CapFax: Illinoisans should not have to live this way

 I found this interesting on Capitol Fax, yesterday

* One of my top complaints about Democratic rule in this state is the super-majority party’s unwillingness to firmly step in to help some small Black-majority suburban and Downstate towns find their way to fiscal solvency. East St. Louis is just one of many…

What caught my eye is that there is a complaint about Democratic rule in Illinois. The bad news is there's no serious opposition in this state.

It won't solve all problems, however, the right politician could use this. Hopefully this theoretical politician would be serious about getting this done. 

Tribune: Feds probe Chicago Public Schools over alleged racial discrimination in Black Student Success Plan

When was the last time this blog had a look at what's going on with the Chicago Public Schools. The Dept. of Education under 47th President Donald J. Trump is having a look at CPS' "Black Student Success Plan" citing the possibility that it is discriminatory under the Civil Rights Act.

From the Chicago Tribune: 

The federal government launched an investigation into Chicago Public Schools on Tuesday related to allegations of discrimination in the district’s Black Student Success Plan.

The plan to improve the educational experiences and outcomes of the district’s Black students was solidified in 2021 legislation that remade Chicago’s school board into an elected body, following decades of mayoral appointees. Activists who championed it argued that Black students were uniquely positioned to fail because of longstanding racial inequalities in Chicago and the result of historic and ongoing discrimination in the United States.

But students of all races struggle academically in Chicago, according to a news release issued Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.

“Rather than address its record honestly, CPS seeks to allocate additional resources to favored students on the basis of race,” Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights, is quoted as saying in the release.

It cites a complaint by Parents Defending Education, a group with a history of interrogating race-based policies. That group’s complaint alleges that the district’s Black Student Success Plan “violates Title VI by focusing on remedial measures only for Black students.” Parents Defending Education also filed a complaint against a similar initiative in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The group’s complaint against CPS acknowledges that the district had organized dozens of meetings with community members to implement the plan. The complaint also includes a graphic from early December 2023 on a slide at a community meeting that showed 6 percent of Black students read at a mid- or above-grade level. But the graphic shows Latino students “face even greater difficulties: (five) percent are (at) mid or above grade level.”

Part of a greater effort by the 2nd Trump Administration to fight DEI policies. Fighting against Diversity Equity and Inclusion policies has been one initiative undertaken by the new administration. Well not so new since we're past the 100 day mark.

I suppose for this I'm torn. Perhaps to help certain disadvantaged students is of no issue to me. Of course I may question how a school may go about it. What exactly makes this discriminatory to other disadvantaged students?

If you can get past the paywall, this is worth your attention.

Juneteenth

Juneteenth has been a holiday since about 2021 and it was in the wake of the unrest and pandemic of 2020.

Juneteenth is a day June 19th that reputedly celebrates the day that slaves were freed in the state of Texas in 1865. It's considered America's 2nd Independence Day.

Here's a quick story from CBS News with regards to today's holiday. Showing how communities around America celebrates this holiday [VIDEO]

UsefulCharts: Which DNA test is best for African-Americans?

 

[VIDEO] I'm going through this now taking both DNA tests for MyHeritage & Ancestry. Hopefully next month I may well know what my admixture is. Admixture is basically what your DNA says about your ethnicity if you're descended from African, European, etc.

I would very much recommend taking the DNA test through Ancestry. I feel as if they have a much better website to build out your family tree and hopefully make the right connects with distant relatives. MyHeritage is OK, I might recommend that because you take a cotton swab sample as opposed to spitting in a tube with Ancestry. Both companies are offering autosomal DNA which basically looks at the DNA inherited from both your father & mother.

For this the subject of this video Jabari Walker who also runs the YouTube channel From Nothing - you may have seen a video from him on this blog recently - takes five different DNA tests. Ancestry, MyHeritage, FamilyTreeDNA, LivingDNA, and African Ancestry.

African Ancestry is most expensive and what is good about them is through the use of Y-chromosome testing & X-Chromosome (mitochondrial) testing they are able to identify which African ethnicity from which you are descended. Of course what they have to be sure of is that your distant ancestor is in fact African because it is possible your earliest male or female ancestor could be European for example. 

