THE ROAD AHEAD IN 2019
By dopper0189, Black Kos, Managing Editor
2018 was an exhausting year. A year that started out with once against thrusting racism and xenophobia to the forefront of America’s conscience. A year that once again further buried the idea (and hope) of a post racial America. But 2018 is a year that ended with America showing that as Winston Churchill is reported to have once prophetically said, “America always does the right thing, after it exhausted every other possibility”. A large part of this “doing the right thing” can be attributed to one part of the Democratic base that rose to the forefront in 2018. BLACK WOMAN
Looking back at when I wrote the opener to 2018’s Black Kos, Black Kos, It CAN happen here, 2018 is the year to fight back to make sure it doesn't, I was hopeful America would do the right thing (after of course exhausting all other possibilities) and luckily this November America did start to stand back up for our better angels.
In 2018’s opener I wrote:
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."
Before writing this year’s opener I first had to look back at the last two years of Black Kos openers.
When I wrote the opening to Black Kos 2016 what stuck out to me most was how hopeful I was at the beginning of that year. When in the opening commentary on Friday Jan 8th, 2016 “Why I’m still hopeful and optimistic about race relations in America. “ I wrote:
If to your eyes and ears, America seems more racially divided, maybe it’s because we’re all more aware of our racial shortcomings. Many white Americans have a shocked response to claims of white privilege, unfairness and discrimination. Maybe they have this reaction because it’s outside their daily experience. If you ask many white people, “Do you think traffic stops are done unfairly?” the majority of whites probably would say “NO” because it’s not something they experience. It’s not because of racism; it’s just that it’s not something that they see. Unfortunately personal experiences often are the most powerful foundations of belief systems.
I would be a liar if I didn’t say the results of November 8th 2016 didn’t give my optimism pause and make me question my conviction. I believe that’s why on the 2017 opening I wrote on Tuesday January 10, 2017:
But it is also true that I’m less stunned than many of my fellow travelers on the left, because I’ve always been a mix of both optimism and realism. As I’ve often written over the years, every major American advance of racial progress has been met with a stiff resistance and then a backlash. I never been a believer in the idea of a “post racial” America. Ideas of race do and are changing over time, just as they always have and always will, but the social concept of race and everything that idea entails is still with us. Denying that hard fact doesn’t make it disappear. As I’ve written America’s racial history is a series of advancements and then set backs.
Initially blacks and poor white Scot-Irish worked together to develop the “New World” only to see slave codes that prevented further side-by-side progress. The American Revolution saw both black and white Americans fighting together under the belief that all men were created equal only to see that all men legally were not treated equally. After the Civil War for a time black and whites equally participated in rebuilding America, as Mississippi elected two black Senators, and Louisiana elected a black governor who started to enact land reform. But the backlash to Reconstruction lead to Jim Crow. The optimism of post WWI “rag-time” America, was followed by record numbers of lynchings during the Great Depression. The Civil Rights era was followed by the “Southern Backlash”. On and on this pattern repeats itself. So now we find the Obama era followed by the election of Donald Trump.
Progress. Two Steps Forward. Backlash. One Step Back.
The wheel of time of racial progress continues to turn and follow this pattern throughout time. But being a student of history I often take and borrow hope from those who kept hope during dark times. But just as the election of Donald Trump gave my optimism pause, the rise of the resistance has given me a hope that tempers my realism.
I have hope because historically after each racial backlash, the good people of America realize in shock that things were not as harmonious and rosy as they seemed. Americans of good faith, taking to heart the old axiom that “evil flourishes when good people do nothing” move to the streets, city halls, public forums, courts, but most importantly the voting booths, and become the change they want to see.
Too many Americans have an idealized vision of America’s progress on racial and civil rights. They seem to think it was a straight line from slavery, to the end of slavery, Jim Crow to civil rights, civil rights movement in the 60’s to post racial America that elected Obama.
“BECOME THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE”
When I worked for the first Obama Presidential campaign in 2008 that phrase has always stayed with me. If you want to see more woman in office, donate your time and money, to support and encourage more woman in public office. The same thing goes for people of color. If you believe there should be more people of color in office, donate your time and money to support and encourage more POC in public office.
