Category: Black Activists

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

September 2, 2020
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

August 31, 2020
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

August 30, 2020
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

August 30, 2020
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

August 29, 2020
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

August 26, 2020
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

August 25, 2020
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

August 25, 2020
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

New Tennessee Law Severely Sharpens Punishments for Some Protesters, Potentially Endangering Their Voting Rights

August 24, 2020
Tennessee ProtestsProtesters are seen marching upon the Tennessee State Capitol building on June 4, 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee. Credit – Jason Kempin/Getty ImagesA new Tennessee law, signed by the governor this week, makes it a felony for protesters to camp out overnight on state property. If convicted, they could lose their voting rights and face

Tracing the roots of city boy Trump’s racist ‘suburban dream’ nonsense—all the way to Rush Limbaugh

August 23, 2020
Let’s start with Trump’s current campaign. On June 30, President Shitgibbon tweeted that he was “studying the AFFH housing regulation that is having a devastating impact” on the suburbs. He also claimed that his opponent, former vice president Joe Biden, wants to make things “much worse”—correction: “MUCH WORSE.” Trump added that he “may END!” the

Tennessee passes a law that can permanently remove voting rights from peaceful protesters

August 22, 2020
As the Associated Press reports, the bill does a number of things including:  Institutes a mandatory 45 day sentence for “rioting” Increases fines for blocking highways requires that protesters pay for any damage to state property makes assaulting a “first responder” a Class C felony with a 90 day mandatory sentence Most of these changes seem

Closing Night at the D.N.C.: Joe Biden Accepts Democratic Nomination

August 21, 2020
Joseph R. Biden Jr. accepted the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday night, beginning a general-election challenge to President Trump that Democrats cast this week as a rescue mission for a country equally besieged by a crippling pandemic and a White House defined by incompetence, racism and abuse of power.Speaking before a row of flags in

Former Postal Governor Tells Congress Mnuchin Politicized Postal Service

August 20, 2020
Lawmakers of both parties, along with civil rights groups and state attorneys general, have raised concerns about the operational changes given the growing likelihood that many Americans will need to vote by mail this November because of the coronavirus pandemic. At a time when Mr. Trump is attacking mail-in voting, voting rights advocates fear that

Obama Returns to the DNC With a Chance to Rescue His Legacy From Trump

August 20, 2020
“But he never did,” Mr. Obama said in the excerpts. “He’s shown no interest in putting in the work, no interest in finding common ground, no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends, no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality

Democrats Nominate Biden for President, Delivering Long-Sought Prize

August 19, 2020
Democrats formally nominated Joseph R. Biden Jr. for the presidency on Tuesday night, anointing him as their standard-bearer against President Trump with an extraordinary virtual roll call vote that showcased the cultural diversity of their coalition and exposed a generational gulf that is increasingly defining the party.Denied the chance to assemble in Milwaukee because of

Michelle Obama delivers epic speech on the opening night of the Democratic convention

August 18, 2020
Good evening, everyone. It’s a hard time, and everyone’s feeling it in different ways. And I know a lot of folks are reluctant to tune into a political convention right now or to politics in general. Believe me, I get that. But I am here tonight because I love this country with all my heart,

Democratic National Convention Night 1: What To Know

August 17, 2020
[Speakers, start time, schedule and more: Here’s how to watch the Democratic National Convention.]The first-ever virtual convention begins tonight, as Democrats gather — sort of — to nominate Joseph R. Biden Jr. for the presidency and Senator Kamala Harris of California as his running mate. Even with coronavirus-imposed restrictions, the speeches over the next few

USPS and Mail-In Ballots: States Warned It May Not Meet Deadlines

August 16, 2020
WASHINGTON — The Postal Service has warned states that it may not be able to meet their deadlines for delivering last-minute mail-in ballots, further fueling the clash over the new postmaster general’s handling of vote-by-mail operations as President Trump continued to rail against the practice.In letters sent in July to all 50 states and the

Stupid Trump tries to cheat, but screws his own voters instead

August 15, 2020
Trump’s attacks on the U.S. Postal Service will cement his landslide loss, and take down even more Republicans than was already the case.  First of all, here’s Trump’s stark reality: he’s got zero juice in urban America and he’s lost the suburbs. All that’s left are rural communities. HIs party is inextricably tied to that, as

