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On Wednesday, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability held a meeting on the House floor to debate the GOP’s Dismantle DEI Act of 2024, which, of course, is essentially a “White People Want To Be Oppressed So Bad” bill aimed at ending any and all diversity, equity and inclusion practices throughout the federal government. As we previously reported, the bill was introduced by Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas), and an identical bill was introduced earlier this year by Vice President-elect and passionate Haitian hater JD Vance, both of whom have convinced themselves and the rest of MAGA America that “the DEI agenda is a destructive ideology that breeds hatred and racial division.” Well, there was one congresswoman who we could all count on to keep it real while ruffling delicate Caucasian feathers, and it was none other than Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), who gave GOP lawmakers a “vocabulary lesson,” because if they truly believe DEI “oppresses white men,” then they simply misunderstand the definition of oppression.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (@repjasmine) “Let me tell you that the reason that my colleagues wanted to make sure you understood the same Black history that your side of the aisle wants to delete out of classrooms is because you can then misuse words like ‘oppression’ — there has been no oppression for the white man in this country,” Crockett began. “You tell me which white men were dragged out of their homes. You tell me which one of them got dragged all the way across an ocean and told that ‘you are going to go and work. We are going to steal your wives, we are going to rape your wives’ — that didn’t happen [to white people]. That is oppression,” she continued. “We didn’t ask to be here. We [are] not the same migrants that y’all constantly come up against. We didn’t run away from home, we were stolen.” If you listen closely, you can hear the faint sounds of white conservatives rolling their eyes into the back of their heads because whenever they have to hear references to Black history that they didn’t have a chance to run through their whitewashing fragility filter first, their one and only instinct is to get their Confederate-clad drawers all in a bunch. Crockett likely knew that Republicans only want to hear about slavery when it’s time for them to remind America that Democrats were largely responsible for it — as if they’re not the ones currently the Confederacy, its leaders, its monuments and its flag as a legacy that should be celebrated. But Crockett was far from done. “So yeah, we are going to sit here and be offended when you want to sit here and act like — and don’t let it escape you that it is white men on this side of the aisle telling us, people of color on this side of the aisle that y’all are the ones being oppressed — that y’all are the ones being harmed,” she said. “That’s not the definition of oppression. You tell me the prolonged, cruel or unjust treatment that you’ve had, and we can have a conversation.” “The final thing that I will say: diversity works, and until you can show me data that says otherwise, I think that we need to go back to being a country that listens to experts and gets out of our feelings and recognizes again that racism is real in this country. And until we stop pretending that it’s not, we will not solve the problems that we are consistently facing. And that will bring real unity we seek when we’re looking for a more perfect union.” Now, we all know that when it comes to the MAGA world, everything Crockett said, no matter how truthful, fell on deaf ears. These are, after all, the same people who went to war against critical race theory without ever being able to demonstrate that they had a clue what CRT is. They also went to war against “wokeness,” a term they have all struggled to define. Conservatives don’t really want to get into the nitty-gritty of DEI and why the practice ever became necessary, because they can’t rely on hollow, self-serving platitudes during an in-depth discussion on diversity, equity and inclusion. They would have to show substantial evidence — not anecdotal nonsense and absurd white grievance pontificating — that DEI actively hurts white people, and, as Crockett indicated, that data simply doesn’t exist while statistical evidence of systemic racism exists in abundance. As I’ve written plenty of times in the past, white men only dominate every major industry and entity in America, including the federal government, because they are the only demographic that has not been excluded from full access to the “American dream” for the overwhelming majority of American history. That’s why DEI exists, and it’s also why the only discussion white-and-fragile America wants to have about diversity is a discussion about dismantling it. White supremacy is America’s default, and the current GOP, especially under Donald Trump’s chokehold, is dedicated to making that aspect of America great again. SEE ALSO: Marjorie Taylor Greene Responds To Jasmine Crockett With Weightlifting Video ‘White Privilege’: Jasmine Crockett Rips Nancy Mace, House Republicans At Hunter Biden Hearing  

