(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Black Kos: Two Justins for Justice [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-11 #Justins4Justice #TennesseeThree Commentary By Black Kos Editor Denise Oliver-Velez Republicans and NRA-backed wingnuts who continue to resist passing sane gun-control measures are making a big mistake. Just take a look at Tennessee, where their expulsion of Justin Jones and Justin Pearson from the Tennessee General Assembly has created two new national heroes. People, young and old, of all races and backgrounds are raising their fists, and voices, and more importantly are fired up and ready to vote to make changes to the American insanity of more guns in this country than people. As I sit here writing, and watching news updates from Louisville KY, scene of yet another AR15 slaughter, the broadcast is interrupted by the “Breaking News” of yet another, this one in Washington DC. Sadly, the prayer “give us each day, our daily bread” looks in reality like “give us each day, our daily deaths,” and no prayers are going to bring back the mounting total of victims. However, I’m not discouraged. Watching clips like these gives me hope. x WOW. Rep. Justin Jones is leading a march with thousands of people back to the Tennessee Capitol building right now. This is what democracy & a movement look like. Republicans messed around & they’re about to find out. Sweet, poetic Justice. pic.twitter.com/BarQstTdZl — Victor Shi (@Victorshi2020) April 10, 2023 x After being reinstated to the Tennessee House, Rep. Justin Jones vowed to be a voice for his constituents: "I want to thank you all, not for what you did, but for awakening the people of this state, particularly the young people." pic.twitter.com/lJGwKUJEo8 — Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) April 11, 2023 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “It’s an incredible milestone,” Bharat Ramamurti, deputy director of the White House National Economic Council, told theGrio. The Grio: White House touts historic low Black unemployment rate ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Biden White House is touting a major feat after Friday’s jobs report revealed that the Black unemployment rate reached its lowest level in history. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released data that showed that the unemployment rate for Black Americans fell to 5.0% in March – the lowest rate since the federal agency began recording such employment data in the 1970s. Though the Black unemployment rate remains disproportionately higher than the white unemployment rate (3.2%), the March numbers also show the smallest racial gap in history. “It’s an incredible milestone,” said Bharat Ramamurti, deputy director of the White House National Economic Council. The Biden official told theGrio that the new jobs data fulfill the administration’s agenda to “tackle some of the historic, systemic issues that existed in the labor market.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Vice President Kamala Harris made a last-minute trip Friday to Tennessee where she called for tougher firearm laws and criticized the Republican-controlled state House, which a day earlier expelled two Black Democratic lawmakers for their role in a protest calling for more gun control following a school shooting in Nashville. Harris received wild applause and several standing ovations as she told a crowd at Nashville’s historically Black Fisk University that the so-called Tennessee Three — ousted Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson and a third Democrat, Gloria Johnson, who avoided expulsion by a single vote — were being, in her words, silenced and stifled for standing up for the lives of schoolchildren. “Let’s understand the underlying issue is about fighting for the safety of our children,” Harris said. “It’s been years now where they are taught to read and write and hide in a closet and be quiet if there’s a mass shooter at their school, where our children, who have God’s capacity to learn and lead, who go to school in fear.” She called for background checks, red flag laws and restrictions on assault rifles. “Let’s not fall for the false choice — either you’re in favor of the Second Amendment or you want reasonable gun safety laws,” Harris said. “We can and should do both.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “I’m hopeful for the days ahead for Tennessee,” Justin Jones said after being reappointed. Politico: Exiled Tennessee lawmaker returns to state legislature ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ousted Tennessee Rep. Justin Jones returned to the statehouse Monday after the Nashville Metro Council unanimously voted to rename the Democrat to his former seat. Jones, 27, was kicked out of the state Legislature last week by a Republican supermajority for participating in a gun reform protest on the House floor, a violation of decorum rules. Immediately following the council vote, Jones led a crowd of more than 1,000 exuberant people through downtown Nashville to the state Capitol, linked arm-in-arm with clergy and other supporters who led the throng in hymns and chants. “Mr. Speaker, I want to welcome the people back to the people’s house,” Jones said on the House floor soon after he walked back into the chamber. Supporters filled the galleries and had to be silenced several times by GOP leadership. “I’m hopeful for the days ahead for Tennessee,” he said. “Not because of the actions of this body but for the people who are gathered outside of this chamber who are calling for something better. Who responded to your attack on democracy with an attack of a mass movement for justice and to restore the heart of our state. Not for what you did but for awakening the people of this state.” x YouTube Video . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The six films include the tale of an ogre who preys on women, a sci-fi Nigeria taken over by AI, and a girl on a mission to end drought. The Guardian: African film-makers reimagine folktales as dark fantasy dramas for Netflix ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Traditional African tales of monsters, genies and malevolent spirits have been reworked for a contemporary audience in a new Netflix series. Film-makers from Tanzania, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Mauritania and Uganda have turned six traditional stories into dark fantasy dramas that cover topics including domestic violence, suicide and child marriage. Most of the 30-minute films in the African Folktales, Reimagined series, produced in partnership between the streaming channel and the UN cultural body, Unesco, are female-centred. Anyango and the Ogre, directed by Kenyan film-maker Voline Ogutu, explores the unfair societal expectations of marriage on women – marginalising those who are not married, while pressuring those who are to stay in unhealthy relationships. It is based on folklore about a troll who, disguised as a handsome man, marries a woman with three children so he can fatten them up and eat them. x YouTube Video . