Author name: Admin

Last week, not one, but two federal judges ordered the Trump administration to use the government’s contingency funds to continue the funding of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) amid the ongoing government shutdown, ruling against the White House’s previous claim that those funds couldn’t be used for SNAP. Days later, the administration that hates poor people and loves convincing other poor people to hate poor people revealed its plan to send partial payments this month to the roughly 42 million Americans who receive food stamps, brazenly defying the judges’ rulings. From the New York Times: But the roughly one in eight families that receive SNAP may still be at risk of imminent hunger and financial hardship. The Trump administration opted against using its full stable of available funds — totaling into the billions of dollars — to sustain the nation’s largest anti-hunger program in full this month. As a result, eligible households may receive only half as much in benefits compared with their usual amounts, officials said. It also remained unclear when food stamp recipients would actually receive their aid. The Trump administration had previously warned that it could take weeks to provision benefits on a partial basis, further underscoring the consequences of its budgetary decision on Monday. So, basically, two separate judges ruled that the federal government must keep paying SNAP recipients their full benefits, and here’s live footage of how the government responded. In fact, according to a sworn statement from a US Department of Agriculture official that was submitted in federal court, $4.65 billion of the contingency fund will “be obligated to cover 50% of eligible households’ current allotments” for November, which means SNAP recipients will only receive half of what they are owed. Not only that, but USDA official Patrick Penn told CNN that because partial payments will require states to reprogram their systems to adjust for the reduced allotments, SNAP recipients in some states may not see their November benefits for weeks or even months. “Given the variation among state systems, some of which are decades old, it is unclear how many States will complete the changes in an automated manner with minimal disruption versus manual overrides or computations that could lead to payment errors and significant delays,” Penn said. Nah — don’t be out here blaming state systems because the federal government, under President Donald Trump, is so janky and ghetto that it’s about to owe its citizens back payments for food assistance. Actually, CNN noted that “states stopped the process of issuing benefits for November after the USDA sent them a letter on October 10 ordering them to do so” because “it does not have the funds to pay November’s assistance amid the federal government shutdown, which began October 1.” So, states had already stopped the payments, but then two judges ordered the government to proceed with those payments in full, and now the government is essentially telling those states, “Here’s half, and you can tell your lower-income people that now is a good time to take up fasting.” It’s no wonder the Trump administration has been so desperate to blame the shutdown on Democrats. This is just a shameful, embarrassing way to run a government. While Republican officials and right-wing media are doing their best to demonize people who lack food security, the MAGA-fied government seems to be content with letting them starve. Sad. SEE ALSO: What Happens If SNAP Stops? What You Should Know And Do To Protect Yourself Judges Rule Trump Administration Must Continue To Fund SNAP 25 States Sue Trump Administration Over SNAP Benefits Restaurants In Several Major Cities Offering Free Food To People Losing SNAP Racist Newsmax Host Says SNAP Recipients Use Benefits To ‘Get Their Weaves’ And Nails Done If SNAP Benefits Get Cut Off, White Grievance Will Eat Itself When The Government Starves Us: How SNAP Cuts Target Black Survival

COVID-era subsidies for Affordable Care Act (ACA) insurance have been a hot-button issue in recent months. So much so that the entire federal government is shut down over the GOP’s refusal to extend them. Senate Democrats have argued that without the subsidies, millions will become uninsured in the upcoming year due to being priced out. The open enrollment period for ACA insurance began over the weekend, and the price increases have driven home exactly why the subsidies are necessary. According to Politico, the price increases aren’t uniform from state to state. While premiums have increased 101% in Colorado, it’s even worse in New Jersey, where that rate has increased by over 175%. The sad part is, this isn’t surprising news. There have been several reports this year detailing what would happen if the GOP allowed the subsidies to expire, and yet they still let it happen, despite Republican voters making up a large portion of those who rely on ACA insurance. From Politico: Residents of the 30 states that use the federally run HealthCare.gov will see an average 26 percent premium rise in 2026 for an average ACA plan, according to the analysis. Residents of the 20 states with their own exchanges will see an average 17 percent hike. These numbers include everyone on the exchanges. However, that figure doesn’t reflect what a person who gets a subsidy might pay. “There is what the insurance company charges but since nine out of 10 [ACA customers] get a subsidy they don’t pay that,” Cynthia Cox, vice president and director of KFF’s ACA program, said in an interview. “They pay a certain amount of their income.” Without the enhanced subsidies, ACA customers will pay a lot more out of pocket. KFF estimates that customers on HealthCare.gov and in state-run exchanges will see their monthly out-of-pocket premium payments increase by 114 percent on average.  