Featured
America, This Is an Old and Brutal Tyranny. By Jamelle Bouie / NYT
The Trump administration believes it can send anyone it wants, without due process or future legal recourse, to rot in a foreign prison.
The president’s rendition program constitutes a profound assault on American freedom as understood for the whole of this nation’s history. At the same time, while contemplating these removals, I am struck by the degree to which they aren’t completely foreign to the American experience.
Here, I’m thinking of the fraught legal status of free Black Americans in the antebellum United States. “The possibility of being kidnapped and sold into slavery was shared by the entire American free Black community, whether young or old, freeborn or freed slave, Northerner or Southerner,” explains the historian Carol Wilson in “Freedom at Risk: The Kidnapping of Free Blacks in America, 1780-1865.”
Any American who looks at the president’s actions and nods his head in approval is sacrificing his freedom whether he realizes it or not. To allow Trump the authority to seize and disappear immigrants at will is to close the curtain on democracy for citizens, too. You cannot have despotism for some and freedom for others. Read more
Related: Trump Says He’s ‘All For’ Sending U.S. Citizens To El Salvador. By Ryan Grenoble / HuffPost
The Constitutional Crisis Is Here. By Adam Serwer / The Atlantic
Trump’s administration is only pretending to comply with the Supreme Court on the matter of a Maryland man it deported erroneously.
Last week, the Supreme Court instructed the Trump administration to follow a lower court’s directive to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return. Born in El Salvador, Abrego Garcia came to the U.S. illegally but was under a protective order from a judge who found that he had a reasonable fear of persecution from gangs if he returned to his home country. More significantly, if the Trump administration can defy court orders with impunity, and Congress is unwilling to act, there is no reason for it to respect the constitutional rights of American citizens either. Read more
Related: Trump’s Wildly Unconstitutional Plot to Banish U.S. Citizens to Gulags. By Matt Ford / New Republic
Related: What Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s case could mean for due process. By Michael Martin and Obed Manuel / NPR
Political / Social
Harvard Says It Will Not Comply With Trump Administration’s Demands. By Vimal Patel / NYT
On Monday afternoon, Harvard became the first university to refuse to comply with the administration’s requirements, setting up a showdown between the federal government and the nation’s wealthiest university. By the evening, federal officials said they would freeze $2.2 billion in multiyear grants to Harvard, along with a $60 million contract.
“No government — regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue,” said Alan Garber, Harvard’s president, in a statement to the university on Monday. Read more
Related: Trump administration freezes funds for Harvard. By Jonaki Mehta / NPR
Trump’s shock and awe strategy: Chaos secures more power. By Chauncey Devega / Salon
From trade wars to constitutional crisis, Trump gains more corrupt power as critics remain distracted
Trump is escalating his campaign to crush dissent by targeting universities, colleges, law firms, media outlets, and other parts of civil society for investigations and punitive financial measures because they are deemed to be disloyal and engaging in un-American activities as defined by the administration. Read more
Related: Trump to the USA: There Is No Rule of Law. By David Corn / Mother Jones
Related: America is dangerously close to being run by a king who answers to no one. By Rex Huppke / USA Today
It’s Time to Retire the Slur of DEI. By Diana Morose / The Progressive Magazine
The attacks on DEI are part of a larger pattern of pushback against societal progress.
Conniptions over DEI are not really about understanding what causes bad things to happen, i.e. air plane crashes, etc. They are about using slurs and division to increase power and control. Having diverse workforces and picking the best people for the job are not mutually exclusive. The White House, echoing many Republicans, claims that diversity is divisive, that it pits people against each other. But the real division comes from refusing to acknowledge the inequalities that exist and our need as a society to address them. Read more
Related: California Defies Trump’s DEI Ban In Schools, Says Diversity And Inclusion Are Still Legal. By Nahlah Abdur-Rahman / Black Enterprise
Related: Military schools offer test case for Trump education reforms. By Lexi Lonas Cochran / The Hill
Related: Hakeem Jeffries Shreds Pete Hegseth With Blistering DEI Burn. By Lee Moran / HuffPost
D.C. Self-Governance at Risk as Lawmakers Push for Federal Control. By Brandon Tensley / Capital B
In a country that calls itself a model of democracy, “we sit in a district that doesn’t experience democracy in the same way,” one resident says.
