Category: Black Leaders

There are many ways to rebalance the GOP-packed courts that go beyond expansion

Judges are supposed to rule fairly and impartially on the laws before them. Before I get into Amy Coney Barrett, let’s review the batch of judges you don’t hear about. Trump and McConnell used over 200 of them to flood our judiciary; let’s see if they seem likely to rule fairly or impartially. Trump-appointed District Judge

As early voting winds down across the country, voters are more determined to cast ballots than ever

This little PSA, coming in at exactly 60 seconds, reminds us of why each of our votes is needed. Brian wants you to know that it’s safe to vote in his Florida precinct. In Clay, New York—a suburb of Syracuse—so many people have early voted, they were already out of the beloved “I Voted” stickers

Lil Wayne, Latest Rapper in Trump’s Orbit, Sees Backlash Over Photo

“Oh no,” 50 Cent wrote on Thursday evening. “I WOULD HAVE NEVER TOOK THIS PICTURE.”Ice Cube, a founding member of N.W.A, who released a song called “Arrest the President” as recently as 2018, faced similar scrutiny after it was announced this month that he had consulted with the Trump administration on the Platinum Plan. He

Pennsylvania AG Tells Trump And The Proud Boys He Won’t Let Them Steal The Election

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said on Thursday night that he will not put up with any attempts by Donald Trump or organizations like the Proud Boys to intimidate voters in his state. “We’ve been preparing for this moment for months,” Shapiro said during an interview with MSNBC’s Joy Reid. “We will not let any

Once-competitive districts held by freshman Democrats slip from GOP’s grasp

● NH-Sen (Likely D to Safe D): Republican Corky Messner has self-funded $6 million in his bid to unseat second-term Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, but he doesn’t have much to show for it: Every public poll of New Hampshire’s Senate race has shown Shaheen over 50% and Messner well behind. National Republicans haven’t paid him

Donald Trump Made Them Furious, and Organized. Now Is the Big Test.

Carolyn Gibbs puts on the striped pants first, then the striped jacket. The hat is the final touch. That’s if it’s an Uncle Sam day. For Statue of Liberty, it’s a mint green dress, a foam halo and a political sign, usually, standing in as the torch.Before Donald Trump became president, Ms. Gibbs, 59, rarely

The Left Doesn’t Fear Amy Coney Barrett, It Fears the Constitution

Nothing threatens the progressive project more than the existence of a Supreme Court that adheres to the Constitution. It’s really that simple.That’s what the tantrum over Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation is all about. The notion that the same Democrats who shelved the judicial filibuster and now threaten to destroy the separation of powers with

A majority of Supreme Court now confirmed by senates where GOP represented fewer Americans than Dems

With this ill-won majority of radicals, the Supreme Court is poised to gut the rule of law, render the Voting Rights Act a dead letter, and give a green light to GOP gerrymandering and voter suppression efforts, all so that Republicans can permanently entrench minority rule at every level of government. Donald Trump himself has

Nationwide dispatches from Vote Early Day voters

Voter education is particularly important in an election held in the middle of a pandemic. The Vote Early Day website is just one of many that provide a plethora of resources to help people find out how to vote early, since policies and procedures vary from state to state.  xAs of today 10/24, Americans can vote early in person in these

Voting in a Covid Pandemic: Wear a Mask and Bring Your Own Pens

Early voting has already generated long, long lines in many states, and with the November election just 11 days away, many states and cities have imposed safety measures to protect voters and poll workers from exposure to the coronavirus.But polling places still have the potential to become “mass gathering events,” the Centers for Disease Control

Biden says he will appoint a commission on court alternatives

In the interview, Biden said: “There’s a number of alternatives that are—go well beyond packing. […] The last thing we need to do is turn the Supreme Court into just a political football, whoever has the most votes gets whatever they want. Presidents come and go. Supreme Court justices stay for generations.” So on the “packing”

LeBron James on Black Voter Participation, Misinformation and Trump

More Than a Vote, the collective of athletes headlined by the basketball star LeBron James, on Wednesday will introduce its final political push before Election Day, a rapid response and advertisement operation meant to combat the spread of misinformation among younger Black voters.The initiative, which is a collaboration with the political group Win Black and

A Democratic Super PAC Surge Helps Biden Expand His Map

Hi. Welcome to On Politics, your guide to the day in national politics. I’m Nick Corasaniti, your host on Tuesdays for our coverage of all things media and messaging.Sign up here to get On Politics in your inbox every weekday.Until a month ago, the biggest-spending Democratic super PAC in the general election had aired only

Supreme Court will soon hear Trump’s push to exclude undocumented immigrants from census

“The unprecedented proposal could have the effect of shifting both political power and billions of dollars in federal funds away from urban states with large immigrant populations,” The Texas Tribune reports, “and toward rural and more Republican interests.” Some say unprecedented, the lower courts say illegal. Of course the worry now is that the Supreme Court

Black Family Reunions, a Wellspring of Political Wisdom, Evaporate in 2020

Bettie Griggs, a retiree in Los Angeles, was 12 years old and living in Louisiana when her mother received her first voter registration card in the mail. It was 1965.“I can still recall the joy that she had,” Ms. Griggs said. “I can recall seeing that the card was actually stamped ‘illiterate’ and thinking, ‘Oh