Even if the GOP manages to come around on extending the subsidies, it’s unclear how soon they could be implemented in the current open enrollment period, if they could even be implemented at all. If someone signed up for a more expensive plan, would the subsidies be retroactively applied? It’s almost like they should’ve just extended the subsidies ahead of time. Of course, that’d be too much like doing the right thing, and we all know the modern GOP is allergic to that concept. ABC News spoke to several people who are facing being uninsured as a result of the expiring ACA subsidies. Beth Dryer, a Virginia resident, told ABC that she knew her ACA plan would likely have a price increase, but she was shocked by how much. Her $80 monthly premium increased to $425. “I thought maybe it would double, but this is more than quadrupled in cost for me,” Dryer said. “So it’s just straight out — there’s no way I would be able to afford this next year.” “The Republicans aren’t going to budge on the tax credits, and they’re happy to watch people die. I mean, that’s essentially what it is,” Dryer added. “You cut these tax credits, people are dying. People are already dying because they don’t have quality health care. People are already dying because they have food insecurity.” Stacy Cox, a photographer in Utah, told ABC News that she and her husband were paying $495 for coverage this year. She received a letter in the mail informing her that if she stayed on that plan, her monthly premium would skyrocket to $2,168.68. “It’s devastating because we can’t afford that. Just that bill right there, that’s more than our mortgage, our insurance, most of our food,” Cox said. “This will devastate us if we tried to pay it.” I get my insurance through the ACA and filled out my application this weekend when open enrollment opened. I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep my current plan because my provider is no longer offering insurance in Arizona. The ACA marketplace still showed me what a comparable plan would cost, and my monthly premium went from $40 to $400. While yes, I’m making a bit more money now than I was last year, I’m still not at what I would call the “straight balling” threshold, so that’s out of the question. In addition to the price increases, the site also feels less useful. I can’t pay what my current plan has increased to, but there are plans somewhat more in my price range (somewhat is doing a lot of work here, y’all). I have asthma, and my priority is largely on keeping my inhaler prescriptions reasonable. Instead of organizing the plan list by the medications I’ve input, I have to go through plan after plan to find the intersection of what I can afford and what covers my medications. I’ve used the ACA for insurance for several years, and I don’t recall it ever being this much work to find a workable plan. What’s truly baffling is that Trump ran on keeping prices low, yet every move made by the GOP, from tariffs, the big, beautiful bill, and now ACA subsidies, is increasing prices for people across the board. They’ve exacerbated the cost-of-living crisis to such an extent that even despite their best efforts to gerrymander the midterms, they may wind up pushing people to vote Blue. SEE ALSO: Affordable Care Act Insurance Could Be 75% More Expensive Next Year Rising Health Insurance Premiums And Expiring Subsidies Demand Action

Unbeknownst to many, one of Beyoncé’s biggest hits owes its existence to a little nudge from her head honcho, Blue Ivy—another managerial moment of genius we’re all thankful for. Beyoncé’s hit song “BROWN SKIN GIRL” became a fan favorite when it was released in 2019 as part of The Lion King soundtrack, earning a Grammy Award for Best Music Video in 2021. The massive tune was also historic for the legendary singer’s eldest daughter, Blue Ivy, who received a writing credit for the track, making her the second youngest person ever to win a Grammy. Interestingly, Blue was the reason the song made it onto the album in the first place, as Beyoncé wasn’t initially keen on it, according to a new interview with Warner Records President of A&R, Steve Carless. On the latest episode of One of One: A PLLRS Podcast, released on Oct. 31, the Grammy Award-winning executive shared with host Reginald Calixte some behind-the-scenes details of his iconic role at the label, including how Blue Ivy helped convince Beyoncé to embrace the now-legendary song “BROWN SKIN GIRL.” Carless explained that while Beyoncé was working on The Lion King: The Gift album in 2019, he was tasked with pitching songs for inclusion. When he submitted the demo version of “BROWN SKIN GIRL” — made by SAINt JHN and producer P2J — he was certain that Beyoncé would approve the track for the album, but he was surprised when she flat-out rejected it during a listening session. Despite this, Carless continued to play it for her at the insistence of her longtime A&R, Mariel Gomerez, who thought the song was “fire,” but Bey made it abundantly clear that it was a hard pass. “We keep playing the song, keep playing the song, and she’s like, ‘No, that’s not it. Stop playing me that sh*t,’” he recalled. According to Carless, Beyoncé is always respectful; however, he noted that she “holds court” when it comes to her creative vision. He was certain she wouldn’t budge, but he didn’t give up just yet. Three weeks later, in a meeting with the Renaissance hitmaker, Disney executives, Jay-Z, and others involved in the soundtrack, Carless decided to play the song one last time, admittedly nervous as they were getting close to the deadline. That’s when Blue Ivy stepped in to save the day. “Blue Ivy’s in the meeting. She starts singing the hook: ‘Your skin’s just like pearls. The best thing in the world,’” Carless told Reginald Calixte. “Now, [Beyoncé’s] like, ‘Play it again.’ Now, we’re in the room for 15 minutes listening to this song,” He added. “She’s like, ‘Alright, I like it. I’ll take it. It’s going to be the single.’” Blue Ivy put her manager hat on and saved the day. Imagine what The Lion King: The Gift soundtrack would have been without this special song? Watch Steve Carless’s full interview on the One of One: A PLLRS Podcast below. RELATED: Creative Arts Emmys 2025: Beyoncé, Kendrick, Obama & ‘SNL’ Shine The post Manager Knows Best! Here’s Why We Can Thank Beyoncé’s Head Honcho Blue Ivy For ‘Brown Skin Girl’ appeared first on Bossip.

