Featured
The Rev William Barber’s ‘moral movement’ confronts Trump’s America. Can it work? By Adam Harris / The Guardian
In weekly nonviolent protests that channel the civil rights tradition, the faithful rally to end poverty and injustice.
Barber, the co-chair of the revived Poor People’s campaign, a national movement to challenge inequality in all its forms through moral protest and policy change, has spent years preparing people for moments like this. Barber draws on a tradition that views justice as a covenant rather than charity, as a sacred demand to confront moral rot. Right now, that means challenging the Trump administration’s second-term agenda – and the Republican-controlled Congress advancing legislation that would slash Medicaid, food assistance and public education, while simultaneously giving tax breaks to some of the wealthiest Americans – or what Barber has simply called “policy murder”, a wholesale dismantling of services for the poor and vulnerable. Read more
Political / Social
Trump signs big tax cut and spending bill into law in July Fourth ceremony. By Scott Wong / NBC News
The president’s sweeping domestic policy achievement extends his expiring 2017 tax cuts, but could cause millions in the U.S. to lose their health coverage and food aid over the next decade.
The White House ceremony, which took place alongside a military picnic, included an armed forces flyover and was attended by jubilant Republican lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, both of Louisiana, who helped muscle the legislation through their chamber Thursday by a razor-thin margin. Read more
Related: Trump and the GOP Will Regret the Day They Passed This Sick Bill. By Michael Tomasky / TNR
Trump’s Politicized F.B.I. Has Made Americans Less Safe. By The Editorial Board / NYT
Only 11 days after President Trump was inaugurated for a second term, his administration began a purge of the F.B.I. that now threatens some of the bureau’s most important missions.
Mr. Trump’s playbook for the F.B.I. is plain to see. He is turning it into an enforcement agency for MAGA’s priorities. He is chasing out agents who might refuse to play along and installing loyalists in their place. He is seeking to remove the threat of investigation for his friends and allies. And he is trying to instill fear in his critics and political opponents. Among his many efforts to weaken American democracy and amass more power for himself, his politicization of the F.B.I. is one of the most blatant. Read more
EXCLUSIVE: Mahmoud Khalil, Palestinian Activist Jailed by ICE for 104 Days, in First Live Interview. By Amy Goodman / Democracy Now
In his first live broadcast interview since being released from ICE detention, Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil tells Democracy Now! about his experience behind bars, the ongoing threat of deportation that hangs over him and why he continues to speak out against the U.S.-backed Israeli war on Gaza.
Mahmoud Khalil has now reunited with his wife and newborn son, after he was released on bail less than two weeks ago by a federal judge following over 100 days in a Louisiana ICE jail. Khalil spoke outside the jail in Jena, Louisiana, when he was freed. Read more and listen here
Related: Abrego Garcia Was Beaten and Tortured in El Salvador Prison, Lawyers Say. By Alan Feuer / NYT
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Makes Herself Heard, Prompting a Rebuke. By Adam Liptak / NYT
In solo dissents this term, the justice accused the conservative majority of lawless bias. On the term’s last day, Justice Amy Coney Barrett fired back.
Several of them warned that the court was taking lawless shortcuts, placing a judicial thumb on the scale in favor of President Trump and putting American democracy in peril. She called the majority’s opinion in the blockbuster case involving birthright citizenship, issued on the final day of the term, “an existential threat to the rule of law.” Read more
Related: How Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is speaking up and standing out. By Maureen Groppe / USA Today
Trump Administration Cuts Funding For Black Infant Health Research, Labeling It A DEI Initiative. By Zack Linly / Newsone
It would surprise absolutely no one that infant mortality rates in America are disproportionately high among Black babies, or that Black and Latino babies are more vulnerable than their white counterparts to serious, life-threatening illnesses such as upper respiratory infection (URI).