However, if you want those results through your paternal line - basically your father and his father and so-on or your maternal line - your mother and her mother and so-on there are far more inexpensive options for that. However, they may not necessarily point to a specific African ethnicity.

As for my own DNA tests I plan to release my own video about that in the near future.

Daniel Cameron victory speech in Kentucky

 

[VIDEO] I didn't know this but yesterday was election day in Kentucky. They have their own statewide elections in off years - neither midterm nor presidential years. So last night Republicans voted in a primary an elected their Attorney General Daniel Cameron as their nominee for Kentucky Governor.

Above from a Kentucky TV station is Cameron's victory speech. You may know Cameron from his findings with regards to those police officers who were involved in the tragic death of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky during a raid back in 2020.

Also last year I heralded that three Black Republicans were running for Governor last year. In our state - Illinois - Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin who had a significant financial advantage being backed by billionaire Ken Griffin was edged out by nominee Darren Bailey in last year's Republican primary. In Michigan the former Detroit Police Chief James Craig was knocked off the ballot. In Georgia, former state Representative Vernon Jones actually withdrew from the Governor's race to instead make an unsuccessful run for U.S. Congress.

I'd be curious to see how Daniel Cameron will fare against incumbent Kentucky Governor Andy Breshear in November of this year.

Meanwhile there is currently one sitting Black Governor in America who was elected in the 2022 midterms, Democrat Wes Moore in Maryland.

Mr. Beat: The baseball game between KKK and a Negro League Team in Witchita, Kansas

 

[VIDEO] An unlikely baseball game started between the Ku Klux Klan and the Negro League's Wichita Monrovians on June 21st, 1925. It wasn't consider a groundbreaking event and thus it was largely unknown perhaps outside of Wichita, Kansas. However, the story behind how this happened and who defeated who is something worth watching in Mr. Beat's latest video.

"Black men deserve to grow old"

 I wanted to share this meme recently and ask how many of you are contributing to this for the men in your lives. Whether we're talking significant others, fathers, grandfathers, great grandfathers, nephews, uncles, brothers, cousins, or even friends.

This meme emerged in the outrage over the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, TENN. Well I overstated that, he was badly beaten by police officers and no one is characterizing this as a case of excessive force. The officers involved have been fired and charged with second degree murder. Sadly three days after being stopped & brutally beaten by Memphis Police in January Mr. Nichols died.

Nichols from some of what I read had crohn's disease and wasn't in robust health. He was over six feet tall but has been described as underweight compared to some of the officers involved with this incident. He leaves behind a son, who is now without a father. He was known as a free spirit who was into landscapes, paid no attention to stereotypes as a Black male, and he liked to skateboard. This is the kind of man you want to see grow old. It was sad to see him beaten and pepper sprayed by these officers call out for his mother.

To further interpret this meme, I had focused on say if the women who shared this meme have Black boyfriends or husbands. How would they contribute to the Black man in their lives to growing old? Is this something they believe beyond the current public outrages?

I suppose these meme, has a much deeper meaning to me. This shouldn't come out for the latest major story, especially when it comes to a case of police brutality. This should be an everyday thing.

Yes, Black men deserve to grow old. They deserve to be happy, treated with respect, and be surrounded by people who love them. That's my answer.

Student loan debt on Black college students & graduates...

I wanted to share this tweet with you. Perhaps there are some graduating seniors or even high school juniors trying to figure out what next after four years of high school. Is college in your future? 

 This tweet from Charlane Oliver - who is running for a state senate seat in Tennessee - shares a number of graphics with regards to the latest action by the Biden-Harris admin. How does student loans affect Black students? How much debt does Black students carry compared to white students? 

There's a Till movie coming out in October 2022

 

[VIDEO] Many of you might be familiar with Emmet Till, this young man in his teenaged years who should've been enjoying his summer in Mississippi during the 1950s made one innocent mistake and whistled at a white woman. That minor act sadly cost him his life in a very segregated and racist environment of that time.

