The United States of America: Where we can appoint the first Black woman to the Supreme Court & continue to see Black people's lives be at risk in the voting booth, with the police & with the right to choose what they want to do with their bodies. What a special place.
The Skinny on COVID
The latest in numbers: 80M total cases & 988K total deaths (+192K & +4K from last week) in the US.
The headlines:
Tell us something we already knew: the poor died from COVID at twice the rate than that of the wealthy.
The new BA.2 variant spreads 75% faster than the original Omicron variant. Here’s what the CDC says you should do if you’re exposed.
Although rates remain flat nationwide, NYC has seen a 50% increase in cases in the last 2 weeks.
Could a new wave be heading to the rest of the country? Could the country care any less?
History Has Been Made
They (the GOP) tried to keep a Black woman down and they failed. They was big mad about it too.
Last week, Ketanji Brown Jackson made history as she became the first Black woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court. While representation is always a beautiful thing to see, we’ll be eager to see what her actual positions & rulings turn out to be as a Justice. In the meantime, congrats to Ketanji & everyone who sees her appointment as a win for Us.
Keeping Up with Biden & Harris
Biden is expected to announce new regulations cracking down on “ghost guns” this week. Ghost guns are guns that are untraceable because they’re made from multiple parts purchased online.
Biden & team have imposed harsher sanctions on Russia for war crimes committed in Ukraine. Will these sanctions actually stop Putin though?
Overwhelmed with a sense of pride about the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, Kamala Harris wrote a special note to her goddaughter & encouraged Senators Booker & Warnock—the only 2 Black Democratic Senators serving today—to do the same for a young girl in their lives. Yes y’all, her goddaughter is Black. We know you were wondering.
Congress, What’s Good?
Congress is on break for the next two weeks and while they (well, really the Senate) made sure to vote on getting KBJ into the SCOTUS, nobody thought to vote on additional COVID funding. Not even as they experience a wave of infections themselves.
Looks like the GOP has no interest in putting anymore money towards the pandemic until the Biden administration reverses its decision to end Title 42, which allowed the US to bypass asylum rights & automatically expel migrants at the border due to COVID-19. They’ve even got some Democrats on their side who also believe Title 42 should remain in place. See…Congress can play well together in the sandbox when they want to. And when it comes to finding ways to keep poor people out of this country.
Since Congress is on recess until April 25, the committee meeting schedule is light. The 3 (total) meetings happening this week are as follows:
Election Watch: 2022 Midterms
Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis says that his state & Georgia will enter a “cold war” if Stacey Abrams wins the gubernatorial election this fall. Ron, listen…we do not care.
The State of Texas is quietly working to stop Black & Brown people from complaining about unfair redistricting maps and to get the SCOTUS to strike down key elements of the Voting Rights Act at the same time. When are they not up to something?
Speaking of southern states that clearly want us to go back to the antebellum period (or at least back to Jim Crow)...Georgia is empowering its state police to investigate voter fraud and “election crimes” with a new law.
Social Justice Round Up
A Black man named Patrick Lyoya was killed by police in Grand Rapids, MI last week. Though police have yet to release the video, Patrick’s father says his son was shot in the head. Honestly, this is happening so much that it’s hard to keep up with each and every instance. SMH. Our prayers go out to Patrick’s family.
The officer who killed Amir Locke back in February while executing a no-knock warrant will not be charged. America, everyone.
Oklahoma passed an abortion ban that would subject anyone who performs an abortion to a $100K fine and up to 10 years behind bars.
Lawmakers in Alabama have voted to ban transgender children from receiving hormone-blocking medications and to require them to use the restrooms that align with the sex matching that on their birth certificate.
Looks like the Black Lives Matter organization has some explaining to do. They secretly purchased a $6M house that has critics & supporters alike asking questions.
Around the Diaspora
Churches in Belize have a problem with the idea of marijuana being decriminalized in their country.
Somalia has a 30% quota for female lawmakers, but Somali women have yet to make the political impact they desire. When will people begin to listen to them?
Mali was on the verge of being investigated by the UN for war crimes carried out against its own citizens, but Russia & China made it their business to ensure that it didn’t move forward. Interesting.
Getting to the Money
Tax season is soon coming to an end, but it’s not too late to educate yourself about how Uncle Sam is taxing your schmoney. Figure out what your tax bracket is here.
Goodreads, an Amazon company, is looking for a new Manager of Account Management. Apply today if you’re interested. Based out of the SF Bay Area, the salary range for this role is in the upper $100K range. (We’re trying to be transparent for y’all since you know these companies won’t.)
Buying Black
Turn on Jagged Edge’s “Let’s Get Married” and share this with your friend that’s about to jump the broom. Pantora Bridal is a Black-owned bridal boutique that has everything a bride could need all while making sure dollars are circulated within the Black community a little while longer. They have stores located in LA & NYC and can be found in select retailers nationwide.
Culture that Pops
This museum exhibit is connecting the dots between the food of African Americans and the African culinary traditions that we still carry with us today.
In another first, Harvard Law appointed a Black man as its Dean of Students for the first time in history.
Wanna know what Black excellence to an infinite degree looks like? Meet the young Black man who’s studying to become a doctor & a lawyer simultaneously.
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