It’s time to Break It Down!

If you follow my posts, you may know, occasionally, I concede that a particular story has made a point so well, there is nothing I feel compelled to add. Daniel Dale has done just that with his fact check of the myth of Trump’s so-called “energy independence.” In short, it didn’t happen, particularly in the way many GOP pols like to tell the story. Read it from Mr. Dale in his own words.

Washington (CNN)The United States never stopped importing energy from foreign countries under President Donald Trump. 

Both before and after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine contributed to a spike in US gas prices, various Republicans bashed President Joe Biden for supposedly abandoning Trump-era “energy independence.” These Republicans have fostered the impression that the “energy independent” US did not need energy from Russia and elsewhere under Trump, but then, under Biden, has been forced to buy this foreign energy once more.

The truth is that the US was never close to genuine independence from foreign energy in the Trump era.

“Energy independence” is a political phrase, not a literal phrase. Despite how Trump and others have made it sound, it does not mean the US was ever going it alone. 

“A ridiculous term,” said Jim Krane, an energy studies fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

“A horrible term,” said Jeff Colgan, professor and director of the Climate Solutions Lab at Brown University and an expert on the geopolitics of oil.

“This stupid term,” said Amy Myers Jaffe, an energy expert and a research professor at The Fletcher School at Tufts University.

The term has various non-literal definitions. And the US did satisfy some of these definitions under Trump in 2020 — as it did again in the 11 months of 2021, mostly under Biden, for which we have complete data.

For example, in both periods, the US exported more crude oil and petroleum products than it imported. It also produced more primary energy than it consumed.

But none of that means that the Trump-era US did no energy importing at all. From the beginning of Trump’s term to the end, the US very much relied on oil and gas from abroad.

In 2020, Trump’s last full year in office, the US imported about 7.9 million barrels per day of crude oil and petroleum products. That was down from prior years — the US imported more than 10 million barrels per day in 2016, President Barack Obama’s last full year — but still a whole lot of foreign energy. 

In fact, contrary to prominent Republicans’ suggestions over the last month that the US had just recently started consuming Russian energy under Biden, US energy imports from Russia spiked during the Trump presidency.

And that isn’t the only thing Republicans have gotten wrong. 

Contrary to claims from Trump and other Republicans, Biden has not “shut down” American energy: US crude oil production in Biden’s first year was higher than in each of Trump’s first two years and just narrowly shy of production in Trump’s last year, though substantially lower than production in Trump’s record-setting third year. And experts say it is economic factors and cautionary pressures from Wall Street, not anything Biden has done, that has made US oil companies reluctant to dramatically ramp up production from current levels. 

Multiple reasons for foreign imports 

Amid the US boom in oil and gas production from hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, the quantity of US imports of crude oil and petroleum products has been trending downward since early in the second term of President George W. Bush. But there are numerous reasons why the US doesn’t just stop importing entirely. 

One key reason is that there is a mismatch between many of the refineries in the US, which were designed to handle heavy crude oil, and the lighter crude that is produced in the US through fracking. 

Another reason is that domestic energy production isn’t sufficient to fulfill the needs of all US refineries — for which it can be profitable to buy low-cost unfinished energy from abroad, turn it into higher-value petroleum products, and then export some of those products. Colgan noted in an email that even at moments when the US is a net exporter of oil, “it remains tightly integrated into the world market for oil, constantly exporting some grades of oil to foreign customers while importing other grades of oil into the United States. Same for oil products like gasoline and diesel.” 

Geographic factors are also at play. For example, refineries in California have relied on imports, some from Russia, because importing has been cheaper than getting oil shipped from various parts of the US, such as the Permian Basin in the Southwest, to which California has no pipeline connection. 

Unless the US shifts completely to renewable or nuclear energy, Krane said in an interview, “we are going to be tethered to supply lines that stretch halfway around the world whether we like it or not.” 

Russian imports never ceased under Trump 

Before Biden announced a ban on imports of Russian energy last Tuesday, some Republicans suggested that the US had suddenly started importing Russian oil under Biden. 

For example, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at an event in late February: “We were, before Biden took office, for the first time in any of our lifetimes, actually energy independent. Putin didn’t matter. Now, they’re importing millions of barrels of oil from Russia.” 

Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst said on Fox News on March 6 that Biden’s choices when he first came into office “put us in this tenuous position with energy independence in the United States. Instead of being an exporter of energy, we became a consumer of Russian oil.” 

The truth is that the US was importing a significant quantity of oil and petroleum products from Russia under Trump: over 137 million barrels in 2018, then 189.8 million barrels in 2019 and 197.7 million barrels in 2020. 

Imports from Russia did increase again, to 245.2 million barrels, in 2021. 

Analysts have attributed part of the spike in energy imports from Russia since 2018 to the sanctions Trump imposed on Venezuelan oil in 2019, which left US refiners looking for an alternative supplier. Regardless of the cause, it’s just not true that “Putin didn’t matter” to the US energy supply before Biden took office or that the US “became a consumer of Russian oil” under Biden. 

What is true is that, under both Trump and Biden, imports from Russia made up a fraction of total US petroleum imports — about 8 percent in 2021, just about tied with Mexico for second place.

The US reliance on foreign energy is in large part a reliance on close ally Canada, which provided 51 percent of US imports in 2021.

Biden’s impact has been overstated 

Republicans have portrayed Biden as an all-powerful enemy of the US oil and gas industry. 

Trump claimed in a speech in late February that Biden “shut down American energy.” Florida Sen. Marco Rubio tweeted a Wednesday suggestion that Biden was stopping oil companies from increasing production, writing: “If Biden would let America get back to 2019 production we won’t need a single drop of oil from #Venezuela or #Iran or anyone else.” 

There is no doubt that Biden’s attitude toward the US oil and gas industry is less friendly than Trump’s was. But the truth is that Biden isn’t stopping US energy companies from increasing production and certainly never “shut down” US energy production. 

“President Biden hasn’t done anything yet — no offense — because he can’t get anything passed through the Congress,” Jaffe said in an interview. 

Rather, US oil companies themselves have been reluctant to dramatically ramp up production. While the oil lobby has cast blame on Biden policies, experts cite various other reasons —including supply chain problems, challenges finding workers, and, critically, the current insistence from Wall Street that energy companies restrain spending and return cash to investors. 