This year marked the fifth anniversaries of the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and 280 other Black people who died at the hands of police. Worldwide protests and nationwide promises seemed to signal a shift — if not for real change, at least more awareness around these stories. But between the Trump administration’s renewed attack on anyone not white and male and fewer Black journalists in consistently shrinking newsrooms, there’s been noticeably less coverage around violence against Black people. And that isn’t due to a decrease in these cases. In fact, since 2020, the number of Black people killed by police has increased. In 2024, that number was 341, according to Mapping Police Violence. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Trymaine Lee said in an interview that this speaks to “the precarity of our existence.” “What’s insane is that from George Floyd’s very public murder, we saw an organized movement worldwide that we’ve never seen before in the name of Black life,” Lee said. “The number has continued to rise, but the coverage has been diminished. We are still at the whims of the media powers, right? So we’re being there more people and more Black people being killed by police, but the coverage is lower, because they’ve decided that that’s not the story that matters, right? That’s not the one that matters. They’ve tired of it. They’re fatigued of it, and now with this administration in particular, they don’t have to.” This speaks directly to Lee’s debut book, A Thousand Ways To Die, which was released Sept 9. In it, he breaks down the generational cost gun violence has had on Black people in America. The foundation of the book was inspired by Kevin Johnson, who was shot and paralyzed at 19 during a robbery attempt for his Allen Iverson Jersey. Lee was an intern covering the case for the Philadelphia Daily News back then. For more than 20 years, Lee has spent his career covering stories of gun violence against Black people, including Trayvon Martin. The cost of his work came to a head after he suffered from a serious heart attack that made him face his own mortality. “It forced me to consider my own mortality, but also to widen the aperture on what violence actually is and the broad ripples of violence, and how we’re all touched by them in different ways,” Lee said. As much as this is a book about gun violence, Lee said this is also a book about journalism. The author used old newspaper articles and Census data to give context of what societal conditions were when his grandfather, Horace, was gunned down. Throughout history, Black journalists and activists have been pivotal in ensuring stories of racist acts are brought to the forefront. That can be a heavy burden to bear, Lee said. “We already have these pressures of this capitalist society that’s built to exploit us and exploit the labor, and what happens when that exploitation of labor comes when we’re telling our stories,” he asked. “It’s about Black journalists and how we approach the craft and how we satisfy delivering the stories for an audience, while also grappling with the pain that our people experience and that we experience, and then having to engage with the white gatekeepers who are in control of telling these stories through the media and helping define us?” So far in 2025, 205 Black people have been killed by police in the United States. Within the past year, there have been several cases of suspected lynchings, with Delta State University student Trey Reed’s death being the latest. Through A Thousand Ways To Die, Lee said he wants readers to understand how we got here instead of blaming the Black community on the violence it experiences. “Let’s point to it and name the source of it, because without naming the source, society will have us thinking that we’re the problem, that there’s something innately wrong or violent about us, and so we’ll own in a way that isn’t healthy or true or honest,” Lee said. “Ain’t nothing wrong with us. Let’s look at the machinery built around us.” Taryn Finley is an award-winning journalist, host, and producer based in Brooklyn, specializing in storytelling that intersects race, culture, and identity. Originally from Dayton, Ohio, Taryn’s career spans over a decade of impactful work, writing for HuffPost, Refinery29, Essence, and The New York Times. She also hosted HuffPost’s podcast I Know That’s Right and co-hosted MadameNoire’s digital series Listen to Black Women. SEE ALSO: Another Ferguson Voice Silenced: Dorian Johnson’s Death Raises Painful Questions [Op-Ed] Police Kill Black People, Congress Couldn’t Care Less

