(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Black Kos Tuesday: It's all noise until proven otherwise [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-18 It's all noise until proven otherwise Commentary by Chitown Kev There are few genres of political reporting more thoroughly exhausted than the ‘’’Blacks are ready to switch from candidate/party ‘X’ to candidate party ‘Y’” genre that pops up every election cycle. Every once in a great while, this genre of political stories (usually backed by flawed or even not-so flawed polling data) has a story to tell but usually, all these stories do is set hair on fire— which can, frankly, sometimes, be a good thing ( after all, we wouldn’t want anyone taking the Black vote for granted!). Over time, I’ve come to rarely read stories in this particular genre. I also don’t pay all that much attention to many “hair on fire” comments that I see. For today, though, I made an exception and read Semafor’s Kadia Goba piece “ ‘They see strength’: The Black sports icons shaping Donald Trump’s take on race, politics, and masculinity” ...I set out to interview Trump about his apparent gains with Black men, a group of voters who some public polls show are more likely to consider backing him this year. Trump’s aides wouldn’t promise a meeting with the former president just yet — instead, they started setting up interviews with older athletes who are supporting his campaign. Not long after, I got a call from Mets and Yankees slugger Darryl Strawberry. That was the beginning of an odyssey through the heroes and villains of my childhood: Over the next few weeks, I chatted with heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, stood backstage at a Trump rally with retired NFL star Lawrence Taylor, and traveled to meet boxing promoter Don King in person. Eventually, I talked to Trump himself. Really? And what do Lawrence Taylor, Darryl Strawberry, Mike Tyson, and Don King have in common with the shoe salesman? We know. These men, now aged 57 to 92, would make unlikely spokespeople for almost any other candidate and they mostly aren’t known for their politics. But they do have a lot in common with Trump. They were household names at the same time as Trump’s New York heyday. They were frequently in the tabloids, often for the wrong reasons, and it took a push from the campaign to persuade some of them to talk to a strange reporter. Nearly all of them had faced serious legal issues, including several criminal convictions. [...] Taylor, who was plagued by off-field issues throughout his Hall-of-Fame playing career, pleaded guilty in 2011 to patronizing a 16-year-old prostitute. (He said he believed she was 19). Trump stood by Tyson in the 1990s while he was jailed on a rape charge that he denied (he also was hosting his fights, which required the boxer to be out of jail). In 2016, the then-chairman of the Republican National Committee, Reince Priebus reportedlyintervened to keep King off the 2016 convention stage because of his prior manslaughter conviction. “The party could not associate itself with someone convicted of a felony,” the New York Times noted at the time, which might as well have been a thousand years ago. To be completely fair, many of Trump’s white political associates ht ave criminal convictions as well, but what I really thought of when reading this article was a previous essay that I had written for Black Kos about Killer Mike and Joe Louis campaigning of Wendell Willkie in 1940. And Louis, at least, had the advantage of endorsing a candidate that was, arguably, more liberal on civil rights issues than FDR (who was a fan of Louis, himself). But still, Black folks told Joe Louis to go to hell with that Willkie shit. FDR got about 70-75% of the Black vote in 1940. Black people vote, primarily, based on civil rights issues and, sometimes, secondarily issues like the economy. We do not vote based on celebrity endorsement of a political candidate. I don’t think that Jackie Robinson moved any Black votes for Richard Nixon in 1960. I can only think of one Black celebrity that ever moved a lot of votes for a political candidate and that was Oprah Winfrey in 2008. And Oprah moved a cross-section of votes for Obama, not just Black votes. So the media, once again, is interpreting noise as being a true signal of something or another. And I don’t buy it and neither should you. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The title and wording of this study is just bad, as it’s not data driven. The Grio: A study says Black people believe ‘racial conspiracy theories.’ Given this country’s history, can you blame us? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A study from the Pew Research Center found that majorities of Black people believe in ‘racial conspiracy theories,’ specifically that American institutions are designed to hold them back. Pew defines “racial conspiracy theories” as “the suspicions that Black adults might have about the actions of U.S. institutions based on their personal and collective historical experiences with racial discrimination.” (After the study was published, Pew later added an editor’s note to its report stating that the study is under review, and using the term “racial conspiracy theories” was “not the best choice” to make. “Black Americans’ doubts about the fairness of U.S. institutions are accompanied by suspicion. How Black Americans think those institutions impact their ability to thrive is worthy of study, and that’s the purpose of this survey,” the Pew editor said.) According to Pew, Black people believe U.S. criminal justice, economic and political systems are conspiring against them. For example, a majority of Black adults say U.S. prisons (74%), the courts (70%), the political system (67%), the economic system (65%), news media (52%) and health care system (51%) are designed to hinder the progress of Black people. The study says that most Black people are aware of specific racial conspiracy theories — such as the idea that more Black people are incarcerated because prisons want to profit from Black bodies — and believe they are true. There is a long list of reasons why Black America should be critical and suspicious of American institutions and believe the system is set up against them. Where do we begin, and do you have the time? