If you’re interested in sharing your opinion on any cultural, political or personal topic, create an account here and check out our how-to post to learn more.____The coronavirus pandemic has caused lots of issues for a large number of people, and it’s clear at this point that this is going to continue for a while. About half a year later, the world has managed to largely adapt to the situation, but many are still struggling. Finances are an especially delicate subject, as the global economy has been disrupted to a great extent. It’s not just about businesses either — many individuals still don’t know what they should be doing in order to get back on their feet and regain some of their financial stability.Here are some tips to make the most of your finances during the COVID-19...

New York Attorney General Letitia James took on the National Rifle Association (NRA) on Thursday morning, filing a lawsuit to dissolve the gun rights organization for years of financial corruption and mismanagement.  James' lawsuit was filed in the New York County Supreme Court and stated the senior leadership of the 149-year-old organization has spent years stealing millions from the charitable arm of the group. She said the leaders named in the suit "instituted a culture of self-dealing, mismanagement, and negligent oversight."The NRA's Wayne LaPierre allegedly "spent more than $3.6 million on luxury black car services and travel consultants in the last two years," according to New York Attorney General Letitia James. https://t.co/B50Ds8Qo2l pic.twitter.com/LflROEG8bR— Eric Hananoki (@ehananoki) August 6, 2020 “The NRA’s influence has been so powerful that the organization went unchecked for decades while top executives funneled millions into their own pockets. The NRA is fraught with fraud and abuse, which is why, today, we seek to dissolve the NRA, because no organization is above the law,” James said in a statement to ABC News.The attorney general's office has spent 18 months investigating the organization and looking into the actions of CEO Wayne LaPierre, general counsel John Frazer, former Chief Financial Officer Woody Phillips and former Chief of Staff Joshua Powell, according to NPR.The lawsuit states LaPierre gave himself a $17 million post-employment contract and used NRA accounts for vacations to the Bahamas, Nebraska and Europe.The attorney general said on Twitter the financial misconduct of the four men "contributed to the loss of more than $64 million in just three years for the NRA." In addition to the New York lawsuit, the attorney general of Washington D.C. filed a lawsuit against the NRA Foundation, an independent group incorporated in D.C., reports NBC Washington."Charitable organizations function as public trusts — and District law requires them to use their funds to benefit the public, not to support political campaigns, lobbying, or private interests. With this lawsuit, we aim to recover donated funds that the NRA Foundation wasted," Attorney General Karl Racine said in a statement."District nonprofits should be on notice that the Office of the Attorney General will file suit if we find evidence of illegal behavior," Racine...

A Black Louisiana man is facing overly harsh punishment after trying to steal hedge clippers more than 20 years ago.Fair Wayne Bryant, who was convicted to life in prison for the attempted theft attempt in 1997, experienced another setback last week when the Louisiana Supreme Court declined to overturn his sentence, CNN reported. Bryant's attorney, Peggy Sullivan, appealed the case in 2018, saying "his life sentence is unconstitutionally harsh and excessive." But the court, which is made up almost exclusively of white and male justices, upheld the ruling after factoring in the criminal history of the 62-year-old.According to the justices, Bryant's background includes attempted armed robbery, possession of stolen things, attempted forgery of a check worth $150 and simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling. All of those charges were handed down before the life-sentence conviction in 1997. Supreme Court Chief Justice Bernette Johnson, who is the only Black justice and only woman on the court, disagreed with the decision. Five other judges agreed to decline the appeal, while one abstained. "This man's life sentence for a failed attempt to steal a set of three hedge clippers is grossly out of proportion to the crime and serves no legitimate penal purpose," Johnson wrote.The lone dissenter described the sentence as a "modern manifestation" of "pig laws" from the Reconstruction era, which "criminalized recently emancipated African American citizens by introducing extreme sentences for petty theft associated with poverty."Johnson said those same laws have now taken the form of Louisiana’s habitual offender laws, which make it possible to give a harsh sentence to somebody who repeatedly commits petty crimes. In Louisiana, about 80% of the people who have been imprisoned because of habitual offender laws are Black, The Lens reported. Fair Wayne Bryant was convicted under habitual offender laws. In dissent, Chief Justice calls the statute the “modern manifestation” of laws meant to “re-enslave African Americans” https://t.co/iZ1p1zVyy7— The Lens (@TheLensNOLA) August 4, 2020The lone Black judge in the court added that Bryant has cost Louisiana taxpayers over $500,000 during his 23 years in prison."If he lives another 20 years, Louisiana taxpayers will have paid almost one million dollars to punish Mr. Bryant for his failed effort to steal a set of hedge clippers," the judge wrote.Johnson is the second Black woman to serve as a judge in the Louisiana Supreme Court, NPR reported. She is also the court's first Black chief justice. The trailblazing judge said Bryant's history of petty crimes shouldn't result in a life sentence."Each of these crimes was an effort to steal something. Such petty theft is frequently driven by the ravages of poverty or addiction, and often both," she wrote in her dissent. "It is cruel and unusual to impose a sentence of life in prison at hard labor for the criminal behavior which is most often caused by poverty or addiction."According to The Lens, the 62-year-old is imprisoned at Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, which is the largest maximum-security prison in the country and the site of a former slave plantation."The sentence imposed is excessive and disproportionate to the offense the defendant committed," Johnson...