In today’s episode of Everybody Haaaaaates ICE (you were supposed to read that in the tune of Everybody Hates Chris), the ongoing situation in Chicago — where Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents keep running wild like rabid dogs off their leashes, and residents keep responding by, well, not having it at all — seems to be getting worse as clashes intensify between agents, protesters and, often, people who were just trying to get to work or school. As we’ve noted previously, while the Trump administration has claimed repeatedly that its immigration crackdown is about ridding America of the worst kinds of “criminal illegal aliens,” we’re not seeing evidence that hardened criminals represent the bulk of who is being accosted by agents, arrested, and disappeared to who knows where. Instead, immigration officers seem to be going after any and everyone who they think looks wrong, and subsequently arresting workers and people raising families, who may or may not have all their paperwork in order, and they seem to be dumbfounded by the lack of support they’re getting from the community, including the protesters they seem to be attacking first and vilifying as agitators later. For example, according to the Chicago Sun-Times,  a Halloween costume parade for children that was supposed to take place on a usually quiet residential block has been canceled because just hours before it was scheduled to begin, tear gas had been deployed by agents moved to detain Luis Villegas, a construction worker who agents chased down the 3700 block of North Kildare Avenue and tackled on a lawn. It was reportedly the first of two incidents in the same area where agents deployed tear gas, purportedly to defend themselves against enraged bystanders who took issue with ICE agents behaving more like criminals than the “criminal illegal aliens” they claim to be arresting. From the Sun-Times: Ald. Ruth Cruz (30th) called the two uses of tear gas in her ward “unprovoked and deeply troubling attacks on our communities.” She said Villegas has been in the United States since he was 4 years old. The Department of Homeland Security said he had been accused and arrested — not convicted — of assault. “This is home for him,” Cruz told the Sun-Times Sunday. “He has built his education, his family and his life here in Chicago.” Brian Kolp, a former prosecutor with the Cook County state’s attorney’s office and counsel for the city of Chicago who once defended Chicago police officers in lawsuits, was watching news about a temporary restraining order issued against federal agents when agents pursuing Villegas subdued and detained him on Kolp’s front lawn. Kolp was barefoot and wearing Blackhawks pajama pants as he stepped from his front door to yell “Nazi” and “Gestapo” at the agents who dragged Villegas to a vehicle. Kolp said the agents pulled his 70-year-old neighbor out of his vehicle and slammed him to the ground as he arrived home. He saw another person on a bicycle also get detained. Of course, the Department of Homeland Security is claiming agents were “boxed in by agitators,” a claim the department has made about previous incidents, only for witnesses and video footage to contradict the narrative. “These weren’t activists, these weren’t paid protesters, these were literally my neighbors coming out of their homes at 10 o’clock in the morning because they saw lawless agents acting in violent ways,” Kolp said, claiming the people officers deployed tear gas on were mostly neighbors who had stepped out of their homes to film and shout at agents. “There are only so many ways we can hold these folks accountable. If the courts can’t do it, Congress can’t do it, then it’s up to the community to do it.” Erin Sarris, a resident who has lived in the neighborhood for eight years, said she was on her way to the Halloween parade with her two 8-year-old daughters and 6-year-old son when she saw the cloud of tear gas from down the street. “It’s impossible to explain the concept of this to school-age kids like that and make them feel OK about it, because it’s not OK,” Sarris said. “It shatters their worldview of what’s right, fair, and appropriate in witnessing this.” Again, this was only the first incident involving ICE agents seemingly ignoring a federal judge’s previous order limiting their use of tear gas near schools and residential areas. More from the Sun-Times: Less than a mile away and around the same time Saturday, at Roscoe Street and Harding Avenue, federal agents again deployed tear gas as residents shouted at them. Two of Cruz’s staffers were hit by the tear gas as they responded, though she said they had recovered and were “more eager than ever to ask what more they can do to protect their communities.” She said her staffers witnessed a woman thrown to the ground by agents, but they said no one was detained. “Seeing it in person really emphasized there’s nothing calculated or organized about it,” one resident who witnessed the tear-gas deployment said of the ICE agents’ tactics. “It’s obvious what they’re doing is just evil.” These clashes between citizens and border cops are not limited to Chicago, of course. In large cities across the country, video footage of federal agents swarming citizens and non-citizens alike as angry onlookers heckle them and, sometimes, get themselves personally involved is being shared across social media on a daily basis. Recently, rumors have been swirling, especially in the world of right-wing media — including bootlicking op-ed writers who believe the “thin blue line” is something that needs to be protected — that the Chicago Police Department has been ordering its officers not to respond to calls about ICE agents needing their help while under attack by protesters. And while the CPD has denied these allegations, honestly, could you blame the department if it were true? After all, we’re talking about a city where officials had already made it explicitly clear that federal officers

