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Republican Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Republicans won’t play ball On Tuesday evening, Senate Republicans soundly rejected Democrats’ efforts to bring a sweeping piece of voting rights legislation to the floor. After West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who was previously opposed to the bill, released a set of demands for the legislation, there was a moment where Republican support seemed possible. But that quickly evaporated. And while this isn’t the last time the Senate will take up the issue of voting rights — it’s possible they take up a far more narrow voting rights bill later this year — it’s unclear that any future legislation, however different, will meet a different outcome in the current Congress. (Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, for instance, has already called this second bill “unnecessary,” and at this point, it has the support of only one Republican, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski.) Ultimately, Republicans are unlikely to support any type of voting legislation put forward by Democrats.
The Reasons: 1. The two parties have fundamentally different approaches to voting legislation. Yes, some provisions in Democrats’ initial version of a big voting bill have strong overall support, like preventing foreign interference in elections (83 percent) and limiting the influence of money in politics (84 percent), according to an April survey from Vox/Data For Progress. And according to a recent poll from Monmouth University, even measures like making early voting easier enjoy bipartisan support — 89 percent of Democrats are in favor of this versus 56 percent of Republicans. But ultimately, how the two parties view voting varies a lot, especially when it comes to things like fighting election fraud and expanding voter access. According to a March AP-NORC survey, 62 percent of Democrats said that eligible voters not being allowed to vote is a “major problem,” while only 30 percent of Republicans said the same.
Meanwhile, far more Republicans (63 percent) thought that people voting who are not eligible to vote is a major problem, compared to just 19 percent of Democrats who said the same.
get support from Black and Latino voters — whether that’s true is another story — so any provisions that are seen as having the potential to disproportionally affect minority voters are viewed through that partisan lens.”
And in general, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to think restricting voting access is a major threat to American democracy (70 percent compared to 32 percent, according to a June Morning Consult/Politico poll). Part of this is likely due to former President Trump, who repeatedly spread falsehoods about mail-in voting and made unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 election was “stolen.” In a May Axios/Survey Monkey poll, 78 percent of Republicans still either didn’t believe Biden legitimately won the election or were unsure. Because of the “Big Lie,” Republican state legislators have passed a number of restrictive voting bills that could have a disproportionate impact on voters of color.
In other words, it’s one thing for the GOP to back surface-level legislation that appears to be geared toward people of color, like denouncing hate crimes against Asian Americans or making Juneteenth a federal holiday. But when it comes to laws that would substantively help people of color, it’s clear the parties aren’t going to agree.
2. Secondly, a lot of this really does come down to race and racism. Look no further to how the GOP responded to Stacey Abrams’s endorsement of Manchin’s compromise. To be clear, her statement of support for Manchin’s substitute was not substantially different from those of other prominent non-congressional Democrats — like former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke or Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison — but given Abrams’s status as a high-profile Black woman who has fought for voting rights in Georgia, Republicans quickly labeled the bill as toxic. “[When] Stacey Abrams immediately endorsed Sen. Manchin’s proposal, it became the Stacey Abrams substitute, not the Joe Manchin substitute,” said Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, the top Republican on the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, which oversees election issues. Meanwhile, McConnell said that “the plan endorsed by Stacey Abrams is no compromise” and “subverts the First Amendment to supercharge cancel culture and the left’s name-and-shame campaign model.” In Abrams, Republicans have a Black, female bogeyman as the face of the revised For the People Act — despite her not having a seat in Congress nor any part in crafting the legislation. This, in turn, gives Republicans cover to reject the proposal. That’s because, despite significant public support for some components of the bill, there’s a widespread belief among many Republicans that Black Americans’ electoral participation is inherently fraudulent or illegitimate. “These attacks on the bill need a face, and if not Chuck Schumer or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, then it’s Stacey Abrams because she represents the kind of politician that many Republican voters have a high degree of negative affect toward,” said Bernard Fraga, a political science professor at Emory University. “The Republican base thinks that the party is not going to be able to