“Oil and gas companies do not want to drill more,” Pavel Molchanov, an analyst at Raymond James, told CNN Business for an article in early March, before Biden announced the Russia ban. “They are under pressure from the financial community to pay more dividends, to do more share buybacks instead of the proverbial ‘drill baby drill,’ which is the way they would have done things 10 years ago. Corporate strategy has fundamentally changed.”

Krane, the energy studies fellow from Rice University, concurred in an interview after Biden announced the ban. 

“It’s not a lack of leasing that’s holding back US crude. It’s Wall Street,” he said. “The federal government is like a third-tier player in the US oil market. Market signals themselves are the main driver of energy production and decision-making in the US.” 

Even still, US field production of crude oil in 2021, about 11.2 million barrels per day, was only slightly lower than US production under Trump in 2020, when it was about 11.3 million barrels per day — and 2021 production was higher than production in 2017 and 2018, Trump’s first two years in office, though well below the record 12.3 million barrels per day in 2019. 

Numerous Republicans have castigated Biden’s decision to revoke the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have carried crude oil from Canada’s oil sands to the US. But the long-delayed pipeline would almost certainly not have been ready this year even if Biden had allowed construction to proceed. 

The federal Energy Information Administration projected this month that US crude oil production will hit 12 million barrels per day again in 2022, then set a new record of 13 million barrels per day in 2023. 

Moratorium put on hold 

Biden has called for a shift away from fossil fuel production and toward renewable energy sources, and he has put forward policies toward that end. Those policies have included an attempted temporary moratorium on new leases for oil and gas drilling on public lands and offshore waters. 

But the Biden moratorium wouldn’t have stopped drilling on existing leases. A judge put the Biden moratorium on hold in June. And the moratorium was intended to be in place only until the completion of a review by Biden’s interior department — which ended up recommending an increase to leasing fees but not a long-term halt to new leasing. 

As CNN’s Ella Nilsen reported last week, the Biden administration approved more drilling permits in its first year than the Trump administration approved in 2017, 2018 and 2019, though fewer than it approved in 2020. 

Since late February of this year, there has been a pause on the issuance of new leases and permits on federal territory. That pause, however, was prompted by a judge’s injunction in a lawsuit filed by Republican state attorneys general. 

In addition, it’s important to note that more than three-quarters of US drilling occurs on non-federal territory.

“Facts: The Definition of Stubborn Things!” I’m done, holla back! 

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right-hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

For more detailed information on a variety of aspects related to this post, consult the links below:

https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/15/politics/energy-independence-fact-check/index.html

Facts: The Definition of Stubborn Things

It’s time to Break It Down!

No matter what you consider the events of January 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol, a riot, an insurrection, a coup, or as Donald Trump once said, “A very beautiful time with extremely loving and friendly people,” yesterday anyway, the verdict was guilty on all five counts for Guy Reffitt in the case of the US Capitol attack. Reffitt, a Texas Three Percenter and Trump supporter was charged with wanting to obstruct the congressional certification of the 2020 presidential election, transporting guns into DC, carrying a Smith & Wesson handgun onto the restricted grounds of the Capitol, interfering with Capitol Police protecting the Upper West Terrace and obstructing justice by threatening his son and daughter when he returned to Texas. A Washington DC, in the first federal trial related to the riot, composed of six men and six women, took less than four hours to deliberate yesterday.

The max sentence for obstruction of Congress and obstruction of justice, the most severe of the charges, is 20 years in prison. Reffitt’s sentencing is scheduled for June 8. The trial, which lasted a week, included painful reflections on the attack on Capitol Police, a civics lesson on Congress, and a family drama highlighting a son testifying against his father.

Mr. Reffitt’s case was the first of the January 6 cases to go to trial and tested the Justice Department’s ability to tie an individual’s actions to the broader Capitol Hill attack. Mr. Reffitt has been in jail since he was arrested in January 2021. His case catapulted to national attention when his son, Jackson Reffitt, did a national TV interview about turning in his dad to the FBI after disagreeing with him about his Trump support and Three Percenter involvement.

The conviction could have lingering ramifications on the more than 500 Capitol riot defendants whose cases are still pending. It is conceivable the verdict could persuade some waiting defendants to accept plea deals rather than face a jury. It may also lead to appeals of the criminal law used in a number of the January 6 prosecutions.

Nicole Reffitt, Guy’s wife, told reporters, after her husband’s convictions, “This fight is just begun.” And encouraged other January 6 defendants to follow her husband’s lead and go to trial, not taking deals from the government. She added, “They want us to take a plea. They are just making a point out of Guy, and that is to intimidate other members of the January 6ers. We will fight together.” She also criticized the Justice Department for what she called the “disgusting ploy” of using testimony from her children, including her underage daughter, against their father.

Reffitt’s defense lawyer called no witnesses and instead argued that he was an exaggerator, who took credit for bringing a gun to the Capitol and resisting police when he was a bit player in the scrum. In retrospect, it’s fair to say that wasn’t particularly smart.

Prosecutors played not only on witnesses’ emotional memories of the attacks, but also relied upon Reffitt’s own admissions in text messages and recordings.

Last Thursday, as his father cried across the courtroom, Jackson Reffitt testified that Guy Reffitt “snowballed into a far-right extremist” following the 2016 election of Trump. Guy Reffitt joined the Texas Three Percenters, Jackson said, and became increasingly hostile toward political figures, railing about then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whom he thought were breaking the law. 

Jackson Reffitt also told the jury about his father’s comments after the riot, that should Jackson or his younger sister turn their father in, they would be traitors, and “traitors get shot.” Also, probably not smart, but definitely scary.

Three Capitol Police officers testified about battling Reffitt outside the Capitol. They all noted that Reffitt led the mob forward, taunting police officers that they “couldn’t stop all of us.” Even once officers had knocked Reffitt back with chemical spray on the Upper West Terrace, rioters behind him were disassembling scaffolding and cutting white tarp nearby, following Reffitt’s lead, prosecutors argued. The crowd — which included alleged members of the Proud Boys right-wing group and the infamous QAnon Shaman Jacob Chansley, who wore face paint and horns — was ultimately able to break the police line at that part of the Capitol’s exterior, opening the path for some rioters to break windows to enter the Senate side of the building. 

Text messages and recordings, taken by his son, from after January 6 showed Reffitt recounting how police sprayed him with chemicals and how members of Congress “scurried like rats and hid” while the mob breached the building. 