Of course, anyone who has been paying attention to our current political climate would be equally unsurprised to find that, under the Trump administration, medical research that seeks to understand why Black children suffer these health issues so often is under attack, because the results of that research might hurt white people’s feelings. In other words, Black babies might have to die in order to placate white fragility. Read more
Joy Reid Floats Conspiracy Theory That the 2026 Election Will Be Rigged: ‘Insane’ to ‘Assume We’re Going to Have Normal Elections.’ By Joe DePaolo / Mediate
Former MSNBC host Joy Reid called it “insane” to “assume we’re going to have normal elections in 2026 — and added that she believes President Donald Trump intends to stay in power for the rest of his life.
Speaking Thursday with Wajahat Ali on Ali’s substack The Left Hook, Reid floated the conspiracy theory that the United States will not hold free and fair elections in 2026. “Whenever Democrats say to me … ‘we have to coalesce for 2026,’ I always add to the end of their sentence …
‘Yeah, assuming we actually have free and fair elections,’” Reid said. “I think it’s insane, honestly, to just assume we’re going to have normal elections next year.” Read more and listen here
Barack Obama is not your emotional support president. By Karen Attiah / Wash Post
It’s strange that so many seem to want the ‘deporter in chief’ to speak out against Donald Trump’s immigration cruelty.
“Obama’s detachment feels jarringly incongruous with the desperation of his longtime admirers — even more so given Trump’s assaults on what Obama achieved in office,” Mark Leibovich wrote in an Atlantic essay headlined “Where Is Barack Obama?” “It would be one thing if Obama had disappeared after leaving the White House, maybe taking up painting like George W. Bush. The problem is that Obama still very much has a public profile — one that screams comfort and nonchalance at a time when so many other Americans are terrified.” Read more
World
America’s Great Realignment Toward Putin. By Anne Applebaum / The Atlantic
Donald Trump is giving Vladimir Putin every incentive to keep killing Ukrainians.
The American president wrote, “Vladimir, STOP!” on his Truth Social account in April, but the Russian president did not halt his offensive in eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian president called for an unconditional cease-fire in May, but the Russians did not agree to stop attacking Ukrainian civilians from the air. Donald Trump repeatedly promised, during his campaign, that he would end the war “in one day,” but the war is not over. He spoke to Vladimir Putin yesterday, and Putin responded with more drones and missiles than ever before. This morning, parts of Kyiv are burning. Read more
Related: Justice is coming for Vladimir Putin. By Vladimir Kara-Murza / Wash Post
The Cost of Victory: Israel Overpowered Its Foes, but Deepened Its Isolation. Michael D. Shear / NYT
It is more secure from threats than at any time since its founding. But the war in Gaza, and attacks on Iran and Lebanon, have undercut Israel’s standing among the world’s democracies. Demonstrators outside the headquarters of the governing Likud party in June in Tel Aviv demanding the return of hostages held in Gaza.
After three-quarters of a century fighting hostile neighbors, the tiny Jewish country, about the size of New Jersey, has all but vanquished its enemies — Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, Houthis in Yemen and now even Iran itself, the one backing them all. The exercise of raw power has allowed Israel, for the first time since its creation in 1948, a future mostly free from immediate threats. The risk of a nuclear Iran is diminished, or perhaps gone. Israel has stable, if uneasy, relations with Persian Gulf Arab states. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cemented his partnership with President Trump. Read more
Judge blocks Trump from ending temporary protected status for Haitians. By Frances Vinall / Wash Post
A federal judge ruled the Trump administration could not cut short the protection for migrants from Haiti, which has been under a state of emergency since March 2024.
A federal court on Tuesday blocked the Trump administration from cutting short the temporary protected status designation for Haiti, days after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem announced that the designation preventing some Haitian immigrants from being deported would end in September. Read more
Ethics /Morality / Religion
How Robert Prevost Became the First American Pope. By Bellinda Luscombe / Time
It’s probably not all fun and games to be the spiritual leader of 1.4 billion people from very different cultures at a time when the Catholic Church is recovering from multiple scandals, riven from within, financially ensnarled, and, especially in the so-called developed nations, wrestling with a growing disinterest in the stuff it does best—ancient ritual, obligatory gathering, biblical exegesis. But it’s also a teensy bit of a drag to be his brother.
