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Deval Patrick

Deval Patrick to unveil reparations as part of black economic agenda

By News & Current Affairs, Reparations

Reparations are popular with black Americans but opposed by most whites and divide Democrats. By Alexi McCammond, Axios — Deval Patrick supports developing a plan for the federal government to provide reparations to living descendants of slaves, a position he’ll make clear as part of an economic platform for black Americans he’s unveiling today, an aide tells Axios. Driving the news: The former Massachusetts governor, one of only two non-white candidates…

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Michael Bloomberg speaks at the Vernon Chapel American Methodist Episcopal Church in Tulsa, Okla.

Michael Bloomberg proposes multi-billion-dollar initiative to provide economic justice for black Americans

By News & Current Affairs

By Shant Shahrigian — Mike Bloomberg took to the site of historic race riots in Tulsa, Okla., on Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend to propose sweeping plans to redress the economic legacy of generations of discrimination against African Americans. In an initiative similar to calls for reparations for slavery, the Democratic presidential candidate proposed $70 billion in investment in the country’s “100 most…

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Representative Hakeem Jeffries on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on April 9, 2019.

Hakeem Jeffries Moves to Center Stage as Impeachment Manager

By Commentaries/Opinions

The 49-year-old will serve as an impeachment manager during Donald Trump’s Senate trial, a role that carries potential rewards and risks. By Alana Abramson, TIME — Rep. Hakeem Jeffries is getting his turn in the spotlight. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Wednesday that the 49-year-old former corporate lawyer and self-proclaimed hip-hop afficionado would serve as one of the impeachment managers in the Senate trial of President Donald Trump, catapulting him into the…

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Doris Miller was awarded for his heroism during the Pearl Harbor attack.

Doris Miller to become first black sailor to have a Navy aircraft carrier named in his honor

By News & Current Affairs

A black mess attendant was a Pearl Harbor hero. Now an aircraft carrier will have his name. By Kim Bellware, The Washington Post — It was just before 8 a.m. aboard the USS West Virginia, anchored in Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, when the first torpedo hit. Mess Attendant 2nd Class Doris Miller was deep into the day’s laundry when the blast sent one of his lieutenants racing to…

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Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar

Will a Woman Be President in 2020?

By Dr. Julianne Malveaux

By Dr. Julianne Malveaux — In a most unusual endorsement, the New York Times has endorsed both Senators Elizabeth Warren (MA) and Amy Klobuchar (MN) for the Democratic nomination for President. Apparently, the Editorial Board of the Times disagrees with Senator Bernie Sanders (VT), who allegedly told Warren that a woman could not win the Presidency. I’d love to see the right woman in the White House, but I’ve been…

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Military Recruitment

The student debt crisis is fueling the poverty draft

By Commentaries/Opinions

With the cost of higher education skyrocketing, many young Americans from economically struggling communities across the South and elsewhere have turned to the military as a solution for student debt. By Benjamin Barber, Facing South — Earlier this month, after a United States drone strike in Iraq killed 10 Iranian military leaders including the country’s top security and intelligence commander, elevated tensions between the U.S. and Iran raised alarms about…

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Map from the "The Politics of Judicial Elections"

Big money will dominate high court elections in 2020

By Commentaries/Opinions

Since the U.S Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United 10 years ago, corporate campaign cash has poured into supreme court races across the South. With seats up for grabs this year in Arkansas, North Carolina, and West Virginia, that trend is likely to continue. By Billy Corriher, Facing South — Ten years ago, Justice John Paul Stevens warned that the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United had “unleashed the floodgates” of corporate and labor…

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Liverpool

Liverpool street sign plan to highlight city’s slavery links

By News & Current Affairs, Reparations

Liverpool could introduce plaques to give an “honest account” of places connected to the slave trade. By BBC News — Much of the city’s 18th Century wealth came from the trade involving British slavers transporting Africans across the Atlantic. Mayor Joe Anderson said paintings, street names and buildings in the city were “important parts of the historical record which should not be concealed”. He is calling for new signs to…

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