“I had every constitutional right to carry a weapon and take over Congress as we tried to do,” Reffitt said to his family in one recording. 

Reffitt later said, “I’m not done yet.” 

One of the officers who faced off against Reffitt, Sgt. Matthew Flood, told the jury he left the west side of the Capitol to help evacuate lawmakers still trapped on the Senate floor. By that point, rioters had cut off all but one escape route — which they were able to use to rush lawmakers to safety.

“They were calling us traitors, saying that we were in their way, to get out of their way. They were saying that they supported us, and we were betraying them,” Capitol Police officer Shauni Kerkhoff said. “It made me feel angry because it’s our job to stand in the way.” “Riot, Insurrection or Coup: Guilty on All Counts!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right-hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

For more detailed information on a variety of aspects related to this post, consult the links below:

https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/08/politics/january-6-reffitt-verdict/index.html

Riot, Insurrection or Coup; Guilty on All Counts

It’s time to Break It Down!

After 233 years and 115 Associate Supreme Court Justices, last week President Biden, as he promised in his campaign, nominated the first Black woman to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). When Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement (pending, until the end of the current term), President Biden indicated that he would name his nominee by the end of the month (February). Last Friday, February 25^th, the President introduced Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

While the headline will lead with Black woman, it should be noted that Judge Jackson has a wide array of legal experience. She is known to have exceptional credentials, unimpeachable character, and unwavering dedication to the law. Biden wanted someone committed to equal justice under the law, and who understands the profound impact that SCOTUS decisions have on the lives of American people.

Judge Jackson is widely regarded as one of the nation’s brightest legal minds and has an unusual breadth of experience in the American legal system, all of which when combined, gives her the perspective to be an exceptional Justice. She was Student Body President in High School, and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard, and cum laude from Harvard Law School, where she was also an editor of the Harvard Law Review.

Her career highlights include serving as a law clerk for Justice Breyer, served as a public defender, representing defendants who did not have the means to pay for an attorney (if confirmed, she would become the first former federal public defender to serve on the Supreme Court.), served as Vice Chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, served as a district court judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and served in her current capacity as an appeals court judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

During his announcement of her nomination, President Biden described Judge Jackson as “a proven consensus builder, an accomplished lawyer, and a distinguished jurist.” All traits and attributes one would think essential for a Justice of the SCOTUS.

However, in a post Trump (presidency) world, we have come to expect the partisan divide to be self-evident. Following the script, a number of conservatives were quick to express that they were less than thrilled with the President’s nominee. The next day in a Fox News opinion piece, Carrie Severino, who heads the conservative Judicial Crisis Network, called Jackson “a politician in robes” and accused her of being bad for business, soft on illegal immigration, and hostile toward the pro-life movement.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson said Biden’s decision to consider only Black female candidates for SCOTUS would “humiliate” and “degrade” America. According to The Guardian, he said, “You should be elevated in America based on what you do … not on how you were born, not on your DNA, because that’s Rwanda.” This is where I ask you to recall the opening sentence of this post. The part that notes a Black woman has never been nominated, to say nothing of confirmed, in 233 years, and 115 prior nominees.

In response, WaPo columnist Jennifer Rubin called Carlson’s comments “the perfect distillation of White supremacy.”

In a piece he wrote for The Week W. James Antle III argued that Biden should have chosen Judge Michell Childs, who would have gotten more Republican votes but would not have made the Democratic Party’s progressive wing quite so happy.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said I understand that Judge Jackson was the favored choice of far-left dark-money groups that have spent years attacking the legitimacy and structure of the Court itself. With that said, I look forward to carefully reviewing Judge Jackson’s nomination during the vigorous and thorough Senate process that the American people deserve.

Senator Lindsey Graham said, “If media reports are accurate and Judge Jackson has been chosen as the SCOTUS nominee to replace Justice Breyer, it means the radical Left has won President Biden over yet again.”

While the GOP tide is decidedly slanted against Judge Jackson, a few conservatives have begun to express dissent. Yesterday, Lawyer William Burck, in a statement obtained exclusively by CNN, said of Jackson that “no serious person can question her qualifications to the Court and to my mind her judicial philosophy is well within the mainstream.”

Burck’s statement comes on the heels of similar endorsements by retired conservative judges J. Michael Luttig and Thomas B. Griffith, Republican appointees, who both sat on federal appeals courts. Their positions are at clear variance from the comments noted by the naysayers above.

All things considered, it is anticipated that after a spirited confirmation process, Judge Jackson will be confirmed. Undoubtedly, President Biden, ever the optimist, hopes several Republicans will, after meeting with Judge Jackson, and conducting confirmation hearings, vote for her, making her confirmation bipartisan. If not, however, it’s likely all 50 Democrats will support the President’s nominee, and Vice President Harris will seal the deal. Let’s just say, it’s about d… time. “SCOTUS Watch: We Have A Nominee!”

I’m done; “holla back!”

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right-hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

For more detailed information on a variety of aspects related to this post, consult the links below:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/kbj/

https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/25/politics/supreme-court-ketanji-brown-jackson/index.html

https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/01/politics/ketanji-brown-jackson-nomination/index.html

https://www.republicanleader.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/mcconnell-statement-on-judge-ketanji-brown-jackson

https://www.businessinsider.in/politics/world/news/lindsey-graham-declared-that-the-radical-left-has-won-as-biden-selected-judge-ketanji-brown-jackson-for-supreme-court-seat/articleshow/89833844.cms

SCOTUS Watch: We Have A Nominee

It’s time to Break It Down!

As we queue up the last full week of February, it turns out timing is propitious. Coinciding with the fourth and final installment in my BHM ’22 Series, a jury in Brunswick, Georgia delivered the verdict in the cases of Travis McMichael, Gregory McMichael, and William “Roddie” Bryan; guilty on all counts in the federal hate crimes trial. The trio was previously found guilty in November, for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery.

The presiding Judge, Lisa Godbey Wood, spoke to each defendant along with the attorneys advising them they have 14 days to file any post-trial motions, and that the U.S. probation office would conduct a pre-sentencing interview before scheduling a sentencing hearing. The defendants showed little to no emotion.

The jury foreperson was one of three Black jurors. She was emotional during the court’s reading the verdict, and wiped away tears, while the jury was being polled.