Federal Appeals Courts Emerge as Crucial for Trump in Voting Cases

This month, a federal judge struck down a decree from Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas limiting each county in the state to a single drop box to handle the surge in absentee ballots this election season, rejecting Mr. Abbott’s argument that the limit was necessary to combat fraud.Days later, an appellate panel of three judges

Trump Campaign Lawyers Are Aiding a Leading Proponent of QAnon

Senior lawyers for the Trump campaign set up a small law firm last year that is working for Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican House candidate in Georgia with a history of promoting QAnon, a pro-Trump conspiracy theory.While federal filings show that the firm, Elections L.L.C., principally collects fees from the president’s campaign and the Republican

Joe Biden grilled by voter on ‘you ain’t black’ remark at town hall

Joe Biden launched into a nearly incoherent policy rant in response to a question from a young black voter who tossed his infamous “you ain’t black” comment back in his face as he simply asked what the former vice president would do for African Americans if he won. Student Cedric Humphrey from Harrisburg, Pa., who

Advocates want Georgia election officials to ease barriers to voting

The decision comes after the New Georgia Project sued Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in his official capacity along with several other election officials. In 2018, U.S. District Court Judge Louis Sands determined Dougherty County, in southwest Georgia, had to accept late arriving ballots. Hurricane Matthew hit Dougherty County hard, causing disruptions to mail service.

Trump even Defies Supreme Court in Inflicting His Hate on Transgender Americans

The American people, polls indicate, have not been buying the bill of goods Donald Trump has been selling in his strenuous attempts to represent himself as the “law and order” candidate. They seem to understand Trump is the creator of chaos and the one disrespecting and defying the nation’s laws at every turn, not Biden.

Kamala Harris Warns Russian Interference Could Cost Biden The Election

Democratic vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris said that Russian election interference could cost Joe Biden the White House. When asked about Russian election interference on CNN’s State of the Union, Harris said: I am clear that Russia interfered in the election of the President of the United States in 2016. I serve on the senate intelligence

Facebook announces new preelection rules for political ads and claims—but will it follow through?

In addition to the mere one-week duration, though, there’s a caveat there. Only new advertisements will be refused; if political groups already have ads in the Facebook pipeline, they will be allowed to boost spending on and visibility of those ads during the final week. Facebook will be showing plenty of political ads in that

Nina Simone was blunt about hand-wringers advising Black folks to ‘go slow’

Like most sane Black folks, I want Trump and his Republican Klan gone. Yesterday. We didn’t elect him. We are well aware that racism and white supremacy are deeply embedded in this nation’s foundation and we have been fighting against it since the time we were enslaved here, throughout Reconstruction and Jim Crow, and through the

Iowa’s Senate race is anyone’s to win as Republican advantage withers away

Ernst faces a well-funded challenge from Democrat Theresa Greenfield, prompting major outside groups from both sides to spend massive sums and reserve even more advertising time for the fall. National Republicans may have hoped that they could weaken Greenfield by going on the offensive right after her June primary win, but surveys taken since then

I Blame Donald Trump for Spreading COVID In The Rose Garden

From the very beginning of the Covid pandemic, Donald Trump did everything wrong. He ignored the warnings in his intel briefings. Then he denied it was here. After that, he claimed the pandemic was a hoax invented by the “Democrat Party” because even a pandemic was really all about him. He did nothing until it

Democrats Just Stopped Millions Of Voters From Being Disenfranchised In Texas

Democrats won a major court decision that stops Republicans in Texans from disenfranchising millions of the state’s voters on a technicality. According to a statement by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee provided to PoliticusUSA:The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Texas Democratic Party announced a major victory in their litigation to ensure

Hundreds protest in Raleigh and Portland; 2 officers tried to use stun guns on Jacob Blake

The Wisconsin Department of Justice on Friday released a statement saying two officers deployed shock weapons when trying to arrest Jacob Blake, just before one of the officers shot him seven times in the back.The news about the stun guns comes amid protests, arrests and public outcry about the shooting. Among other news, Kyle Rittenhouse, the

Republicans Are Taking Advantage of the Pandemic to Suppress the Vote

Kamala Harris has blasted Republicans for trying to exploit the Coronavirus pandemic to suppress the vote in November’s elections. The Democratic senator has called out Donald Trump’s own double standard on mail-in ballots. The vice presidential candidate wrote an op-ed in Wednesday’s Washington Post marking the anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, which gave some

LeBron James Announces Huge Effort to Recruit Poll Workers in Black Neighborhood

LeBron James is not only one of the richest and most successful athletes in the world, he’s also one of the most charitable. The Lakers star has paid for numerous college educations, served thousands of meals and even built a school in his home town of Akron, Ohio. This year, the basketball star has turned

LeBron James Launches A Campaign to Push for More Poll Workers

More Than a Vote, a collective of athletes headlined by LeBron James that is fighting to combat voter suppression, will announce a multimillion-dollar initiative to increase the number of poll workers in Black electoral districts ahead of November’s general election.The project, a collaboration with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, aims to recruit young people to