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(CNN) - In an epic struggle over voting rights, the future political influence of the diverse generations now aging into the electorate could pivot on the fate of legislation the House is expected to consider this week. Even as Republican-controlled states, drawing on former President Donald Trump's groundless claims of massive fraud in 2020, are advancing a wave of proposals making it […]
\t On Friday, internet and international calls were cut off across the West African nation in anticipation of the election results, according to locals and international observers in the capital, Conakry.
\t This was the third time that Conde matched-up against Diallo. Before the election, observers raised concerns that an electoral dispute could reignite ethnic tensions between Guinea's largest ethnic groups.
BLACK AND ethnic minority voters in the US are actively being discouraged from voting, according...
The post Voter suppression tactics used against Black and ethnic minority communities in US appeared first on Voice Online.
Mwea Ngurubani County, Kenya — Whether volunteering at local high schools in her community, educating boys about the importance of speaking out and building self-confidence or taking a summer course at Oklahoma State University in the United States as a 2019 Mandela Washington Fellow – Kenyan social entrepreneur Joyce Kamande is passionate about supporting farmers and young people in rural areas.
The vision of Safi Organics is to be the leading converters of farm waste to high-quality carbon-negative fertiliser that increases farmers yields.
What they don't know is that they increase their yields from more robust, locally made carbon-negative organic fertiliser produced by farm waste from companies such as Safi Organics.
In Kenya and other African countries, unreliable and sometimes nonexistent agricultural extension services lead to poor farming practices, which can result in turn to low yields for smallholder farmers in many parts of Africa.
We applied for the grant as Safi Organics to offer capacity building to the youth on sustainable farming and launching demonstration farms for our farmers.
To see much more from the film, King: A Filmed Record, on Democracy Now!, visit http://owl.li/i1B3S. In a Black History Month special, Democracy Now! airs excerpts of the 1970 documentary, King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis, a rarely seen Oscar-nominated feature about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the rise of the civil rights movement. This clip shows scenes from the three historic marches from Selma to the capital Montgomery. The first took place March 7, 1965, and became known as Bloody Sunday after police attacked 600 marchers with billy clubs and tear gas. The second march came the following Tuesday, attracting more than 2,500 protesters, who were forced to turn around by police after crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge. We hear from Dr. King as he successfully crosses the bridge along with thousands of others on the third march, under the watch of federal troops mobilized by President Johnson. Finally, we will hear Dr. Kings address in the capital of Montgomery, where the march triumphantly ends.
REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: We have the right to walk the highway. We have the right to walk to Montgomery if our feet can get us there. We must let the nation know and we must let the world know that it is necessary to protest this threefold evil: the problem of the denial of the right to vote to police brutality—that we continue to face and faced in its most vicious form last Sunday—and then the attempt to block First Amendment privileges.
REPORTER: How do you feel about the protection being given you on this march?
REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: I think this is a real demonstration of the commitment of the federal government to protect the constitutional rights of Negro citizens. The protection has been a very thorough, as you can see. And the men are working under the guidance, and certainly under the power and influence, of the federal government to see that things are carried out in an orderly manner. So I think that everybody has to recognize that this symbolizes a new commitment
In these days when all our schools and universities have been closed, one would expect to see a prominent link to e-learning resources for students.
In these days of massive disruption of the traditional class or lecture room, we find that our universities and even top city schools where parents pay millions for day school appear to run like they did 10 years ago.
As children get older, school projects become more by learning computer programming is another area that our schools can take up to build innovative pedagogy.
We find ourselves in such circumstances because after many years of teaching computer science, Makerere University cannot find resources to build and maintain a basic e-learning platform.
Or at an even more elementary level, most secondary schools in Kampala where there is reasonable fixed broadband internet access will not take advantage of free Google Sites during the Coronavirus lockdown to upload learning resources for students!
The Collective Political Action Committee has announced a campaign to register 250,000 African American voters on Juneteenth.
According to a release, The Collective, a group dedicated to electing black candidates, will launch its “Vote to Live” campaign, an attempt to register 250,000 African American voters.
The Vote to Live campaign is a data driven voter engagement program to reach African American voters through digital advertising, mail, and text messaging.
On Thursday June 18, The Collective will launch an extensive digital voter registration campaign using online ads aimed at reaching unregistered Black voters.
“The Black vote is powerful and when we vote, we change the course of history,” The Collective’s Founder and President
Quentin James said in a press release.