Arbery’s parents, Wanda Cooper-Jones and Marcus Arbery, Sr. looked on attentively as the clerk read the verdicts. Leigh McMichael, Travis’ mother, and Gregory’s wife, watched stoically. After all the verdicts were read, Mrs. McMichael was the only person who remained seated. The Arbery family and their supporters, along with the prosecuting attorneys were on their feet, embracing and congratulating each other.

Judge Woods thanked the jury and recognized both sets of attorneys. She told the prosecutors they had a “difficult task” due to the nature of the charges and told the defense counsel that although they were court-appointed, they represented their clients zealously. She added, no one need wonder whether the defendants got a fair trial or whether the attorneys were skillful – they did and they were.

The verdict was rendered yesterday, “Twosday,” one day before the two-year anniversary of Mr. Arbery’s murder, and two days short of three months after the three defendants’ murder conviction.

During the course of the hate crimes trial, prosecutors established that all three defendants spoke privately and publicly about Black people using inflammatory and derogatory language, including racial slurs.

During Monday’s closing arguments, prosecutor Tara Lyons underscored that Arbery was killed because he was Black, saying:

“The defendants did not see 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery as a fellow human being.”

Arbery was out for a jog when the defendants killed him. Now, after the second trial, the verdict is in…“Black History Month (BHM) Week 4: Guilty on All Counts!”

I’m done; “holla back!”

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right-hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

For more detailed information on a variety of aspects related to this post, consult the links below:

https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/ahmaud-arbery-killing-hate-crimes-verdict/index.html

https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/22/us/ahmaud-arbery-hate-crime-trial-tuesday/index.html

Black History Month (BHM) Week 4: Guilty on All Counts

It’s time to Break It Down!

Twelve years ago, in February 2010, I wrote a series of 4 profiles on African Americans, 3 of whom were little known.  While their exploits were dramatic in all four instances, they were simply fundamentally, even stunningly life altering in some cases. In 2012, I synthesized the material from those four posts into one digest, which I reposted in 2019. I am reprising again today.

We live in an age in which, despite the ubiquitous nature of the Internet and the pervasiveness of the 24-7 news cycle, the names, exploits, and accomplishments of luminaries such as Henrietta Lacks, Charlotte Hawkins Brown, and Alexander Manly are enmeshed in an historical nebula; present, but barely known or visible.

By contrast, speak or write the name Barack Obama, and due to a variety of factors, almost anyone you meet in the civilized world is capable of spouting off a vast array of factoids, real, imagined, true or false.  As POTUS, President Obama certainly earned all the notoriety he amassed, while the relative lack of knowledge about Lacks, Brown, and Manly is in no way an accurate reflection of their relative importance.  All made important contribution to life, as we know it in America; at least one altered the dynamics of medical history around the world.

Alex Manly, who was African American, was also a descendent of Charles Manly, North Carolina’s 31^st Governor.  In 1898, Wilmington held the dual distinction of being North Carolina’s largest city, and predominantly black.  Mr. Manly was the editor of the Wilmington Daily Record, the only black-owned newspaper in the United States at the time.  He wrote a controversial editorial with both racial and sexual implications.  The piece was so super-charged that it is cited as the catalyst for the infamous November 10, 1898 Wilmington race riot. The gist of Manly’s editorial comments is aptly distilled in this quote:

• “Our experience among poor white people in the country teaches us that women of that race are not any more particular in the matter of clandestine meetings with colored men than the white men with the colored women.”

The rest is history; it took three months, but in November, after the August editorial that included that quote, Wilmington burned…and Manly and the robust black leadership class fled the city.  Manly was an example of a bold and defiant voice that emerging black leaders would demonstrate in the American South and across this country in the coming years.  The reaction of much of Wilmington’s white citizenry was equally clear, and at that juncture, more powerfully defiant.

Charlotte Hawkins Brown was a native North Carolinian who was educated in Massachusetts, and who returned to her home state to lead an all-girls’ school, which she later transformed into a Junior College.

Ms. Brown made her mark fostering and improving African American achievement, especially among women.  Her considerable legacy includes:

• Active involvement in the National Council of Negro Women
• The first black woman to serve on the National Board of the Young Women’s Christian Association
• Retired in 1952 as President of the Alice Freeman Palmer Memorial Institute, better known as Palmer Memorial Institute (PMI), the school she founded in 1902
• Ultimately responsible for educating more than 1,000 African American students who attended PMI between 1902 and 1970, when it closed

Henrietta Lacks is not from North Carolina (she hailed from neighboring Virginia), but her story’s impact permeates not only the Tar Heel (and Old Dominion) state, and the rest of the country, but spans the entire globe.  Ms. Lacks, who lived a short life, by almost any measure, died of cervical cancer at age 31 in 1951.  Posthumously, she would go on to have an inordinate impact on cancer treatment as well as several other serious diseases, all over the world, through cells removed prior to her death.  The essence of her story is that:

• Researchers at Johns Hopkins discovered a scientific breakthrough related to Ms. Lacks’ cells. In a departure from anything the scientists had seen before, the cells culled from Ms. Lacks continued to grow, outside of her body, and after her death. In fact, they did not just survive, they multiplied. In a circular irony, cells from Ms. Lacks’ culture were used to help Dr. Jonas Salk develop a vaccine for polio in 1955. Of course, Ms. Lacks had marched to help find a cure for that disease just four years earlier.

Unarguably, the Barack Obama story is one that most Americans are familiar with, at least tangentially.  President Obama, the son of a Kenyan father and a Kansan mother, was born in Hawaii, graduated from Columbia University, and Harvard University Law School, and went on to become a Chicago community organizer.  Oh yeah, on November 4, 2008, he was elected President of the United States.  As such:

• He became the 44th American to serve as our nation’s President.  As POTUS, he was at the epicenter of national and world news coverage on a daily basis. His address, at the time, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, is among the most famous in the world; his title, Commander in Chief of the United States Armed Forces is one of the most revered. As President of the United States most people considered him the most powerful man on the planet.