Oprah Winfrey is using her high-profile stature to make an imprint in the case of Breonna Taylor, the Louisville woman who was killed by police in her home in March. According to WLKY, the media mogul is erecting 26 billboards in Louisville featuring the name and image of the 26-year-old EMS worker.The billboards, which started going up on Thursday, include a call to "Demand that the police involved in killing Breonna Taylor be arrested and charged." They also direct viewers to head to UntilFreedom.com.26 billboards, one for every year of #BreonnaTaylor's life, are going up in Louisville, Kentucky. Paid for by Oprah Winfrey's magazine, the message on them calls for arrests in her case: https://t.co/xJFKluUoBE pic.twitter.com/AlWdyojBLb— HLN (@HLNTV) August 7, 2020The aforementioned website belongs to a national social justice organization that recently organized a rally outside the home of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, resulting in the arrest of more than 80 demonstrators, as Blavity previously reported. Additionally, the billboards feature a quote from Winfrey, saying "If you turn a blind eye to racism, you become an accomplice to it." The entrepreneur kicked off the first part of her call for justice last week when she dedicated the cover of O Magazine to Taylor, making it the first time that someone beside Winfrey has graced the cover. The same cover image, featuring an illustration of the slain young woman, will be displayed on the billboards.The TV host posted the portrait of Taylor on Instagram.  View this post on Instagram Breonna Taylor. She was just like me. She was just like you. And like everyone who dies unexpectedly, she had plans. Plans for a future filled with responsibility and work and friends and laughter. I think about Breonna Taylor often. Imagine if three unidentified men burst into your home while you were sleeping. And your partner fired a gun to protect you. And then mayhem. What I know for sure: We can’t be silent. We have to use whatever megaphone we have to cry for justice. And that is why Breonna Taylor is on the cover of @oprahmagazine. The September issue honors her life and the life of every other Black woman whose life has been taken too soon. Head to OprahMag.com for more—and thank you to @alexis_art, a 24-year-old digital artist, who captured the essence of Breonna. The issue will be available wherever you buy or download magazines on 8/11.A post shared by Oprah (@oprah) on Jul 30, 2020 at 5:32am PDT"Breonna Taylor. She was just like me. She was just like you. And like everyone who dies unexpectedly, she had plans. Plans for a future filled with responsibility and work and friends and laughter," Winfrey wrote on Instagram. "I think about Breonna Taylor often. Imagine if three unidentified men burst into your home while you were sleeping. And your partner fired a gun to protect you. And then mayhem."The O Magazine publisher was referring to Kenneth Walker, who tried to protect his girlfriend by firing back at the intruding officers.In a letter posted to OprahMag.com, Winfrey wrote about the Louisville woman's interests."Breonna Taylor loved cars and treated her 2019 Dodge Charger like a trusted friend," the TV host wrote. "Breonna Taylor loved chicken any way you could cook it. Breonna Taylor put hot sauce on everything, especially eggs. Breonna Taylor appreciated every kind of music and the dances that went along."The author also described Taylor's unbreakable bond with her loved ones and the goals she had set."Breonna Taylor treated all her friends like besties. Breonna Taylor was a force in the life of her 20-year-old sister," Winfrey wrote. "Breonna Taylor felt meaning and purpose in her work as an emergency room technician. Breonna Taylor was saving to buy a house."The 66-year-old continued to discuss race relations on Thursday during her Apple TV+ series, The Oprah Conversation, USA Today reported. Inviting author Ibram X. Kendi to discuss his book, How to Be an Antiracist, Winfrey focused on the case of Sandra Bland, the 28-year-old Black woman who was found hanging in her jail cell shortly after she was arrested in 2015. The talk show host said it's her fame that protects her from facing the same fate as Bland, who was detained after a routine traffic stop. "I now get to live under this veil of celebrity, so that when I’m stopped or I’m seen, everybody automatically knows who I am. But the days before my name was known throughout many households, that could have been me," Winfrey said. "It was a turn signal. It was a turn signal, and she ends up dead several days...