Lastly, though Americans repeatedly say that they prefer Republicans and Democrats working together, it’s not clear that the two parties are going to agree on substantive issues anytime soon. A few months back, not a single Republican supported the $1.9 trillion pandemic stimulus package. And currently, beyond the voting bill, Republicans and Democrats remain at partisan loggerheads over a separate infrastructure bill. Plus, as FiveThirtyEight elections analyst Geoffrey Skelley has previously noted, even though Americans claim they want both parties to work together, other polling suggests that many are willing to abandon bipartisanship if it means passing legislation that their side prefers. For example, a 2019 Pew Research Center poll found that overwhelming majorities of Democrats and Republicans (79 and 78 percent, respectively) thought it was very important for officials from the opposing party to compromise, but that minorities of each (48 and 41 percent, respectively) thought it was very important for members of their own party to do so. And when it comes to legislation expanding voting rights, it’s highly unlikely that many Republicans will go on the record backing something that can be perceived as a win for Democrats — especially when Trump continues to push false claims about last year’s election. As a result, this paints a very bleak picture for voting rights legislation passing Congress. And given how charged such issues have become, even a separate bill, like the one named after the late John Lewis, is unlikely to pass so long as the filibuster’s 60vote threshold remains intact. In short, that means any voting rights bill is likely doomed for the foreseeable future.
BRINGING MIND AND EARS HOME
CLOUDCAST.US
By LaWana Richmond
When asked to write about my top 10 Afrofuturists, all of the books and articles as well as films and panel discussions and keynotes and personal interactions began replaying in my mind. How do I pick favorites when everyone that comes to mind has had a deep impact on my path as well as the field and in many cases humanity? In reviewing this list, take it as a more of a sampling than an actual top 10. This is a compilation for consideration when thinking about Afrofuturism.
Mary W. Jackson was the mathematician who became the first African American female engineer at NASA in 1958, during the heyday of the Jim Crow South. Much of her story is told in the film Hidden Figures as she was one of the three women featured in the film. What the film doesn’t cover in detail is all of her publications in the field as well as her commitment to service. She saw the potential future for the children and volunteered to mentor and educate the youth in her community to help them get excited about science. She actually took a demotion from engineer in 1979 to become Langley’s Federal Women’s Program Manager where she was able to champion the cause and successfully break the glass ceiling for other women. She had the vision; she had the gumption; and on top of all that she was an engineer. I am partial to engineers because they are innovators who solve problems and innovate. I am particularly partial to Mary W. Jackson because she was able to see the possibilities and make a way not only for herself but the countless other women she reached back to lift up in her lifetime.
1. Mary W. Jackson
2. Alondra Nelson
Deputy Director of Science and Society at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy is also president of the Social Science Research Council, the Harold F. Linder Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study and an independent researcher at Princeton University. She also spent time as the inaugural dean of social science at Columbia University and began her academic career on the faculty at Yale University. She was named one of “13 Notable Blacks in Technology by Black Voices after establishing a listserv that brought together, artists, writers, and musicians and other though leaders under the banner of Afrofuturism. She has already weighed in on national policy discussions regarding the racial implications of A.I., gene-editing, and big data. Her definition of Afrofuturism is the one that resonates well for many, “visions of the future – including science, technology and its cultures in the laboratory, in social theory, and in aesthetics – through the experience and perspective of African diasporic communities.” After all of these years with science being treated like a dirty word, it is refreshing to see the appointment of such a forward thinking and well-rounded individual. I am excited to see what’s next. By the way, she is an alumnus of UC San Diego.
challenging stereotypes, barriers, ceilings, and boxes. The book, Emergent Strategy is based upon the Earthseed Religion found in the pages of Octavia Butler’s novels, Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents. “Emergent strategy happens as the result of actions or that come together and create a pattern that wasn't really part of an original plan.” Study.com, where emergent strategies are described as happy accidents or unplanned success. Adrienne Maree Brown provides guidance, exercises, and practices to help us recognize and align with emergent strategies as an approach to living. Ms. brown shows us how the Earthseed religion follows/leverages emergent strategy. In addition to the aforementioned, subsequent books, workshops, lectures and other public appearances bring in self-love and acceptance and pushes back against conformity in a way that makes space for healing which is critical to our progress as a people.
