Category: World & Nation

“Fear is the tool that people use when they don’t really stand for anything. That is what they use,” said LaTosha Brown, the founder of Black Voters Matter, to a crowd of supporters outside a courthouse in Virginia in support of New York Attorney General Letitia James. After being indicted on “mortgage fraud” on Oct. 9, by a Trump Administration Department of Justice that has seen an endless carousel of sudden firings, replacements, and drama, James is defiant. Many legal observers predict that the charges against her will be dismissed.

“Democrats are going to take back control of the United States House of Representatives. It’s the reason why we see Republicans in full-blown panic right now,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries to reporters on Capitol Hill on Oct. 22. Democrats have been strategizing on redistricting strategy with leaders in Democratic states since Republicans in Texas. “We’ve never seen this level of extraordinary gerrymandering attempts take place across the country.

Carolyn Jean Cheeks Kilpatrick, an assertive advocate for Detroit and Black owned businesses, died on October 7 in Atlanta. She was 80. The former Congressman first won election to the U.S. Congress in 1996 and served until 2011 after losing a primary election in 2010 to former Congressman Hansen Clarke.

Democrats and Republicans are both pointing fingers, saying the shutdown is the other party’s fault. The government shutdown means that money has stopped flowing, and there is no continuing resolution to continue the funding for the government. Republicans are in charge of the House, Senate, and White House and do not want to open borders or focus on healthcare to expand the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

Lieutenant Colonel George E. Hardy, one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen to fly combat missions during World War II, has died in Sarasota, Florida. He was 100 years old.

“This is the worst I’ve felt about this country in years,” said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, standing on the House steps and talking about the state of play in the U.S.  “I can’t imagine anyone voting against this resolution,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) as members of the House, led by Republicans Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar, considered a resolution to honor Charlie Kirk. Kirk was murdered on September 10 during an outdoor appearance at Utah Valley University.

As news of the violent shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University soon became an announcement of his death, news of another mass shooting at Evergreen High School in Colorado also pushed into the news feeds.

“I refuse to pretend that any of this is normal,” said Governor JB Pritzker (D-II) over the weekend, referring to President Trump’s threat to send National Guard Troops to Chicago under what Pritzker called the “fake guise of fighting crime.” Large-scale protests with scores of demonstrators took to the streets in cities like Washington, D.C., and Chicago over the weekend in efforts to push back on Trump’s plans for National Guard troops in those cities.