Oct. 29, 2024

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - I was on a Black Women’s organizing call the other week, when one of the leaders challenged each of us to reach out to ten people to encourage them to vote.  I don’t know a soul in my close circle who does not vote, and I don’t seek out folk who proudly say they are not voters.  I do collide with a few from time to time, like when I was walking up the street one day when a brother, recognizing me, wanted to argue that voting was a waste of time.  I gave him five minutes (set my watch) and then moved on.  Most people I know are politically aware, political activists, civic and social justice activists and more.  Maybe my circle is too narrow, and I’m all right with it.

This column is not for those who “do the right thing”, vote despite their skepticism about our extremly flawed country and our equally flawed political system.  This column is for those who wonder about their votes and whether they make a difference. What’s at stake?  Every single election since I can remember – 1972 – we say that this is the “most important” election in our lifetimes”.  Tricky Dick Nixon had 61 percent of the popular vote and swept the Electoral College, winning every state except the District of Columbia and Massachusetts.  Nixon steamrolled the liberal McGovern.  Was it our most important election ever?  One can both argue that and also wonder how our nation might have evolved under a McGovern presidency.

I recall hearing the “most important election ever” every four years and while it sometimes reads as an exaggeration, sometimes it is more real than we would like to admit.  When the Supreme Court stole the 2000 election from then-Vice President Al Gore, that was a consequential election.  Did Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton concede too soon in her race against Mr. Trump?  To be debated, but many think so.  2020 was such a consequential election that the dark forces of Mr. Trump tried to overturn the government to steal the election.  Now he says he will pardon them if elected in 2024.

So in many ways this is a most consequential election.  What’s at stake?  Some think describing the 45^th President as a “threat to democracy” is extreme and untrue.  But Project 2025 shift our system from one with checks and balances to one with imperial power.  We have a robust civil service, that a President that adher3s to Project 2025 would shatter, in a system that would allow Presidential appointments to replace civil servants.  Black folks, especially Black women would lose from this shift.

All women, but especially Black women, lose when reproductive rights are restricted.  We are also when draconian policies eviscerate public assistance in the name of “welfare reform” and make even basic health benefits contingent on work.  We don’t have the infrastructure to require work, but we do have the ability to punish those who do not have jobs.

The Department of Education is on the Project 2025 chopping block, and its elimination would have a widen the achievement gap. Project 2025 would eliminate Head Start, one of our most demonstratively successful government programs.  It would eliminate Pell grants, which help hundreds of thousands of student from low and moderate income families to attend college.  It would eliminate race-specific programs and affirmative action, by outlawing programs that consider DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) in selection and allocation.  Indeed, project 2025 digs into the details of curriculum, regulating the ways subject matter is taught, including history, enslavement and other subjects.  Project 2025 would punish universities based on the way some subjects taught.  While Project 2025 purports to streamline government, instead it expands government by creating ideological regulators who would eliminate “left liberals” and “Marxists” from classrooms in elementary and secondary schools, and also in colleges and universities.

Contrasting the Project 2025/Agenda 47/Republican platform is to understand the redundancies of these closely related documents. Mr. Trump says that Agenda 47 reflects his positions, and he tries to distance himself from Project 2025, although more than 100 of his allies, associates, and former government appointees worked on it.  If you read these documents carefully, you’ll understand what’s at stake.

Dr. Julianne Malveaux is an economist and author.

Oct. 28, 2024

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - As owner of the Washington Post, one has to wonder if Jeff Bezos reads his own newspaper with any sense of appreciation or concern.

For the first time in over 30 years the Washington Post announced its editorial board will not endorse a candidate in the 2024 presidential election.  The Post has regularly endorsed presidential candidates since 1976 starting with Democrat Jimmy Carter.

As a nation we have a free press. As responsible journalists, newspapers have a professional obligation to state the facts and the truth to the public, but newspapers are also allowed to express their opinions. In addition, the owner of any newspaper has the right to weigh in on decisions made by its editorial board.

But this election cycle is different. This presidential election is unlike any from previous years. The surprising non-endorsement ignores the paper’s own factual reporting which, for years, outlined in specific details Donald Trump’s threat to the future of American democracy.

Politically, the Washington Post is a center left newspaper which is highly respected for its accuracy and direct presentation of events in this toxic environment of “fake news”. It has always fulfilled its role in sustaining democracy by being a reliable and consistent source of information.

The non-endorsement comes off as unfinished business. Similar to a court case, the newspaper endorsement would have served as the final argument presented to the jury of voters. By failing to provide a much needed summation, the silence resulting from a non-endorsement has become itself an endorsement.