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cross-currents of denialism, boosterism, broken governance systems and deep-seated racism will meet with rapidly accelerating sea level rise. The Guardian: The perfect storm: the US city where rising sea levels and racism collide ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Predictions about how much water is coming vary greatly. Some scientists say we should be planning on three feet of rise by 2050, six feet by 2070 and 10 feet by 2100. Someday, not too long from now, the stories of many current coastal and riverside cities across the US will include sudden plot twists as well as new beginnings, as edges that had seemed solid liquify and become indistinguishable from the seas around them. That brings us to Charleston, South Carolina. Its geography is that of a small New York City. The city also has a history of racial immorality, often ignored by its contemporary boosters. About 40% of all the enslaved people who were forcibly brought to the US first stepped ashore there. Enslaved people were the basis of Charleston’s economy and development for 200 years, planting and harvesting the rice and extracting the indigo that the region exported, filling the marshy margins of the peninsula with trash, rubble and human waste. Today, its historic peninsula is a magnet for 7 million – mostly white – tourists a year. For its visitors, the peninsula’s bars, restaurants and luxury hotels are sites for carefree indulgence and relaxation. But these visitors are spending and drinking and shopping in a place with a baleful past that, by most objective measures, is living on borrowed time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Voices and Soul “… I cannot crawl into the tombs, and cannot explain why. How do you say: In my country they buried me alive for six months… ?” - Chris Abani ”Hanging in Egypt with Breyten Breytenbach” by Black Kos Poetry Editor, Justice Putnam The anti-apartheid, white South African poet, writer and painter, Breyten Breytenbach, was exiled after marrying a French national of Vietnamese descent while studying in Paris in the early '60's. The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act of 1949 and The Immorality Act of 1950 made it a criminal offense for a white person to have sexual relations with a person of a different race. He made a trip to South Africa in 1975, was discovered in the country, (it has been reported that the ANC betrayed him to the government because they didn't trust him), arrested and sentenced to seven years of imprisonment for High Treason. Massive international intervention ultimately secured his release in 1982, he returned to Paris and obtained French citizenship. Nigerian poet, novelist and musician, Chris Abani has a prescience that is almost uncanny. His first novel, Masters of the Board, about a neo-Nazi takeover of Nigeria earned him praise as "... (A)frica's answer to Frederick Forsyth." The government, though, believed the book to be a blueprint for an actual coup and sent the 18 year old Abani to prison in 1985. After serving six months, he was released, but he went on to perform in a guerilla theatre group which led to his arrest and imprisonment at the notorious Kiri Kiri prison. He was released again, but after writing his play Song of a Broken Flute, was arrested a third time, sentenced to death and sent to the Kalakuta Prison, where he was jailed with other political prisoners on death row. Languishing most of the time in solitary confinement, Abani was finally and fortunately released in 1991. He lived in exile in London until 1999, when he emigrated to the United States and taught for a time at UC Riverside in California. He is currently the Board of Trustees Professor of English at Northwestern University. There are stones even here worn into a malevolence by time gritting the teeth and tearing the eyes with the memory. Out in the desert, the wind is a sculptor working the ephemera of sand. Desperately editing steles to write the names of thousands of slaves who died to make Pharaoh great. It is a fool’s game. And we are like the blind musician at the hotel who tells us with a smile: I’ll see you later. The guard at the pyramid eyes me. Are you Egyptian? he demands, then searches my bag for a bomb. At the hotel they speak Arabic to me, don’t treat me like the white guests, and I guess, even here, with all the hindsight of history we haven’t learned to love ourselves. I cannot crawl into the tombs, and cannot explain why. How do you say: In my country they buried me alive for six months? And so you lie and tell yourself this is love. I am protecting the world from my rage. Rabab tells me: We know how to build graves here. I nod. I know. It is the same all over Africa. Do you have a knife? Do you have one? the guards at the museum ask Breyten and me, searching us. We call this on ourselves. We are clearly political criminals. I trace the glyphs chipped into stone. As a writer I am drawn to this. If I could I too would carve myself into eternity. Breyten watching me says: Don’t tell me you’ve found a spelling mistake in it! A line of miniature statues is placed into the tomb to serve the pharaoh. One for each day of the year. Four hundred. The overseers are a plus. I think even death will not ease the lot of the poor here. Statues: it seems the more I search the world for differences the more I find it all the same. Perhaps the Buddha was a jaded traveler too when he said we are all one. Mona argues about who should pay to see the mummies. It isn’t often I can treat a girl to a dead body, Breyten insists. A woman nearby tells her husand she can see dead bodies at work. Why pay? Do you think she works in a hospital? I ask. That or the U.S. State Department, Breyten agrees. From the top of Bab Zwelia, flat rooftops spread out like a conference of coffee tables. Broken walls, furniture, pots, litter the roofs like family secrets sunning themselves. Two white goats on a roof chew their way through the debris. On the Nile, Rabab sings in Arabic, tells me she wants to be Celine Dion. She is my sister calling me home to Egypt. Perhaps one day I will be ready. For now it is enough to know I can be at home here. - Chris Abani ”Hanging in Egypt with Breyten Breytenbach” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WELCOME TO THE TUESDAY PORCH [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/11/2162822/-Black-Kos-Two-Justins-for-Justice Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/