The NAACP, the nation’s foremost social justice organization, has launched a campaign entitled #WeAreDoneDying, aimed at exposing the inequities embedded into the American healthcare system and the country at large.
From COVID-19 to running while Black in America, the abuse faced by people of color, particularly African Americans is devastating.
The campaign is a Call-to-Action and highlights the NAACP’s policy interests and supported legislation for African Americans and people of color, a large demographic that is often left out of recovery effort conversations.
The integrated and interactive content will create actionable steps for people to feel empowered by demanding action from their state’s elected officials on issues such as healthcare, education, criminal justice, economic justice, and voting rights.
“The NAACP Empowerment Programs’ 111 years of advocacy and fighting for the rights of Black people positions us to lead the fight for our community’s interest during this time of uncertainty.”
Common Ground held a voter registration drive-thru on July 11th modeled after the drive-up COVID-19 community testing sites. Common Ground helped those who needed to register, re-register or check their registration status in the Sherman Park neighborhood. Leaders and volunteers wore masks and gloves and followed doctor-approved safety precautions to protect themselves and those coming []
The post Common Ground Hosts Voter Registration Drive-Thru appeared first on Milwaukee Community Journal.
Arthur Ashe Kids Day is an annual tennis/children’s event that takes place in the end of August at the United States Tennis Association at Arthur Ashe Stadium. (USTA) Center in Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York. It is sponsored by the Hess Corporation, IBM, and USTA. This event also begins the U.S. Open, which officially starts one day later. This event was also televised on CBS the following day, until 2014 when it lost U.S. Open broadcast rights to ESPN. Beginning in 2015, the event airs on ESPN2. It is a celebration of the memory of Arthur Ashe, who died of AIDS in 1993, and of his efforts to help young people through tennis. Kids’ Day began in 1993, the year that Ashe died.
At the 2005 event, the United States Postal Service unveiled and issued the Arthur Ashe Commemorative Postal Stamp in the presence of the Ashe family.[1] The 2011 originally scheduled for August 27 was cancelled in the wake of the forthcoming Hurricane Irene. This marked the first time the event was cancelled in advance.
Participants at the Arthur Ashe Kids Day have an opportunity to play and/or watch numerous tennis matches before and after the main event at Arthur Ashe Stadium at the USTA Center. The main event at the stadium consists of a concert and tennis matches. As people enter the stadium, they are handed hats to commemorate the event.
Tennis greats that have appeared annually at Arthur Ashe Kids Day include Venus and Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, Novak Djokovic, Kim Clijsters, and Anna Kournikova, who play to entertain the children and families and to raise money for charity. Kids Day has been hosted by MTV VJ Quddus and sportscaster and ‘’Figure It Out’’ host Summer Sanders. Many popular singers have also performed at Kids Day, including Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, 98 Degrees, Bow Wow, Ne-Yo, Jesse McCartney, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, O Town, JoJo, Monica, Jonas Brothers and many others. During the day many tennis stars sign autographs and take pictures with the children.
The story was about Kelvin' Ochieng', a young man who had ended up homeless on the rough streets of Nairobi after graduating with a first-class honours in actuarial science.
In Kenya, many young people work hard at their studies and excel, only to find that their certificates are meaningless.
At the time of the interview, Ochieng' was just one of many other young people scrambling for casual work, for example washing cars in the CBD.
In places like Mathare, many young people without even half of his level of education have to grapple with harsh daily realities.
But I would suggest that the story should not have stopped there: it should have been understood as a case study that reflected the problems many young Kenyans face.
2. Citizen’s Review Board (Police Review)
“Joe Biden owes black people, and black women in particular, a debt of gratitude for reviving a campaign that was dead,” said Colette Phillips, founder of the Get Konnected social network and a supporter of the former vice president in the primary.
Black women in particular supported the former Delaware senator, leading to big wins in primaries across the South as rival candidates dropped out and coalesced around Biden.
To many African Americans, Biden’s vice presidential choice should reflect the Democratic Party’s most loyal base, a black woman who can inspire a strong turnout by voters of color in November and help replicate the coalition that twice elected Barack Obama to the White House.