What gave me the greatest hope for a better America in 2018 was seeing so many Americans, especially American woman stand up and say “I will become the change I want to see”. No longer content to just advocate for changes but willing to step up and help make the change themselves. Often powered by tragedies and losses no mother should have to endure.
Newly elected Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA)
"WHEN FASCISM COMES TO AMERICA, IT WILL BE WRAPPED IN THE FLAG AND CARRYING A CROSS."
This quote is often attributed to Sinclair Lewis’s great American novel It Can't Happen Here, although it never actually appeared in the novel, it does capture the warnings that Mr. Lewis was trying to make. The novel It Can’t Happen Here describes the rise of Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip, a politician who defeats FDR and is elected President, after Windrip foments fear and promises drastic economic and social reforms while promoting a return to patriotism and "traditional" values. After his election, President Windrip takes complete control of the government and imposes a plutocratic/totalitarian rule with the help of a ruthless paramilitary force.
In 2018 Americans looked at the rise of the authoritarian fascist right-wing, but then lead by American woman standing up to be counted, America said no more. 2018 saw something new. Black woman who had long been the backbone and work horses of the Democratic party, stepped up into elected office, no longer satisfied to just be part of the base.
Newly elected Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.)
Even better, Black female congresspeople who have been long serving members of the Democratic party, stepped up into leadership roles, no longer satisfied to just be seen as part of the base or party members. With their new senior leadership roles, Black woman will be part of creating and implementing future change. As long serving Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) becomes one of three co-chairs of the Steering and Policy Committee the most senior US House leadership position held by a black woman, Congresswoman Maxine Waters will serve as the chairperson of the Financial Services. Congresswoman Bernice Johnson (D-TX) will serve as the chairperson of the Committee on Science and Technology. Members frequently dismissed as back-benchers are now setting the agenda, and America will be a better place for it.
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-California)
Black woman will lead not just from the bluest of blue seats, not just from majority-minority communities and seats, but also from historically Republican seats, who have now joined the resistance, going blue often for the first time in decades.
Newly elected Rep. Lauren Underwood — (D-Illinois)
Black voters will be a key voting block in the 2020 Democratic Presidential primary (2020 Democratic hopefuls wage invisible primary for black voters). More than 70% of black women voted in 2012, out-voting white women (65.6%), white men (62.6%), and black men (61.4%). Based on the available exit poll data from the Democratic primaries in 2016, black women continue to make up a larger proportion of the Democratic electorate than black men (Black Women Voters: By the Numbers). They will be pivotal in the key early primary state of South Carolina, and also an often overlooked part of the Democratic base in the key early caucus state of Nevada. Any candidate hoping to capture the Democratic nomination will have to do well with black woman primary voters. Black woman are the base and to capture the nomination, the winning candidate will have to win black woman in substantial numbers.
Newly elected Rep. Jahana Hayes — (D-Connecticut)
As we continue to move forward into 2019 I feel both exited and comforted knowing that black woman will be leading the way into the future. The resistance we waited for is here. I’ve seen her face, and she is a black woman.
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News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
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The new National Alliance for Audition Support helps talented Black and Latinx classical musicians get through exclusive auditions and battle a combination of design, implicit bias, and blatant racism: leading to quality orchestra jobs. Here's how Color Lines: Inside the Battle to Diversify Orchestras, One Costly Audition at a Time
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Music lovers of all ages and identities pack United States symphonic halls every December to see their local orchestra perform holiday classics like “The Nutcracker,” the score to “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “Sleigh Ride” and “Messiah.” For those who can’t afford prohibitive season ticket costs or don’t go to a school with a vibrant music program, these concerts may the only orchestral performances they attend all year.
But it is unlikely that most audience members of color will see musicians who look like them on the stage. Traditional U.S. orchestras, like many elite arts institutions, look nothing like the cities that host them. In a 2016 study, the League of American Orchestras found that non-White musicians only made up a little over 14 percent of orchestral ranks.
