Featured
‘What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?’: The History of Frederick Douglass’ Searing Independence Day Oration. By Olivia B. Waxman / Time
America has been working to fully live up to the ideals laid out in the Declaration of Independence ever since the document was printed on July 4, 1776. So while the U.S. tends to go all out celebrating freedom on the Fourth of July, alternate independence commemorations held a day later often draw attention to a different side of that story, with readings of the Frederick Douglass speech best known today as “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”
The speech was originally delivered at a moment when the country was fiercely locked in debate over the question of slavery, but there’s a reason why it has remained famous more than 150 years after emancipation, says David Blight, author of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize winning biography Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom. Read more
Political / Social
This is how Joe Biden can beat Donald Trump like a drum. By Lucian K Truscott IV / Salon
Compare and contrast. That’s what a political campaign is for; candidates present their vision of where they will take the country, and why you should elect them to do it versus what the other candidate wants to do.
So far, Joe Biden has been running as the candidate who doesn’t lie and tells the truth, who will protect our democracy, and do the things that good Democrats always say they will do – provide health care, protect Social Security and Medicare, support the troops and take care of the vets, and work on the economy so there is equal opportunity for all. But he’s running against the Donald Trump of 2024, not 2020, or even the soft-focus fascist of 2016. Accusing Trump of lying every time he opens his mouth is stating the obvious, as is accusing him of extremism and racism and all the other terrible isms, including the modern-day fascism of MAGA Republicans. Read more
Related: Biden plans public events blitz to push back on pressure to leave the race. AP and Daily Kos
There’s No Reason to Resign Ourselves to Biden. By Michelle Goldberg / NYT
Though Joe Biden’s debate performance last week was among the most painful things I’ve ever witnessed, it at least seemed to offer clarity. Suddenly, even many people who love this president realized that his campaign has become untenable.
For years, loyal Democrats have been suppressing their private anxiety about Biden’s decline. In the debate’s miserable aftermath, there was finally space to acknowledge the obvious: Biden is too old for this. “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced,” James Baldwin wrote. The Democratic Party’s predicament is an awful one, but there was a cold, flinty relief in being forced to reckon with it. Read more
How Biden and the Democrats should think through what to do now. By the Editorial Board / NYT
If President Biden had weekend plans, he should cancel them in favor of some soul-searching. His calamitous debate performance on Thursday raises legitimate questions about whether he’s up for another four years in the world’s toughest job. It’s incumbent on this incumbent to determine, in conversation with family and aides, whether continuing to seek reelection is in the best interests of the country.
Former president Donald Trump proved emphatically on Thursday why preventing another Trump presidency is the paramount consideration. Mr. Biden faces a personal decision but also a presidential one: What would be best for the country, his personal feelings notwithstanding? Read more
Related: L.B.J. Did It in 1968. Biden Can Do It, Too. By Kevin Boyle / NYT
CNN poll suggests Harris does better than Biden in a race against Trump. By Marin Scotten / Salon
Three-quarters of U.S. voters say the Democratic Party will have a better chance of winning November’s election if President Joe Biden isn’t the nominee, a new CNN poll suggests. Even so, the head-to-head numbers have not budged since CNN’s last national poll in April, with Trump still beating Biden by 49% to 43%”
Vice President Kamala Harris, the most likely candidate to replace the president, fares better than Biden in a theoretical race against Trump, with 47% of voters favoring Trump and 45% favoring Harris, which is within the poll’s margin of error. Read more
Related: Could Vice President Kamala Harris Replace President Joe Biden? By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton / U.S. News
Day two of Donald Trump’s dictatorship. By Chauncey Devega / Salon
Plotting out the demise of the American presidency
You will obey! This is the mission statement for authoritarians and autocrats such as aspiring dictator Donald Trump and his MAGA movement. Donald Trump and his agents’ and allies’ revolutionary plans to end American democracy are not secret: they have been publicly announced and are detailed in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, on Trump’s own campaign website as Agenda 47, and throughout the right-wing “news” media disinformation echo chamber. And now blessed by the highest court in the land. Read more
Related: How white victimhood is shaping a second Trump term. By Zack Beauchamp / Vox
Something Has Gone Deeply Wrong at the Supreme Court. By Akhil Reed Amar / The Atlantic
Jurists who preach fidelity to the Constitution are making decisions that flatly contradict our founding document’s text and ideals.