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Why is the search for the next big movie star so limited? Vox: Every Hollywood “it” boy is a white guy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The ’90s and early aughts are often referenced as the last movie-star era by film critics and cinephiles. Prior to Hollywood’s IP takeover, A-listers like George Clooney, Denzel Washington, and Tom Hanks could attract moviegoers solely based on their beauty, talent, charisma, and, in some cases, their personal lives. It didn’t matter whether the projects they starred in had particularly compelling plots or whether they gave A+ performances. In many cases, it was enough that audiences got to spend a couple of hours watching their favorite faces on a giant screen. In our current post-Marvel landscape, it’s become harder than ever to separate working actors from actual movie stars. (Before the consecutive box-office success of Wonka and Dune Part II, this has become a popular topic of debate regarding Chalamet.) One popular explanation for this phenomenon is that IPs have replaced “star vehicles.” Iconic superheroes, toys, and resurrected characters from previous franchises are becoming the main draw for audiences rather than the famous people playing them. “There’s an argument that the system doesn’t create Chris Evans the star,” says Vulture TV critic Roxana Hadadi, who also covers film. “It creates Chris Evans as Captain America, and people want to see Captain America.” Looking at Evans’ post-Captain America filmography, this feels accurate. Aside from 2019’s Knives Out — in which he was one piece of a large ensemble — most of his non-Marvel ventures have fallen under the radar. Hadadi also notes Thor star Chris Hemsworth and the latest Spider-Man Tom Holland as two actors whose career paths outside the MCU “just haven’t hit the same way.” On the flipside, Marvel was helping a few actors become stars during its height in the 2010s — specifically, Black actors. In 2018, Black Panther elevated the late Chadwick Boseman from a man in biopics to a household name. Boseman’s co-star Winston Duke would go on to lead another huge studio film, Jordan Peele’s Us. And Michael B. Jordan as Killmonger was arguably the performance that cemented him as a bona fide movie star, following the success of Creed. The enthusiasm around Black Panther seemed like an indication of where Hollywood was going in the mid- and late 2010s. Following the #OscarsSoWhite campaign in 2015, industry organizations pledged to make efforts toward racial equity. These calls for inclusion mainly resulted in the Academy of Motion Pictures diversifying its voting body. In 2023, the organization also announced representation and inclusion standards, which drew some public criticism for its bare minimum requirements. Although it focused on women in the industry as a response to the #MeToo movement, the Time’s Up campaign in 2018 also played a role in making diversity and inclusion a large talking point. By 2017, the Obama-era sentiment “representation matters” had become a popular rallying cry online and a subject of acceptance speeches. On a surface level, Hollywood was also beginning to look a lot different, with some of the buzziest movies starring men of color. It seemed like we would no longer have to rely on aging veterans like Washington, Jamie Foxx, and Will Smith to lead blockbusters. In 2016, the Oscar-winning film Moonlight highlighted the talents of Trevante Rhodes, Andre Holland, Jharrel Jerome, and already familiar face Mahershala Ali. And in 2017, former Skins actor Daniel Kaluuya made his first film-acting triumph in Jordan Peele’s Get Out. The same year, Crazy Rich Asians made Henry Golding the rare Asian romantic lead in a studio film, and comedian Kumail Nanjiani starred in The Big Sick. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The first archaeological dig of São Tomé and Príncipe’s largest sugar mill sheds light on the birth of plantation agriculture and slavery as a racial system. The Guardian: White gold, Black bodies: How a tiny African nation shaped the world ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Everyone always says that people died there and that it’s haunted,” said Da Encarnação, 24, who studies business at the University of São Tomé and Príncipe. “There were slaves there, and so people believe that the colonists brutally killed the slaves and their spirits remained, wandering around the place.” Some neighbors avoid the site. Others visit to pick mangoes in the middle of the night from surrounding trees; youngsters sometimes prank the foragers, drifting through the grounds while dressed in ghostly white or black. , a two-island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, almost five centuries after the island’s “discovery” by Europeans. The former agricultural complex is now the site of the first archaeological excavation to take place in São Tomé and Príncipe , a two-island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, almost five centuries after the island’s “discovery” by Europeans. The ruins played a pivotal role in the origin of plantation slavery and the rise of race-based slavery. That’s exactly what Portuguese historical archaeologist M Dores Cruz is hoping to illuminate by excavating the Praia Melão complex next to Da Encarnação’s home. It was once the country’s largest sugar mill and operated as a farm for nearly 400 years. “What is not recognized is how fundamental what happened in São Tomé and Príncipe in the 16th and 17th century is in shaping the plantation system in Brazil and the Caribbean,” said Cruz, who specializes in African archaeology at the University of Cologne in Germany. The sugar economy in São Tomé and Príncipe was critical to the construction of a modern world built on Black bondage. As Cruz put it, it’s the “first time that you have slaves who were enslaved Africans. It’s the beginning of the concept of slaves being Black,” though slavery itself is an age-old practice. The archipelago nation of São Tomé and Príncipe is near the equator, geographically almost the center of the world. For a brief moment in time, the two tiny islands were at the literal center of the emerging transatlantic slave trade. But the island’s remote location off Gabon’s coast and low population (just over 230,000 people) have obscured the nation’s significance in creating a new world order. When Portuguese mariners arrived in the 1470s, they found the twin islands with no humans, but teeming with giant lizards, lush forests and rushing streams. Claiming the islands for their empire, the Portuguese saw the potential to grow the sugar business they’d stewarded elsewhere. “They had lots of wood. They had lots of water. The only thing they didn’t have was the people to produce it because [sugar cultivation] is very labor-intensive,” said Cruz. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unreliable grids and falling costs are persuading companies to go off-grid, The Economist: Private firms are driving a revolution in solar power in Africa ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ African poverty is partly a consequence of energy poverty. In every other continent the vast majority of people have access to electricity. In Africa 600m people, 43% of the total, cannot readily light their homes or charge their phones. And those who nominally have grid electricity find it as reliable as a Scottish summer. More than three-quarters of African firms experience outages; two-fifths say electricity is the main constraint on their business. If other sub-Saharan African countries had enjoyed power as reliable as South Africa’s from 1995 to 2007, then the continent’s rate of real gdp growth per person would have been two percentage points higher, more than doubling the actual rate, according to one academic paper. Since then South Africa has also had erratic electricity. So-called “load-shedding” is probably the main reason why the economy has shrunk in four of the past eight quarters. Solar power is increasingly seen as the solution. Last year Africa installed a record amount of photovoltaic (pv) capacity (though this still made up just 1% of the total added worldwide), notes the African Solar Industry Association (afsia), a trade group. Globally most solar pv is built by utilities, but in Africa 65% of new capacity over the past two years has come from large firms contracting directly with developers. These deals are part of a decentralised revolution that could be of huge benefit to African economies. African poverty is partly a consequence of energy poverty. In every other continent the vast majority of people have access to electricity. In Africa 600m people, 43% of the total, cannot readily light their homes or charge their phones. And those who nominally have grid electricity find it as reliable as a Scottish summer. More than three-quarters of African firms experience outages; two-fifths say electricity is the main constraint on their business. If other sub-Saharan African countries had enjoyed power as reliable as South Africa’s from 1995 to 2007, then the continent’s rate of real gdp growth per person would have been two percentage points higher, more than doubling the actual rate, according to one academic paper. Since then South Africa has also had erratic electricity. So-called “load-shedding” is probably the main reason why the economy has shrunk in four of the past eight quarters. Solar power is increasingly seen as the solution. Last year Africa installed a record amount of photovoltaic (pv) capacity (though this still made up just 1% of the total added worldwide), notes the African Solar Industry Association (afsia), a trade group. Globally most solar pv is built by utilities, but in Africa 65% of new capacity over the past two years has come from large firms contracting directly with developers. These deals are part of a decentralised revolution that could be of huge benefit to African economies. Ground zero for the revolution is South Africa. Last year saw a record number of blackouts imposed by Eskom, the state-run utility, whose dysfunctional coal-fired power stations regularly break down or operate at far below capacity. Fortunately, as load-shedding was peaking, the costs of solar systems were plummeting. Between 2019 and 2023 the cost of panels fell by 15%, having already declined by almost 90% in the 2010s. Meanwhile battery storage systems now cost about half as much as five years ago. Industrial users pay 20-40% less per unit when buying electricity from private project developers than on the cheapest Eskom tariff. In the past two calendar years the amount of solar capacity in South Africa rose from 2.8gw to 7.8gw, notes afsia, excluding that installed on the roofs of suburban homes. All together South Africa’s solar capacity could now be almost a fifth of that of Eskom’s coal-fired power stations (albeit those still have a higher “capacity factor”, or ability to produce electricity around the clock). The growth of solar is a key reason why there has been less load-shedding in 2024. Other Africans often point out that they have had load-shedding for much longer than South Africans. About half of African firms rely on diesel generators; in Nigeria their capacity is almost four times what the grid can reliably supply. But change is afoot: nearly two-thirds of mines in sub-Saharan Africa produce renewable energy or are in the process of installing renewables. In Nigeria, the phasing out of petrol subsidies last year accelerated a shift to cleaner energy. In a symbolic acquisition in 2022, Shell, an oil giant present in Nigeria since 1937, bought Daystar Power, a startup that has provided solar-power systems to many large domestic businesses. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WELCOME TO THE TUESDAY PORCH [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/18/2247008/-Black-Kos-Tuesday-It-s-all-noise-until-proven-otherwise?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web 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/