President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that he underwent an MRI and a cognitive test during his “secondary” physical at Walter Reed earlier this year, and like every other medical examination he has told the public about, he claimed the results were “perfect” and proceeded to talk as if doctors confirmed he’s some kind of living, breathing medical miracle, the likes of which the world hasn’t seen in. In fact, Trump’s cognitive test turned out so great, he is now suggesting Congress’ most prominent women of color, Reps Jasmine Crockett and  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, should also be tested — as if they’re the ones who think windmills cause cancer, Lysol is an injectable COVID cure, boat batteries cause shock attacks and that President Joe Biden was in charge of the FBI on Jan. 6, when Trump was still president. Also, Crockett and AOC aren’t the ones who seem unsure on whether to rule in or rule out the clearly unconstitutional idea of a president running for a third term. Actually, let’s talk about that first. According to the Guardian, Trump was on Air Force One while traveling from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Tokyo, Japan, when he told reporters he would rule out running for the vice-presidency in 2028, so whoever actually ran for president could drop out and make him president again, which many of his supporters have floated around as idea for their MAGA messiah to weasel his way into a third term in 2028. “I’d be allowed to do that,” Trump said. “I wouldn’t do that. I think it’s too cute. Yeah, I would rule that out because it’s too cute. I think the people wouldn’t like that … It’s not – it wouldn’t be right.” First of all, “I’d be allowed to do that,” followed up immediately by, “I wouldn’t do that,” doesn’t sound like a man with “perfect” cognitive abilities, but it does sound like a guy who would declare that he’s “not a dictator” in the same rant during which he mused that many Americans would “rather have a dictator.” Also, “too cute”? Nah, it would be “too cute” if Trump’s stubby, little baby hands were on an actual baby. Nothing would be cute about Trump ordering one of his loyal stooges to run for president and make him their running mate just so they can win and drop out, in order to keep the guy who’s totally not a dictator in power without being democratically elected. But at least Trump has ruled out serving a third term altogether, right? Or has he? From the Guardian: Referring to the possibility of a third term, however, Trump said: “I would love to do it. I have my best numbers ever.” When pressed by a reporter whether he was not ruling out a third term, he said: “Am I not ruling it out? I mean you’ll have to tell me.” He added: “All I can tell you is that we have a great group of people, which they [the Democrats] don’t.” No, no — the man who is asking reporters to tell him whether or not he has ruled out the completely illegal act of serving for a third term definitely sounds like he aced any test on how well his mind works. So, let’s get back to that. “I got an MRI, it was perfect,” Trump told reporters during that same flight to Japan, according to the Hill. “Nobody has ever given you reports like I gave you, and if I didn’t think it was going to be good, either, I would let you know negatively,” he continued. “I wouldn’t run, I’d do something. But the doctors said some of the best reports for the age, some of the best reports they’ve ever seen.” I mean, the man can’t even string together coherent sentences while boasting about how coherent he is. Now, Trump could have just stopped there, and we all could have rolled our eyes and moved on like we usually do, but he hadn’t even said anything racist or misogynistic yet, or hit his political opponents with unprovoked insults, which brings us back to Crockett and AOC. “You give her an IQ test. Have her pass, like, the exams that I decided to take when I was at Walter Reed,” Trump said, referring to Ocasio-Cortez. “I took — those are very hard — they’re really aptitude tests, I guess, in a certain way.” “The first couple of questions are easy. A tiger, an elephant, a giraffe, you know. When you get up to about five or six, and then when you get up to 10 and 20 and 25, they couldn’t come close to answering any of those questions,” he added. As I wrote previously, “Don’t get me wrong, Trump pivots to personal insults on everyone who he’s up against, but there are certain insults — typically the ones that involve intelligence or gender-related bodily functions — he reserves for women, and, more specifically, Black women and women of color.” I wrote that when the guy who thinks “groceries” is a brand new word because he, apparently, just discovered it this year was calling Kamala Harris “dumb as a rock.” Again, nobody asked Trump about Crockett, Ocasio-Cortez, or literally any of the Democrats in Congress, who clearly live rent-free in Trump’s head, despite his claims that the Democratic Party is essentially over. It’s almost as if no time is an inappropriate time for Trump to relay the unsolicited information that his own insecurity as a white, fragile, and aggressively mediocre male causes him to hate accomplished, intelligent, and far more articulate Black and brown women uncontrollably. You kinda have to admit, though, that it’s often difficult to tell if Trump is truly declining cognitively, or if he’s the same delusional idiot he has always been. Because as much as it does seem that his elevator is permanently stuck on the non-existent 13th floor, it’s his usual refusal to accept reality that has him

