There seems to be a lot of confusion when this question is asked these days. Just look at the GOP & Trump and the US & Israel.
What the Health
More than half of adults in the US don’t realize that heart disease is the leading cause of death in the country. How different would things be if more of us knew this and led our lives accordingly?
When it comes to sharing timely and proper healthcare information to its citizens, is our government dropping the ball?
Keeping Up with Biden & Harris
It’s 2024 and the US & Israel still can’t keep their hands off of each other: Biden vows payback after 3 US soldiers were killed in an attack and a new arms deal is allegedly close to being finalized.
Over one thousand Black pastors—whose congregations will be needed to secure victory in 2024—are urging the POTUS to end the conflict in Gaza.
VP Harris is after Donald Trump for his hand in the reversal of Roe v. Wade.
Congress, What’s Good
During our break, Congress avoided another government shutdown in one of its signature, last minute deals. The good news: federal employees didn’t have to be furloughed. The bad: your elected officials only kept the lights on with a continuing resolution. No disagreements were resolved and we’ll be looking at this same exact issue again in early March. Yay.
The Senate did manage to find common ground on something during holidays: the border. A tentative bipartisan deal would allow the POTUS to temporarily “shut down the border” during surges that see more than 5K daily crossings for 7 straight days. It would also expedite the asylum seeking process. We’re not sure how this would actually work and implementing this will likely add to the human rights issues we’ve already seen at the border. Also, it probably won’t pass the House because Republicans are afraid of upsetting their daddy Donnie and giving Joe a “win” in an election year.
Topics in this week’s committee meetings:
Private military companies and their “peacekeeping” role in Africa (raise your hand if you know they ain’t doing no peacekeeping)
Looking to 2024
South Carolina, your Democratic primary is coming up this Saturday, February 3 and your GOP primary will be held on February 24. Nevada, your Dem & Republican primaries will be held on Tuesday, February 6 and Thursday, February 8 respectively. Are y'all ready?
45 is on the hook to pay one his of rape accusers $83M for defaming her during his time as president. This ruling comes in addition to a 2023 trial that ruled he had to cough up $5M to this same accuser.
Clearly the GOP wants a president that can do it all because while Trump’s losing court cases, he’s also cruising to victory in the primaries. Iowa and New Hampshire showed his Republican rivals who’s boss. So much so that Ron the Florida Man quit in the bottom of the first.
Should Team Biden actually be concerned by his predecessor’s momentum? This analyst thinks Joe’s odds are better than we give him credit for.
Social Justice Round Up
The State of Mississippi must retry a Black man who was sentenced to death row in 2004 because one of the prosecutors intentionally drove Black jurors away from participating in the trial. Is Mississippi tired of its own shit?
The murderers that took Ahmaud Arbery’s life will be appealing their sentences in March in an attempt to get their hate crime charges thrown out. They say they can prove they only followed and killed him because they thought he was a criminal and not because he was Black.
Utah is the latest state to ban DEI programs at public colleges and in government agencies. They will also require “political neutrality.” Yeah…okay.
Around the Diaspora
South Africa knows a thing—or a million—about genocides. It took its genocide claim against Israel to the International Court of Justice and walked away with what it called a “decisive victory.” The court didn’t call for a ceasefire, but it did rule that Israel must take steps to prevent genocidal acts and let humanitarian aid into Gaza. Israel must also report back on its progress in a month’s time. For us, this doesn’t feel like enough, but hopefully it's an initial step towards liberation for Palestine.
Kenya’s government is in a tussle with its own High Court after the latter blocked the deployment of police officers to Haiti in favor of military officers.
A new technology that will allow people to test for genetic eye diseases is coming to Barbados.
Getting to the Money
Do you know what “productive procrastination” is? That’s when you spend time doing tasks that keep you busy, but not necessarily tasks that help reach your goals. If this sounds like you, first of all, you’re not alone. Second, check the link above for tips to get out of the productive procrastination trap. From there, you’ll be able to get to the bag, get the new job, and/or get that peace of mind that everyone deserves.
Culture that Pops
When it comes to focus and determination, no one did it quite like the Black Mamba. In commemoration of the 4th anniversary of his passing, here are 24 quotes of his to keep you going.
Spelman College recently received a $100M donation. This gift is the largest ever given to an HBCU. Let’s hope other, smaller HBCUs also receive significant donations to keep them going.
Why do we need recognition outside of our community when we can do it on our own? Here are the nominees for the 2024 NAACP Image Awards.