  Last month, on Halloween, a Florida man with a criminal history was arrested on suspicion of weapons violations after he was caught with several unregistered firearms and ammunition he couldn’t legally own. More disturbing than the weapons that were discovered in his home was a list that could potentially be of his Black and Jewish targets, according to prosecutors. According to NBC News, 41-year-old John Lapinski was arrested last month in Margate, Florida, which is about 40 miles north of Miami, and is currently being held without bail under a U.S. Marshals Service hold on federal charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and possessing an unregistered gun suppressor. On Tuesday, a factual proffer in support of keeping Lapinski in lockup was filed and included new details about what was discovered among his belongings at his and his sister’s home. Those belongings included an AR-15 platform rifle described as a Palmetto State Armory Liberty-15, a Black Aces Tactical FD 12 shotgun, two semiautomatic handguns, a shotgun, body armor, smoke grenades, suspected silencers, an array of ammunition, spent shell casings and a homemade target, according to the proffer, which was signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Anton. Lapinski’s alleged list of weapons, ammo and accessories alone makes him a domestic terrorist attack waiting to happen, but it gets worse once you find out why he was taken into custody in the first place as well as that aforementioned list. According to Anton, Margate police officers received a report of shots fired about 6:30 a.m. on Oct. 31, and they arrived at the home of a woman who said she and her brother, ultimately identified as Lapinski, were the only residents. Officers determined Lapinski was the shooter and they took him into custody and transported him to a medical facility for a mental evaluation. No injuries were reported. Now, about that list. From NBC: The alleged list of targets includes Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., as well as locations the writer of the list characterized as draws for Jewish and Black people — a synagogue, a Jewish cemetery, a Jewish sandwich shop and parks and schools that were described using a derogatory term for Black people, according to Anton’s filing. One entry on the list said, “Stalk Jewish parks,” the proffer said. Moskowitz, who was re-elected Nov. 5, thanked law enforcement for its work on the case. “Regardless of our political affiliation or differences, we all have families we want to keep safe,” he said in a statement Nov. 8. Then there’s Lapinksi’s past run-ins with the law. Officers discovered that Lapinski was convicted twice in 2005 for resisting an officer with violence, a felony, and that he was under an ongoing restraining order in a 2017 domestic violence case, Anton said. In both matters, Lapinski was prohibited by a judge from possessing firearms and ammunition. A detention hearing for Lapinski is scheduled for Nov. 27. Be safe out there, folks. SEE ALSO: Beyond Texts: Suspected Racist Hate Crimes Surge After Trump’s Election Black Voters Terrified A Trump’s Presidency Will Bring Hate And Violence, Poll Finds  

We are two months out from Donald Trump being sworn in as the 47th president and already it’s beyond evident that a vote for Trump was a vote for the preservation of white supremacy — but we already knew that. On Wednesday, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability will hold a markup to discuss what’s called the Dismantle DEI Act of 2024, a self-explanatory measure introduced by Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas) and coupled with an identical bill introduced earlier this year by Vice President-elect JD Vance.  “The DEI agenda is a destructive ideology that breeds hatred and racial division. It has no place in our federal government or anywhere else in our society,” Vance wrote in a press release promoting the white fragility bill (because that’s really all this is). “I’m proud to introduce this legislation, which would root out DEI from our federal bureaucracy by eliminating such programs and stripping funding for DEI policies anywhere it exists. Americans’ tax dollars should not be co-opted to spread this radical and divisive ideology – this bill would ensure they are not.” Cloud essentially wrote the same platitude-ridden statement with a few more white-and-whiny words, which refuse to address the systemic racism that made DEI necessary in the first place. “DEI practices have zero place in our federal government,” Cloud wrote. “These initiatives, presented as promoting fairness, have instead fostered division and racial bias within our institutions and culture – which is not conducive to serving taxpayers well. This bill is a necessary step to restore merit and equality, not equity, in America’s government institutions, and eliminate the DEI bureaucracy that sows division and wastes taxpayer money. It’s absurd to fund these divisive policies, especially using American’s tax dollars, and it’s time for Congress to put an end to them once and for all. I want to thank my friend Senator Vance for his work on this issue and look forward to taking our message to the American people – a message that offers opportunity to ALL Americans rather than a select few.” *sigh* Is it irony, hypocrisy, delusion or all three wrapped up in one big noose knot of flagrant caucasity? Don’t answer that; we already know. White America spent months convincing itself that Vice President Kamala Harris was unqualified to be president despite her being a district attorney, state attorney general, U.S. Senator and the current president’s VP. If she had been elected, she would have been the first president in U.S. History to serve in all three branches of government. She was unqualified, and so was Barack Obama, according to white conservatives and their POC diversity mascots. Trump, on the other hand, was elected into office in 2016 despite having zero experience in governing or legislating or judiciary work. He bankrupted business, hosted a reality game show, led the birther movement against Obama, and consistently indicated that he had no factual understanding of the political process — and that was the totality of his “merit.” So far, Trump’s cabinet picks have all been white people, some of whom are clearly underqualified for the positions they’ve been appointed to or