One of President Obama’s historic appointments was the selection of Eric Holder as Attorney General (He also subsequently appointed Loretta Lynch, also an African American, who filled the position when General Holder stepped down to pursue other interests).  That would hold special significance this month anyway, as Mr. Holder is African American.  It has taken on an added dimension however, as Dr. Sharon Malone, Mr. Holder’s wife, distinguished in her own right, shared a part of her family history in a 2019 PBS Special, in which she detailed how her Uncle Henry, born nearly 30 after slavery ended officially, was one of thousands of black men arrested on fabricated charges and forced into labor camps and compelled to work without pay.  As Dr. Malone told the story, she asked that we:

• Imagine that this “convict leasing” system saw the groups of prisoners sold to private parties – like plantation owners or corporations – and that it was not only tolerated by both the North and Southbut was largely ignored by the U.S. Justice Department.
• Now, imagine that nearly a century after your uncle served 366 days in this penal labor system, you find yourself married to the head of the U.S. Justice Department, who, ironically, just so happens to be the first African American in the position.

There are many reasons why this information is not just historically significant, but contemporarily relevant.  None is more compelling than debunking the idea that the vagaries and vicissitudes of slavery and its variant offshoots no longer plague our society in general and African Americans in particular.  As Dr. Malone put it:

• “I want people to understand that this is not something that’s divorced and separate, and this doesn’t have anything to do with them.  If you were a black person who grew up in the South, some way or the other – whether or not you were directly involved in the system as my uncle was – you knew somebody who was, or your daily lives were circumscribed by those circumstances.”

Unless you are part of Dr. Malone’s immediate family, her Uncle Henry is likely even more of an unknown to you than Alex Manly, Charlotte Hawkins Brown, and Henrietta Lacks.  Yet, his story is as irrevocably interwoven into the fabric of African American and American History as that of President Obama.  In fact, African American History is American History.  Over this month, by all means, take at least one more moment to reflect on the fact it’s not just a month, it’s every single day, 24/7/365…“Black History Month (BHM) Week 3: Chronicles of the Evolution of American Life Redux ’22!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com/http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. A new post is published each Wednesday. For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:

http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/2010/02/profile-in-black-history-part-1.html

http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/2010/02/profiles-in-black-history-part-2.html

http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/2010/02/profiles-in-black-history-part-3.html

http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/2010_02_01_archive.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama

http://www.eurweb.com/2012/01/eric-holders-wife-tells-her-story-in-pbs-slavery-by-another-name/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5s8ccKepCms

http://soundcloud.com/cherienic/dr-sharon-malone-of-pbs

http://foxhallobgyn.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=65&Itemid=84

http://www.zimbio.com/Sharon+Malone/articles/6/New+Attorney+General+Wife+Superwoman+Doctor

http://video.pbs.org/video/2178379179/

http://www.blackchristiannews.com/news/2012/01/eric-holders-wife-dr-sharon-malone-shares-her-story-in-pbs-documentary-slavery-by-another-name.html

Black History Month: Chronicles of the Evolution of African American Life Redux

Black History Month (BHM) Week 3: Chronicles of the Evolution of African American Life Redux ’22

It’s time to Break It Down!

This past Sunday morning, the start of the second week of BHM, residents of a Houston, Texas neighborhood awoke to find White Supremacist flyers on the windshields of their cars, and in some instances, on their front doors. In last week’s post, I discussed a number of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s) receiving bomb threats in week one of BHM. The beat goes on.

William White, director of operations for tha Houston chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), in discussing the matter with CNN, said of the event, “This is horrifying.”

The flyer is entitled, “2026: A Race Odyssey.” It warns, “Think about it! At the current rate of decline, what will America’s major cities look like in ten years?” The center of the flyer depicts a racist caricature of African Americans in negative racial stereotypes. The pamphlet provides a web address for recipients to follow. CNN opted not to show the flyer, due to its racist and offensive nature.

Mr. White added, “I do believe that this is about voter intimidation. There is no place for that in the city.”

While February is BHM, the next election, the primary, in Harris County is March 1. Early voting starts next Monday, February 14.

White is not revealing the name of the neighborhood, due to safety reasons, but he does indicate it’s a diverse community. At least four residents received the flyers, although others may be afraid to come forward to report the act. Moreover, none of the residents are willing to speak with reporters; however, one of them did call his office to report the incident. CAIR is investigating. White hopes they may be able to get some information from area security cameras, as the perpetrator was disseminating the flyers. 

Mr. White is still gathering evidence to present to Harris County law enforcement and the FBI. He also hopes elected officials denounce the racist act. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office said deputies took an incident report from a resident, which they will forward to their internal Homeland Security Bureau.

The FBI issued the following statement:

“The FBI Houston Field Office is aware of the incident involving the distribution of white supremacist flyers in a Northwest Harris County neighborhood and we are in regular contact with local authorities. FBI policy prohibits confirming or denying an investigation. However, if during the local investigation, information becomes known of a potential federal civil rights violation, the FBI is prepared to investigate. The FBI is the lead investigative agency for criminal violations of federal civil rights statutes. In October 2021, FBI Houston launched our participation in a nationwide initiative that encourages the public to report allegations of hate crime to law enforcement.

This appears to be at least the second time the group targeted a neighborhood with White supremacist flyers in the Houston area. Last November, Telemundo Houston, a Spanish language network, reported that racist flyers, with the group’s logo, targeted a neighborhood of immigrants. Those flyers were titled: “Wake up, White America!”

About the incident, the Southwest Regional Anti-Defamation League Director, Mark B. Toubin stated, “We are concerned about a recent flurry of extremist propaganda distributions in ADL’s Southwest Region. The racist flyers found recently in northwest Harris County are particularly vile and disgusting and it is understandable people who found them in their yards would be outraged and upset. We applaud the good people who recognize the message in the flyers is hateful and wrong. The flyers are designed to attract attention to the individuals and organizations who disseminate them, and we appreciate those who reject the flyers and the disturbing message they contain.”

Just as with the bomb threats, the jury is still out on the individual(s) who carried out this despicable act. There are a host of voices figuratively screaming at their highest decibel levels, trying to convince anyone who will listen that: 1) Racism is no longer a substantive issue in America, 2) Those who focus energy on trying to eliminate it are the problem, and in fact, are the real racists, and 3) That anyone teaching American students historical (and obviously contemporary) facts about racists acts that occurred/are occurring in this country, is a purveyor of Critical Race Theory (CRT). The facts beg to differ. Are you listening? You really should. In 1961, James Baldwin uttered a now famous line. “To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a state of rage almost all of the time. ”Welcome to…”Black History Month (BHM) Week 2: This Is America!”

I’m done; “holla back!”