The study, which was based on 2014 figures, found that Black musicians made up just under 2 percent of orchestra musicians but were 12 percent of the U.S. population. Latinx people comprised 17 percent of the overall populace but only 2.5 percent of orchestra players. Indigenous and Alaska Native peoples constituted 5 percent of the U.S. population, but just .1 percent of orchestra players. MENA people were not included in the study. And at 9 percent, Asian orchestra musicians exceeded their U.S. population of 1 percent.
In April, to boost the number of Latinx and Black orchestra players in the U.S., the League partnered with The Sphinx Organization and New World Symphony (NWS) to launch the National Alliance for Audition Support (NAAS). Bolstered by a four-year, $1.8 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, NAAS is the first major national diversity initiative to focus on auditioning—that chaotic space between education and employment.
A musician plays a French horn during the 2018 SphinxConnect conference in Detroit, Michigan. Downloaded from The Sphinx Organization's website on December 16, 2018.
Photo: Courtesy of The Sphinx Organization and New World Symphony
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The Trump administration stands ready to fulfill a long-standing dream of insurance companies, big banks, and many conservative legal scholars: making it safe to enact policies that are neutral in theory, but that have unequal effects in practice.
On Thursday, The Washington Post reported that the administration intends to roll back regulations that bar discrimination on the basis of “disparate impact.” In particular, Trump officials have their eyes on regulations that prevent discrimination in housing. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson has already pulled back on investigations into such matters.
The concept is relatively simple, but controversial: Disparate-impact regulations prohibit actions that have the effect of discriminating against particular groups, not just those that are intended to do so. Disparate-impact regulations make it possible to attack prejudice on a systemic scale rather than addressing individual acts alone. Less dramatic than a wall on the southern border and quieter than the travel ban, the reported effort to roll back such regulations across the federal government could have a profound effect on those groups and individuals historically denied opportunities simply because of their race or background. It is an approach consistent with the misguided belief that efforts to fight discrimination against historically marginalized groups, even mere accusations of prejudice, are worse than the prejudice itself.
Conservatives have long sought to eliminate disparate-impact regulations. In Donald Trump, a real-estate baron whose company was sued by the Justice Department for refusing to rent apartments to black people, they finally found an eager champion.
JONATHAN ERNST / REUTERS
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One of the first prisoners to be released under a new criminal justice reform law is a Tennessee man named Matthew Charles, who made national headlines last year after he was re-sentenced and ordered back to prison two years after his release. A number of public figures, including celebrities and politicians from both parties, have advocated for his freedom.
Charles was serving another decade behind bars, but Thursday morning his sentence was unexpectedly reduced to time served. He could be released within 24 hours.
Charles' legal team had exhausted all legal avenues for release, and a petition for presidential clemency has been pending with the White House since last summer.
But the First Step Act, signed into law by President Trump last month, opened another avenue, in part by reducing sentencing guidelines for crack offenses and making those changes retroactive. After the bill passed, Matthew Charles' federal public defender filed a motion, claiming if he were to be sentenced now, he'd fall under a lesser guideline.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney's office filed a response. They said they would not fight the request, nor would they appeal if his sentence was reduced. On Thursday morning, federal judge Aleta Trauger agreed with Charles' attorneys and asked for his immediate release from a Kentucky prison.
Trauger had previously asked prosecutors to consider dropping the case and expressed regret at his sentencing, saying that her hands were tied.
Shon Hopwood, one of Charles' attorneys and a key figure in the push for the First Step Act, says Charles' is the first case he knows of where the law has been successfully applied retroactively.
Matthew Charles, a Nashville, Tenn., man, was sent back to prison two years after being released. Now he is being released again after the criminal justice reform bill became law.
Julieta Martinelli /Nashville Public Radio
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If you took your history lessons from the street names and the names of bridges and buildings, rivers and towns, you would believe men, mostly white Protestants, did nearly everything that ever mattered. But that is slowly changing: our public landscape is undergoing a deep transformation. And it reflects the shift that is under way in our society, from Alaska to Florida. It’s not enough or comprehensive or complete – but it’s a beautiful start and a powerful foundation for more change to come.