nominated for. (He literally nominated a Fox News host with zero experience in national defense to serve as Secretary of Defense.) To be fair, during Trump’s first presidency, he added a diversity hire or two to his own administration — unless Ben Carson had some extensive experience in housing and urban development that we just didn’t know anything about. There’s a reason the anti-DEI narrative never includes any substance or even a real argument outside of, “It’s unfair to white people,” particularly white men, who have dominated every major industry and government entity in America throughout all of the nation’s history. If they really dug their heels into the subject, they would have to whitesplain why there shouldn’t be any diversity initiatives in a country where white men and only white men had full access to the “American dream” for the overwhelming majority of America’s existence. They would have to whitesplain why the qualifications of white men are never placed under as much scrutiny as that of people of color, and why even elected officials of color are being called “DEI hires” if it’s truly about “merit.” They would have to whitesplain their belief that white people are the most discriminated against demographic in a country that is more than 70% white and where white people, again, overwhelmingly dominate the government and all of the most powerful industries in the nation. Perhaps some of this will be up for discussion during the House Committee hearing, which will include Reps. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.), and Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.). Crockett, AOC, and Bush should make it an interesting conversation as they have never shied away from calling American racism exactly what it is, while Donalds will certainly serve as MAGA Republicans’ Black friend who will certainly hold the water of white nationalism. It’s likely to be a frustrating debate that will be all the more frustrating if the discussion is more political than it is substantial. Ahead of today’s hearing, Demetria McCain, Director of Policy at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. shares the following statement: “The markup of the Dismantle DEI Act is a window into the deceptive tactics and harmful policies some congressional members will deploy next year and beyond. While supporters of this bill argue that they are working toward a colorblind society, the bill is actually a thinly-veiled attempt to turn the federal government into an engine of social and economic segregation–one that will leave Black communities and other communities of color, women, LGBTQ+ communities, and other marginalized and underrepresented groups on the sidelines looking in.” “True prosperity in America will only come if everyone has a seat at the table. It will not come from denying veterans and people with disabilities the resources needed to start a business or by keeping people in rural communities from accessing reliable internet

Over the years BOSSIP has reported on far more police shootings than we care for. There is no ranking which of them are the most tragic because almost every single one resulted in an unnecessary loss of life. That said, some of the most disheartening cases are ones in which someone has dialed 911 for help and end up dead at the hands of an inept or overly aggressive officer. Such is the case for Brandon Durham. According to CNN reports, Durham, along with several others, made multiple calls to 911 to report a shooting on November 12, 2024. Durham was at home with his teenage daughter when people opened fire on his residence and broke in. Las Vegas police officer Alexander Bookman and two other officers responded to the scene and witnessed multiple damaged vehicles, broken glass, and heard screaming coming from inside the house. Bookman and co. then witnesses Durham and his 31-year-old girlfriend Alejandra Boudreaux wrestling over a knife. Body camera footage shows Bookman yelling “drop the knife” before firing a single round that struck Durham. Bookman then fired 5 more rounds as Durham lay on the ground bleed. According to the official police report, after the shooting stopped, Boudreaux told Bookman that he had “shot the wrong person”. Yes, you read that correctly. Upon further questioning, Boudreaux readily admitted that she had been suicidal for several days and told officers that she went to Durham’s house because “she was going to die” “I wanted the cops to shoot me dead. And I wanted (Durham) to live the wreckage that I caused in his house,” she told police in an interview after the incident. Boudreaux went on to tell officers that despite the fact that she had two knives, she did not plan to stab or harm Durham but intended to die via “suicide by cop”. “I feel like I’m responsible for what (led) up to everything,” Boudreaux told police. Uh, ya think?? She is now facing multiple charges including assault with a deadly weapon, home invasion with a deadly weapon, domestic violence and child abuse. According to KTNV, both Durham’s “domestic partner” Rachel Gore and family legal counsel Lee Merritt are calling for officer Bookman to be arrested and charged as well. “To know that an arrest warrant hasn’t been issued for a man who is on video. The evidence is available to the public. There’s more than enough probable cause so that Alexander Bookman can be indicted on the crime of homicide,” Merritt said. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, he should be in jail for murder. He took a good guy, a really good guy,” Gore said. This case sounds like it is going to be a complete cluster-f and BOSSIP will be tracking it very closely over the next several months. The post Cops Kill People: 43-Brandon Durham Gunned Down After Calling 911 For Knife-Wielding Girlfriend appeared first on Bossip.