For most of 61-year-old Jocelyn Frye’s life, her hometown of Washington was majority Black. As a child, she was keenly aware of how some white lawmakers would disparage D.C. and assert that its residents were dangerous. “The predominantly white Congress was almost like an overseer — and I use that word intentionally,” said Frye, who lives in the district’s Michigan Park neighborhood, which is also where she grew up. Now, Frye and other residents say, that narrative may be contributing to demands to strip away much of the district’s ability to govern itself. Read more
Related: Black Mayors and the Battle Over Urban Leadership. By Travis Wright / AAIHS
The Passover attack on Gov. Josh Shapiro was an attack on all Jews. By Jeffrey Salkin / RNS
Because of that sixth sense — memory — Jews remember the prick of the pin. The arson attack was at the home of one of the most prominent Jewish politicians in the United States the night after the first seder. Shapiro is proudly and unabashedly Jewish. His name had been mentioned as a possible Democratic vice presidential candidate.
Second, for Jews, time has a way of imploding and shrinking into itself. The attack on Shapiro became every other attack on the Jews during a festival. Third, we Jews know that our enemies traditionally use Jewish holidays as opportunities for attack — not only to exploit our weakness on days when we would presumably be at worship, but also as a way to permanently damage the sanctity of those days. Read more
Parents say federal cuts have slowed civil rights investigations. By Dylan Peers McCoy / NPR
OCR attorneys review all kinds of allegations of discrimination in schools – based on race, sex, disability and more. In the short time Trump has been back in office, OCR has pursued high-profile investigations into universities it accuses of using “race-exclusionary practices” and into Maine’s policy allowing transgender women and girls to compete on women’s and girls’ sports teams.
But the majority of the complaints OCR receives have historically been about disability discrimination. Read more
Trump administration is trying to make colleges even whiter. By Alix Breeden / Daily Kos
Attorney General Pam Bondi bragged on Friday afternoon about threatening Illinois colleges into ending scholarship programs for minorities. “Not today Illinois!” Bondi proudly tweeted. According to the Department of Justice, the scholarship “unconstitutionally discriminated on the basis of race in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.”
Historically, scholarships such as these have existed as a means to keep higher education from being predominantly obtainable to white students. After all, students of color still face systemic barriers in getting accepted to and completing college. In other words, the Trump administration’s cuts to education are likely to make colleges whiter. And that’s probably the point. Read more
Reproductive Freedom Leadership Council Wants To Put An End To The Black Maternal Mortality And Reproductive Crisis. By Shannon Dawson / Newsone
State legislators are joining forces to address the Black maternal mortality and reproductive health crises in the United States. In recognition of Black Maternal Health Week, taking place from April 11 to April 17, members of the Reproductive Freedom Leadership Council (RFLC) will introduce and advocate for policies aimed at improving Black maternal health.
These efforts come in direct response to actions by former President Donald Trump and his administration, which have threatened to undermine progress in reproductive healthcare and maternal outcomes for Black women. Read more
World News
Haiti’s Gangs Have Evolved. The United States Will Pay the Price.
Trump Takes Aim at a Key Cuban Export: Its Worldwide Medical Missions. By Frances Robles / NYT
Civilised world must stop barbaric Russia by force, says Lithuanian president. By Khrystyna Bondarieva / Pravda
“The civilised world must use force to stop these barbarians who are killing civilians and children,” the Lithuanian president said, without elaborating on what means of force he was referring to. He added that in this difficult hour, Lithuania reaffirms its unwavering commitment to supporting Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy until a just peace is achieved. Read more
Trump’s USAID cuts contradict Jesus’ call to love thy neighbor. By Chris Coons / NCR
During Holy Week, Christians are called to reflect on Jesus’ ministry, His love for all and His sacrifice on the cross. I and many of my Senate colleagues, both Republican and Democrat, will be reflecting on His sacrifice this week.
A study found Black Christians often distrust American Muslims. A new program hopes to change that. By Fiona André / RNS
Marco Rubio’s hunt for “anti-Christian bias” is creeping theocracy. By Amanda Marcotte / Salon
Whatever is in his heart, though, there can be no denying that Rubio is pushing some of the most aggressive policies attacking First Amendment protections for free speech and freedom of religion.
130 Jewish Georgetown members slam Trump for ‘weaponizing’ faith in Badar Khan Suri arrest. By
More than 130 Jewish members of the Georgetown University community in Washington, D.C., released a signed statement Friday in support of Badar Khan Suri, a Muslim postdoctoral scholar and professor at the school who was arrested and targeted for deportation last month by the Trump administration.
Jewish faculty, staff, students and alumni wrote in the public statement that Trump is “weaponizing” the Jewish identity and faith, along with fears of antisemitism, to justify the arrest, detention and attempted deportation of Suri and other Muslim students and scholars. Read more
Pauli Murray’s song of hope. By Kelly Brown Douglas / Christian Century
Her contributions to this nation can hardly be overstated. The federal government’s attempt to erase them has theological implications.