In the spring of this year, New York City removed a statue of racist gynecologist J Marion Sims from Central Park, and in the fall, the city announced that a statue to Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman to serve in Congress, will be erected in Brooklyn. San Francisco removed a much-loathed monument that showed a Native American man being dominated by a Spanish priest this fall. And a month later, the city renamed the international terminal at San Francisco international airport after the Jewish gay rights leader Harvey Milk.
Confederate statues have been coming down in many states, too, and in their place we’re seeing monuments that tell a different story. This spring, a vast monument to victims of lynching opened in Montgomery, Alabama. Atlanta renamed Confederate Avenue this fall, and this year a private campaign completed fundraising for a Chicago statue of journalist and civil rights activist Ida B Wells, born in slavery in 1862.
When Baltimore took down Confederate statues over the summer, the city renamed one area the Harriet Tubman Grove, literally switching sides in the civil war, from pro-slavery Stonewall Jackson and Robert E Lee to the most famous heroine of the Underground Railroad. Another Tubman statue is going up in Auburn, New York. Dallas took down a statue of Lee, and New Orleans did the same the year before, removing four Confederate monuments in all amid controversy and threats. I never expected to see what I did this spring: the breathtaking spectacle of the 60ft column at the center of New Orleans’s Lee Circle without the 16ft-tall Confederate leader atop it.
MEMPHIS, TN - AUGUST 13: Protesters attend a rally protesting against the name of Nathan Bedford Forrest Park in front of a statue bearing his likeness
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The Lifetime docuseries “Surviving R. Kelly” is filled with survivors’ stories of alleged sexual, physical and emotional abuse. Their interviews, alongside those from Kelly’s family and friends, illuminate the ecosystem that have long allowed him to violate Black girls and women. They also include details and imagery that may be triggering for viewers of the show, which premiered last night (January 3).
Me Too Movement creator and organizer Tarana Burke, who appears in the series, tweeted the following tips and resources for survivors of sexual violence to use as the episodes air:
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IT WAS ALL over within hours. At 4.30am on January 7th a small group of junior army officers seized the national radio station in Gabon, an oil-rich country in central Africa, and declared a coup. They said they were motivated by the “pitiful sight” of Ali Bongo Ondimba, Gabon’s 59-year-old president, delivering a televised address from Morocco, where he has been convalescing since November after suffering a stroke. The attempt to unseat him was short-lived: by midday, most of the coup-plotters had been rounded up and the government was back in control.
The drama in Gabon is a throwback to more turbulent times. Coups have become rarer across Africa—a sign that basic democratic norms are more widespread than they were. But checks and balances on presidential power are still weak, so many African leaders have been able to cling to office far longer than is possible in more competitive polities. Five have died in office since 2010—all of natural causes. Seven of the current crop have been in power for over two decades. Mr Bongo, whose previous jobs include minister of defence and funk singer, has only been in power for ten years, but his family has run Gabon since 1967; he inherited the top job when his father died.
Mr Bongo is not the only African president who rules from his sickbed. Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s septuagenarian president, spent much of 2017 abroad recovering from an undisclosed illness. Last month he was forced to deny that he had died and been replaced by a body double. He is standing for re-election in February. Algerians often speculate about the health of Abdelaziz Bouteflika, their 81-year-old autocrat. He is rarely seen in public, but may run for a fifth term this year.
In the past such frail leaders would have made easy pickings for a young upstart plotting a coup. But the most recent successful coup in Africa, in which the Zimbabwean army deposed 93-year-old Robert Mugabe in 2017, marks the exception rather than the rule. From 1980 to 2000 there were 38 successful coups in Africa. Since then there have only been 15 (see chart). This is partly because presidents have grown more adept at coup-proofing their regimes. Many place relatives in key roles, keep the army weak and play factions off against each other.
The spread of democracy in Africa has also helped stave off putsches. The African Union (AU) has adopted a policy of “zero tolerance” towards coups, although it sometimes turns a blind eye if given a semi-plausible excuse to do so. In Zimbabwe, for example, the generals detaining Mr Mugabe insisted that they were protecting, rather than overthrowing, him. The AU did not point out that this was an obvious fib; Mr Mugabe was not popular.
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THE PORCH IS NOW OPEN