Forget donald trump. Forget Joe Biden. Think instead about the Constitution. What does this document, the supreme law of our land, actually say about lawsuits against ex-presidents? Nothing remotely resembling what Chief Justice John Roberts and five associate justices declared in yesterday’s disappointing Trump v. United States decision. The Court’s curious and convoluted majority opinion turns the Constitution’s text and structure inside out and upside down, saying things that are flatly contradicted by the document’s unambiguous letter and obvious spirit. Read more
Related: The President Can Now Assassinate You, Officially. By Elie Mystal / The Nation
Related: The Supreme Court rules that Donald Trump can be a dictator. By Amanda Marcotte / Salon
Related: Ruling Further Slows Trump Election Case but Opens Door to Airing of Evidence. By Alan Feuer / NYT
Bad News For Fani Willis and Trump’s Election Interference Case. By Candace McDuffie / The Root
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Donald Trump might be entitled to immunity from his behavior during the final days of his presidency and as it pertained to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. That decision may have damning effects on the Georgia racketeering case against him.
That case, which was spearheaded by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, is currently on hold as an appeals court evaluates if Willis can stay on the case at the request of Trump and his co-defendants. The Georgia case also has some of the same matters as special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of Trump on federal election interference charges. Read more
The Dangers of Distractions in Post–Affirmative Action Admissions. By Shaun Harper and Julie Posselt / Inside HIgher Ed
Colleges and universities had braced themselves for devastating outcomes in the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard College and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill cases. Well ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last summer that outlawed the use of race as a variable in admissions, campus and enrollment management professionals began envisioning a future without affirmative action.
Mixed messages about enrollment shifts could also become an early distraction. In their analyses of historical trend data, authors of a recent Common App study found no significant racial differences in applicants’ behaviors (e.g., where and to how many colleges they applied) in the first admission season following the SCOTUS SFFA rulings. That’s really good, for now. Let’s hope it holds. Read more
Related: At onset of anti-DEI law, Utah colleges close cultural centers. By Johanna Alonso / Inside Higher Ed
Related: Attacks on DEI threaten med schools’ efforts to recruit more Black students. By Lauren Sausser / NPR
How abortion restrictions have disproportionately impacted Black women. By Sarah Varney and Layla Quaran / PBS
It’s been more than two years since the Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to abortion. Since then, nearly two dozen states have banned or restricted access to the procedure and abortion pills. Special correspondent Sarah Varney traveled to Tennessee to report on the disproportionate impact abortion bans are having on Black women. It’s part of our series, Race Matters.
57 percent of Black women between the ages of 15 and 49, or about seven million women, live in states where abortion is banned or limited. Tennessee has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country, and Black women here are about 2.5 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes as white women, regardless of their income or level of education. Read more
HBCUs Continue to Grow as Enrollment Elsewhere Slows. By Insight Staff / Insight into Diversity
This growth reflects an increasing demand for higher education tailored to the Black community, amplified recruitment and retention efforts, innovative strategies to serve these student populations, and an increase in funding through federal and philanthropic avenues. The Supreme Court’s decision last June to discontinue the consideration of race in college admissions may also be contributing to this influx. Read more
Related: Black Colleges and Universities at the Crossroads: The Cultural Imperative. By Ronald J. Sheehy / The Black Collegian (1987)
World News
Gang violence in Haiti has displaced 300,000 children, the United Nations says. By AP and NPR
“The humanitarian catastrophe unfolding before our eyes is taking a devastating toll on children,” Catherine Russell, UNICEF’s executive director, said in a statement. “Displaced children are in desperate need of a safe and protective environment, and increased support and funding from the international community.”
The announcement comes days after hundreds of Kenyans arrived in Haiti to help rescue the country from the tight hold of armed gangs. The deployment received mixed reactions after a U.N. peacekeeping mission years ago introduced cholera in the country and was tainted with sexual allegations. Read more
For South Africa’s Cabinet, Bigger May Not Mean Better. By John Eligon / NYT
President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, shown being sworn in as a parliamentarian last month, announced a broad new coalition cabinet on Sunday.
After South Africa’s president announced the largest administration in the nation’s democratic history on Sunday, some critics were questioning whether the attempt to pacify diverse political interests would complicate efforts to tackle the country’s myriad economic and social problems. President Cyril Ramaphosa had for years promised to shrink the size of government — partly because of demands by the public and political opponents. But with his party, the African National Congress, having failed in the recent election to secure an absolute majority in Parliament for the first time since the end of apartheid 30 years ago, he has had to incorporate a broad coalition of parties in his cabinet. Read more
Ethics / Morality / Religion
Hubris of Biblical Proportions. By Erica Brown / The Atlantic
“Pride goes before ruin; arrogance, before failure.”
