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South Africa Wants Israel to End the War in the Middle East

Jan. 2, 2024

gaza aid

UN Photo

SPECIAL TO THE TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE FROM BLACKMANSTREET.TODAY

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - South Africa has filed charges with the United Nations’ top court, accusing Israel of pursuing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and demanding that Israel halt their attacks.

South Africa filed the complaint in The Hague, Netherlands. Israel rejected the filing.

U.S. news reports regularly show women and children begging for food. Last week, humanitarians warned that more than one in four households in Gaza were enduring “catastrophic” hunger.

The risk of famine occurring within Palestine over the next six months was confirmed by the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, which showed that the entire population of Gaza, some 2.2 million people, is living with “crisis or worse” levels of acute food insecurity. 

Since October 7, when the war began, some 21,672 men, women, and children have been killed by Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip, reports the Palestinian Health Ministry. That was two days ago.

South Africa’s submission to the International Court of Justice alleges that “acts and omissions by Israel ... are genocidal in character” as they are committed with the intent “to destroy Palestinians in Gaza” as a part of the broader Palestinian national, racial, and ethnic group.

South Africa has been a fierce critic of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

South African President Cyril Ramaphoa has compared Israel’s policies regarding Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank with South Africa’s past apartheid regime of racial segregation.

Out With the Old? 2023 News that will Haunt Us in 2024 by Julianne Malveaux

Dec. 26, 2023

NEWS ANALYSIS

malveaux

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Many of us go through the useless ritual of making New Year's resolutions and proclaiming "out with the old."  Maybe that works for your eating habits or exercise routine, but 2023 news will be with us into 2024. From my perspective, these are the things we'll be paying attention to in 2024.

1.    I’m an economist, so my top news carryover is The economy: Inflation is slowing, and unemployment rates are low. Good news, right? Some economists are still predicting a recession in 2024 and a "sharp hit," not a "soft landing."  Either way, economic news will dominate in 2024, and the fact that it's an election year means there will be "alternate facts" and interpretations. Bottom line – stack your money. Recession hits Black folks harder, and recovery helps us more slowly than it helps others. And don't believe the hype that Biden didn't help the economy. He did!

2.    Congressional gridlock: won't go away until the election of 2024. Republicans have a narrow majority and can't seem to get much done. A budget has to be passed in January, but neither side appears willing to compromise on immigration reform and border control, aid to Ukraine and Israel, and more.   I don't think Republicans are eager to shut the government down, especially in an election year, but their brinksmanship has left their party in tatters (who knew who Mike Johnson (R-LA) was a year ago)? 

3.    While I hate to elevate the narcissistic former President:  He dominates the news, and unfortunately, too many cover him uncritically. Look – he lost the 2020 election and inspired an insurrection. He's been indicted 91 times and is unfit for public office, but his hard-right supporters, including many Congressional Republicans, are too afraid of his influence to speak up. Can he win in 2024? Unless we invest in record turnout, very possibly. 

4.    Anti-blackness in education and legislation: While the mainstream media won't cover this much, it is alarming that 44 states have introduced legislation to restrict teaching about race. More than 1600 books have been banned, including works by luminaries like Toni Morrison and Alice Walker. Couple this with the efforts of Edward Blum to dismantle affirmative action, going so far as to sue the government, the private sector, and even African American women who have developed race-specific efforts. This effort isn't going away. Conservative foundations fund Blum's efforts. These very predatory capitalists used racism to build their fortunes and now want to eliminate the use of race in repairing the racial wealth gap.

5.    Additionally, there have been constant attacks on DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion): Efforts at universities, government organizations, and private companies. Anti-blackness is alive and well. The struggle continues.

6.    Police violence: Nobody covers police violence better than Roland Martin, who very frequently highlights incidents of police violence that don't make the national headlines. Just because it isn't on the front page of the New York Times doesn't mean it isn't happening. Kudos to Roland for constantly lifting this up and to attorney Ben Crump for working with the families of those massacred at the hands of rabid police officers. Justice delayed is not always justice denied. Thanks to Assistant Attorney General Kristin Clark, many of these massacres are being aggressively investigated.

7.    Immigration reform and border control: Have been unfinished business since 1986, but the former President has denigrated and misrepresented immigrants. There's no easy solution to immigration. How do we deport millions who are now part of the fabric of our lives? How do we absorb the people at our borders who are only looking for a better way of life? How do we balance the needs of those coming in with those already here? Cities like Chicago and New York struggle to accommodate those whose putrid governors (like Texas' Greg Abbott) are shipping people to those states. Jingoistic rhetoric doesn't help a pressing issue. With Orange Man acolytes running the Congress, any solution seems grim, if not impossible.