  White conservatives are clearly overjoyed that their orangey-white nationalist messiah is back in the Oval Office, which is to be expected. However, the way they’re just out here saying any old thing while painting their optimistic view of Donald Trump’s America after spending four years lamenting their doom-and-gloom perception of the state of the nation is not just delusional, it’s a shameless and absurd display of gaslighting. And there is no better example of this than Fox News host Laura Ingraham telling disgraced wrestler Hulk Hogan that Trump is going to end racism in America. A racist telling a racist that a racist is going to end racism is just plain wild. Ingraham has spent years denying the existence of racism and telling “woke” athletes to “shut up and dribble” the second they dare even utter a word about systemic racism, police brutality or anything related to the word beginning with what they believe is the true meaning of the “hard R.” But during a recent episode of her show — while speaking with an admitted racist whose use of the N-word destroyed his public image — the woman who has defended white supremacists seemed to admit that racism is real and that they just didn’t like to talk about it. But the only reason she has seemingly done a 180 on her opinion is because she believes athletes will look to Trump to usher in a new post-racial America. (Don’t laugh, guys, she appears to be serious.) “I think impulse before was to kind of keep it hidden,” Ingraham said of racism, indicating that she is only talking about the collective “impulse” of the white and perpetually fragile. “And I’m not a big fan of like sports and politics and entertainment, but I like kind of keeping them separate. “But if you’re going to embrace Kaepernick and the end racism and the end zone, I think a lot of these football players are like, if anyone can end racism or at least make progress to it, it’s probably Trump,” she continued. Yeah — they’re just having fun playing around in our faces now.  No one should believe even for a second that either Ingraham or Hogan actually thinks the president-elect who ran on a campaign of outright bigotry is going to bring about an end to racism in America. Trump repeatedly compared South American migrants to Hannibal Lecter, and called them “animals” who are “not human.” He dabbled in eugenics-style scientific racism by suggesting migrants have “bad genes” that predispose them to commit violent crimes. He lied about migrants bringing “tremendous infectious disease” to the U.S. and said they are “poisoning the blood” of the country. He and his minions made Vice President Kamala Harris’ racial identity more of an issue than she ever did. They claimed Black voters would flock to Trump (which they didn’t) just because he’s a felon with a mugshot. Meanwhile, he has reinstituted his war against DEI and has essentially promised reparations to white people. He led the transparently racist “birther” movement when Barack Obama was in office, and he hinted towards the same narrative in reference to Harris. Speaking of Obama… Ingraham is celebrating the reelection of Trump by claiming, “We got America back” as if the state of the country and its populace is directly tied to who’s in the White House. She doesn’t seem to be acknowledging that half the country is about to spend the next four years calling Trump a fascist, misogynistic Nazi-whisperer the same way the other half called Obama a Muslim, socialist, radical, terrorist sympathizer who wasn’t born in the country for eight years — before erroneously claiming his election proved racism in America was a thing of the past. Trump is, for all intents and purposes, a white supremacist, as is Hogan, and based on her indifference to racism alone — Ingraham is too.  SEE ALSO: Reefer Madness: Laura Ingraham Blames Marijuana For Mass Shootings In America Twitter Calls Out Laura Ingraham’s Nazi Salute During RNC Speech  

  The Black church has long played a key role in social justice movements like the Civil Rights Movement, but its impact on climate change may not be as widely recognized. In recent years, however, a growing number of Black churches across the U.S. have come together to advocate for climate action.  The Black church’s involvement in climate change reportedly came into the spotlight around 2013, when hundreds of faith leaders gathered at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta to support President Obama’s Climate Change Plan as part of the larger “I Will #ActOnClimate” campaign, according to the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. This plan, announced in June 2013, aimed to reduce energy waste, build a cleaner transportation sector, accelerate clean energy leadership, and significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions, especially from power plants. For Black communities, the fight against climate change is critical, as environmental injustices disproportionately affect us. One example is “Cancer Alley” in Louisiana, a stretch along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, where industrial facilities and chemical plants contribute to dangerously high pollution levels. Residents face increased health risks, including higher cancer rates, due to exposure to air and water contamination. Another example is the Flint water crisis, where Black residents were exposed to lead-contaminated drinking water, leading to tragic health consequences and the loss of lives. In response to these challenges, Black churches are taking action. Mobilization efforts for legislative change were strong and clear, thanks to the leadership of Black church officials. In 2015, several prominent Black church leaders, including AMEZ Bishop George Battle and Rev. Samuel C. Tolbert Jr.,  President of the National Baptist Convention of America, co-authored a petition supporting President Obama’s Clean Power Plan. The petition, which claimed to be aligned with God’s call to preserve the environment, aimed to protect public health, and ensure the prosperity of communities. Then, in July 2016, the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, one of the largest and oldest Black denominations in the U.S., passed its first-ever climate change resolution in its 200-year history, the Religious Act Center (RAC) reported. The groundbreaking resolution aimed to shed light on climate change and pollution that disproportionately affects Black and low-income communities, both in the U.S. and globally. It also addressed the issue of environmental racism, where communities of color are more likely to be exposed to harmful toxins and pollutants, leading to serious health issues.  