Featured
Trump + Murdoch = Another Racially Toxic Presidential Campaign. By Thom Hartmann / The New Republic
The race-hatred engines are getting revved up again. Prepare for an ugly fall.
The politically cancerous pattern of using racism for political gain and financial profit dates back to the earliest days of our republic, but now, amplified by Donald Trump, it is again increasingly in our faces.
If our media and body politic are infected with a cancer—driven by white grievance and an unending thirst for profits, regardless of the damage it does—it’s our responsibility as Americans to call it out and isolate it so it can’t further harm our democracy and, by extension, the other democracies of the world. Read more
Donald Trump’s Mob Rule. By Michelle Goldberg / NYT
One of the more unsettling things about our politics right now is the Republican Party’s increasingly open embrace of lawlessness.
In the Corleone universe, the Don is ‘responsible’ for his family, a responsibility that authorizes him to do virtually anything except violate the obligations of the family bond,” Francis wrote. That also seems to be how Trump sees himself, minus, of course, the family obligations. What’s frightening is how many Republicans see him the same way. Read more
Related: Republicans Have a New Way of Looking at Crime. Jamelle Bouie / NYT
Related: Trump Defends Vow to Prosecute Rivals, Saying ‘Sometimes Revenge Can Be Justified.’
Political / Social
As Biden rallies the free world, Trump serves a higher cause: Himself. By Dana Milbank / Wash Post
The 80th anniversary of D-Day on Thursday provided the contrast that should define the election.
President Biden went to Normandy and spoke about American greatness. Donald Trump went to Phoenix and called the United States a “failed nation” and a “very sick country.” In France, Biden rhapsodized about “the story of America” told by the rows of graves at the Normandy America Cemetery: “Nearly 10,000 heroes buried side by side, officers and enlisted, immigrants and native-born, different races, different faiths, but all Americans.” In Phoenix, Trump, invoked the racist “great replacement” conspiracy theory, saying Biden had orchestrated an “invasion” at the border as part of “a deliberate demolition of our sovereignty” because “they probably think these people are going to be voting.” Read more
Alvin Bragg’s Next Decision on Trump Presents a Political Quandary. / NYT
The Manhattan district attorney must present a sentencing recommendation to the judge. He could face backlash whether he opts for leniency or for a harsh sentence.
The district attorney’s work will soon turn to the sentencing memo his office will present to the judge in the case, Juan M. Merchan, which ought to prove equally controversial no matter what it recommends. Mr. Trump was convicted of class E felonies, the lowest level in the state, and could be sentenced to probation or up to four years in prison — or, alternatively, what is known as a split sentence, with a relatively brief amount of time spent in a city jail in advance of a probationary determination. Read more
Related: Alvin Bragg Agrees To Testify Before Congress After Historic Trump Guilty Verdict. By
Georgia Appeals Court Stays Most Proceedings in Trump Election Case.
The order means the prosecution of Donald J. Trump in Georgia is effectively frozen, at least through the presidential election.
The Georgia Court of Appeals on Wednesday stayed the criminal election interference case against former President Donald J. Trump until an appellate panel could resolve the matter of whether the district attorney in Fulton County should be disqualified from prosecuting the case based on a conflict of interest. Read more
Young Black voters are key in the 2024 election. Many don’t love their options. By Sabrina Rodriguez and Hannah Yoon / Wash Post
In conversations with nearly 30 attendees at the Roots Picnic, a popular Philadelphia music festival, all expressed unease over the upcoming election.
The festival, held in Philadelphia and headlined by famed artists such as Lil Wayne and Jill Scott, attracted a largely younger and Black crowd — groups that were key parts of President Biden’s winning coalition in 2020 but whose support has softened ahead of this year’s election. Read more
Operatives with GOP ties are helping Cornel West get on the ballot in a key state. By
Documents obtained by NBC News show operatives connected to a Colorado-based GOP firm helped the far-left presidential candidate in North Carolina.
Cornel West’s independent presidential campaign is broke. His former campaign manager says he knows nothing about ballot access. And he spent more on graphic design than petition-gathering in his most recent campaign finance report. But tens of thousands of signatures have been gathered on behalf of the famed left-wing academic in key states thanks to self-organized grassroots volunteers — and some help from outside operatives tied to a Republican consulting firm. Read more
Byron Donalds Says ‘During Jim Crow, The Black Family Was Together.’ By
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) suggested on Tuesday that Black American families were more “together” during the era of legal segregation known as Jim Crow.