If you’re interested in sharing your opinion on any cultural, political or personal topic, create an account here and check out our how-to post to learn more.____Up until a few weeks ago Rodney Muhammed,  Nick Cannon and Ice Cube hadn’t crossed my mind in years. I’d never heard of DeSean Jackson, Jay Electronica or Wiley. I also never imagined I’d read an article about a Hassidic man in Brooklyn hitting a Black firefighter with a vehicle as he called him the n-word, while promising “to go to war.” Yet somehow I woke up being responsible for the anti-semitic comments these men posted on their socials and a parking dispute between two men I’d never met.This Black Jew is tired.I’ve  woken up nearly every day this month to messages and posts from both Black and Jewish friends and followers not wondering how I was feeling about the divisive nature in which Jewish and Black communities have chosen to communicate past each other, but to questions that covertly asked me to choose what side I wanted to be on: if I agreed with or planned to condemn these statements, if the statements changed my opinion on the Movement for Black Lives, or if I was anti-Black.I’ve been greatly disappointed with the ignorance displayed by Black and Jewish communities about each other in the subsequent days following these statements. I’m so tired of opening Facebook only to find Black and Jewish people antagonizing one another with anti-semitic and anti-Black rhetoric. The infighting, spiraling miscommunication and ignorance coming out of Black and Jewish communities right now is disgusting and it needs to stop.Black Jews are being caught in the crossfire, and it hurts. It hurts that some of our peoples are demanding that we choose a side — as if there is a side that can be chosen. Being a Black Jew during July 2020 felt like constantly being accused of being an anti-Semite by white people in Jewish communities or of being anti-Black by Black communities.Black and Jewish communities include incredibly diverse identities. The single narrative stories we tell about Black people being Christians and Jewish people being white are incomplete. When we rely on these single narrative stories we miss the opportunity to acknowledge the beautiful mosaic of identities that these communities hold.We can’t continue to create single narrative stories of Black and Jewish peoplehood without inevitably erasing parts of people’s identities. It is important that we acknowledge the intersectionality that exists in the space between Black and Jewish identities.Anti-Semitism and Anti-Blackness are foundational principles on which white supremacy was built. We can’t fight racism without fighting anti-Semitism. We can’t fight anti-Semitism without fighting racism. These two communities are linked by our shared fate under the institution of white supremacy. Until we are able to embrace this complexity of identity, we will continue to talk past each other, endanger one another and further marginalize people in Black and Jewish communities that hold both identities.What I’ve noticed in the last few weeks is how often both these communities, to which I belong, talk past one another instead of with each other. It seems as if Jewish and Black communities are acutely unaware of each other’s oppression, struggles and historical traumas.Once again, I’ve been left walking between these communities in a way that makes me feel like an interloper. I've become an enemy of my own peoples.While there is discomfort in this space, it’s also a place of extreme privilege: I’ve been given a unique opportunity to provide the grey nuance that fills the space between the black and white binary fog we currently find ourselves breathing.Let’s face it, at some point we all have made inaccurate assumptions and generalizations about people based on limited interaction we’ve had with other members of the affinity group we assume — sometimes incorrectly — they belong to. As a diversity trainer, I believe that addressing our inherent biases, and challenging ourselves to notice and change them, yields opportunities to build relationships across differences. Which in turn, gives us skills to become more culturally competent and helps us learn how to value our similarities and celebrate our differences.I’ve been warmed by the response from Julian Edelman of the New England Patriots, of call-in DeSean Jackson, rather than calling him out, for these opportunities. I’ve also been enlivened by Jackson’s willingness to challenge his assumptions. I commend and admire Edelman not only for preserving Jackson’s humanity, but also holding him accountable to his responsibility to educate himself, and being willing to be a thought partner with him on his journey to better understanding anti-semitism.Conversely, the response of some Jewish communities to this episode of flagrant  anti-Semitism, with what I’d like to call Farakhanoia — the conflation of the Black Lives Matter Movement with the Nation of Islam, Black Hebrew Israelites and ignorant anti-semitic comments by Black celebrities — has been overt anti-Black. The silence on anti-semitism from Black communities has resulted in the ignorant sharing of anti-semitic conspiracy theories. These behaviors seem to imply a need for calling-in as well.It’s time that Black and Jewish communities begin to listen to one another compassionately about our histories, our traumas, and our generational pain. It’s time to listen to the experiences