With just 11 days left until Election Day, Republican voters wary of another four years of Donald Trump in the White House have a crucial role to play. Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign knows these voters could very well be decisive in battleground states that will likely be won on razor-thin margins. In her closing message, Harris not only needs to underscore the dangers of a second Trump term, but also show that conservative, moderate and independent voices belong in her broad coalition. Creating space for these voters to ditch Trump requires building what is sometimes called a “permission structure”…
Author: Kermit Williams
One Black couple recently celebrated over eight decades of marriage! In late September, Cleovis and Arwilda White’s 84-year-long marriage was honored in a ceremony hosted by the Arkansas Family Council. Its “mission is to promote, protect, and strengthen traditional family values found and reflected in the Bible by impacting public opinion and public policy,” according to its site. Turns out, their marriage is the longest-known union in the state’s history, reported USA Today. When asked about the keys to sustaining such a long partnership, Arwilda, who is 98 years old, said she always liked to “pray” and advised others to do the same in their relationships. “Know…
Chemical relaxers are a staple in the Black community, though the safety of their formulas has come into question in the last few years. Congresswomen Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, brought the issue to the Food and Drug Administration in March and pushed them to answer questions about the safety of chemical relaxers. Months after their pleas, the FDA is finally stepping up and addressing the issue. According to The Root, the congresswomen said the FDA is proposing a new ban on dangerous chemicals found in chemical straighteners, including formaldehyde and other formaldehyde-releasing chemicals. “The F.D.A.’s proposal to ban these…
The five men who make up the Central Park Five and now call themselves the Exonerated Five have filed a defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump over his remarks during the presidential debate last month. The lawsuit focuses on the Sept. 10 debate in Pennsylvania, where Trump said the five men — Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise — pleaded guilty when they were tried in connection with the assault and rape of a woman who had been running in Central Park on April 19, 1989, and that the victim had died. During the debate, he…
NEW YORK (AP) — Al Roker remembers the moment when it became clear to him that his oldest daughter was an honest-to-goodness chef. “We were talking, and she was in the kitchen, and she’s looking at me, but she’s chiffonading these herbs and not looking down,” he recalled recently. “Within the first three minutes, there’d be at least one geyser of blood if I was doing that. I’m thinking, ‘Oh my God, she knows what she’s doing.’” Courtney Roker Laga indeed knows what’s she’s doing: She’s a recipe developer and culinary school graduate who has worked in two Michelin-starred restaurants, including Café Boulud in…
The Tennessee Human Rights Commission (THRC) Executive Director, Muriel Malone Nolen, has appointed Diona E. Layden, Esq. as the Deputy Director. Layden was appointed on Monday, September 16, 2024. As Deputy Director, Ms. Layden will work closely with the Executive Director to support the Commission’s daily operations, including enforcement and administration, policy and procedure development, agency budget, and staff supervision. In addition, she will provide oversight for mediation, intake, and investigative processes. “Diona has a decorated history serving the State of Tennessee in various Executive leadership positions including Deputy General Counsel and Deputy Director. Her professional experience will make her…
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Austin Peay State University senior Jackson Brown recently returned from an enlightening International Research Experience for Students (IRES) program in Rzeszów, Poland, where he conducted cutting-edge research on rare earth doped glasses. Brown, a double major in chemistry and biology, spent seven weeks immersed in a laboratory at the University of Rzeszów. There, he collaborated with international researchers and students to study specially crafted glasses’ white light properties. “We focused on rare earth glass and the optical properties to make sure that they were a white light,” Brown said. “Similar to how we hear about blue light…
In today’s disinformation landscape, Black women aren’t just caught in the crossfire — we’re the bullseye. As a Black woman immersed in politics, I’ve seen the onslaught of lies, doctored images, and malicious rumors aimed at dismantling our leadership and eroding our voting power. But here’s the truth: we aren’t mere victims. We’re the frontline defense in this battle against digital deception. Take, for instance, the recent disinformation surrounding Vice President Kamala Harris. A crudely altered false photo of her with Sean “Diddy” Combs made its rounds online. Even after swift debunking, it continued to spread, with none other than former…
The former president has brought dehumanizing language into American presidential politics. Rhetoric has a history. The words democracy and tyranny were debated in ancient Greece; the phrase separation of powers became important in the 17th and 18th centuries. The word vermin, as a political term, dates from the 1930s and ’40s, when both fascists and communists liked to describe their political enemies as vermin, parasites, and blood infections, as well as insects, weeds, dirt, and animals. The term has been revived and reanimated, in an American presidential campaign, with Donald Trump’s description of his opponents as “radical-left thugs” who “live like vermin.” This language isn’t merely ugly or repellant: These…
Georgia Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock walked into the polling place inside the auditorium at New Life Church in Decatur on Wednesday, Oct. 16. On his way into the building he high-fived a woman who yelled out to him that she voted. “Well, alright,” Warnock said. Warnock and many other Georgians, more than 300,000 in fact, have already voted during the state’s early voting period which began on Tuesday, Oct. 15, according to the latest data from the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office. Before he cast his vote, Warnock, Georgia Congressman Hank Johnson, and DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond, all vocal supporters of current…