3. Adrienne Maree Brown
4. Steven Barnes and 4A. Tananarive Due
are each formidable in their own write, but together they are a force, an embodiment and personification of afrofuturistic vision, values, and vigor. The excellence in writing for each of them is enough to make them my favorite living authors and then their work in the space of education is inspirational and uplifting whether a college course on Afrofuturism or Horror, documentary on the history of Blacks in horror films or life lessons for writers are still only scraping the surface of why they will forever be in my top 2. Having participated in workshops and downloaded other learning materials from the two of them together as well as individually has me forever in their debt for what they have each enabled me to see as a writer, researcher, and human being.
is the man. When I first met Mr. Walker, I had no idea I was in the presence of greatness. He was introduced as someone who has done some stuff with DC and would be a great add to the Afrofuturism Lounge. A self-described Badazz Mofo, he lives up to the moniker. Graphic novels, films, comics, and of course educating students at Portland State University and Pacific Northwest College of Art, Northwest Film Center, Documentary Northwest, and Project Youth Doc. I love consuming his work. His historic graphic novels and culturally relevant content mixed in with popular/commercial comics and more have educated, inspired and entertained me.
5. David Walker 6. Sheldon Williams executive director of the Edfu Foundation Inc. is an Indigenous Non-Government Organization with Consultative Status within the United Nations whose purpose is to eliminate racism & structural violence through education; advocating for social and economic equality, diversity, inclusion, and sustainability. As part of the aforementioned, Sheldon directs, produces, and hosts the Afronauts Collective vlog, along with his cohosts: Mookneto, Paco, and Dr. LaWana. The hybridization of virtual with live on the ground and art with activism are the perfect embodiment of augmenting the current reality with possibilities and hands on work towards manifestation of an improved future for humanity.
7. Joy Buolamwini Is founder of the Algorithmic Justice League with a mission to create a world with more equitable and accountable technology. This PhD candidate is the MIT researcher whose discovery that facial recognition does not see dark-skinned faces accurately led her to push for first of its kind legislation in the US to govern against bias in the algorithms that impact us all. Buolamwini’s work is important because so much of our quality of life is and to an increasing degree will be impacted by algorithms. I can’t wait to see what this young genius is able to accomplish after completing doctoral work and being free of the constraints imposed by that process.
8. Tomi Adeyemi is self-described as a writer, speaker, and teacher. Tomi Adeyemi is listed as one of the Time 100 as one of the Most Influential People of 2020 and described by John Boyega as “the god of ideas.” Having a debut novel that is described as a cross between Harry Potter, the Chronicles of Narnia and Yoruba gods that is so successful that pre-orders for the sequel were astronomical as soon as they became an option is no small feat. Having read both Children of Blood and Bone and Children of Virtue and Vengeance, my only hope is that book three comes out soon because the storyline is that compelling and intriguing. *note: Tomi Adeyemi is a San Diegan.
10. George S. Schuyler Published a series of essays between 1936 and 1938. The Black Internationale: Story of Black Genius Against the World first appeared in the Pittsburgh Courier 1936 and 1937. Black Empire: An Imaginative Story of a Great New Civilization in Modern Africa first appeared in the Pittsburgh Courier between 1937 and 1938. Together, these series of stories were gathered together and published as a book in 1991, by Northeastern University and Press and The Regents of the University of California as Black Empire. Like Danzy Senna said in the New York Review, this writer was way ahead of his time.