“If Joe Biden thinks he can not choose a black woman and win, my name is Alexander Hamilton,” said the Rev. Miniard Culpepper, pastor of the Pleasant Hill Baptist Church and a primary supporter of U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Massachusetts state Rep. Nika Elugardo of Jamaica Plain, who co-chaired the Sanders campaign in the Bay State, said Biden should find a woman of color from the heartland with strong ties to the labor movement and the experience of immigrants — drawing from the demographic foundation of the Democratic Party.
On Thursday, Birmingham Mayor Randall L. Woodfin joined the national Co-Chairs of “HBCU Students for Biden” to discuss Vice President Biden’s policies and to answer questions.
“A couple of weeks ago, Vice President Biden released what he called ‘Lift Every Voice’, a plan for black America,” said Woodfin, a Morehouse College alum.
Woodfin, who has already endorsed Biden for U.S. President in the November general election, said the vice president wants to make public colleges and universities tuition free for families with income below $125,000.
In response to a question about what is at stake in this election for African Americans Woodfin said, “just the belief that we can succeed … And I think in America it’s hard to believe that you can, a black man can be running down the street running down the street and something happens to him and he will never be able to return home to his family.
Other issues at stake, Woodfin said, is “health care . . . [and] the ability to have opportunity to participate in the American Dream, to have a level playing field as it relates to obtaining an education, not just in college but K through 12.
ST. PETERSBURG — The League of Women Voters of St. Petersburg Area (LWVSPA) had to stop doing in-person voter registration and education events in mid-March; their last outing was helping clients at Daystar Life Center on March 11.
Using publicly available data from the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections and working closely with community partners, LWVSPA developed a multi-part campaign with messaging that urges residents to think about voting by mail as “Your Voting Back-Up Plan.”
The voter turnout data and partner conversations also led to the decision by Grove and leaders of the Voter Services team to focus the campaign on low turnout precincts, particularly on the south side; speaking to female voters who like the tradition of voting in person as a way of engaging with their families and neighbors at their polling place.
Grove said while data shows that women in these precincts vote at higher rates than men, “there was agreement in many of our discussions with community partners that women are the decision-makers and influencers in their families and communities primarily in areas like voting.”
LWVSPA and Community Law Program are also hosting a voter registration event specifically for Returning Citizens this Sunday, June 28, from 12-3 p.m. at the parking lot of Rock of Jesus MB Church, 3940 18th Ave. S.
Pro bono attorneys will be available for those who are not able to register because of sentencing issues.
Young people have emerged as superspreaders of the novel coronavirus as Kenya’s confirmed cases approach 1,000.
“This is where it (the rate of infection) is the largest, this is what we are calling ‘mosquito’, because a number of them carry it and they do not die from it,” said Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe as he announced 51 new cases Tuesday.
So far, there are 37 active cases of children aged between zero and nine years, 69 cases (10 t0 19 years), 238 (20 to 24 years), 268 (30 to 39 years), 172 (40 to 49 years), 112 (50 to 59) and 76 cases of people aged 60 and above.
Out of Kenya’s 47 counties, have confirmed cases, with the majority (83 per cent) reported in Mombasa and Nairobi.
“Deaths in Mombasa are mostly arising from people not going to hospital or families keeping them at home instead of seeking treatment,” he said
East Africa Community Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed called on Muslims, “especially at a time like now that we are coming together for prayers and enjoying meals”, to avoid crowding.
The key to a Democratic win in November is voter turnout, which former first lady Michelle Obama knows all too well.
In an interview conducted by TV showrunner Shonda Rhimes for Harper’s Bazaar, Michelle Obama said, “Some folks don’t see the impact of their vote on their day-to-day lives—if the trains still run, the kids are still going to school, and they still have a job, what difference does one vote really make, right?
Obama also pushed people to see beyond just the president when voting, “So every single person out there needs to ask themselves, do they trust the folks in charge to make the right call?
She also gave talking points for people how to dismiss their vote, “When I’m talking to young people, I like to ask them a simple question: Would you let your grandma decide what you wear on a night out to the club?
Not many people want someone else making their decisions for them, especially when that person might not see the world the same way as they do.”
The US has voted to allow law enforcement agencies to access web browsing data without a warrant.
This has substantially increased the government’s surveillance powers amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell led the takeover as part of a reauthorization of the Patriot Act, which gives domestic surveillance powers to federal agencies.
For more than a decade, privacy advocates have warned that giving law enforcement agencies access to web search queries and browsing history without warranty would allow them to suppress activists, labor organizers, or anyone who is seen as a threat to the government.
