Politics
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Trust but Don’t Verify: How WikiLeaks Became the World’s Pawnshop
After a slow trickle of stories over the better part of 2016, the CIA has released a statement claiming that the Russians used cyberwarfare to attack the U.S. election. Russian agents spread disinformation through “fake news” and pro-Donald Trump Twitter bots, attacked Democratic congressional candidates, attempted to hack voter information in various states, and funneled information from hacked emails…
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Canaries in a Coal Mine: Black Communities Could Suffer Under Trump’s Energy and Climate Policies
President-elect Donald Trump dropped a lump of coal into the stockings of environmentalists with his nomination of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency. The selection of Pruitt, who joined a coalition of state attorneys general in suing the agency he’s been nominated to lead over its Clean Power Plan, and…
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Ex-Congressman Chaka Fattah Sentenced to 10 Years, but His Supporters Still Question the Case Against Him
Typically, when elected officials are accused of high crimes, convicted and sentenced, their colleagues, friends and former staff vanish. But the road that brought a powerful political career to a devastating halt has been slightly different for former U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.). Some are still questioning the prosecution of the former congressman, who was sentenced…
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Trevor Noah, Tomi Lahren and When Black Twitter Gets It Wrong
In the summer of 2007, I spent time in Johannesburg, South Africa, working with government officials and activists to improve local elections. South Africans were generally friendly, but I was struck by how optimistic they were about the future of the country even though apartheid had only ended, like, 15 minutes ago (1991, to be exact).…
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As GOP Plans to Repeal Obamacare, It’s Unclear What’s Next for Millions Who Need It
Senate Republican leaders say they’ll move immediately to start repealing the Affordable Care Act, often known as Obamacare, next month. But they don’t yet have a clear plan to replace the 2010 law the Obama administration billed as “comprehensive health insurance reforms that put consumers back in charge of their health care.” President-elect Donald Trump…
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What Exactly Will Policing Look Like for Blacks Under the ‘Law and Order’ President?
A South Carolina judge on Monday declared a mistrial in the murder trial of a white South Carolina police officer after a jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict. Now-former North Charleston Police Officer Michael Slager was accused of shooting unarmed African-American motorist Walter Scott in the back five times as Scott fled after a…
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Surviving Trump: Black Women Strengthen Coalitions, Practice Revolutionary Self-Care
Now that the shock has subsided from the election of Donald Trump as our next president, many of us are wondering what we do next and how his presidency will affect our daily lives. From his Cabinet picks, it is clear Trump supports a racist, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic and transphobic agenda in which corporate business…
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Why Would Any Black Person Want to Serve in Trump’s Administration?
There are many reasons for anyone of conscience not to serve in the administration of our hate-mongering, habanero-hue-having president-elect. He is a racist. He is a sexist. He is a xenophobe. Likewise, there are plenty of reasons for a black man in particular not to want to serve in the administration of such a character.…
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Was the 2016 Election Stolen by Massive Voter Suppression?
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein’s effort to recount the vote in states Donald Trump closely won continued this weekend after a brief stutter step when Stein said that she ended, but then resumed, her efforts to push a recount in Pennsylvania. Stein’s actions have been called many things—the current president-elect calls them “a scam”—but…