A university confronts the dark history of a stolen heart in a vibrant way. By Michael Laris / Wash Post
A Black man’s heart was used without permission in a landmark surgery. Virginia Commonwealth University is making sure people know his story.
More than 50 years after his heart was taken and used in a landmark transplant without his or his family’s permission, Bruce Tucker’s life has been formally honored in a pair of vibrant murals outside a medical school auditorium in Virginia’s capital. Tucker’s heart has been described as “stolen” by his family and an author, who said surgeons eager to make history took a Black man’s heart less than 24 hours after a fall landed him in the hospital. It was then transplanted into a White businessman. Read more
‘Black Men Were Considered Second Class’: Missing Black Sailor Killed In Pearl Harbor Attack Finally Identified, Laid to Rest with Military Honors 83 Years After His Death. By Yasmeen F. / Atlanta Black Star
A Black sailor who died in the attack on Pearl Harbor was finally laid to rest in his home state of North Carolina, nearly 84 years after his death. Born in Vass, North Carolina, Navy Mess Attendant 3rd Class Neil D. Frye enlisted in the Navy in July 1940.
Joy Reid announces major career news after shocking MSNBC firing. By Niamh Spence / The Mirror
The former MSNBC host left the station in a shock exit in February, in what she described as an ’emotional’ departure including anger, disappointment, and gratitude
In a new Instagram post, Reid revealed she’s not left politics behind as she joins up with political movement group State of the People and will be going on tour. She wrote in a post: “Ten cities… one mission … Who’s coming??? Tag your city in the comments and get more details at http://stateoftheppl.com.” Read more
“Blues People” and Black Life: A Conversation With Imani Perry. By Elias Rodriques / The Nation
We spoke with the scholar about Black in Blues, a poetic exploration of the relationship between the color blue and Black people.
Perry’s latest book, Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People, chronicles the relationship between the color blue and Black people, whom Amiri Baraka famously dubbed “blues people.” Perry tracks this relationship from the early modern cultivation of indigo in Africa to enslaved people planting periwinkles in lieu of headstones, to the musical genre of the blues and beyond. Read more
Sinners’: This culture war leaves blood on the floor. By Ann Hornaday / Wash Post
Ryan Coogler’s 1930s-era drama is an electrifying swirl of blues, bloodshed and timely commentary on the past. Michael B. Jordan as Stack and Miles Caton as Sammie Moore in “Sinners.” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
At area theaters Friday. Contains strong bloody violence, sexual content and profanity. 137 minutes. Read more
Sports
The uncomfortable reality around this year’s Jackie Robinson Day. By Justin Tinsley / Andscape
The baseball icon’s temporary erasure is deeper than just a mistake
Today, Major League Baseball celebrates its 21st Jackie Robinson Day. The most consequential date on MLB’s early calendar comes nearly a month after his military legacy was temporarily removed from the Department of Defense’s website. Outside of Roberts’ comments to me last week, the Dodgers have largely remained quiet on the situation. Major League Baseball, as a league, has said nothing. Read more
Related: Jackie Robinson is a hero; we can’t allow his legacy to be erased. By Nancy Armour / USA Today
Duke basketball star Khaman Maluach among South Sudanese who could be deported due to new Trump policy. By Kimmy Yam / NBC News
Khaman Maluach faced a loss in the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament just hours after Marco Rubio said the U.S. will be revoking visas of all South Sudanese passport-holders.
South Sudanese nationals, including Duke University Men’s Basketball star Khaman Maluach, face possible deportation after the Trump administration announced a new visa policy this past weekend. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that the U.S. will be revoking all visas of South Sudanese passport-holders because of the transitional government’s refusal to accept U.S. deportees from the country in a “timely manner.” Read more
Should Stephen A. Smith stick to sports? By Perry Bacon Jr. / Wash Post
Pete Buttigieg. Wes Moore. Gavin Newsom. Gretchen Whitmer. Stephen A. Smith!!!???!!??
Since the November election, the ESPN commentator has been bashing Democratic leadership for losing to Donald Trump and floating himself as a potential 2028 candidate and savior for the party and the country. And Smith’s dalliance with politics isn’t one-sided. Pod Save America, Fox News, CNN,ABC News, the New Yorker and other major outlets have sought out Smith for his first takes on immigration, tariffs and other issues. President Stephen A. Smith? Has everyone gone crazy? Read more
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