8.    Israel: People in the United States are firmly divided on how our country deals with the Middle East. It goes without saying that Hamas was wrong in its attack on Israel, which resulted in between 1200 and 1400 deaths and the taking of more than 200 hostages. It should also go without saying that the attack was a function of the apartheid state Palestinians were forced into, the land loss that they experienced, and the desperation that many felt. Wading into this conflict is like touching kryptonite. If you say the wrong thing, you're dead. But while it is essential to condemn Hamas, it is also important to acknowledge their motivation. There must be a cease-fire. The hostages must be released. The United States must be much more measured in our approach.

9.    Labor Power: Organized labor stepped up and showed out with strikes from the United Auto Workers, Los Angeles teachers and ancillary workers, and actors and writers in the entertainment industry. It's essential to black folks because when we are organized, we make about a third more Black folks who aren't organized. Economic issues have radicalized workers who thought they had no power. Now, as the economy tilts against workers, organizing tilts toward them.

Fasten your seat belts, y'all. 2023 left us with much in the trunk for 2024. May we use this election year to struggle for economic and social justice?

Dr. Julianne Malveaux is an economist and author. The second edition of Surviving and Thriving:  365 Facts in Black Economic History is available through mahoganybooks.com

Colorado Supreme Court Puts a Wrinkle in Trump’s Election Plans By Barrington M. Salmon

Dec. 20, 2023

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(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The Colorado Supreme Court has done what almost half a dozen state supreme courts haven’t done yet: It issued a ruling declaring that former President Donald John Trump is disqualified to run for president in Colorado in 2024 because he incited and was involved in an insurrection, namely the January 6 riot at the US Capitol in 2021.

The historic 4-3 decision that CNN called “an unprecedented, freeze-in-your-tracks ruling," is based on Section III of the 14th Amendment and bars Trump from appearing on the presidential primary ballot in Colorado. Other state courts could follow suit. Trump has appealed to the U. S. Supreme Court for a blanket decision.

"President Trump’s direct and express efforts, over several months, exhorting his supporters to march to the Capitol to prevent what he falsely characterized as an alleged fraud on the people of this country were indisputably overt and voluntary," a majority of the justices wrote. “Moreover, the evidence amply showed that President Trump undertook all these actions to aid and further a common unlawful purpose that he himself conceived and set in motion: prevent Congress from certifying the 2020 presidential election and stop the peaceful transfer of power."

Trump, twice impeached, four times indicted and facing 91 indictments in state and local jurisdictions, promised to appeal the ruling quickly setting up a potentially contentious battle before the far-right Republican-dominated US Supreme Court that could determine the fate of the 2024 election.

Judge J. Michael Luddig – a conservative pillar of the legal community and vocal critic of Trump, characterized the ruling as “masterful” and “unassailable.”

“I believe that as written, the disqualification clause as applied to the former president disqualifies him from holding the presidency again. And based on that view of the objective constitutional law, I believe the United States Supreme Court will affirm,” said Luttig, who served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit for 15 years, from 1991 to 2006. “The opinion of the Colorado State Supreme Court was a masterful judicial opinion on the applicability of Section II of the 14th Amendment. It will stand the test of time, as they say, and I think the Supreme Court of the US ought to affirm this decision.”
 
Luttig, who has long warned of the clear and present danger Trump poses to America’s fragile democracy, refused during a late-night MSNBC interview Tuesday to discuss any political implications of the Colorado verdict.

 

“… Based on the objective law in this instance, the 14th amendment of the Constitution, I believe that the Supreme Court of the United States will affirm this decision. I believe the sitting justices on the Supreme Court today, all nine of them, will apply the Constitution as it is written.”

Colorado’s Supreme Court put its ruling on hold until Jan. 4 so that Trump can ask the US Supreme Court for a full review. If he does, his name will automatically remain on the ballot until justices decide the appeal. 

It didn’t take Trump long to take to social media to castigate the ruling and describe it as another chance to blame his enemies of conspiring to interfere with the election.

“What a shame for our country!!!” he said Wednesday morning. “A sad day in America!!! ...”

A story in The Hill noted that Trump also posted several clips from Fox News of pundits disagreeing with the Colorado ruling, including George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley.

“This country is a powder keg, and this court is just throwing matches at it. … For people that say they are trying to protect democracy, this is hands down the most anti-democratic opinion I’ve seen in my lifetime,” Turley told Fox News host Laura Ingraham which Trump posted to Truth Social.

It didn’t take long for Trump’s Republican opponents and supporters to rush to his aid.

On Tuesday, Vivek Ramaswamy resolved to withdraw from the Colorado Republican primary ballot to protest the court’s ruling. He promised to stay off the ballot until Trump is restored. Ramaswamy also coaxed his colleagues to do the same.

“I pledge to withdraw from the Colorado GOP primary ballot until Trump is also allowed to be on the ballot, and I demand that Ron DeSantis, Chris Christie and Nikki Haley do the same immediately – or else they are tacitly endorsing this illegal maneuver which will have disastrous consequences for our country,” Ramaswamy said in a statement.