of those who navigate both communities. It’s time for healing. According to Be’chol Lashon, where I work as the program coordinator and diversity trainer, 20% of American Jews identify as either non-white (Asian, Black, Indigenous, Mixed-race, Latinx), Sephardi (of Iberian origin) or Mizrahi (of Middle Eastern/North African origin). The issues that impact Black, Latinx and Asian communities impact Jewish communities as well.I understand the very real pain, fear and trauma that these words have caused for many Jews, including myself. This still doesn't mean that we are relinquished of our moral imperative toward justice. This is not a zero sum game. To quote the late "good troublemaker" John Lewis: “When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something.”It is not enough to only understand your own oppression. It’s dangerous and can give us tunnel vision that keeps us from seeing  how the very forces that seek to stifle our voices and steal the lives of our children have stolen countless other voices, countless other lives. Their mother’s grieve their losses with us and often, we don’t see them because we fail to look for them.My very existence, and the existence of others like me, demands that we take this opportunity to shift the narrative around singular identities. Jewish intersectionality includes Black people. Black intersectionality includes Jewish people.Our communities have more similarities than differences in the fight against white supremacist oppression. White supremacy is the oppressive knee on the neck of Black and Jewish peoplehood. Allowing white supremacy to persist in any form will continue to result in deaths in Jewish communities and in Black communities; creating double jeopardy for Black Jews who already exist in the space between lynchings and gas chambers. We cannot allow ourselves to accept and perpetuate white supremacist ideologies toward each other.Black Lives Matter. Jewish lives matter. We are not enemies. It’s time we started acting like...

The grandmother of Stephon Clark spoke passionately at a press conference on Wednesday following a publicized letter from the California District Attorneys Association (CDAA).The letter is calling for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to take down a video the league released in July about Clark, who in 2018 was shot eight times and killed on video in his grandmother's backyard when police said they mistook his cellphone for a weapon, reports Insider.In its letter, the CDAA disputes the content of the 94-second video, which features the 22-year-old's mother, Se’Quette Clark, narrating a story about him. “You don't have no kind of conscience. What type of person are you? Are you human or what? I don't know where you came from, but that was awful what you have done to our family. And I’m fighting for justice until the day I die,” Sequita Clark, his grandmother, said at the press conference in reference to Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert according to KCRA.CDAA President Vern Pierson wrote in the letter that “the video misrepresents the facts of this tragic incident.” "Helicopter footage and other physical evidence established that Mr. Clark committed several crimes including car burglary, vandalism and an attempted residential burglary. Mr. Clark was running from officers when he entered the backyard of his grandmother and took a shooting stance and advanced on officers who believed he had a gun," the letter stated. "Less than 48 hours prior to the events that took his life, Mr. Clark was involved in a domestic violence incident with the mother of his children rendering him suicidal. We would respectfully ask that you reexamine the factual findings of Stephon Clark’s death and produce a video that accurately depicts the conduct of all concerned in an officer involved shooting,” the letter added.Stephon's brother, Stevante Clark, called the letter a "smear campaign" and said ties between the police union and district attorney were behind the push to have the video removed. “She is not representing the fights and the rights and the causes of the underserved, underrepresented at-risk communities. She has failed and that's why she needs to be recalled,” he said.Se’Quette said her son's public service announcement was the fifth one produced by the NFL and Roc Nation."And in the history of them putting these out, no other district attorneys have contradicted, or attempted to assassinate, or have taken down these PSAs. What this shows to me is that they're afraid of the truth coming out. What this shows to me is that they are trying to justify their actions," she said. Last year, Schubert declined to press charges against Terrence Mercadal and Jared Robinet, the two officers who shot Stephon, The New York Times reported. "Since Schubert has been in office, there have been over 50 cases of excessive or deadly force by police officers. Because of her receipt of funds donated by the police unions to her political campaign, she puts their concerns as her priority and has never filed charges against police officers. She uses the police bill of rights as justification,” Se’Quette said at the press conference.Both the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento reviewed the case and declined to press charges. But the city paid Stephon's family $2.4 million to settle a civil rights lawsuit. “My family will never be the same without Stephon,” Se’Quette said in the...