In a recent Zoom meeting with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, members of the Illinois Senate Black Caucus reminded him of one major obstacle in the ongoing congressional redistricting war between Democrats and Republicans: Black politicians unwilling to sacrifice their power and Black political power collectively for an alleged greater good. This should have long been foreseen by Jeffries and other Democratic leaders, but it is never surprising for Democrats, even the Black ones, to ignore the concerns of Black folks often until it’s damn near too late – and the same goes for the mainstream press corps that covers them. For months now, in addition to efforts led by California Governor Gavin Newsom, Jeffries has reportedly joined other national Democratic officials in pushing legislative leaders in the states of Illinois, Virginia, and Maryland to proceed with plans to redraw their maps to counter efforts in GOP-controlled states like Texas, North Carolina, and Missouri. However, select members of those caucuses were said to have expressed serious reservations, if not flat-out declarations of refusal to sign on, rooted in the belief that the Democratic Party’s plans to block the GOP gerrymandering their way to total seizure of Congress would disproportionally harm Black lawmakers by dismantling their districts. Then came the public warning to Jeffries from state Senator Willie Preston, chair of the Illinois Senate Black Caucus, who told a reporter the caucus won’t back any map that dilutes the Black vote in any historically Black district. “We’re going to fight back,” Preston said. “We just won’t do so at the expense of our own power.” Preston is running to replace Democratic Congresswoman Robin Kelly, who is running for Senate, in one of those districts. It’s not hard to understand why Preston would be pressed about the potential chance of him going to Congress being eradicated for the benefit of some politician who will likely not bear the same shade as him or the majority of his potential constituents. On Monday morning, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries traveled to Illinois to meet with state Democratic lawmakers to urge them to consider a mid-decade redistricting, all the same. While protecting Black representation is absolutely a legitimate concern, true power requires strategic sacrifice, and in the long term, real investment in states across the South. As former Attorney General Eric Holder, who has worked with former President Barack Obama on nonpartisan map-drawing efforts in recent years, explained to the Washington Post recently, “We’re doing things that kind of go against what we talked about [because] we have to preserve our democracy if ultimately we’re going to heal it.” Still, there is a real reason to worry about what the Democrats’ plans mean for Black political power writ large. Former Ohio State Senator Nina Turner warned in August that if both parties engage in partisan redistricting battles, “Black Americans—split between 23 Republican-controlled states (44-45% of the Black population) and 15 Democratic ones (30%)—will see their collective political power diluted.” The looming Supreme Court case, Louisiana v. Callais,  where Supreme Court Justice John Roberts may finally achieve his decades-long crusade to kill the Voting Rights Act, only compounds these fears, as Democrats would be in danger of losing around a dozen majority-minority districts across the South. But that ruling won’t affect the next midterms, and if Democrats retake the House, they can fight whatever terrible decision SCOTUS issues. I question the logic of refusing to relinquish any power when that refusal renders your entire party powerless for a generation. What good is a safe seat in a permanent minority? Furthermore, when it comes to the dilution of Black political power in the South, much as we can blame the GOP for gerrymandering, voter suppression efforts of every variety, and so on, we can also fault the Democrats for not even bothering to do much with the huge Black populations existing within the South. For decades at that! Have writers like me for years not complained about why the Democratic Party hasn’t invested in Black candidates in statewide races in places like Mississippi and North Carolina? Have the candidates themselves, such as former Louisiana Senate candidate and activist Gary Chambers, not pointed out the flawed strategy of ignoring Black voters in the South? Just recently, Chambers told Joy Reid: “There are a million Black folks in Mississippi — you only need 480,000 to show up to flip the state, which $25 million could accomplish.”’ “If Greg Abbott can spend $90 million on one county in Texas,” he argued, “Democrats can’t keep saying the South isn’t worth it.” He is right to argue to Democrats, “If you’re not investing in Louisiana and Mississippi after all the losses everywhere else, you’re not serious about winning.” I’m still old enough to remember a Democratic governor of Texas, and I strongly believe we can bolster Black political power by investing in states where Black people live and are moving to. Given the direction of the next census and the maps that will be drawn thereafter in the coming years, this is the surest survivalist strategy for Democrats anyway. As for what power that might be lost in the meantime, I suspect much of this is rooted in individual politicians and their fears of losing their personal political power, or, if nothing else, having to work a whole lot harder for it. Most politicians of all parties enjoy gerrymandering because it makes it easier for them, and while such luxuries aren’t often afforded to Black people, I couldn’t care less about any Black politician ultimately pressed about their power at the expense of everyone else’s. It’s OK for members of the CBC who have had cushy seats for decades that have largely gone unchallenged to work a bit harder. I don’t have a lot of faith in the charms of Hakeem Jeffries to convince those in doubt about all this, but for all the many-many-many-many political stances I disagree with him on, redistricting isn’t it. This is a one-time opportunity to

Here’s a question — a series of questions, actually: Are white men OK? Is the white supremacy in the air just extra thick this Halloween? Has the current administration made the Gestapo look cool again? It’s almost 2026 — what’s with all the self-proclaimed Nazis? Last Thursday night, a white man showed up to an off-campus bar near the University of Georgia in Athens dressed in full Nazi regalia, and now he’s been arrested for striking a female student in the face with a beer mug after being confronted by patrons who did not want the Nazi cosplayer entering the bar. It simply can’t be emphasized more that 33-year-old Kenneth Leland Morgan — who, according to NBC News, was first identified by the victim, 23-year-old UGA student Grace Lang— didn’t just show up outside Cutters Pub in plain clothes, waving a swastika flag and drunkenly shouting out “Heil Hitler” like a normal 21st-century Nazi. Nah, this guy came out in a full, seemingly authentic Nazi officer’s uniform, looking like he came straight from the set of Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglorious Basterds.” Where does one even get a real Nazi uniform in 2025? Either there’s some kind of “Third Reichs ‘R’ Us” store open in Georgia, or somebody’s grandpa who somehow escaped the Nuremberg trials after World War II needs to check their closet to see what’s missing. What does seem to be perfectly clear is that Morgan was out with the sole intention of pissing people off by wearing his white supremacist bigotry literally right on his sleeve. From NBC: Lang said she knows of Morgan through a friend of a friend and that he is known in her circles and around town. Lang said two of her friends, one of whom is Jewish, first confronted the man. “She was mainly just telling him he needed to leave and needed to go home,” Lang said. Video of the encounter shows the man walking around with a beer mug and swinging it at a woman, seemingly striking her in the face as she goes down.Lang said she got hit by the beer mug after trying to grab the man’s swastika armband. “He was just feeling very proud of himself for what he was wearing,” said Lang, who said she got four stitches for cuts to her face. If you listen closely, you can already hear the sounds of millions of basement-dwelling, incellustrious, Nazi-loving MAGA bros tapping away at their keyboards to say the Nazi acted in self-defense and the woman deserved to get hit for reaching for his swastika-clad arm. Considering the fact that even top members of the Trump administration have shown that they will stretch themselves into noose knots to justify the activities of white supremacists and then complain about being called white supremacists, we shouldn’t be surprised if Morgan is the next white guy over 30 to have Vice President JD Vance claiming he was just doing “what kids do.“ Anyway, according to Athens-Clarke County jail records, Morgan was arrested early Friday and booked on suspicion of two misdemeanor counts of simple battery and one felony count of aggravated assault. It’s unclear if he has a lawyer. In a statement, UGA accused Morgan of “heinous antisemitic behavior,” NBC reported. “We are horrified by the actions of an individual who, while in downtown Athens wearing a Nazi uniform, assaulted a female University of Georgia student,” the statement read. “The man is not a student and is not affiliated with the University. His actions, which were caught on videotape, are appalling, and we are grateful to Athens-Clarke County police officers for swiftly apprehending and arresting him.” It’s a shame. American white supremacy inspired Germany’s Nazi movement, and now America clearly has a Nazi problem it just doesn’t want to confront head-on. Sad. SEE ALSO: ‘What Up, My Nazi?’ Is Fox News Mimicking Black Reclamation Professor Posts Blackface Photo And Keeps Her Job  