Pope Leo XIV, 69, is the person to whom lots of people look when they want to come in contact with God. John Prevost, 71, is the person to whom they look when they want to reach the Pope. Read more
Dylann Roof killed my mom and cousins. But I still oppose the death penalty. By Sharon Risher / RNS
The death penalty is racist, implemented unfairly and only extends the grief of victims’ families.
Dylann Roof wanted to start a race war, but I feel like there is already such a war going on, and it plays out in our criminal legal system. Quite frankly, my case is an anomaly, because the glaring truth about the death penalty is that race plays a big part in who gets a death sentence. Read more
The Rev. James Forbes Jr. discusses ministry, family and overcoming adversity in poetry-filled book. By Adelle M. Banks / RNS
My sense is that these poems might pick up someone’s spirit, they might deposit a resolution regarding some values,’ Forbes said in the preface of his new book.
When the Rev. James A. Forbes Jr. has faced challenges throughout his life, he’s turned to two sources of inspiration that helped him persevere: his faith and his poetry. The first Black senior minister of New York City’s Riverside Church recalls experiences with adversity, such as being rejected from attending Duke Divinity School, attempting to sit at a newly desegregated Woolworth’s lunch counter and having his approach to his Pentecostal faith questioned, in his new book. Read more
Historical / Cultural
“What to the Slave Is the 4th of July?”: James Earl Jones Reads Frederick Douglass’s Historic Speech. By Amy Goodman / Democracy Now
Today, in this special broadcast, we begin with the words of Frederick Douglass. Born into slavery around 1818, Douglass became a key leader of the abolitionist movement. On July 5th, 1852, in Rochester, New York, Frederick Douglass gave one of his most famous speeches, “What to the Slave Is Your Fourth of July?” He was addressing the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society.
The legendary actor James Earl Jones, who died last year on September 9th at the age of 93, read the historic address during a performance of Voices of a People’s History of the United States, based on Howard Zinn’s iconic book. The late great historian introduced the address. Read more and listen here
Related: “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” by Frederick Douglass. By Dave Zirin / The Nation
The Civil War That Never Ended. By Jamelle Bouie / NYT
Rather than write a column for this Independence Day weekend edition of the newsletter, I decided to chat with Zaakir Tameez, a recent graduate of Yale Law School, about his new biography of Charles Sumner, the Massachusetts senator and great antislavery proponent who helped change the course of American history.
I hope you enjoy the discussion, which has been edited for clarity. Must Read
Why Black Folks Should Be Wary of Any Changes to 14th Amendment. By Jermaine Hall / Level
The 14th Amendment established birthright citizenship, equal legal protection, and due process for formerly enslaved Africans, who had been deprived of those protections.
This topic entered the limelight in recent weeks amid the backdrop of mass deportation orders carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, officials. Masked federal agents have mainly targeted Black and Brown immigrant communities, igniting public condemnation from those who see these policies as cruel and arbitrary. This is part of a broader anti-immigration political framework. Read more
Related: This Is the Birthright Reckoning That America Needs. Kweku / NYT
Ida B. Wells: Patriot who redefined American liberty should be remembered on July 4. By
The Fourth of July should celebrate those who fought to make America’s promises real. Few embodied that fight more fully than Ida B. Wells.
Born into slavery in Mississippi in 1862, Wells rose to become one of the most fearless defenders of liberty this country has ever produced. While many looked away, she forced the nation to confront racial violence through her reporting and advocacy. Read more
The Disturbing Implications of the Diddy Verdict. By Spencer Kornhaber / The Atlantic
The music mogul was acquitted of his most serious charges. What comes next?