A group of more than 100 prominent Black women leaders has signed an open letter condemning attacks on the Black women being considered for vice president as presumed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden narrows down his list of candidates. The letter shared with Blavity notes that over the past few weeks, the Black women vice-presidential candidates have faced an onslaught of heavily racialized attacks from members of the media and politicians on both sides of the political spectrum. For weeks, reporters, pundits, Democratic insiders and commentators have bashed the slate of Black women being considered for the role as being too ambitious, too contentious or too argumentative, according to The Washington Post. "Over the past few months in the media, we have witnessed many Black women put forth as potential Vice Presidential candidates including former Gubernatorial Candidate Stacey Abrams, Congresswoman Karen Bass, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Senator Kamala Harris, Congresswoman Val Demings, and former US Ambassador Susan Rice, be publicly critiqued," the letter read. "We have also watched many of these highly-credentialed women be disrespected in the media over the last few weeks. Regardless of your political affiliation, whether it's the media, members of the vice presidential vetting committee, a former Governor, a top political donor, or a small town mayor: We are not your Aunt Jemimas," the letter continued. The letter was signed by Glynda Carr, LaTosha Brown, A'shanti Gholar, Star Jones, New Jersey Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, Angela Rye, Amanda Seales and many more Black women who took issue with how the media was covering the selection process and the unfair representations being floated by Democrats and Republicans. Harris and Abrams have faced months of relentless critique while being considered for the position. Bass, Rice and Demings recently became heavily scrutinized for political decisions in their pasts.Additionally, Harris' battles with Biden during debates last year are being criticized by the media and people within the former vice president's campaign team.   People within Biden's vice president search committee wanted Harris to apologize for her comments on stage during debates, according to Politico.“She laughed and said, ‘that’s politics.’ She had no remorse,” Chris Dodd, a former senator and member of Biden's search committee, told a longtime Biden supporter and donor.Harris responded to the comment during a livestream conversation for the Black Girls Lead 2020 conference, CNN reported."There will be a resistance to your ambition, there will be people who say to you, 'you are out of your lane.' They are burdened by only having the capacity to see what has always been instead of what can be. But don't you let that burden you," she said.In addition to criticism from the Democratic Party, the shots from the right have taken overtly bigoted tones. On Monday, Fox News host Tucker Carlson called Abrams "delusional" and an "essentially unemployed" person who "wrote bad porn novels" and referred to Harris as "transparently transactional."He went even further, saying Bass was "a lunatic Fidel Castro acolyte, who praised Scientology and once belonged to an armed revolutionary group."Similarly, a Virginia mayor caused outrage for writing on Facebook that "Joe Biden has just announced Aunt Jemima as his VP pick," as Blavity previously reported. "Black women are many things. We are business executives, political strategists and elected officials, philanthropists, and activists. We are health and wellness practitioners. We are entertainers and faith leaders. We are wives, mothers, daughters, educators, and students. We set and shift culture. We build power and we are powerful. We are the highest propensity voters in this nation," the letter said in response to the insults being thrown around. "We are a coalition of Black women leaders who, in this inflection point of the Black liberation movement, where people around the world are galvanized to action, know that the time for Black women in the United States is now," the letter added. The letter goes on to address the attacks from inside Biden's own selection committee, calling for the "racist myth of a happy, Black servant portrayed as a happy domestic worker loyal to her White employer" to be put to bed. The letter's signees say Black women "are qualified and ambitious without remorse.""We are servant leaders — motivated by a desire to uplift and advance our communities and nation. And we will not tolerate racist or sexist tropes consistently utilized in an effort to undermine our power. No matter who you are supporting for Vice President, you should be equally outraged by the blatant disrespect of Black women. Black women have been and remain vital across sectors," the letter said. "We are indebted to women like Ella Baker, Septima Clark, Shirley Chisholm, Angela Davis, Fannie Lou Hamer, Barbara Jordan, Ruby Doris Robinson, and Ida B. Wells just to name a few. These women have fought to move us forward and are collectively responsible for much of this country's progress. Black women have been leading, and we must honor, protect, support, and uplift them," it...