Chris Christie, former New Jersey governor, a harsh critic and thorn in Trump’s side on the campaign trail, sided with Trump and castigated the Colorado Supreme Court. He argued that while the ex-president is unfit to return to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, he said he believes no court should bar the former president from being on the ballot.

“I think he should be prevented from being the president of the United States by the voters of this country. I think it's bad for the country if that happens,” Christie said during a New Hampshire Townhall Tuesday night.

The Colorado judges acknowledged the unusual nature of the case and echoed what many political pundits, observers and critics have said: that they are in uncharted territory, dealing with issues not seen before in this country. In American history, no president has ever tried to stage an insurrection to stay in power and judges have never had to consider these questions set before them.

“We do not reach these conclusions lightly,” the majority wrote. “We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us. We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach.”

Mayor Apologizes for Arrest of Two Black Men Before White Man Confesses He Killed His Own Wife

Dec. 26, 2023

Boston Mayor Wu

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu issues an apology for two men arrested for the Carol Stuart murder in 1989.

Charles and Carol Stuart

Charles Stuart said that a Black man killed Carol, his wife, and their unborn child and wounded him. The Boston Police ran through Black neighborhoods like stormtroopers, arresting and beating Black men and boys, forcing them to confess to the murders. It was later learned that Charles killed his wife to collect insurance money.

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from BlackMansStreet.Today

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Boston, Mass. Mayor Michelle Wu issued an apology for two Black men who were arrested by police and vilified in the press for the 1989 murder of a White woman, only to learn that the brother of the killer said he murdered his wife for insurance money.

On behalf of the Boston Police Department, the entire City of Boston, the Black Community, and Boston media, Mayor Wu said on Monday: “I am sorry for what you endured; it was racist and wrong.”

Mayor Wu apologized at the same time as the HBO documentary about the murder of Carol Stuart. It is titled "Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage & Reconking." Jason Hehir wrote and directed the documentary.

Charles Stuart claimed that a 6-foot-tall Black man shot him, shot him, and killed his pregnant wife, Carol, during a carjacking; she delivered her baby named Christopher by cesarean section. The baby died 17 days later.

The police ran through the Black community like stormtroopers with pistols drawn in the Mission Hill neighborhood, arresting almost every Black male before settling on Alan Swanson and Willie Bennet. Police eventually ruled out Swanson as the killer after brutally beating him.

But Matthew Stuart told police that the carjacking story was a hoax, and his brother killed his wife for insurance money. Charles Stuart later committed suicide by jumping off the Tobin Bridge into the Mystic River.

Police and the media were surprised by the admission, which may have caused some soul-searching. 

Raymond Flynn was the mayor at the time Carol Stuart was murdered. Francis Roache, Boston’s Police Chief, said excesses may have been taken. Flynn was criticized for the treatment Black men suffered at the hands of the police.

With the end of the grand jury's investigation, Willie Bennett was officially exonerated of the murders of Carol Stuart and her son Christopher. 

But this story does not have a happy ending.

In October 1990, a jury found Bennett guilty of an alleged robbery of a Brookline video store. He was sentenced to 12 to 25 years in prison and was released in 2002.

After a lengthy lawsuit, Bennett's family was awarded $12,500 in damages, according to the Boston Globe. As of 2023, Bennett was reportedly living alone in Boston and suffering from dementia. 

A teary-eyed Willie Bennett’s nephew, Joey Bennett, accepted Wu’s apology Wednesday on behalf of his uncle and the family of Alan Swanson. 

Joey Bennett praised her for not allowing the false arrest to be swept under the rug.

The Jobless Rate for Blacks Drops By Frederick H. Lowe

Dec. 20, 2023

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Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from BlackMansStreet.Today

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The jobless rate for Blacks dropped, but not far enough to catch up with other ethnic groups.

The August jobless rate for Black men fell to 5.0 percent compared to the seasonally adjusted average in August 2022 to 6.0 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The unemployment rate for Black women was a seasonal adjusted 4.7 percent in August compared with 5.9 percent in August 2022.

Employment continued to trend up in health care, leisure and hospitality, social assistance, and construction. Employment in transportation and warehousing declined.

The unemployment rate for Blacks compared with Whites, Hispanics, and women was much higher.

The jobless rate for Whites is 3.4 percent, and for Asians is 3.1 percent; the rates for both groups rose in August. The unemployment rate for Hispanic men is 4.3 percent and 4.4 percent for Hispanic women.

The jobless rate for adult women stands at 3.2 percent, for teenagers, 12.2 percent, for Blacks, 5.0 percent, and for Hispanics the rate it was 4.9 percent and 4.3 and 4.4 percent for Hispanic women.

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