I get it. It’s hard to let go of authority, to give up on the strategies not yet executed and goals not yet achieved. The privileges of power are also difficult to relinquish, from the small perks to the constant wash of sycophancy. And as a lifelong student of the Hebrew Bible, I know there’s nothing new about this. The arc of leadership in the Hebrew Bible captures this predictable cycle: modesty, authority, prosperity, then insecurity. The pre-leadership questions are often the same: Am I worthy? Is there someone better suited to the task? Why me? We see this play out as early as the Exodus story, when Moses had the audacity to turn down God. Moses felt himself unworthy of leadership—a poor speaker, inexperienced, and unable to establish the people’s trust. He, at least, retained his humility until the end. Read more
Self evident truths? By Peter W. Marty / The Christian Century
What may have been obvious to Thomas Jefferson was probably not obvious to those he enslaved.
And given the way we still treat different members of society in our day, it’s still not obvious that we’re convinced of the truths that all people are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. So until such time as we’re ready to live these truths by adjusting our rhetoric, enacting laws that benefit all people more equitably, and ending our punishment of the poor for being poor, we probably ought to practice a little more reticence when suggesting certain truths are obvious or self-evident. Read more
God And The Declaration Of Independence. By Barbara O’Brien / Patheos
The Declaration of Independence mentions God three times, in three different ways. Near the beginning there is “Nature’s God,” then later there is “Creator,” and toward the end “Divine Providence.” For this reason the Declaration is often cited by Christian nationalists in their arguments that the United States was founded to be a “Christian nation.” But the Declaration of Independence was written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, who also is closely associated with the metaphorical wall of separation between church and state that Christian nationalists abhor. How did that happen?
First, it’s important to understand that the Declaration was an argument for a right to rebel, or an apology for revolution. You can read the entire Declaration here. In writing the Declaration, Jefferson was much influenced by John Locke’s Second Treatise on Government, which had been published in 1690. Most educated people of 1776 who read Jefferson’s text probably made that connection. Jefferson was drawing on a well-known theory of government to strengthen his case, in other words. Read more
Historical / Cultural
How White Supremacy Became A Part Of American Culture. By Newsone Staff
White supremacy is an ideology asserting the inherent superiority of white people over nonwhite individuals. This deeply flawed belief system has its roots in pseudo-scientific racism, which historically justified atrocities such as slavery, imperialism, colonialism, and genocide. Today, white supremacist ideologies persist, perpetuating the myth of white racial superiority.
In the United States, historians believe the influence of white supremacy began with the education system. Research conducted by Donald Yacovone at the Monroe C. Gutman Library examined over 3,000 U.S. history textbooks dating from the 1800s to the 1980s. Yacovone discovered that many of these textbooks either omitted or downplayed the atrocities of the slave trade and other events where marginalized groups were oppressed. Read more
Black economic boycotts of the civil rights era still offer lessons on how to achieve a just society. By Kevin A. Young / The Conversation
Signed into law 60 years ago, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination in the U.S. based on “race, color, sex, religion, or national origin.” Yet, as a historian who studies social movements and political change, I think the law’s most important lesson for today’s movements is not its content but rather how it was achieved.
As firsthand accounts from the era make clear, the movement won because it directly hurt the interests of white business owners. The 1955 Montgomery bus boycott, the 1963 boycott of Birmingham businesses and many lesser-known local boycotts inflicted major costs on local business owners and forced them to support integration. Read more
An Insider’s Portrait of Obama-Era Hope—and Disillusionment. By Ben Metzner / The New Republic
Vinson Cunningham’s novel “Great Expectations” tracks the ambitions and ideals of a young campaign staffer.
New Yorker theater and TV critic Vinson Cunningham is no Obamanaut but, in a roundabout way, owes his career as a writer partially to the Obama campaign. As a twentysomething fresh out of college, the quintessential young person energized by the future president, he found himself working for the campaign as a fundraiser, making phone calls and soliciting donations. The experience did not lead to a life in politics for Cunningham; rather, it helped him to discover his current vocation, criticism. Cunningham’s autobiographical debut novel, Great Expectations, plumbs his year of aesthetic and political discovery on the campaign trail through his protagonist David Hammond’s time working for “the Senator.” Read more
Historian Receives $1.5M Grant To Expand Racial Justice Tours. By Daniel Johnson / Black Enterprise
Marvin Dunn, a Florida historian and founder of the Miami Center for Racial Justice, received $1.5 million in funding from the Mellon Foundation. This grant will allow him to expand his “Teach the Truth” tours, which focus on sites of racial violence, from Florida to other Southern states.