Speaking with Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) during a Black voter outreach event for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in Philadelphia, Donalds said 20th-century welfare policies supported by Democrats hurt Black families. Read more
Related: No, Byron Donalds, Jim Crow Didn’t Create Stronger Black Families. By Jamelle Bouie / NYT
Police Can Be Held Liable for Killing a Dog but Not a Black Person. By Elie Mystal / The Nation
In back-to-back rulings on when cops should be afforded qualified immunity, an appeals court came to radically different conclusions.
The 11th Circuit covers Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, three states with a lot of dogs and Black people. In two rulings handed down this week, the circuit took wildly different stances on the protections afforded to dogs versus Black people. Read more
The Texas Republican Party has gone off the deep end. By Karen Tumulty / Wash Post
Looking for something really hair-raising to read? Check out the 50-page platform that was just adopted by the Texas Republican Party.
Just a few of the platform’s planks: that the Bible should be taught in public schools, with chaplains on hand “to counsel and give guidance from a traditional biblical perspective based on Judeo-Christian principles.” That noncitizens who are legal residents of this country should be deported if they are arrested for participating in a protest that turns violent. That name changes to military bases should be reversed to “publicly honor the southern heroes.” That doctors who perform abortions should be charged with homicide. That the United States should withdraw from the United Nations and that the international organization should be removed from U.S. soil. Read more
Black workers sue General Mills over alleged racial discrimination in Georgia. By Jonathan Franklin / NPR
Cereal giant General Mills is facing a federal lawsuit filed by several of its Black employees who claim that one of the company’s plants in Georgia has “embraced a racially hostile work environment” controlled by “white supremacists.”
In a 60-page federal lawsuit filed earlier this month, the plaintiffs allege that the managers at the Covington, Ga., plant favor white employees for promotions over its Black employees — as they allege that more disciplinary actions were issued toward Black employees. Read more
World News
Why Russia Is Happy at War. By Anastasia Edel / The Atlantic
A centuries-long tradition of authoritarian rule and disregard for individual rights underpins Vladimir Putin’s imperial project.
Russia does seem surprisingly unified. Despite the war’s heavy human toll, estimated by the United Kingdom’s Defence Intelligence to be as high as 500,000, and near-total isolation from the West, Russian society has not unraveled. On the contrary, it appears to be functioning better than before the war and shows clear signs of once-elusive social cohesion. One explanation for this paradox—national thriving amid unfolding calamity—is that, unlike Western states, which are designed to advance the interests of their citizens, Russian society operates with one purpose in mind: to serve the interests of its belligerent state. Read more
Related: South Africa’s Belated Reckoning Over the War in Ukraine. By Tim Mak / Poiltico
How Israel’s Illiberal Democracy Became a Model for the Right. By Suzanne Schneider / Dissent
For conservatives around the world, Israel’s democratic deficit is a feature, not a bug—an alternative constitutional model that defies liberal universalism
Amid the mass slaughter and starvation of Palestinians in Gaza, it is easy to forget the political drama that gripped Israel only one year ago. After assuming power in December 2022, a new far-right government led by Benjamin Netanyahu had proposed a slate of judicial and administrative reforms that prompted a wave of anti-government protests. Concerned journalists, former U.S. and Israeli government officials, and major American Jewish organizations issued ominous warnings about democratic backsliding. Israel, it seemed, was heading in the direction of illiberal Hungary. Read more
With their country in crisis, Haitian athletes aim to showcase resilience at Olympics. By
As the Paris Games approach, athletes representing Haiti have one eye on their country in political and violent upheaval and the other eye on Olympic glory. Boxer Kathreen “Kat” Sterling of the Haitian team trains for the 2024 Olympics in Philadelphia on May 14. Gymnast Pierre Yvenel Stephan of the Haitian team, trains for the Games in Antibes, France, on May 10.