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right-hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

For more detailed information on a variety of aspects related to this post, consult the links below:

https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/08/us/houston-white-supremacist-flyers/index.html

Black History Month (BHM) Week 2: This Is America

It’s time to Break It Down!

There really are other things I considered writing about today. In politics, there’s Trump and his pledge to pardon bad actors from the January 6, 2021 coup attempt, one Republican candidate encouraged supporters to go to the polls locked and loaded, while another, urged partisans to unplug voting machines if they saw anything they didn’t like. On the flip side, a GOP Senator praised a prospective Biden nominee for the Supreme Court. Also, a Democratic senator had a stroke, jeopardizing the Party’s hope for attaining a 50+1 majority for measures or initiatives President Biden of Leader Schumer might hope to get through the Senate. In sports, we are in the fortnight pause leading up to the Super Bowl, the widely acclaimed GOAT, Tom Brady officially announced his retirement, via Twitter, and my personal favorite, Andrew Wiggins was named a starter in his first NBA All-Star Game. Congratulations Cuz! However, I get lots of pushback from people who aren’t interested in politics, and who couldn’t care less about sports. After surveying the contemporary topical landscape, it occurred to me, one of the subjects, people find less appealing than politics or sports is…oh yeah, race.

Timing is everything. Yesterday just happened to be the first day of February, A.K.A. the introduction to Black History Month (BHM) – 2022. While I appreciate the tributes and observances associated with BHM, I am quick to note that I, as are all Black Americans, am Black every month, and the reality is, BHM is for White people. We know what we brought to the party.

So, as it happened, yesterday, the start of BHM, over a dozen HBCU’s, that’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities for the acronym challenged, were assaulted by bomb threats. The list is even longer if those recently receiving threats are counted, but yesterday’s victims include, Alcorn, Coppin State, Edward Waters College, Fort Valley State, Howard, Jackson State, Kentucky State, Mississippi Valley State, Morgan State, Rust College, Spelman, Tougaloo College, the University of DC, and Xavier. Howard was peppered with a double dose, also having received a similar threat Monday.

Other HBCU’s receiving threats in recent days are Albany State, Bethune-Cookman, Bowie State, Delaware State, and Southern.  All the threats are being investigated at this time. While no bombs have been found, the threats had to be taken seriously, and have proved to be the source of major disruptions across all the affected campuses. Typical response measures due to threats of this type are shelter in place/lockdowns, on-line classes only, and postponed classes. In the face of no bombs found, which is without question a good thing, it would appear the tactics were intended to instill fear and intimidation, at the very least.

I understand there are those who feel weary from what may seem to them, a never-ending discourse on race. If so, consider the experiences of the students at those 19 colleges and universities. This is just the latest in a seemingly never-ending torrent of aggressions, micro-aggressions, and other slights. “Black History Is American History: Welcome to Black History Month – 2022!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right-hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

For more detailed information on a variety of aspects related to this post, consult the links below:

https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/01/us/hbcu-bomb-threats-tuesday/index.html

Black History Is American History: Welcome To Black History Month – 2022

It’s time to Break It Down!

Covid-19 has run rampant throughout the United States. The issue has divided the nation into masking vs. anti-masking, and vaxxers vs. anti-vaxxers. One of the latest controversies to emerge is Gonzaga University suspending the season tickets of its most famous alum, NBA Hall of Famer John Stockton. While the current rage in NBA circles centers on The LeBron vs. Jordan GOAT Debate, most of us have forgotten just how much Stockton brought to the game.

To provide context, while no one suggests he is the GOAT, Stockton’s imprint is lasting. He has one, possibly two records that may never be broken, in addition to his ironman legacy. First, he amassed 15,806 assists. For perspective, the active assist leader, Chris Paul, has 8,672 assists after 16 seasons. Stockton has 3,715 more than Jason Kidd, who is in second place. It’s often said, records are made to be broken. Chances are, if the NBA assist record is ever broken, it will be by someone not yet playing in the League. Stockton also has a healthy lead in NBA steals, a category in which he accumulated 3,265. Chris Paul is also the active leader in that category, with 2,002. Also, as with assists, Jason Kidd holds down the Number 2 spot, with 2,684. The separation is not as great here, but keep in mind, Kidd has been retired for more than 8 years. Chris Paul doesn’t have that many active years left. Someone may surpass him, but it won’t be Paul. Finally, in a category that is difficult to even fathom, Stockton played 16 seasons without missing a game, and played all 82 games in 17 of his 19 seasons. That doesn’t even account for playoff games.

As impressive as Stockton’s metrics are, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, formerly Lew Alcindor, is, or at least should be, in the discussion for GOAT. When he retired, he was the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, with 38,387 points. Sidenote, LeBron James may actually play long enough to surpass Jabbar’s point total. However, Kareem also won a league-record six MVP awards, six championship rings, two Finals MVP awards, 15 NBA First or Second Teams, and a record 19 NBA All-Star Games. He was a two-time NBA Scoring Leader, and a four-time NBA Blocks Leader, the 1970 Rookie-of-the-Year, and holds Retired Jerseys in Milwaukee and Los Angeles…to go along with a statue in front of what was the Staples Center, now the Crypto.com Arena.  

So, what made this relative stat comparison germane? Here’s how it started.

In an interview with The Spokesman-Review, Stockton confirmed he is no longer allowed to attend basketball games at Gonzaga University, his alma mater, because he refuses to comply with the school’s COVID-19 mask mandate. The NBA’s all-time assist leader starred at Gonzaga for four seasons from 1980-84 before a 19-year Hall of Fame career with the Utah Jazz.

In first person, Stockton described it this way:

“Basically, it came down to, they were asking me to wear a mask to the games and being a public figure, someone a little bit more visible, I stuck out in the crowd a little bit. And therefore, they received complaints and felt like from whatever the higher-ups — those weren’t discussed, but from whatever it was higher up — they were going to have to either ask me to wear a mask or they were going to suspend my tickets.”

The 59-year-old, who appeared in a documentary last year promoting COVID-19 vaccine conspiracy theories, also asserted that more than 100 professional athletes had died after taking the vaccine. 

While there is no scientific data that supports Stockton’s claims, this is what he asserted:

“I think it’s highly recorded now, there’s 150 I believe now, it’s over 100 professional athletes dead — professional athletes — the prime of their life, dropping dead that are vaccinated, right on the pitch, right on the field, right on the court.”