At 14, he experienced far more than I would expect anyone of that age to go through. This young man was lynched - and reportedly went through far more extreme torture. When his body was found he was badly disfigured and his mother wanting the world to see what those men who took her boy had done wanted an open casket funeral. If you want to see Till's remains just Google it, I won't show that here.

I think I did a post about this in May 2021 where YouTubers visit the sites of Money, Miss. where most of the story of Till demise happened. They go to the grocery store where he whistled at the white woman. The home where he resided and he was taken from that home. And then where he was tortured, and where his body was disposed of.

Recently it was in the news that an arrest warrant for Carolyn Bryant - that's whom Till was whistling at - was found in a Mississippi court house. According this report from the Mississippi Free Press it is possible to serve that arrest warrant to Ms. Carolyn Bryant Donham who's last known address is in North Carolina and yes still alive an elderly woman at this point. Her then husband Roy Bryant was served with the warrant and he was one of the people who murdered Till. 

Him and an accomplice J.W. Milam after they were acquitted in Till's murder they sold their story to Look magazine admitting their crime. And of course double jeopardy, they can't be charged and tried again for a crime that they were already acquitted of in court.

According to wikipedia Till is expected to be released on October 7, 2022

So anyway I hope to see this movie when it's released. Perhaps you'll check it out as well.

Black History Month: IL's class III U.S. Senate seat

For Black History Month I wanted to further reference this "long story" that was noted in a post about Rod Blagojevich who served as Governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009 the first and only governor of this state to have been impeached and removed from office. Also another in a line of governors who have ran afoul of the law and to have served time in prison.

However before talking about this long story I have to start with the U.S. Senate. The seat currently held by Tammy Duckworth who was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016 defeating the Republican incumbent Mark Kirk is considered a class III senate seat. The U.S. Constitution sets up senate elections in three classes and every two years each class will have their seats up for election every year. For example class I was elected in 2018, class II was elected in 2020, and finally class three is up this year 2022.

So Duckworth's class III senate seat is an historic one since three of her predecessors were Black. And to discuss this we must go back all the way to 1992 which was when the first Black woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate - Carol Moseley Braun. I believe 1992 was called the year of the woman when a number of women got elected to the U.S. Senate at that point of time and she was one of them. 

U.S. Senate

Race for Illinois Governor 2022

[VIDEO] I've been wanting to write about this for a while Mayor Richard Irvin tossed his hat into the ring running for Illinois Governor as a Republican. He is the first Black Mayor of Aurora, Illinois having been there since 2017. Aurora is the second largest city in this state.

Now I won't get into the politics of the Republican primary as of yet. However the Republicans who are running have a goal of unseating the incumbent Democrat IL Governor J.B. Pritzker. Also just remember the primary election is on June 28, 2022 so hopefully most of us will be registered to vote by then if we haven't already. Right?

Anyway Mayor Irvin isn't the first Black person to run for Governor of Illinois. One person of note who has done so in the past was Roland Burris who was a former state comptroller, state attorney general and a U.S. Senator (was appointed to the seat of Barack Obama in controversial fashion, a story for another time perhaps) made runs for IL Governor in 1994, 1998 and 2002.

Irvin across the nation will join James Craig formerly the police chief in Detroit as he runs as a Republican for Michigan Governor. He also joins Vernon Jones former a member of the Georgia House of Representatives who is a Democrat turned Republican running for Georgia Governor. And on the Democrat side in Georgia is Stacey Abrams who is a former member of the Georgia House of Representatives who also was the Democrat nominee for Governor in 2018.

Perhaps there are other Blacks running for governships around the nation in 2022. My comments are open if you want to share any information of Blacks running for Governor this year.

Ever hear of Pembroke Township, Illinois

 There's a battle brewing in this city located in Kankakee County located 60 miles south of Chicago. Preservationists want some land in this farming community however based on those plans the largely Black farmers in this down are opposed to it.

This article from ProPublica shares the history of Pembroke and how so many Black farmers settled in this area. European settlers passed on this land which is often sandy, however, Black farmers found other crops to grow on this soil. Primarily okra, greens or even watermelon.

And reading this article I ran across another place to share on YouTube a state nature preserve located in Prembroke Township known as Prembroke Savannah.

h/t Capitol Fax listed this article as a must read

What is whiteness and what is the opposite of it?

