Alabama GOP Pushes Black District Cut. Paxton Wins Texas GOP Battle. Clarence B. Jones Honored.

Alabama Republicans are pushing a new congressional map that would likely result in a 6-1 Republican-Democrat split, effectively eliminating one of the two seats currently held by Black representatives. A three-judge district court panel unanimously ruled this map violates the 14th Amendment by discriminating against African-Americans and diluting their vote. The state, however, argues the lower court's decision forces them to prioritize creating two majority-Black districts over other considerations. Justice Clarence Thomas has declined to immediately restore the map but has requested responses by June 1st, indicating the legal battle continues.

Alabama's Republican Attorney General Steve Marshall went to the Supreme Court to overrule a lower court and allow the state to proceed with a special primary using a Republican favorite congressional map. That map would likely produce a 6 to 1 split between Republicans and Democrats eliminating the seat of Congressman Shamari Figures. The unanimous three judge panel ruled that it violated the Constitution's 14th amendment by discriminating against African-Americans and diluting their vote.

Despite facing numerous allegations of corruption, including bribery, abuse of power, obstruction of justice, and personal scandals involving adultery and misuse of resources, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton secured the Republican nomination for the US Senate. His victory, backed by Donald Trump, came after a bitter and expensive primary against incumbent John Cornyn. The Republican party, which previously attacked Paxton for his ethical issues, has now begun to erase these criticisms to support his general election campaign, highlighting a prioritization of party loyalty over integrity.

The November race for the Texas US Senate is set. Democratic state representative James Telerico will face Texas Attorney General, the very corrupt Ken Paxton, who defeated four-term Senator John Cornin last night. Paxton got the endorsement of Donald Trump. This race ends a bitter and expensive primary that divided the party. Republicans have already began deleting their tweets and attack ads against Ken Paxton. The National Republican Senatorial Committee previously stated, 'What Ken Paxton has put his family through is truly repulsive and disgusting.'

Federal lawmakers have removed the word 'black' from the 'Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act,' now simply called the 'Momnibus Act.' This change, attributed to 'technical edits' to align with 'Office of Minority Health' language, is seen as a direct consequence of increasing pressure against race-conscious policies and DEI initiatives. Critics argue that removing explicit racial language hinders the ability to highlight and address specific racial disparities, measure outcomes, and effectively allocate resources for Black women, who are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications.

Federal lawmakers have almost completely removed the word black from a package of bills that have long been viewed as Congress's main vehicle to address the black maternal health crisis. This change could hinder efforts to highlight racial disparities and may affect future policy initiatives aimed at improving maternal health outcomes for black women. Jennifer Driver states, 'If you don't name it, you can't change it.'

Pope Leo made a historic apology for the Catholic Church's complicity in the slave trade, acknowledging its role in legitimizing slavery and failing to condemn it for centuries. This apology, the first of its kind from a Pope, is viewed as a critical step that creates culpability and puts significant pressure on Western governments—including Britain, France, the Netherlands, and the United States—to apologize for their own involvement in slavery and colonial exploitation. Human Rights Watch echoed this sentiment, stressing that apologies alone are insufficient and demanding 'reparative justice.'

Pope Leo made a historic apology for the Holy See's role in legitimizing slavery and having failed to condemn it for centuries, calling the Vatican's record a 'wound in Christian memory.' Robert Patillo states, 'This puts pressure on every western government to apologize for the massacres that they have created, the genocides they have committed against people from the African continent.'

Clarence Jones, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s former attorney, argues that King's April 4, 1967, speech opposing the Vietnam War and his subsequent intensified focus on economic justice and poverty marked a 'qualitative, fundamental change' in how America's power structure perceived him. This shift from primarily civil rights issues to challenging militarism and economic inequality made him 'dangerous' because he was 'messing with this man's money.' Jones asserts that this period, between April 1967 and April 1968, effectively served as King's 'death notice,' leading to his assassination.

Clarence Jones states, 'April 4th, 1967, that was the defining point... in really committing himself... to the whole question of poverty and the least of these.' He adds, 'When you start to talk about America's money... America goes, 'Hey, hey, hey, hey, look, look. We gave y'all a vote.' Jones concludes, 'His life, that his death notice was printed on April 4th, 67? Absolutely.'

Texas is experiencing a significant increase in high school dropout rates, with 21% of students failing to graduate in the 2024-2025 school year, marking the largest single-year jump in four decades. This issue disproportionately impacts Latino (26%) and African-American (27%) students. Researchers from the Intercultural Development Research Association highlight that the state's recently passed voucher bill further exacerbates the problem by defunding public schools and diverting critical resources. A major challenge in addressing this is the prevalence of 'unknown' as the reason for student departure, indicating a lack of transparent data on root causes.

One in five Texas high school students still fails to graduate with Latino students disproportionately affected. The 2024-2025 school years 20 21% dropout rate represents a three-point increase from the previous year marking the largest single year jump in four decades. For African-American or black students, that rate is 27% or Latino students, that's 26%. The voucher certainly undermines that.