Postal Service Warns States It May Not Meet Mail-In Ballot Deadlines

August 15, 2020
WASHINGTON — The Postal Service has warned states that it may not be able to meet their deadlines for delivering last-minute mail-in ballots, further fueling the clash over the new postmaster general’s handling of vote-by-mail operations as President Trump continued to rail against the practice.In letters sent in July to all 50 states and the

Biden Campaign Slams Trump for “Sabotaging” Postal Service

August 14, 2020
Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential campaign slammed President Donald Trump, accusing him of “sabotaging” the United States Postal Service following remarks Trump made in which he appeared to admit as much. “The President of the United States is sabotaging a basic service that hundreds of millions of people rely upon, cutting a critical lifeline for rural

Stay on top of the battle for the House with our new TV ad reservation tracker

August 11, 2020
Campaign Action To help keep track of the expanding House battlefield, Daily Kos Elections has created a spreadsheet that includes every reservation we have from the big four House committees, which are the CLF and NRCC on the GOP side and the DCCC and House Majority PAC for the Democrats. We’ll be constantly updating this

Corruption is Not A Second Amendment Right

August 10, 2020
The law was not kind to corrupt people this week.  The DC Circuit sided with congressional oversight when it said the House could sue Don McGahn  if he didn’t comply with a subpoena.  We learned that Deutsche Bank  gave up Donald Trump’s financials to Manhattan prosecutor Cyrus Vance, and the crown jewel came with New

Pelosi Is Playing Hardball on Coronavirus Relief. She Thinks She’ll Win.

August 9, 2020
WASHINGTON — As the clock ticked down Thursday on a self-imposed deadline for a breakthrough in coronavirus relief talks with no deal in sight, Jim Cramer, the brash CNBC host, had an on-air proposal for Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California.Why not try invoking the memory of the late civil rights icon John Lewis to try

Joe Biden “Is No Longer Worthy of the Black Vote”

August 8, 2020
Donald Trump continued his criticism of Joe Biden on Friday following the former Vice President’s remarks about diversity in the African American community. The President has repeatedly tried to frame Biden’s comments as evidence that he does not deserve votes from Black Americans. He made the claim again on Twitter. “After yesterday’s statement, Sleepy Joe

In Saturday primary, Honolulu voters may choose new path on criminal justice

August 7, 2020
Seven candidates are competing here, but recent polls show that only three of them have a good chance to advance to an all-but-certain second round in November: public defender Jacquie Esser; defense attorney Megan Kau, who is a former local prosecutor; and former Hawaii Circuit Court Judge Steve Alm, who served as U.S. attorney during

Democrats confront Trump officials over new policies slowing mail delivery

August 6, 2020
Campaign Action That postmaster general/donor, Louis DeJoy, has cut overtime for postal workers, ensuring backlogs, and has told workers to leave mail behind to wait until the next day under expanded circumstances. He’s also looking at instituting a much broader one-day delay on mail sorting and delivery. There can be no doubt that DeJoy is intentionally

Michelle Obama blames Trump for her ‘low-grade depression’

August 5, 2020
Former first lady Michelle Obama says she’s suffering from “low-grade depression” in part because of President Trump. “I’m dealing with some form of low-grade depression. Not just because of the quarantine, but because of the racial strife and just seeing this administration. Watching the hypocrisy of it day in and day out is dispiriting,” Obama

Kris Kobach Loses Kansas Senate Primary, Easing Republican Worries

August 5, 2020
Kansas Republicans on Tuesday rebuffed the Senate bid of Kris W. Kobach, a polarizing figure in state politics and a staunch ally of President Trump’s. The result was a major relief to party leaders in Kansas and Washington who had worried that he would uniquely jeopardize the seat in the general election.Representative Roger Marshall, a

Maxine Waters Criticizes Trump for His Attacks Against Mail-In Ballots

August 4, 2020
Representative Maxine Waters (D-Calif) accused President Donald Trump of deliberately sabotaging the United States Postal Service as he’s mounted more attacks against vote-by-mail initiatives. “Trump put Postmaster DeJoy in charge of the postal service to dismantle the USPS & sabotage vote by mail. New procedures are causing massive delays,” Waters tweeted. She added: “Trump &