Michigan became the latest in a long line of states to declare racism a public health crisis on Wednesday.Gov. Gretchen Whitmer made the declaration and announced the creation of a state advisory council to address issues affecting Black Michigan residents and implicit bias training for every state employee, reports the Detroit Free Press.The Black Leadership Advisory Council will look through the state's laws and identify statutes that need to be changed to make things fairer for Black Michigan residents. "We have a lot of work to do to eliminate the systemic racism that Black Americans have experienced for generations," Whitmer said according to the Detroit Free Press.Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist were spurred to make the change due to the state's high coronavirus death toll in Black communities and the recent protests over police brutality. During a press conference, Gilchrist said he knows at least 23 people close to him who have died from complications related to COVID-19. Milwaukee County in Wisconsin became the first U.S. county to declare racism as a public health crisis in May 2019. The American Public Health Association has created a website that lists every county in 19 states that has passed a similar resolution."Racism attacks people’s physical and mental health. And racism is an ongoing public health crisis that needs our attention now! We see discrimination every day in all aspects of life, including housing, education, the criminal justice system and employment. And it is amplified during this pandemic as communities of color face inequities in everything from a greater burden of COVID-19 cases to less access to testing, treatment and care," said Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, in a statement. The declarations vary widely, with some including specific measures or plans to address racism while others are more ceremonial and symbolic efforts. Some proposals are focused exclusively on health care while others try to address the racism at the root of all government interactions with people of color. “When someone doesn’t look at racism and equity every day like I do, it can be hard to connect those dots. So that’s why if we declare racism and racist attitudes and racist structures as part of this overall public health crisis, we can see how racism literally can kill people,” said Kendall Boyd, chief equity officer for the city of Louisville, in an interview with The New York Times.The city is mulling its own resolution.  Here are some of the cities and states that have also declared racism a public health...

During a hearing on Thursday, a Fulton County judge denied bond for the roommate of Clark Atlanta University student Alexis Crawford, who was killed after reporting being sexually harassed.Jordyn Jones and her boyfriend Barron Brantley were charged with Crawford's death after her body was discovered in a DeKalb County park, as Blavity previously reported.Crawford had gotten into an altercation with Jones on the morning of October 31 and was choked by Brantley, which led to her death. The couple was charged with felony murder and was denied bond back in November. However, Jones requested a judge to reconsider issuing her bond, which was ultimately denied, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Judge Constance Russell said she was concerned that Jones was a flight risk.The 22-year-old's defense attorney said she initially traveled back home to Detroit before the investigation but voluntarily returned to cooperate. “She was asked to return to Atlanta as part of the investigation and did so voluntarily,” attorney Clifford Hardwick said. “She wasn’t forced to come back.”Prosecutor Adam Abatte told the court that Jones lied when asked about Crawford's whereabouts and tried to hide evidence pertinent to Crawford's death.The Journal-Constitution reported that social media messages between Brantley and Jones revealed they were attempting to hide security cameras outside of the women's apartment.“Get the job done,” Jones texted Brantley, according to Abatte.Abatte also told the court that Jones was already on probation for a 2019 DUI charge when she was charged with murder.A spokesperson for Crawford's family, Rev. Markel Hutchins, said the family opposed Jones' request for bond. “Granting Jordyn Jones bail would be a slap in the face to me and my family and would essentially spit on Alexis’ grave,” a family statement read. “She and Barron admitted what they did to my baby and they should never, ever get out of jail for a single day.”Crawford's mother, Tammy, said her daughter's killing was senseless and the family should be celebrating her graduation from the university. Brantley and Jones remain in a Fulton County...