What began as a routine discussion over how to spend a $30,000 student engagement budget quickly turned into a sobering look at fear, mistrust, and the limits of safety in Washington, D.C., schools. At a recent meeting of the D.C. State Board of Education’s Committee on Student Experience and Engagement, the conversation veered sharply when students described feeling anxious about the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) near school grounds. Students told the board that seeing ICE agents near their schools makes them panic, even when they’re not the target. They described the presence of law enforcement as a constant source of anxiety. One student representative said that “a majority of the emojis students created expressed negative emotions. Students feel upset, concerned, or unsafe when ICE is around our schools.” The comment struck a nerve. Committee chair Eric Goulet said the reaction was “not surprising,” warning that the presence of masked federal agents “erodes trust” between students and institutions. He cited reports of ICE detaining parents near Bancroft Elementary as particularly alarming. Those fears aren’t unfounded. In March 2025, federal agents attempted to detain a health-care worker at H.D. Cooke Elementary School while students were arriving. The agents left only after administrators demanded a warrant. Earlier this year, parents and daycare staff in Northwest D.C. reported unmarked SUVs and plain-clothes officers outside bilingual childcare centers, sparking panic among immigrant families. While D.C. has recently shown modest progress on attendance — its in-seat rate climbed to 87.4% last school year, and chronic absenteeism dropped to 36.9%— more than 1 in 4 students across the district still miss significant class time. Nationally, studies show that immigration enforcement can drive attendance even lower. In districts hit by ICE raids, daily absences spiked by about 22%, with the sharpest increases among elementary-age students. Research from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Learning Policy Institute confirms that heightened immigration enforcement correlates with chronic absenteeism, school withdrawals, and declines in academic performance. In other words, the panic students describe in D.C. isn’t isolated; it’s part of a measurable, nationwide chilling effect that turns fear into lost learning. Some neighborhoods have even organized “walking school buses,” community escorts to help children travel safely to class after witnessing federal agents detain a parent in front of students. Educators say the heightened enforcement has already begun affecting attendance and the sense of security inside classrooms, according to WTOP News. “The way to make students feel safer is to build trust,” Goulet said. “Actions like these do the opposite.” Across the country, similar stories are unfolding in immigrant communities where schools are meant to be sanctuaries but often feel like extensions of law enforcement. In D.C., where foreign-born residents make up nearly 14% of the population, students say the presence of ICE near schools fuels anxiety. Studies suggest that enforcement near schools can reduce attendance, especially among Latino students. The ICE discussion overshadowed what was supposed to be a planning session about student engagement and safety initiatives. The committee, working with a $30,000 budget, had been debating how to increase student participation in civic events, from listening sessions to a possible citywide student summit in March. Only three students had shown up to the previous town hall, despite 18 signing up, a turnout that underscored how mistrust and fatigue are already eroding civic involvement. The attendance failure is evidence of the deeper emotional disengagement created by fear and disillusionment. It’s not just that students are afraid of ICE; it’s that the system built to hear them is operating on a shoestring and struggling to get them in the room. Student Representative Kayla Chamberlin suggested offering community service hours as an incentive to draw more young people in. Others proposed smaller ward-based meetings, partnerships with youth groups, and translation services for families who don’t speak English. “We’d hit the whole city,” said Ward 8 Representative Lajoy Johnson, arguing for events in every ward. But beneath the logistics and policy talk was a more existential question: how do schools protect students from fear when the threat isn’t inside the classroom but waiting just beyond its doors? The conversation expanded to youth curfews and law enforcement visibility—issues that carry similar undertones of mistrust. “We don’t want young people encountering the criminal justice system just for returning from a school event,” Goulet said. By the meeting’s end, members had pledged to translate student feedback into tangible action to ensure that safety planning addresses not just physical threats but emotional ones. “It’s about making sure what students say doesn’t just get heard and it gets acted on,” said Rep. Dinkins. For D.C. students, that action can’t come soon enough. The challenge now facing the city, and districts nationwide, is proving that safety and belonging can’t be legislated into existence; they have to be built. Zoe Cummings is a senior honors journalism major, Spanish minor at Howard University, covering HBCU news, politics, and culture. You can follow her on Instagram @zoesxphia. Grant Roundtree is a senior journalism major, political science minor at Howard University. He is interested in stories about culture, sports, politics, and issues affecting local communities. He can be reached on Instagram at @grantroundtree. SEE ALSO: Ethiopian Immigrants Live With Fear, Anxiety In Washington Howard Students Hustle To Stay Enrolled After Federal Aid Cap