Another result of the inequality we face in healthcare: opioid deaths in Black folks have increased by 575%.
Don’t Forget
The runoff between Raphael Warnock & Herschel Walker is next Tuesday, December 6 and early voting has begun.
We all know someone in Georgia, whether they’re natives or transplants who posted “I want to move to Atlanta” on Facebook a million times before making the jump. Either way, REMIND THEM TO VOTE.
Keeping Up with Biden & Harris
After recent mass shootings in Colorado and Virginia, the POTUS is hoping to ban assault weapons before Dems lose control of the House in January.
Once a colonizer, always a colonizer: The White House has released its plans for living on–and extracting resources from–the moon.
In case his student loan cancelation program falls through, the Biden administration has also made it easier to get relief via bankruptcy. Before now, it’d been extremely difficult to discharge student federal loan debt by filing for bankruptcy.
Congress, What’s Good?
The latest: The GOP won a slim majority in the House and Nancy Pelosi is giving up the top Democratic spot. Hakeem Jeffries from Brooklyn appears next in line to replace her. Jeffries, known for his criminal justice reform efforts and his bipartisanship, would be the first Black lawmaker to lead any Congressional chamber. It all sounds good, but he’ll still have his work cut out for him. He and Kevin McCarthy, likely the House’s GOP lead, have beef that goes back to the days of Tr*mp.
What can we expect from this new House? Talks of impeachment, potential cuts to programs like Medicare and Social Security, and more scrutiny of funding going to Ukraine.
The majority of committee meetings this week will be led by Senate committees. Some of the upcoming topics include:
Reentering pregnant women into society after time in prison
Supporting youth’s mental health as they transition to college
Ensuring indigenous vets have access to VA resources
Social Justice Round Up
For our LGBTQ+ brothers & sisters, the Club Q mass shooting is a reminder that their Blackness isn’t the only thing they’re targeted for.
A minor has been ID’d as the suspect in the initial string of HBCU bomb threats from the top of the year. Unfortunately, because they’re underage, their identity has not been released (yes, we checked Twitter) and there are limitations to charging minors with federal crimes. They are, however, expected to be held accountable at the state level.
As the DOJ launches an investigation into police in Worcester, MA, other departments nationwide continue to act up.
Atlanta will pay a measly $1M to settle the matter of Rayshard Brooks’ wrongful death. Y’all’s Wakanda is still not Wakanda.
Once Karen Bass is sworn in, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles & New York will all be led by Black mayors. Will they actually use their position to enact change?
Around the Diaspora
Staff at Twitter’s office in Ghana are coming for what’s theirs after they were laid off without severance pay.
The Dominican Republic’s anti-Black antics are making headlines again. They’re deporting people in the country who look Haitian and we’re not 100% sure how they can tell since Black Dominicans do exist. They don’t seem so sure either since the US is accusing them of detaining Black American tourists in the process. (Ps. The US regularly deports Haitian asylum-seekers back to Haiti themselves, so we have as much of an aint-shit government as DR does.)
The Dutch plans to apologize for slavery and pour 200 million euros into educating the public about the history. Clearly missing from this plan is compensation for the people whose ancestors were enslaved and who continue to feel the effects today.
Getting to the Money
Nova Credit, a cross-border credit reporting agency, is hiring for tech and non-tech roles. All opportunities are remote.
For those of us who fancy more creative industries, Working Not Working also has posted over 400 job opportunities to choose from.
Buying Black
Remember toy stores?? The Magnus Company is a Black-owned online toy store that aims to instill “pride through play.” Don’t forget to browse their site as you’re shopping for your littlest loved ones this holiday season.
Culture that Pops
Black Planet just DM'd "Hey big head" to all of Black Twitter. Will they bite?
‘Tis the season to binge corny Christmas movies. Check out which holiday films featuring Black casts are hitting your screens this year.
Nipsey Hussle’s Marathon Films is partnering with LeBron’s SpringHill Company to produce a docu-series on the late rapper’s life.