After a seven-week trial in a Manhattan federal courthouse, the music mogul has been convicted of two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution. These are serious offenses that together carry possible sentences of up to 20 years in prison. But they are less grave than the other crimes he was acquitted of—two counts of sex trafficking, and one count of racketeering—which each could have brought a life sentence. Combs had pleaded not guilty to all of the charges against him, and his family cheered in court after the verdict was read. “Mr. Combs has been given his life by this jury,” his lawyer Marc Agnifilo said in court. Read more
Related: The Non-Exoneration of Diddy. By Helen Lewis / The Atlantic
Related: Why Sean Combs Was Never Going To Be Fully Held Accountable. By Stacey Patton / Newsone
Beyoncé’s Fourth of July concert was an ode to an unfinished America. By Chris Richards / Wash Post
The superstar’s Cowboy Carter tour makes her ideas about our nation’s past and future feel more complete.
Few — if any — contemporary pop stars seem capable of bringing an idea to completion with the style and scrupulousness of Beyoncé. So you better pay attention whenever she does something halfway. Like on the Fourth of July, performing right outside our nation’s capital, when she used her miracle voice to sing an abbreviated version of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” cutting the anthem a few lines short, allowing all kinds of metaphors to gallantly stream into the muggy twilight. Metaphors suggesting what? That this nation is not fully what it claims to be. That our democracy-building remains unfinished. That we are still very much in the middle of this whole thing. Read more
Jill Scott’s remixed national anthem goes viral after performance at Essence Festival. By Jonah Valdez / LA Times (July 2023)
Fans often ask R&B singer and actor Jill Scott why she doesn’t sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at sporting events. The reason: She knows a completely different anthem would leave her lips, Scott told an audience during a March show in her hometown of Philadelphia. You Tube performance
The anthem she’s referring to is one that she wrote as a teenager living in north Philadelphia, a biting critique of racial inequality in America. And after more than 30 years, she performed her rewrite while touring this year. Read more and Listen here
Sports
Arthur Ashe won Wimbledon 50 years ago. His influence continues to inspire a new generation of athletes. By Matias Grez / CNN
Fifty years have now passed since Ashe stunned Connors in four sets to become the first – and to this day only – Black man to win the Wimbledon gentlemen’s singles title, and the significance of his 1975 achievement only continues to grow with each passing edition of the championships.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ashe’s historic achievement, Wimbledon organizers have a number of plans in place, including inviting his family as guests to the Royal Box on Centre Court. Read more
Stephen Miller’s Group Sues Dodgers Over Diversity Programs — Supporters Call It Retaliation For Pro-Immigrant Stance. By Daniel Johnson / Black Enterprise
America First Legal, a conservative legal group co-founded by Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Los Angeles Dodgers, accusing them of “apparently engaging in unlawful discrimination under the guise of diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
According to The Athletic, the complaint against the popular Major League Baseball franchise was filed on June 30 with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, nearly two weeks after the Dodgers indicated that they refused to allow Immigration Customs and Enforcement to access the team’s parking lots. Read more
Donald Trump’s UFC stunt is more than a circus. It’s authoritarian theatre. By Karim Zidan / The Guardian
MMA was once used to curry favor with Putin. Now, Trump is using the UFC to project a nationalist cult of masculinity
Speaking to a crowd of supporters during a Salute to America event in Iowa Thursday, Trump said: “Does anybody watch UFC? The great Dana White? We’re going to have a UFC fight. We’re going to have a UFC fight – think of this – on the grounds of the White House. We have a lot of land there.” Read more
Mike Brown has faced pressure before, but this time might be different. Welcome to the Knicks. By James L. Edwards III / The Athletic
The New York Knicks wanted experience when looking for Tom Thibodeau’s replacement, per league sources, and that’s why Brown is now their guy.
On Wednesday, multiple league sources confirmed to The Athletic that Brown and the Knicks are working on finalizing a contract to make him the franchise’s next head coach. The hiring comes weeks after New York fired Thibodeau following the team’s first Eastern Conference finals appearance in 25 years. Read more
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