Dr. Luwana Richmond At this point, one might wonder why so many of the usual suspects are missing. The approach here was to make sure to include some new information and rely on popular media and colleagues to bring them into the conversation. The 10th individual is a hard one because I can think of at least five or six (besides the usual suspects) that I think we should all know about. SDMNEWS Adds: 11. Honorable Mention Dr. L Futurist, thought she would be arrogant to add herself to the list, so we’ll handle that for ya Doc! Dr. Luwana in her words “lives and breathes this stuff. She looks forward to engaging with you at an Afrofuturism Lounge, Afrofuturism Dream Tank, or someplace in the Afrofuturism ether.
Nikole Hannah-Jones is an award-winning investigative reporter and staff writer for The New York Times Magazine. She is also a major voice covering racial segregation in U.S. schools and the lived experiences of students of color. Hannah-Jones spoke with Teaching Tolerance about the barriers to equitable, integrated schools and classrooms and why we must find ways to overcome them.
Journalism school will instead offer Nikole HannahJones a fixed five-year contract
In her career in journalism, Nikole Hannah-Jones has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize and a MacArthur Fellowship “Genius Grant.” But despite support from the UNC-Chapel Hill chancellor and faculty, she won’t be getting a tenured teaching position at her alma mater. At least not yet.
After conservative criticism, UNC backs down from offering acclaimed journalist tenured position
As Policy Watch reported last week, UNC-Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media pursued Hannah-Jones for its Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism, a tenured professorship. But following political pressure from conservatives who object to her work on “The 1619 Project” for The New York Times Magazine, the school changed its plan to offer her tenure — which amounts to a career-long appointment. Instead, she will start July 1 for a fixed five-year term as Professor of the Practice, with the option of being reviewed for tenure at the end of that time period. “It’s disappointing, it’s not what we wanted and I am afraid it will have a chilling effect,” said Susan King, dean of UNC Hussman. “The 1619 Project” is a long-form journalism undertaking that, as the Pulitzer Center put it, “challenges us to reframe U.S. history by marking the year when the first enslaved Africans arrived on Virginia soil as our nation’s foundational date.” Hannah-Jones, who is Black, conceived of the project and was among multiple staff writers, photographers and editors who put it together. The project sought to spur a reexamination of how America teaches and celebrates its own history. It caused debate among academics, journalists, even within The New York Times itself. Criticisms of its accuracy by some prominent historians led to edits and clarifications, but Hannah-Jones and the Times stand by the project, the introductory essay to which won her the 2020 Pulitzer for commentary. Last summer, Hannah-Jones went through the rigorous tenure process at UNC, King said. HannahJones submitted a package King said was as well reviewed as any King had ever seen. Hannah-Jones had enthusiastic support from faculty and the tenure committee, with the process going smoothly every step of the way — until it reached the UNCChapel Hill Board of Trustees.
The board reviews and approves tenure applications. It chose not to take action on approving Hannah-Jones’s tenure. “I’m not sure why and I’m not sure if that’s ever happened before,” King said.
H a p p y B l a c k M u s i c M o nt h
“Nights” Billy Ocean
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“Here I stood in the world smallest barbershop during the Vietnam war, teaching the science of shaving and the art of cutting, shaping Afro-curly hair. Now that’s imagination!”
~ Willie L. Morrow
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BLAXCRYPTO ADVICE FOR THE WEEK Isaiah Jackson, Author Bitcoin & Black America
Money, power, and racism in the US, author Isaiah Jackson looks in-depth at how digital divide and the development of digital currencies can provide a practical solution for the Black community to have leverage in a system and economy which has not existed for some time. Jackson discusses how historical Black-owned businesses (like Black Wall Street and Rosewood) cultivated prosperity within the Black community. African Americans could thrive as a middle class because they are uncontrolled by the dollar and used a currency that provided more value to our community. In this way, Jackson argues Bitcoin and other digital forms of currency can allow Black communities to flourish.
Black History Month
Turned 50
In 2020. The Corona Virus and the George Floyd Murder took center stage.
Happy 51st Birthday February 28th, 1970 - 2021