“Today the Senate made clear that the purpose of the PATRIOT Act is to spy on Americans, no warrants or due process necessary,” Dayton Young, director of product at Fight For the Future, told Motherboard.
Situated on the Atlantic coast in westernmost Africa and surrounded on three sides by Senegal, Gambia is twice the size of Delaware. The Gambia River flows for 200 mi (322 km) through Gambia on its way to the Atlantic. The country, the smallest on the continent, averages only 20 mi (32 km) in width.
Republic.
Since the 13th century, the Wolof, Malinke, and Fulani peoples have settled in what is now Gambia. The Portuguese were the first European explorers, encountering the Gambia River in 1455, and in 1681, the French founded an enclave at Albredabut. During the 17th century, Gambia was settled by various companies of English merchants. Slavery was the chief source of revenue before it was abolished in 1807. Gambia became a British Crown colony in 1843 and an independent nation within the Commonwealth of Nations on Feb. 18, 1965. Full independence was approved in a 1970 referendum, and on April 24 of that year Gambia proclaimed itself a republic.
Dauda Kairaba Jawara served as Gambias president from 1970 to 1994. A military coup led by Capt. Yahya Jammeh deposed the president in July 1994, suspended the constitution, and banned existing political parties. Jammeh promised new elections, which were held in Sept. 1996 and which he won with 55% of the vote. In 1997, he returned the country to civilian rule, and in 2001, he lifted the ban against opposition parties. Censorship of the press and other repressive measures mar the countrys transition to democracy. In Dec. 2004, Gambia passed a media law that allows the state to jail journalists found guilty of libel and sedition. In September presidential elections, incumbent Yahya Jammeh won a third term.
In Nov. 2011 presidential elections, incumbent Yahya Jammeh won 72% of the vote, Ousainou Darboe 17%, and Hamat Bah 11% with 83% voter turnout.
On the morning of Dec. 30, 2014, an attempt was made to oust President Jammeh. Nine men attacked the presidential palace in Banjul. The coup attempt was led by Lieutenant-Colonel Lamin Sanneh. Sanneh once led the countrys
If you’re a registered voter in California, expect to receive a ballot from your county elections officials in the mail for the Nov. 3, 2020, elections.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama, who has been an outspoken advocate of voting by mail, praised California’s decision.
Newsom acknowledged that mail-in ballots aren’t a perfect solution, so he hopes policymakers in California will keep working to improve processes and standards for remote and in-person voting.
“I look forward to our public health experts and the Secretary of State’s and the Legislature’s continued partnership to create safer in-person opportunities for Californians who aren’t able to vote by mail,” said Newsom.
“I thank Governor Newsom for taking decisive action now, to preserve voting rights and provide sufficient time to properly prepare for the general election,” Padilla said.
I didn’t really know much about book genres or categories; I just knew I had this story about this Black queer kid growing up.
Looking back now, it made sense, because I have always shown love to Black children, especially Black queer kids and Black girls, who are thrust in a world to face so many forms and oppression at such a young age.
You know, the world doesn’t give Black people empathy and so I could have written about all the wrongs my dad did, but I’d rather write about how he and other family members were trying to do the best they could with the tools they were given.
“All Boys Aren’t Blue” would always be timely, but looking at Black queer children such as singer Lil Nas X and Zaya Wade, along with adults such as Billy Porter, who have been mistreated by the public for stepping outside of the hetero norm, this book is even more critical.
But I also want to say that this book is more than just pain, because white people love reading about Black trauma and often shun Black joy, so I wanted to show all the sides of my life because I had and have happiness and lean into mine as much as possible.
Tina Knowles-Lawson has teamed up with African Pride to increase Black voter turnout.
Memphis Urban League Young Professionals (MULYP) will partner with the Memphis Urban League and the US Census Bureau to host a Voter Registration/Census Caravan and Neighborhood Clean Up on Saturday (Sept. 19). The event, which begins at noon, will feature a caravan through one of the lowest Census count areas of Memphis (South of the […]
U.S. Department of State Background Note
Although Haiti averages about 302 people per square kilometer, its population is concentrated most heavily in urban areas, coastal plains, and valleys. About 95% of Haitians are of African descent. The rest of the population is mostly of mixed Caucasian-African ancestry. A few are of European or Levantine heritage. Sixty percent of the population lives in rural areas.
French is one of two official languages, but it is spoken by only about 10% of the people. All Haitians speak Creole, the countrys other official language. English is increasingly used as a second language among the young and in the business sector.