That’s where Kareem entered the discussion.

Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar criticized Stockton for spreading misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines. The NBA legend, who has been an outspoken advocate for the vaccines, previously called out Lakers star LeBron James for comparing COVID-19 to other illnesses.

Of Stockton, he said, “I think statements like [Stockton’s] make the public look upon athletes as basically dumb jocks for trying to explain away something that is obviously a pandemic, and the best way to fight pandemics is through vaccination and testing. Those are the means by which we identify the problem and do our best to mitigate it.

I don’t understand anyone saying anything else that makes sense. It doesn’t make sense what he’s saying. This is a preventative measure that has been useful in many different circumstances.”

I’ve have tried to remove myself from the center of this debate. Principally, I decided that I would no longer argue with adults about their need to take steps to protect their health, not to mention the health and well-being of those who they love, and who love them. I can now take comfort in the NBA’s leading scorer doing it for me. “Battle Of Hall Of Famers: Kareem Calls Out Stockton’s Mask Mandate Defiance!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right-hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

For more detailed information on a variety of aspects related to this post, consult the links below:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba/kareem-abdul-jabbar-reacts-to-nba-legends-anti-vaxx-conspiracy/vi-AAT5GHE

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kareem_Abdul-Jabbar

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stockton

Battle of Hall of Famers: Kareem Calls Out Stockton’s Mask Mandate Defiance

It’s time to Break It Down!

Monday was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Over the years, I’ve written a post about Dr. King, the holiday, and how it came to pass. Today, I am again revisiting a post I initially wrote and posted Wednesday, January 19, 2011, and that I reprised January 18, 2017, January 17, 2018, and again, January 23, 2019, examining the advent of the King Holiday. It’s been 36 years since the initial observance of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday (MLK DAY), and 39 years since President Reagan signed the MLK, Jr. Holiday bill into law. Contemporary events continue to remind us that now is an apt time to look into the rearview mirror of time.

After over three decades of inculcation into the very fabric of our society, it may be largely forgotten that the conceptualization, submission and continual resubmission of the idea, the enactment, and the gradual national observance, was not the product of universal acceptance of a grand and enlightened concept, but rather, was emblematic of the civil rights struggle itself; steeped in controversy, and the eventual victory of a relentless movement to achieve richly deserved, and long overdue social justice.

Several members of Congress, a number of states, and even a President, using a host of creative means, sought to undermine, outmaneuver, sabotage, subvert, and otherwise derail the efforts of the measure’s proponents. Ultimately, the movement was consolidated, snowballed, and would simply not be thwarted.

The effort to create a King Holiday was started by U.S. Representative John Conyers, Michigan, shortly after Dr. King’s death, in the spring of 1968. It was first introduced in the House of Representatives in 1979, but fell 5 votes short of the number needed for passage in the Lower Chamber.

High profile opponents to the measure included Senator Jesse Helms, NC, Senator John McCain, AZ, and President Ronald Reagan. Both Senators voted against the bill, and Senator McCain publicly supported Arizona Governor Evan Mecham for his rescission of MLK Day as a State Holiday in Arizona. The campaign however, reached a critical mass in the early 1980’s. Spurred on by Stevie Wonder penning a song in King’s honor called, “Happy Birthday,” a petition drive to support the campaign would attract over 6 million signatures. It has been called the largest petition in favor of an issue in U.S. History.

Buttressed by what had become a wildly successful public campaign, Congress soon followed suit. The proposal passed in the House by a vote of 338-90, and in the Upper Chamber by a vote of 78-22. Given the dimensions of this overwhelming support, in the form of bicameral veto-proof votes, President Reagan signed the provision November 2, 1983, and it became Federal Law. The first observance under the new law took place January 20, 1986, rather than on January 15th, Dr. King’s birthday. A compromise in the legislation specified that the observance take place on the Third Monday in January, consistent with prior legislation (Uniform Monday Holiday Act).

Of course, that was not the end of the story. It would take more than 30 years after Dr. King’s death before the Holiday was fully adopted and observed in all 50 states. Illinois holds the distinction of being the first State to adopt MLK Day as a State Holiday, having done so in 1973. Twenty years later, in 1993, for the first time, some form of MLK Day was held in each of the 50 States. 

It was not until 2000 that South Carolina Governor Jim Hodges signed a bill to make MLK Day a paid holiday for State employees; giving the Palmetto State the dubious distinction of being the last of the 50 States to do so. However, Mississippi also sets itself apart by designating the Third Monday in January as a shared Holiday that honors the memory of Robert E. Lee and Dr. King…two fine southern gentlemen.

Last summer after entertaining a whirlwind, on again off again, job offer at UNC, journalist, McArthur Fellow, Pulitzer Prize winner, and UNC alum Nikole Hannah-Jones opted to choose Howard University as her next employer, over UNC. Ms. Hannah-Jones, who gained notoriety for her work on the 1619 Project, has become a lightning rod for discourse around issues of civil rights, and the much-ballyhooed topic known as Critical Race Theory, #CRT. 

This week, NH-J was invited to give an MLK speech on Monday. She discovered that a few members of the group hosting her wrote and subsequently leaked emails opposing her giving the speech. Those who opposed her felt it dishonored Dr. King to do so and characterized her as a “discredited activist” “unworthy of such association with King.”

This insight motivated her to call an audible. She scrapped her original speech and spent the first half of her speech reading excerpts from several of Dr. King’s speeches…without revealing that they were his words. She subbed BLACK for Negro, to avoid dating the material and giving away the fact that it was from over half a century ago. Literally, that’s all it took to transport to 2022.

Here is some of Nikole Hannah-Jones’ 2022 MLK, Jr. Day speech:

“It was in the year 1619 that the first BLACK slave was brought to the shores of this nation. They were brought here from the soils of Africa and unlike the Pilgrim fathers who landed here at Plymouth a year later, they were brought here against their will…”

“White Americans must recognize that justice for black people cannot be achieved without radical changes in the structure of our society…The evils of capitalism are as real as the evils of militarism and racism…”

4:

“The problems of racial injustice and economic injustice cannot be solved without a radical redistribution of political and economic power. A nation that continues year after year to spend more $ on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”

“The crowning achievement in hypocrisy must go to those staunch Republicans and Democrats of the Midwest and West who were given land by our government when they came here as immigrants from Europe. They were given education through the land grant colleges…”

“These are the same people that now say to black people, whose ancestors were brought to this country in chains and who were emancipated in 1863 without being given land to cultivate or bread to eat; that they must pull themselves up by their own bootstraps…”

“What they truly advocate is Socialism for the rich and Capitalism for the poor… “We know full well that racism is still that hound of hell which dogs the tracks of our civilization.”