If you’re interested in sharing your opinion on any cultural, political or personal topic, create an account here and check out our how-to post to learn more.____As an actor on Tyler Perry's BET's drama series The Oval, going back to work in the midst of COVD-19, and the current racial justice movement, is a daunting idea. However, I feel extremely excited. I know that for all the perils we face, Tyler Perry is providing the safest work environment we could possibly be in, considering the circumstances. I feel extremely privileged to have such an incredible platform (being on a predominantly Black show on a culturally Black network) from which I can speak to and shed light on Black experiences at such a pivotal time in our history.That is not to say, however, that my excitement is not also coupled with waves of fear. Am I safe? Am I saying the right thing? Doing the right thing? Is there more I could or should be doing? These are definitely thoughts I'm not immune to.But one of the areas of growth I have really been intentional about during this pandemic, and the movement for racial justice in communities of color, is asking myself the question, “Am I moving from a place of fear or wisdom?” While fear can be useful, it can also masquerade as false wisdom, in that, if we focus more on what we don’t know and cannot control, or what we feel we do not have anything to offer, rather than what we do know and can control, adding the power we possess in being exactly who we are, we can inadvertently allow our fear to take the place of wisdom and gratitude, which are our gateway to confidence and joy.I believe this is the difference between acknowledging moments of fear about the unknown, versus allowing them to ride in the front seat. Keeping my fear in perspective is what has allowed me to embrace this moment for all its beauty and jagged edges.This is truly a groundbreaking and pioneering thing that we’re doing in so many ways. There will definitely be a lot of emotions involved, we’re all human, and there’s no way that the excitement and gratitude of getting to work can turn down the volume on how seriously this virus and the movement for racial justice has impacted us all on an emotional and spiritual level. But I believe the key is to do what we do as actors — using our emotions and our experiences to bring truth and authenticity to the characters we play; to find a way to channel that into our art. So in many ways, I actually think this extraordinary moment we’re in will only serve my ability to find new and greater depths through which to tell Ellie’s story.Though the process of gearing up for filming has been stressful, I’m really proud of Mr. Perry and how he has used his unique position of resources and ingenuity to create solutions for our industry. In the months preparing to go back to work, he and his team were extremely regimented in their approach. We had multiple tests in our respective cities, along with Zoom trainings and conversations on how to prepare and what to expect. We also have been doing our part to ensure we could all return to work healthy and safe by continuing to practice self-quarantine and social distancing.That being said, every time I had to wait for a test result to come back, it was a completely nerve-racking experience, because you know that you are not just going to work for you, but that you're part of a team. In order for this to work, we all have to remain healthy.To me, filming is such an intimate process. Not only between actors in scenes, but also with hair, makeup, production — you really become a family. To now have to do that at a distance, behind masks, face shields and suits, is something I’m a little sad about, to be honest. I’m hoping that the physical barriers and uneasiness in the air don’t carry over into any emotional blocks when it comes to our ability to connect and drop in when telling these stories, or connecting with each other on and off camera. On the other hand, I think walking through what we’re walking through together, at this juncture in history, is actually going to prove to be a really uniting experience that we’ll remember for the rest of our lives.I have to say, when I arrived at Tyler Perry Studios, it was a bit of a shell shock. I would describe it as kind of like a hazmat version of Disneyland. From getting off the plane to arriving at the studio, there were lots of clipboards, lines, sanitizer and questions. After being tested, we were whisked away to our rooms for self-quarantine while awaiting results to let us know that we were able to move forward with prepping for production. During that time, the team was bringing us meals and making sure that there was someone available to safely attend to anything we may need.It’s definitely been a curveball, but I have to say that in spite of the sight of people walking around in space suits, everyone's spirits seem to be running on...