As the movement for climate justice grows, Black churches continue to be at the forefront of advocating for meaningful change. Climate Revival, a nonprofit led by Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter Antonique Charmaine Smith and her best friend, Rev. Yearwood—a minister, activist, and climate champion recognized by former President Barack Obama—is dedicated to mobilizing people of color and people of faith in the fight for environmental justice, according to Smith’s October piece written for Atmos. Their mission focuses on securing the right to clean air, clean water, and a healthy climate. They aim to achieve this by communicating through the mediums that resonate most with church congregations—soulful singing and passionate spoken word. The pair have set their sights on improving conditions in Cancer Alley, a cause Smith is committed to despite the overwhelming “despair” she feels. Her inspiration to involve Black churches in the climate change conversation came after witnessing the devastation caused by Superstorm Sandy in her home state of New Jersey.  “Memories resurfaced of toppled bridges, buried neighborhoods, and New York City underwater. I looked around me, and my little sister was suffering from lung disease, my mother from lupus, and my father was a cancer survivor,” the self-proclaimed “artivist” penned. “For the first time, I realized that these deadly storms and diseases were far from random. With sea levels and temperatures ticking higher and higher, and pollution mucking up the air, earth, and water, perhaps they’re even expected.” Smith and Yearwood have been busy taking action. The duo organized a nationwide tour, hosting climate justice conversations and gospel concerts in churches across the country throughout the month of October, according to her piece. The tour began in Cancer Alley in Louisiana and culminated at the Baptist church in Newark, New Jersey, where Smith found God at age 7. As Smith wrote, they are hosting “honest discussions about climate justice” throughout the journey. SEE ALSO: NYC Mayor Eric Adams And His Complicated Relationship With The Black Church How Does Someone’s Identity As An Entrepreneur Intersect With Their Racial Identity?  

Quincy and Christian Combs are trying to shut down the man profiting off of Kim Porter’s alleged tell-all book.   Christian, 26, and Quincy, 33, are doing their best to protect their mother following her death in 2018. Together, they sent a cease and desist letter to a man named Courtney Burgess and his attorney Ariel Mitchell in response to Kim Porter Tell It All, a book that was sold online under the pseudonym Jamal Millwood. The 60-page book is purportedly based on a collection of the late model’s diary entries, and following the cease and desist, it was removed from Amazon’s online store on Tuesday. In the letter obtained by TMZ, the brothers say they became the rightful heirs and owners of Porter’s intellectual property rights following her death; therefore, her alleged diary entries belong to them. Burgess did multiple interviews to promote the book, claiming it was an “original unedited” copy of her diary/memoir. He claims to have gotten a flash drive from people who were close to Porter, printing it without any edits to produce the book. Quincy and Christian are denying that, saying the whole flash drive tale is “patently false” and misleads the public. But, in the letter, they say that if it were true, the flash drive would belong to them. “We were made aware of a dispute regarding this title and have notified the publisher,” a spokesperson for Amazon confirmed to USA TODAY in a statement on Thursday. “The book is not currently available for sale in our store.” Quincy and Christian’s letter warned that Burgess has five days to shut down the online sale of the book, stop doing interviews, and turn over any of Kim’s possessions he claims to have before taking legal action. They’re also asking for an accounting of any money he’s already made off the book. The post Diddy’s Sons Quincy And Christian Combs Send Cease & Desist Over Alleged Kim Porter Tell-All Book appeared first on Bossip.

Jaleel White paid a visit to Tamron Hall to promote his new memoir Growing Up Urkel.   White revealed that his character Urkel served as a bridge between the cast and the show’s all-white writer’s room. First of all, did y’all know this about the Family Matters writers room? Do you think the show would have had the same kind of run with a Black writers’ room? It sounds like it might not have worked if they hadn’t incorporated a character like Urkel or an actor like Jaleel! White also spoke with Tamron about how life really started for him after Family Matters. In the clip below he discusses being in college and riding a private jet with Denzel Washington to attend an NBA Finals game when he was supposed to be studying for his finals. We can only imagine how tough it must have been not having friends who could relate to his level of success. It seems like transitioning from being a child actor is one of the most difficult experiences for most people. We’re just happy that Jaleel continues to have such a great attitude toward life. Check your local listings for more information about when and where to catch new episodes of Tamron Hall. The post Jaleel White Tells ‘Tamron Hall’ About Bridging The Culture Gap For ‘Family Matters’ White Male Writers Room appeared first on Bossip.