The non-endorsement was a one man decision, according to a statement from the Washington Post Guild. It states, “According to our own reporters and Guild members, an endorsement for Harris was already drafted, and the decision not to publish was made by the Post’s owner, Jeff Bezos.” Columnist Karen Attiah wrote that “today has been an absolute stab in the back.”

Attiah is not alone in feeling betrayed. Readers of the paper also feel betrayed. The Post is already seeing subscription cancellations from loyal readers. Current and former staff members feel betrayed. Robert Kagan –a former advisor to Republican John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign, who last year warned that a ”Trump dictatorship is increasingly inevitable” resigned from his position as the Post’s editor at large in response to the paper’s decision.

Apparently, Jeff Bezos didn’t heed the warning. Michele Norris followed Kagan by also resigning as opinion columnist, a position she held since 2019.

After multi-billionaire dollar Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos bought The Washington Post in 2013, the Post’s news operation used its abundant resources to thoroughly investigate the danger of a second Trump presidency. “Democracy Dies in Darkness” became the newspaper’s official slogan in 2017.

It illustrates how good journalism is essential to democracy. When journalism is at its best, it helps citizens to hold those in power accountable, uncovers corruption and ensures transparency. If the press is silenced, democracy will suffer. Darkness represents ignorance, lack of knowledge and oppression. The phrase “Democracy Dies in Darkness” is a warning to us all. If people are kept in the dark, their ignorance could lead to oppression.

The press is the light that illuminates the darkness. It ensures that people are aware of what is going on around them and empowered to make necessary changes. The phrase acknowledges the fact that the free press is under threat from those in power who prefer to operate in the dark.

The Washington Post is making a powerful and defiant statement that they will not be intimidated or silenced while continuing to keep those with power accountable for their actions. Unfortunately, Jeff Bezos didn’t hold up to the test when submitting to the political and economic pressures. He may have turned a defiant statement of truth into harsh reality which is about to come true.

Amazon holds contracts with the government worth billions. Amazon and the space exploration company Blue Origin are among Bezos-owned businesses that still compete for lucrative federal government contracts. Executives from Bezos’ aerospace company met with Donald Trump on the same day the newspaper prevented its editorial team from publishing an endorsement for Kamala Harris.

A retired Washington Post metro reporter, Robert McCartney, wrote on social media that there is “speculation in the newsroom that owner Jeff Bezos may want to avoid risk of endangering Amazon’s government contracts if Trump wins.”

Regardless, of who wins or loses the election, the Washington Post, as a strong pillar in the free press, took a major credibility hit. The Washington Post reporters and editors who remain the light that illuminates the darkness may not be able to overcome its owner who places the business interest of Amazon and Blue Origin ahead of American democracy.

David W. Marshall, a columnist for the Trice Edney News Wire, is the founder of the faith-based organization, TRB: The Reconciled Body, and author of the book God Bless Our Divided America.

To Be Equal 
October 19, 2024

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - “The history of the United States is a story about the disenfranchisement of millions based on their Blackness. More than a hundred years of violent voter suppression, poll taxes, literacy tests, and gerrymandering have created a climate that is nothing shy of hostile towards Black men that choose to stand up and be a part of the electoral process.” – The Black Male Voter Project

In a presidential campaign that has been overwhelmingly centered on the issues of women’s reproductive rights, immigration, and taxation of the ultra-wealthy, it would be understandable if we – especially the younger ones among us -- didn’t feel the same sense of urgency about voting as other groups.

Former President Barack Obama last week drew criticism for pointing out, “we have not yet seen the same kinds of energy and turnout in all quarters of our neighborhoods and communities as we saw when I was running.”  But a poll released this week backed him up: only 64% of Black voters and 49% of voters under 34 are enthusiastic about the election. Compare that with 93% of Black voters and 83% of young voters who said they were enthusiastic when Obama first ran for the office in 2008.

But apathy is not what I’m seeing among the young Black men I’ve met as I travel the nation as part of the National Urban League’s Reclaim Your Vote initiative.  I see thoughtfulness. I see concern. I see pride.  And I do see some skepticism.

It’s not only fair, but imperative to wonder whether the candidates will live up to their promises. It’s fair to weigh their past actions against their words. That’s what it means to be a responsible citizen.

What’s neither fair nor responsible is to fall for misinformation or divisive rhetoric and to a let your voice be silenced.

Vice President Kamala Harris this week unveiled an economic agenda aimed at creating opportunity for Black men. It includes forgivable small business loans to boost entrepreneurship, job training and mentorship, and the legalization of marijuana with a focus on opportunities to succeed in the recreational marijuana industry.

Donald Trump has not issued a policy proposal aimed specifically at Black men. He has claimed that immigrants are taking Black jobs, and that his criminal indictments have boosted his appeal to Black men victimized by an unjust legal system.