 This graphic I understand was originally seen on the Smithsonian Institution's website last year after the race riots that occurred around the nation after the death of George Floyd as he was being arrested by Minneapolis Police officers. This graphic attacked this rather vague concept called whiteness and there is an exhibit about this at the Smithsonian via the Nat'l Museum of African American History & Culture.

Allow me to share the tweet, someone had to have created this graphic for the Smithsonian. It turns out the source of this graphic is a former professor at Oklahoma University a woman named Judith Katz.

https://t.co/Uoow2Ygqfc

— UnWokable (@AcsAgainstCRT) October 11, 2021

Now here is the graphic in question to be shared here for posterity because who knows how long that tweet will remain up. It was posted to the Smithsonian site last year however was taken down due to outcry though many have saved this to their hard drives and it continues to circulate for various audiences online.

Click for larger version

A few things that I see here that raises my eyebrows - nuclear family, hard work, based on Christianity, scientific method, self-reliance, etc. A lot of those are seen as negative, does anything you see from the above graphic seem negative to you?

Are what you see on the above graphic just a means to attack European culture or philosophy? Is that what this odd graphic is all about?

Juneteenth

Is now a state and federal holiday in this nation. Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a bill making it a holiday in Illinois and President Joe Biden made it a federal holiday. Capitol Fax has decided to take today off as June 19, 2021 falls on the weekend.

Either way I first heard of this holiday not during grade school but during that era. It seemed there used to be festivals in the neighborhood around this time where there were carnivals and some flyers were being handed around discussing "Juneteenth". It probably didn't connect what that meant at the time, but I'm sure Juneteenth marked the end of slavery in America.

As you might see in this Newsalert post Juneteenth was actually when the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed which was on December 6, 1865. The 13th Amendment to the constitution codified the end of slavery in the United States. So now it begs the question where did Juneteeth come from?

Well this Washington Post article sheds some light on this which you will find in the above Newsalert link:

The National Archives on Thursday located what appears to be an original handwritten “Juneteenth” military order informing thousands of people held in bondage in Texas they were free.

The decree, in the ornate handwriting of a general’s aide, was found in a formal order book stored in the Archives headquarters building in Washington. It is dated June 19, 1865, and signed by Maj. F.W. Emery, on behalf of Union Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger.

“The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, ‘all slaves are free,’ ” the order reads.

“This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.”

I suggest you read the whole article, basically this Juneteenth celebration is really a Texas thing. Not a national thing at least at first then it became widespread. 

We've been hearing a lot about this as of late especially during the unrest of the past summer. It seems public attention are on the racial issues and to pay respects to the Black community and perhaps more so than in my memory. Juneteenth I believe was discussed last year more so than in my memory and now it's a public holiday. So back to that Newsalert post Juneteenth is now considered another "woke" scam.

These days you hear about "Critical Race Theory" and "systemic racism". You're hearing from our President and Vice-President rail against the issues of systemic racism. Much more recently Gov. Pritzker discussed it as around America it's getting a look and some more conservative states are moving to ban its teaching in K-12 classrooms.

Perhaps the "wokeness" of Juneteenth is more or less about placating Black Americans to the extent that they're able to. I have no issue with this being a holiday if I was still in school this would be just another day off and I enjoy those. I just hope it encourages people to do some historical research on racial issues in America.

Don't just focus on what's been said in the press for example. We have this world wide web to look up information on Juneteenth and the end of slavery in America and certainly the successes of the 1950-60s Civil Rights movement.

I would also encourage you to check out this op/ed from the New York Daily News which views this focus on Juneteenth as a distraction and the focus should be on the 13th Amendment.

The namesake of Harlan Community Academy

When you check out Harlan's official IG you will see a post celebrating the class of '21 andI 'm using that post to celebrate their accomplishment in graduating. Here's hoping for their best successes in the future.