Haiti has never sent a male gymnast to the Olympics in the 124 years since it began competing in the games. But Pierre Yevenel Stephan plans to change that. “Being the first Haitian gymnast, this is still Haiti’s first participation in the Olympic Games in this discipline, and it would be an honor for me to take part and go down in the history of my sport and my country,” Stephan, 24, said in an interview. Read more
Ethics / Morality / Religion
Catholic Trump voters see no choice in upcoming election — even after conviction. By Heidi Schlumpf / NCR
Not even Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records seems to change many Trump supporters’ minds. A survey shortly after the verdict showed that more than half of voters overall approved of the jurors’ decision, but that only 8% of Trump supporters want Trump to drop his White House bid.
The only issue that provided some conflict with Catholic Trump voters’ faith was immigration. Those who spoke with NCR acknowledged that they agreed with Scripture’s directive to “welcome the stranger” — and were aware of Pope Francis’ emphasis on the issue — but emphasized the need for only “legal immigration” and accused Biden of supporting “open borders.” Read more
Related: What a fool believes: Donald Trump and America’s bogus respect for “faith.” By Mike Lofgren / Salon
Harvard religion professor Diana Eck on pluralism’s changes, challenges. By Adelle M. Banks / RNS
‘I still think of myself as Christian, in the sense that that’s my family of origin,’ Eck said. ‘There are other families that I feel I belong to as well.’
She spoke with Religion News Service in a Monday (May 6) interview about the state of religious pluralism, how the language about religions has changed, and her personal connections with different faiths. Read more
My Whole Black Self with Marvin Williams. By Steve Cuss / Christianity Today Podcast
How many minutes per week do you think you can be exactly yourself? That’s the question host Steve Cuss poses at the beginning of this episode, and it takes on specific meaning as he converses with his guest, Marvin Williams. Williams is the lead pastor of Trinity Church in Lansing, Michigan.
His forthcoming dissertation, My Whole Black Self, considers what it’s like to be exactly yourself and what happens when people cannot be exactly themselves. Cuss and Williams discuss what drew Williams to systems theory, how leadership starts with personal transformation, and what it looks like to live in one’s identity fully. They talk about bullying; anxiety; and the Black writers, thinkers, and experts who have influenced Williams’s perspective. Listen here
Historical / Cultural
The 19th-Century Club You’ve Never Heard of That Changed the World. By Jon Grinspan / NYT
A Wide Awakes rally in October 1860 filled much of Lower Manhattan with marchers and spectators, and left the city stinking of burned torch oil.Credit…National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
How did American slavery, which began in 1619, spark a conflict in 1861? How did a long-running debate turn into a shooting war? Where, exactly, was that dynamic moment when an argument became a fight? George Kimball’s Wide Awakes help make sense of it all. That half-forgotten movement provides a missing link between the election and the war. In the presidential campaign of 1860, hundreds of thousands of diverse young Americans joined companies of Wide Awakes, marching in militaristic uniforms, escorting Republican speakers, fighting in defense of antislavery speech. Their grass-roots rising helped elect Abraham Lincoln as president but also began the spiral into war. Read more
D-Day Black History: 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion Untold Story. By Bilal G. Morris / Newsone
History tends to forget our heroes, especially when they’re Black. As we remember the fallen heroes of World War II on the 80th anniversary of D-Day, let us not forget the all-Black unit that helped turn the tides of war.
The 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion played a crucial role in the D-Day invasion of Normandy, yet their story is often overlooked or flat-out never told. These brave Black men were not your average soldiers. Instead of fighting on the front lines, they deployed barrage balloons to protect Allied forces from enemy aircraft bombings. The 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion contributed to the invasion’s success and their technical expertise would contribute to advancing U.S. military technology. But, who were these men and how did they become some of the most important people during World War II? In this article, NewsOne explores the untold story of the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion and how their legacy and achievements should never be forgotten. Read more
Related: The lesson from D-Day about our divisions. By Eugene Robinson / Wash Post
“King: A Life”: New Bio Details Extensive FBI Spying & How MLK’s Criticism of Malcolm X Was Fabricated. By Amy Goodman / Democracy Now
We speak in depth with journalist Jonathan Eig about his new book, King: A Life.
The first major biography of the civil rights leader in more than 35 years, which draws on unredacted FBI files, as well as the files of the personal aide to President Lyndon Baines Johnson, to show how Johnson and others partnered in the FBI’s surveillance of King and efforts to destroy him, led by director J. Edgar Hoover. Read more and listen here
Where O.J. Simpson Found Acceptance, No Questions Asked.
