Nationally syndicated talk show host and author Wilmer Leon believes despite what most political polls are saying and making history at their convention, Democrats still face an uphill battle to defeat President Donald J. Trump in November’s election. The host of Sirius/XM’s “Inside The Issues” says there are flaws in Democrats’ political strategy and the prospects for voter suppression are real. He also believes many of the policies are already in place that are designed to deny and discourage minorities the chance to vote or not to have their votes counted. As the author of “Politics: Another Perspective,” the political…
Author: Tn Tribune
Residents in Sen. Kamala Harris’ ancestral village haven’t seen her in years, but they are praying for her victory by sacrificing coconuts in Hindu temples. Others are pasting up posters or cheering the vice-presidential hopeful on social media. In Tamil Naidu, she would win overwhelmingly among her landsmen. Residents see her as America’s first Indian-American nominated for national office, not so much as the first African-American or the latest woman to be nominated for the vice presidency. “In India, people who put up posters for Harris are breaking coconuts in temples,” said Harris’s uncle, Balachandran Gopalan. A New Delhi-based…
As Hyundai North America’s first chief communications officer, Dana W. White knows what it is like to have two feet in two worlds. “Growing up I always knew about the power of communication, the power of words,” she said, talking about her childhood in Charlottesville, Virginia. “My grandfather, who was born in 1896, founded the oldest black newspaper in the state. I used to cut ad sheets every month and write copy and process black-and-white photos [at the paper]. The entrepreneurial spirit runs deep in me and my family.” While the weekly black newspaper, the Charlottesville-Albemarle Tribune, is gone, the…
Greg C’Dell Was a successful businessman and consultant who never thought he would work for the government. He didn’t want to deal with red tape and bureaucracy. But about a dozen years ago, Washington, D.C., officials talked him into going to work for the city. O’Dell still isn’t sure how then-Mayor Adrian Fenty got him to agree. “I tell people jokingly that I don’t know that I ever said yes,” said O’Dell. But apparently the officials were not trying to hear no. The Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington D.C. (Marcus DiPaola/Zenger)He sold his consulting company and went to…
Defunding or abolishing police departments has become a national debate in the wake of George Floyd’s death, but Minneapolis residents say abolishment isn’t necessarily a clear-cut answer. Some even view abolishment as punitive — a unilateral response to their speaking out against police brutality. The city approved its first budget cut to the police department late last month. Residents raised concerns regarding whether those most affected had been considered in the discussion of the broad-sweeping removal of the police department from the city’s charter. To change the police department, the city charter needs to change. On August 5, the Charter…
In America, one incident of police brutality captured on video in May sparked global protests and may have finally galvanized calls for police reform. In Kenya, things are very different. Young Kenyans lose their lives frequently, sometimes weekly, especially those from informal settlements, due to excessive force by the police. Unlike many countries, violence has heightened over the years due to nepotism, tribalism and ethnic politics. Thirteen-year-old Yassin Moyo was on his parents’ balcony March 30 when a “stray bullet” hit him. “It was about 7 p.m., and I was in the house,” said Hassan Motte, Yassin Moyo’s still-grieving father.…
ESPN national columnist and essay writer Robert “Scoop” Jackson began noticing how pro athletes—especially young NBA stars—started lifting their voices to address civil rights concern by using their platform in professional sports about four years ago, which was roughly the same time that NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick began protesting police brutality against black men by taking a knee during the national anthem. However, it was a change in his responsibility at the high-profile worldwide leader of sports media which allowed him to venture deeply into the aggressive social activism from current and former pro athletes. Jackson’s new book, “The Game…
Howard University President Dr. Wayne A.I. Frederick, who is also a physician, has a preliminary diagnosis for America’s condition while fighting the coronavirus. “I would say the patient is critically ill, but it is a treatable disease if you follow the prescription,” said Frederick, who helms the historically black university in Washington, D.C. with an enrollment of about 10,000. “If you follow the social-distance protocols, get tested, and stay home when you’re feeling sick, you will recover.” Frederick was also called upon to advise the school’s affiliated Howard University Hospital on finding ways to treat the under-served minority community in…
Chicago’s summer of unrest because of strained relations between the police and minorities continued unabated this past weekend, with protesters clashing with authorities and police releasing videos of those who looted high-end stores in the city’s core earlier in the week. The latest dust-up took place near downtown Saturday, when clashes broke out between marchers (some of whom had donned rain ponchos to identify each other and used umbrellas to help conceal their actions) and police. A melee between those two groups broke out in the late afternoon, and it included one officer being repeatedly hit on the head with…
Black Lives Matter, they say. His life mattered, they say, until a police officer decided it didn’t. They say. Minneapolis is the latest U.S. city whose threads are fraying and burning over race relations. Protesters see video footage of George Floyd, accused of forging a check, his neck trapped under police officer Derek Chauvin’s knee, pleading for his life as he labored to breathe. Breathing his last. Two nights after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the city began to burn. A lone firefighter stared into a sea of blaze on May 27, 2020. (Chris Juhn/Zenger)Thousands hit the streets—peaceful…