The dominant religion is Roman Catholicism. Increasing numbers of Haitians have converted to Protestantism through the work of missionaries active throughout the country. Much of the population also practices voudou (voodoo), recognized by the government as a religion in April 2003. Haitians tend to see no conflict in these African-rooted beliefs coexisting with Christian faith.
Although public education is free, the cost is still quite high for Haitian families who must pay for uniforms, textbooks, supplies, and other inputs. Due to weak state provision of education services, private and parochial schools account for approximately 90% of primary schools, and only 65% of primary school-aged children are actually enrolled. At the secondary level, the figure drops to around 20%. Less than 35% of those who enter will complete primary school. Though Haitians place a high value on education, few can afford to send their children to secondary school and primary school enrollment is dropping due to economic factors. Remittances sent by Haitians living abroad are important in paying educational costs.
Large-scale emigration, principally to the U.S.--but also to Canada, the Dominican Republic, The Bahamas and other Caribbean neighbors, and France--has created what Haitians refer to as the Tenth Department or the Diaspora. About one of every eight Haitians lives
The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted how impoverished people and the working class suffer when food prices rise and jobs disappear, prompting a renewed interest in working the land.
In South Africa, the government-imposed lockdown has resulted in many workers losing their jobs and other sources of income.
They have been converting wasteland to food gardens and sourcing sustainable methods and ways for communities to alternatively source land, seeds and water.
During the lockdown, the group has provided vegetable parcels to women without any income and has started helping young people to acquire land that they can farm.
Its failing food parcel system would, in the long run, be replaced by a sound and sustainable solution to food insecurity in South Africa.
Seven prominent Black women activists have made a strong case, and a bit of stir, in a Washington Post Op-Ed, \"Biden Still Needs Black Women.
The question is this: if we appear to hold Joe Biden hostage with a demand to have a Black woman as vice-president, are we alienating people we need?
God knows we should have done it when we actually had a Black President-why didn't we demand in 2008 and 2012 that Obama put a Black woman on the Supreme Court, the exact move Biden is promising now-but did not?
Biden has promised us our first Black woman Supreme Court Justice.
So Black opinion leaders asking for Vice President and Supreme Court Justice is the kind of representation we need to counter the inequalities we have endured forever in this country.
The Civil Rights Act of 1960 (Pub.L. 86–449, 74 Stat. 89, enacted May 6, 1960) was a United States federal law that established federal inspection of local voter registration polls and introduced penalties for anyone who obstructed someones attempt to register to vote. It was designed to deal with discriminatory laws and practices in the segregated South, by which blacks and Mexican Texans had been effectively disfranchised since the late 19th and start of the 20th century. It extended the life of the Civil Rights Commission, previously limited to two years, to oversee registration and voting practices. The act was signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and served to eliminate certain loopholes left by the Civil Rights Act of 1957.[1]
By the late 1950s, the Civil Rights Movement had been pressuring Congress to enact legislation to protect the constitutional civil rights of African Americans. The first major piece of civil rights legislation passed by Congress was the Civil Rights Act of 1957. While enforcing the voting rights of African Americans set out in the Fifteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, the act had several loopholes. Southern states continued to discriminate against African Americans in application of voter registration and electoral laws, in segregation of school and public facilities, and in employment.
The new legislation was proposed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in his message to the 86th Congress on February 5, 1959, when he stated that every individual regardless of his race, religion, or national origin is entitled to the equal protection of the laws.
Toward the end of his presidency, President Eisenhower supported civil rights legislation. In his message to Congress, he proposed seven recommendations for the protection of civil rights:
The bill, H.R. 8601, began in the House of Representatives under jurisdiction of the House Judiciary Committee. The chairman of the committee, Congressman Emmanuel Celler of New York, was known to be a firm supporter of the
If preliminary data estimates on the recent 2020 primaries in North Carolina are accurate, student voters on HBCU campuses must raise their turnout game come the general election this November. So says Dr. William Busa, founder of EQV Analytics, a ‘North Carolina-focused campaign consulting firm serving Democratic candidates with advanced campaign analytics. Dr. Busa served as digital director to NC []
By Johania Charles Miami Times Staff Writer - Election Day came and went in Miami-Dade without much fuss. Despite social media scaring people into grocery stores to prepare for isolation if violence materialized, the streets [...]