As the Miami Herald reports, Dunn is looking to partner with universities in the states he will expand his tour to encompass. Dunn also recognizes that the story he is telling through his tours is the story of American history, not just Black history. “Florida was not the only state where lynchings took place. It’s all of our history,” Dunn told the outlet. “It’s all of our pain. It’s not just Black pain or white guilt: it’s all of our pain; it’s all of our responsibility to correct this record.” Read more
5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Wayne Shorter. By Marcus J. Moore / NYT
“He always was a genius,” Herbie Hancock says of his friend and collaborator. Hear a sampling of that genius in these 13 tracks.
Shorter rose to prominence in the late 1950s and early ’60s as a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, where his husky and complex sound proved a worthy complement to Blakey’s propulsive rhythms. By 1964, Miles came calling: He wanted Shorter to join his quintet — an all-star squad that included Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams. Read more
Politics took center stage at the BET Awards. By Char Adams / NBC News
Taraji P. Henson at the BET Awards at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday.
From a phone call with Vice President Kamala Harris to quips about “Black jobs,” Sunday’s BET Awards, one of Black culture’s biggest stages, didn’t shy away from politics — and the volatile November election. Harris appeared in a video chat with host Taraji P. Henson during the show and stressed the importance of voting in the election to protect voting rights, reproductive rights and LGBTQ rights and to combat gun violence. “There is so much at stake in this moment. The majority of us believe in freedom and equality, but these extremists, as they say, ‘they not like us,’” Harris said, referring to Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.” Read more
Sports
LeBron James Signs $104M 2-Year Deal to Stay at the Lakers. By Dan Ladden-Hal / The Daily Beast
LeBron James will be staying at the Los Angeles Lakers after agreeing to a two-year, $104 million maximum deal, according to ESPN. Sources told the network that the deal also includes a player option for the 2025/26 seasons and a no-trade clause.
The 39-year-old’s deal means he’ll be at the same franchise as his 19-year-old son, Bronny, who was drafted by the Laker’s as the eyebrow-raising 55th overall pick last week. Not only has there never been a father and son to play alongside each other in the same NBA team, no father-son combo has ever played in the league at the same time for any teams. Read more
Trump’s fantasy of migrant fights echoes a ghastly American tradition. By Kevin B. Blackistone / Wash Post
Boxer Jack Johnson, the first Black heavyweight champion, survived battles royal early in his life.
The battle royal that vividly opens Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man” is, of course, fiction. Nine, 10, maybe a dozen Black boys, blindfolded, led into a space reeking of cigar smoke and whiskey from a mob of drunken White men swarming around them, ordering them to punch and kick each other. Till only one can stand. For a fistful of coins. Trump, referring to mixed martial arts honcho Dana White at a speech last month to the Faith and Freedom Coalition in Washington. “‘Why don’t you set up a migrant league of fighters and have your regular league of fighters, and then you have the champion of your league — these are the greatest fighters in the world — fight the champion of the migrants?’ Read more
Eritrea’s Biniam Girmay becomes the first Black African rider to win a Tour de France stage. By AP and NBC News
Eritrea’s Biniam Girmay after winning ahead of Colombia’s Fernado Gavira, right, during the third stage of the Tour de France in Turin, Italy, on Monday.
Girmay said his win was “for all Africans.” “We must be proud now. We are really part of the big races,” Girmay said. “Now it’s our moment. It’s our time.” Read more
NBA free agency: Klay Thompson to Mavericks, Paul George to 76ers among biggest signings. By Greg Rosenstein / NBC News
The madness of NBA free agency is now officially underway. Teams hoping to bolster their rosters are frantically trying to secure players who recently completed the final years of their previous contracts. Multiple stars like Klay Thompson, Paul George, Jayson Tatum, Tyrese Maxey and James Harden have already made their next moves, while others — like Los Angeles Lakers legend LeBron James — are yet to finalize their decisions.
Here’s what you need to know just one full day into the free-agency period. Read more
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