The namesake of Harlan High School was a US Supreme Court Justice who was the only dissent in the landmark SCOTUS case Plessy vs. Ferguson which legally allowed for separate but equal - essentially racial segregation. So this recent article from NPR talks a bit about the legacy of the late Justice John Marshall Harlan:

NY Times: Only 8 Black students admitted to elite NYC high school

 I suppose the question ask when you read this article is why is that number so low? Why aren't Black students being admitted to NYC's elite public high schools? The article notes the effects of the pandemic because Blacks were disproportionately affected by this pandemic as many families are keeping their kids out of school.

John Brown and Harper's Ferry, West Virginia

I found this YouTube channel recently called the American Battlefield Trust and they took a look at John Brown's raid on a federal armory at Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. Back in October 1859 when theis raid took place West Virginia was actually part of Virginia and they didn't become a state until 1863 during the Civil War.

Anyway, I'm somewhat familiar with Harper's Ferry and John Brown as this was in an American history textbook perhaps as soon as 7th grade. Perhaps earlier but I can't entirely place it we had a legit "thick" history book by the time I went to 7th grade at Bennett School.

If you know nothing about John Brown I would like to share this video with you from Mr. Beat just last year. Mr. Beat a social studies teacher who hails from Kansas which is also where Brown was involved in fighting there over the slavery question. "Bleeding Kansas" was the name given for what was going on there when Kansas was a territory before it became a state. 

The question about Brown in that vid, is Brown a hero or a terrorist? [VIDEO]

Let's hear from Justice Thomas

[VIDEO] Before I go to bed tonight, here's a video of SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas who in 1998 spoke to the National Bar Association in Memphis, Tennessee. I found the whole text of his speech and this is what you will see in the video above:

I have come here today not in anger or to anger, though my mere presence has been sufficient, obviously, to anger some. Nor have I come to defend my views, but rather to assert my right to think for myself, to refuse to have my ideas assigned to me as though I was an intellectual slave because I’m black. I come to state that I’m a man, free to think for myself and do as I please. I’ve come to assert that I am a judge and I will not be consigned the unquestioned opinions of others.

I've learned of this speech through FOX News' Laura Ingraham on her program tonite. And this is the only video I have found of this provided by the AP. The video she had came from C-Span.

I you click the link within the brackets you will start at the point where Justice Thomas begins to speak and basically that paragraph quoted above. Before that we see the Justice shaking hands with attendees and we see one speaker an Illinois trial judge Shelvin Hall speak of denouncing anyone who "denigrates the aims of the civil rights movement".

I also see from the description to this AP video that Justice Thomas wasn't welcome. This organization didn't want him there. There was an expected walkout and none materialized. Of course Thomas has been over the years suffered attacks as a Black conservation on the nation's highest court.

I just felt as if it was necessary to share this with you. The message from his speech that is a big takeaway for me is always think for yourself. Don't force yourself to conform to the ideas of a group.

Incidentally I vaguely remember the intrigue - even if I didn't entirely understand what was going on back in 1991 - of Thomas' nomination process to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). I didn't understand what sexual harassment was and as it had been in one of our more recent SCOTUS nomination hearings namely Brett Kavanaugh this was an issue that came up again later.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this message from Justice Thomas.

Black Chicago at mid-century - Chicago History Today

It's amazing that as John R. Schmidt notes on his blog last month that Chicago's Black population was growing during the first half of the 20th century. Now as we just about halfway through the first half of the 21st century the Black population of the city is going down.

At least during the first half of the 20th Century for the most part Blacks were restricted to a particular part of the south side and housing increasingly was becoming an issue. These days Blacks have spread out to the point that many are leaving the city.

Either they're living in the suburbs or they're moving back to the south since during the first half of the 20th century many came from the south looking for better opportunities north. Of course if there is a reverse migration back to the south, perhaps the reasons are somewhat different.

Prager U on Frederick Douglass

[VIDEO] This video from Prager U of anti-slavery and civil rights activist Frederick Douglass reminds me of the book we had been assigned in the 8th grade. It was Douglass' autobiography:
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Written by Himself.

Thank goodness for the internet as this book is in the public domain. You can read it off the internet and not get hit because of copyright and probably publish your own copy of his book if you want! 

This vid was presented by Timothy Sadefur author of Frederick Douglass Self-Made Man.