Las Vegas became a refuge that many believe Mr. Simpson did not deserve in his final years. There, he found an unlikely group of friends.
When he settled in Las Vegas seven years ago, it seemed fitting that he would choose a city of escape and second acts. Here, he became a man about town, known for pulling up to a steakhouse in a Bentley convertible, appearing at lavish parties and posing for selfies. His lifestyle was comfortable — and far too pleasant to those who believed he deserved to spend his remaining days in prison. But there was one element that made him feel accepted in Las Vegas. A little-known golf crew called In the Cup. Read more
What is the future of hip-hop? Questlove delves into the past for answers. By G’ra Asim / Wash Post
In a new book, “Hip-Hop Is History,” the DJ, producer and Roots drummer explores the evolution of the genre he helped build.
The title of Questlove’s new book, “Hip-Hop Is History,” has a double meaning. The drummer and co-frontman of the Roots makes a convincing case not only that hip-hop is a pivotal piece of cultural history, but also that to some extent it is history, as in an art form “that has run its course in some important ways.” Read more
Related: Howard University ends ties with Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs over assault video. By Helier Cheung / Wash Post
Black Music Sunday: Celebrating the Cole Porter songbook. By Denise Oliver Velez / Daily Kos
Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong performed Cole Porter’s music in “High Society.”
Continuing our dual celebration of Black Music Month and LGBTQ+ Pride Month from last Sunday, I thought it would be interesting to explore the works of one of America’s greatest songwriters in The Great American Songbook Hall of Fame: Cole Porter, who happened to be gay. Many black musicians, singers, and instrumentalists savored, favored, and performed his work during his heyday and are still paying homage to him today. Read more and listen here
Sports
Why basketball is the best sport in the world. By Jesse Washington / Andscape
Sorry, baseball. You’re not America’s Pastime any more. Hey, football – I don’t care how many viewers you get, you don’t run this block. Soccer? Y’all still sharing a name with football. Don’t even get me started on the invasive species that is pickleball. No disrespect to any of these other games – and by “no disrespect” I mean “take it however you want to take it” – but basketball is the Best Sport in the World.
Why so aggressive, Jess? Why not celebrate all games for what makes them special? Because hoopers talk the best trash. Because sports are defined by competition. Because at this moment in time, with the NBA and WNBA sizzling hot? Every game, highlight, storyline, hip check and viral moment is further proof that basketball is the apex influencer, the Kendrick Lamar in your little Drake world, the A’ja Wilson to all you … hold up, let me chill and simply ask: How does hoop run things? Let me count the ways. Read more
The ugly discourse surrounding Caitlin Clark. By Candace Buckner / Wash Post
Caitlin Clark is here to save the WNBA, as long as she doesn’t get touched.
We should all protect Caitlin Clark. She is the white knight galloping in to save the Dark Continent known as the WNBA, the singular star uplifting an entire women’s sports movement that only now matters because men are watching. She is the No. 1 draft pick learning the rigors of a professional league but doing so with the same lean and slightly sinewy 152-pound frame from her college days — every time she’s double-teamed and trapped by grown women who refuse to view her as anything other than a scoring threat, the physical contact takes on a greater meaning. Read more
Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ could be the next great sports anthem. By Keith Murphy / Andscape
Compton rapper’s hit song is taking over stadiums across the country
In just a month, Lamar’s song, which was produced by DJ Mustard, has already become a go-to crowd-pleaser for Stewart. Dodgers resident DJ Fuze has used the track to get fans fired up during pregame warmups. Even acclaimed Dodgers organist Dieter Ruehle added the chart-topping song to his traditional playlist. Read more
Willie Mays reacts to his added hits after Negro Leagues integrated into MLB stats. By Paul Harris / Yardbarker
Willie Mays still has his sense of humor.
“It must be some kind of record for a 93-year-old,” Mays told CNN in a statement about his 10 more hits after Major League Baseball incorporated the statistics of several Negro Leagues into its own records last week. Before playing in the majors, Mays played with the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League as a teenager in 1948. His 10 hits with them now give Mays 3,293, 12th on the all-time list. Read more
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