Black Farmers Shut Out Again. GA GOP Target DAs. Pete Hegseth Blocks Black Officers
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Summary
Takeaways
- ❖Georgia Republicans attempted to make District Attorney elections non-partisan in five counties with Black female DAs, a move seen as a direct attack on Black political power.
- ❖A bill to change DA elections in Georgia passed both chambers after being reintroduced via a procedural maneuver, despite initial defeat in the Senate.
- ❖Donald Trump hosted 800 farmers at the White House, none of whom were Black, while Black farmers face foreclosures and a $300 million land-buying grant program for them was cut.
- ❖Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth allegedly removed two Black and two female officers from consideration for one-star general promotions, raising allegations of racial and gender bias.
- ❖Reverend Dr. Michael Eric Dyson delivered a prophetic prayer in the Tennessee State House, criticizing white Christian nationalism, leading to Republicans walking out.
- ❖MAGA-aligned groups are using misleading mailers with unauthorized images of Barack Obama to trick Black voters in Virginia's redistricting referendum.
- ❖The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled mandatory life sentences for second-degree murder unconstitutional, emphasizing the impact of state-level judicial elections.
- ❖Vivek Ramaswamy proposed shutting down Central State University, Ohio's only public HBCU, as part of a broader attack on Black educational institutions.
- ❖A call to action was issued for Black organizations, particularly Alpha Phi Alpha, to mobilize and train members for strategic, micro-targeted voter engagement.
Insights
1Georgia Republicans Target Black Female DAs to Undermine Political Power
Georgia Republicans introduced Senate Bill 573, aiming to make District Attorney elections non-partisan in five specific counties (Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Cobb, Clayton). The common denominator in these counties is that Black women serve as the DAs. The bill initially failed but was later passed by the House after being stripped from another bill, and is now headed to the governor's desk. This is framed as a direct attempt to defund and attack Black political power, particularly targeting Fani Willis for her actions against Trump.
The bill specifically targeted five counties with Black female DAs. It failed in the Senate but passed the House after being 'stripped out' and 'put back on the floor again' via a procedural maneuver. State Senators Sonia Halpern and Kim Jackson confirmed the bill's passage and its specific targeting.
2Black Farmers Systematically Excluded and Undermined by Federal Policies
Donald Trump hosted 800 farmers at the White House, none of whom were Black. John Boyd, President of the National Black Farmers Association, stated he was not invited and highlighted that 190 Black farmers are facing foreclosure due to Trump's tariff policies. Additionally, a $300 million land-buying grant program for Black farmers, lobbied for in the Inflation Reduction Act, was cut by the current administration, labeling it a 'DEI program'.
John Boyd's testimony about not being invited and 190 Black farmers facing foreclosure. The USDA cut a $300 million land-buying grant program for Black farmers, which he described as being 'rolled back' and 'cut the whole program' because it helped Black people.
3Pete Hegseth Blocks Black and Female Military Promotions, Signaling White Leadership Preference
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth removed two Black army officers and two female army officers from consideration for one-star general promotions. This highly unusual decision has sparked allegations of racial and gender bias. Senior military officials reported that Hegseth had been pressing for months to remove these names, and his chief of staff allegedly stated that Trump would not want to stand next to a Black female officer at military events. This is seen as a deliberate move to ensure white male dominance in military leadership.
New York Times exclusive report cited, detailing Hegseth's decision to strike two Black and two female officers from the promotion list. Report of Hegseth's chief of staff, Ricky Bura, stating 'Trump would not want to stand next to a black female officer at military events.'
4Prophetic Black Christianity Challenges White Christian Nationalism in Tennessee State House
Reverend Dr. Michael Eric Dyson delivered a powerful, prophetic prayer in the Tennessee State House, invited by State Representative Justin Pearson. Dyson's prayer directly criticized bigotry, authoritarianism, the worship of guns, hypocrisy of white evangelical piety, and the 'malignant narcissism' of a 'tyrant' (implying Donald Trump). During the prayer, several Republican legislators walked out, demonstrating the clash between this prophetic tradition and their political ideology.
Video of Michael Eric Dyson's prayer and the subsequent walkout by Republican legislators. Representative Pearson's explanation of the 'black prophetic tradition' that 'breaks shackles and puts white supremacy to shame.'
5Strategic Voter Mobilization is Critical to Counter Systemic Attacks
Bishop William Barber and Roland Martin are launching an initiative to train 1,000 Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity brothers (and other Black men) in strategic, micro-targeted voter mobilization. This effort aims to educate and organize communities on local and state government, precinct-level data analysis, and targeted voter turnout, emphasizing that elections are won on the margins and that Black voting power in the South can 'shift everything'.
Bishop William Barber's call for 1,000 Alpha brothers to be trained in 'massive voter get out strategically'. Roland Martin's detailed plan for email sign-ups and focus on 'micro' rather than 'macro' strategy, targeting 'specific black precincts'.
Lessons
- Engage in strategic voter mobilization at the local and state levels, focusing on specific precincts and civic education, rather than broad, untargeted efforts.
- Support and amplify Black-owned media and organizations to counter misinformation and ensure accurate narratives are told about systemic attacks on Black communities.
- Actively challenge and expose legislative and administrative actions that disproportionately target Black political power, economic opportunities, and educational institutions, such as the Georgia DA bill or cuts to Black farmer programs.
Quotes
"When Republicans are in power, they are targeting black people. I have said that this administration seeks to defund black America. They are attacking every aspect of black America."
"We need some folk that understand we can't be playing checkers while they playing chess. There is a third deconstruction going on and we must decide that we will have a third reconstruction."
"He won the state of North Carolina by 180,000 votes... but over 500,000 black folk didn't vote. That's right. So, in essence, we have folk winning not because they're smarter than us... but because they are on the field fighting."
"Dear God, spare us from the hypocrisy of a breed of white evangelical piety that emphasize the adjectives white more than the noun evangelical. The hatred of blackness circulates in the lungs of the beast of white Christian nationalism."
"White people have always had the privilege to leave what they don't like, to not listen to what they don't want to hear. Black people and other minoritized populations have had to stay in the room because we fought to get in there."
"Once you start telling the true gospel, they start to lose their religion because... the religion is not actually what's in the book. It is white supremacy and their religion is only oppression."
"This man had the audacity to put a gold tractor... on the White House lawn when we got 190 black farmers losing their farms out here."
"The real religion in this country is whiteness. The real politics in this country is whiteness. And the real goal of those white evangelicals in cahoots with these ideological extremists... is about whiteness in this country."
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