The director of the U.S. Census Bureau has announced the agency will conclude all of its counting initiatives on September 30, which is a month sooner than previously stated.According to NPR, Census Director Steven Dillingham confirmed in a statement on Monday that activities like online response collection and community canvassing efforts will be suspended as the agency aims to "accelerate the completion of data collection and apportionment counts” by the last day of the year.“We will end field data collection by September 30, 2020,” the statement read. “Self-response options will also close on that date to permit the commencement of data processing. Under this plan, the Census Bureau intends to meet a similar level of household responses as collected in prior censuses, including outreach to hard-to-count communities.”Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, counting initiatives like community door-knocking and online reporting, implemented to serve the most marginalized communities, were slated to conclude by the end of July for the upcoming census.But amid social distancing guidelines, which began in March, the bureau temporarily suspended field data collection efforts, thus halting in-person canvassing. The bureau requested statutory relief from Congress in the form of 120 additional calendar days to provide final apportionment counts. The bureau is scheduled to give conclusive numbers by December 31, so it asked that its deadline for collection of the numerical data be pushed back to October 31, reports NPR.But they won't be given that additional 31 days. Initially, President Donald Trump said he didn't think the 120 days the bureau requested to provide final numbers would be sufficient, given the extraordinary circumstances facing its efforts."I don’t know if they even have to ask them,” Trump said in April. “This is called ‘an act of God,’ this is called a situation ... they have to give it. And I think 120 days isn’t nearly enough.”But something appeared to have changed along the way. On July 29, Dillingham testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, saying that bureau "and others really want us to proceed as rapidly as possible," which contradicts what the president endorsed earlier this year. Dillingham also discussed the bureau’s work following the Presidential Memorandum excluding illegal immigrants from the apportionment base. “In response to the July 21, 2020, Presidential Memorandum, the Census Bureau has begun to examine and report on methodologies available to ‘provide information permitting the President, to the extent practicable, to exercise the President’s discretion to carry out the policy’ of ‘the exclusion of illegal aliens from the apportionment base, to the extent feasible and to the maximum extent of the President’s discretion under the law,’ as cited in the President’s memorandum,” he said.During the hearing, Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney asked four former directors of the bureau if they believed Trump’s memo violated the Constitution.Past bureau directors Kenneth Prewitt, Vincent Barabba, John Thompson and Robert Groves each responded “yes” and noted, “all previous censuses and apportionment counts in the history of the United States have included both citizens and noncitizens, including undocumented immigrants.”NPR reports that Democrats and census advocates alike are concerned that the Trump administration’s interference with the bureau’s counting activities may be a ploy to benefit Republicans when voting districts are redrawn.In July, a top bureau official said the agency had passed the point of being able to meet the proposed deadlines.With debates over the most recent coronavirus relief package not yet completed, there is still time for legislators to include a motion that would give the Census Bureau more time, per NPR. However, such proposals have been exclusive to Democrats, and Republicans have yet to support such legislation. To find out how you and your household can get counted, click...

If you’re interested in sharing your opinion on any cultural, political or personal topic, create an account here and check out our how-to post to learn more.____You know what's worse than America treating racism like a new album that just came out? People moving on like nothing ever happened.Over the last few weeks, you’ve probably noticed most of your white colleagues have abandoned their outrage over George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, trading it in to enjoy summer’s finest things — sailing, bonfires and lake house getaways. But not us. Those tough and uncomfortable conversations everyone boasted about having have slowed (maybe even stopped), and once again Black trauma in the workplace has been placed back in the hands of Black employees. While I wish I could say everything about this is new or shocking, the truth is we’ve been here before.Let’s take it back for a moment. My most prominent memory of Black trauma in the workplace was just a few years ago. The day was July 7, 2016. That day, from the moment my legs swept over the side of the bed and hit the floor, there was a heaviness that overtook my body. It was a feeling I wouldn’t be able to shake even in the commute leading up to the work day. In the elevator ride up to the office it felt like my anxiety had somehow multiplied. Philando Castile, a Black man, was murdered by police officers the night before. In a similar fate, Alton Sterling, another Black man, was murdered just two nights prior, also by police officers. While my brothers and sisters in Baton Rouge were protesting for justice, I knew that I was walking into a work environment with people that wouldn’t understand the significance of the pain and the weight of that kind of trauma. The last few weeks have presented a seemingly parallel feeling.That morning I did all the things one does to “maintain professionalism” because let’s be real, as Black professionals we often feel like we can’t be caught slipping (aka displaying feelings). But when putting my best face forward failed, my colleague asked what was wrong? I explained my stoicism was due to Sterling’s and Castile’s death, which was ultimately the result of the racism and systemic oppression that plagues our country, constantly making Black people a target.What came next was disappointing but not surprising. Her response was, “Well, did you know him?” In that moment, just as it had in others, it became clear that Black trauma had no place, no weight of relevance in white workplaces. This wouldn’t be the last time Black trauma was ignored, displaced or...