“Ever since the birth of our nation, White America has had a Schizophrenic personality on the ? of race, she has been torn between selves. A self in which she proudly professes the great principle of democracy and a self in which she madly practices the antithesis of democracy.”

“The fact is, there has never been a single, solid, determined commitment on the part of the vast majority of white Americans to genuine equality for Black people.”

“The step backwards has a new name today, it is called the white backlash, but the white backlash is nothing new. It is the surfacing of old prejudices, hostilities and ambivalences that have always been there…”

“The white backlash of today is rooted in the same problem that has characterized America ever since the black man landed in chains on the shores of this nation.”

“Whites, it must frankly be said, are not putting in a similar mass effort to reeducate themselves out of their racial ignorance…with each modest advance the white population promptly raises the argument that BLACK AMERICANS HAVE come far enough.”

“…for the good of America, it is necessary to refute the idea that the dominant ideology in our country, even today, is freedom and equality and that racism is just an occasional departure from the norm on the part of a few bigoted extremists.”

“If America does not respond creatively to the challenge to banish racism, some future historian will have to say, that a great civilization died because it lacked the soul and commitment to make justice a reality for all men.”

“Why do white people seem to find it so difficult to understand that the Black people are sick and tired of having reluctantly parceled out to THEM those rights and privileges which all others receive upon birth or entry in America?”

“I never cease to wonder at the amazing presumption of much of white society, assuming that they have the right to bargain with the BLACK for their freedom…”

Oh, the uncomfortable silence as I read Dr. King’s words at a commemoration of Dr. King’s life when people had no idea that these were his words. When I revealed that everything I said to that point was taken from his speeches between ’56 and 67… Can you say SHOOK!

Then I read all the names that white Americans called King: charlatan, demagogue, communist, traitor — and brought out the polling showing more than three-quarters of Americans opposed King at his death while 94 percent approve of him now.

I left them with this: People who oppose today what he stood for back then do not get to be the arbiters of his legacy. The real Dr. King cannot be commodified, homogenized, and white-washed and whatever side you stand on TODAY is the side you would have been back then.

In fact, most white Americans in 1963 opposed the March on Washington where Dr. King gave the “I Have A Dream Speech” with that one line that people oppose to anti-racism like to trot out against those working for racial justice.

When the speech was over, Father Pfleger, who had been cheering me on from the crowd, whispered in my ear: That’s what you call the “You Gone Learn Today” speech and I . Because, yeah.

“This is why the 1619 Project exists. This is why the decades of scholarship that undergirds the 1619 Project exists. Because if we do nothing, they will co-opt our history and use it against us.”

Dr. King was a radical critic of racism, capitalism and militarism. He didn’t die. He was assassinated. And many, including Regan, fought the national holiday we’re now commemorating. “If you haven’t read, in entirety, his speeches, you’ve been miseducated & I hope that you will.”

As it was in 1622, 1722, 1822, 1922, and yeah, remains in 2022… MLK, Jr.: Quotes You Don’t Remember…Or Perhaps Never Heard (Relayed by Nikole Hannah-Jones).

I’m done; holla back!

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1483187472276328449.html?fbclid=IwAR3Gq0hLX0vDKCRlP693LO4TBL9-jWsBZnPiUg5Nqmf–T2c63h3l3BCwu8

MLK, Jr.: Quotes You Don’t Remember…Or Perhaps Never Heard (Relayed by Nikole Hannah-Jones)

It’s time to Break It Down!

In 2014, a 9-year-old girl wrote then-President Obama a letter suggesting that Harriet Tubman’s likeness adorn the $20 bill. In 2016, The President warmed to the idea and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said the Government would release a “final concept design” for the bill in 2020. However, after a change in administrations, subsequently, in May of 2019, Trump Administration Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin announced that the new design would not be unveiled until 2028. Many of the initial reports suggested that the delay was precipitated by Mnuchin slow playing the process. Upon further inquiry, several Obama era officials have stated the 2020 date was unrealistic, and that the timing for release of the new bills remains on schedule.

Meanwhile, this week, the United States Mint announced it has begun shipping quarters featuring the image of poet Maya Angelou, the first coins in its American Women Quarters Program.

Angelou was born, Marguerite Annie Johnson, April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri, but became a North Carolina transplant, where she resided in Winston-Salem until her death. She was an author, poet, and Civil Rights activist. Her initial rise to prominence was fueled by the success of the publication, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” in 1969. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. She received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees. Angelou, who died in 2014 at the age of 86 (May 28), was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2010 by President Barack Obama.

The coin which depicts Ms. Angelou’s likeness has a design that shows Angelou with outstretched arms. In the background, there appears a bird in flight and s rising sun, images inspired by her poetry. The new mint program will issue 19 more quarters over the next four years, including 4 more this year; all honoring women and their achievements in shaping our American History.

Future 2022 honorees include physicist and first woman astronaut, Sally Ride, first female principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, Wilma Mankiller, a leader in New Mexico’s suffrage movement and first female Superintendent of Santa Fe Public Schools, Nina Otero-Warren, and the first Chinese American film star in Hollywood, Anna May Wong.

Senator Catherine Cortez Mastro, D-Nevada, the Senate sponsor of the legislation directing the Mint to issue the quarters honoring women, applauded the Mint’s selection of Angelou for the first coin. She said:

“This coin will ensure generations of Americans learn about Maya Angelou’s books and poetry that spoke to the lived experience of Black women.”

It’s a long way from the $20 bill to a quarter. That’s a gap worthy of a blog, in and of itself. But not today. There’s too much else worthy of investing energy on…like President Biden’s voting bills…but I digress. This post is about a deserving author, poet, and civil rights activist. “Maya Angelou: She’s On The Money!”

I’m done; holla back! 

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right-hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

For more detailed information on a variety of aspects related to this post, consult the links below:

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=U.S.+Mint+has+begun+shipping+quarters+featuring+the+image+of+Maya+Angelou&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Angelou

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Tubman

Maya Angelou: She’s On The Money