The Vice President told the National Association of Black Journalists in September, “It’s very important to not operate from the assumption that Black men are in anybody’s pocket. Black men are like any other voting group: You gotta earn their vote.”

Speaking to the same group in July, Trump touted his support for opportunity zones and funding for HBCUs while suggesting the Vice President is not authentically Black.

As my fellow New Orleanian Wendell Pierce said in his own message to Black men, “Vote for what you want. Declare what your values are then go out and make the choice on that.”

August 11, 2024

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Vice President Kamala Harris has the vision, the intellect and the heart to lead a conversation about how to preserve American democracy. As a country, we are still struggling to make this “A more perfect union.” We are an incredibly unique and beautifully diverse nation, blessed in so many ways. However, our history of cultural cleavage and racial unrest still plagues us. At times, the ideological divide seems to be an unbridgeable chasm. There are those who would use political power to exploit our differences and undermine the very democratic institutions that have held us together as a nation.

So, America is at the crossroads. What we choose to do between now and election day will determine our destiny. Will we work hard to keep our democracy, or will we be seduced to accept authoritarian rule? Let there be no doubt about it: The choice is upon us, and we will have to live with the consequences of our collective decision for years to come.

As providence would have it, the American people are now being offered two very different candidates for president: one who is the embodiment of democratic norms, individual liberty and a respect for the rule of law. The other, a candidate who has not sought to hide his vision for America: a welcoming of authoritarian rule. He and his cohorts will work through a master plan (Project 2025) for gutting the federal bureaucracy with its system of meritocracy, replacing it with one that favors cronyism and dictatorial decision-making.

For an example of how Trumpism would fundamentally change the American political system (with its checks and balances), one need only to observe how he has already transformed the Supreme Court into a vehicle of his power-grabbing. In its recent ruling on presidential immunity, six of the justices, disregarding precedent, placed the president above the law. These political hacks - parading as jurists sitting on the highest court of the land – broke with 250 years of jurisprudence to give the president powers reserved for a king. So why did we fight the American Revolutionary War?

Donald Trump is working in concert with many others who are prepared to destabilize our sacred democracy in favor of a system that is anathema to what has made America the envy of the world: A system that celebrates the consent of the governed and the rule of law.

Yes, we are at a critical moment in American history not witnessed since the Civil War. The forces of retrenchment are highly organized, well-funded and prepared to do whatever is necessary to impose their minority will on the will of the majority. Donald Trump has publicly stated that he doesn’t need the votes. Is that so? Then, tell us, Mr. Trump, how do you intend to come back into power?

Thankfully, Vice President Kamala Harris has prepared herself for this moment in our nation’s history. Like Joan of Arc, she has donned her suit of armor and is prepared to confront the enemies of America’s democracy!  While she has announced her policy positions on a number of issues: favoring a women’s right to control her own body; protect the healthcare of millions of Americans; calling major businesses for a summit to discuss price gouging; continuing her decades-long fight for equality for all Americans; continuing to address global warming; and protecting her fellow Americans from the insane proliferation of senseless gun violence, she knows that this election is about more than a civil debate about policy differences. She knows that this election is about protecting our most cherished freedoms as Americans. 

We, the people, are being given the choice to continue our march towards a more perfect union, or to accept a new model of governance where some are considered above the law and the masses are subjugated to an injudicious system where revenge, retribution and cronyism are tolerated with impunity.  

I think it is interesting that when the American family has become so dysfunctional, a house divided again, that Almighty God would send us a leader who has shown herself to be a proven guardian of what we hold as sacred: Democracy buttressed by the rule of law.

Kamala Harris has been groomed for this moment of greatness.  She has walked through the burning sands of a determined opposition for years. She knows the road ahead will be filled with landmines and treachery. She knows hers is the herculean struggle to protect the soul of the country she loves. But she is ready to accept the challenges that lie before her and, yes, she is endowed with true grit.

I believe that those who have observed Harris prosecuting serious criminals, grilling unscrupulous public officials or consoling the families of children murdered by gun violence would agree with this characterization of Kamala Harris: (paraphrasing William Shakespeare) Her life is so gentle and the elements so mixed in her that nature might stand and say to all the world: This is a woman!

Yes, America, if we are willing to follow, Kamala Harris is ready to lead. And if we do, one day, history will record that America survived another existential threat to the republic because we, the people, were able to join in one grand chorus of “Hail to the Chief”. And that chief was President Kamala Harris.

Michael A Grant, J.D., president emeritus of the National Bankers Association and former assistant professor of political science at Morgan State University, is a contributor to the Trice Edney News Wire.