Greed gone wild
President Donald Trump’s administration recently said that it will partially fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) after two judges issued rulings requiring it to keep the nation’s largest food aid program running. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees SNAP, said it could no longer keep funding it during the federal government shutdown, but will now utilize the government’s “emergency fund” to keep SNAP semi-alive. But Trump and crew aren’t using “emergency” cash to fund their own stuff. They’re using our tax dollars earmarked for stuff that “We the People” need via an official U.S. Budget, but now redirected to feed the greed and ego of one person and his cronies. They’re paying 1) roughly $842 million per month to keep ICE agents on the streets, terrorizing and disappearing folk; 2) $300 million for a White House ballroom no one voted for; 3) between $400 million and $1 billion to ice out Trump’s jet, a “gift” from Qatar, 4) and cost figures not released to the general public to fund the demolition of the White House’s East Wing and Trump’s “Roaring 20s” Halloween party celebrating the era when greed of the U.S. super-wealthy led to the Great Depression. Not only that, POTUS is suing the U.S. government, demanding the DOJ pay him $230 million for investigating him for illegally withholding government documents. That’s billions of our tax dollars that are supposed to go towards education, healthcare, infrastructure improvements, etc., being redirected to feed one megalomaniac’s ego. And all while the $8 billion per month SNAP costs to feed one in every eight Americans supposedly has “run out.” And the price of groceries hasn’t gone down yet.
Big city mayor fights for the people
I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but the mayor of one of the nation’s biggest cities is fighting daily for citizens, democracy, and humanity. Chicago’s Mayor Brandon Johnson has stood his ground against all manner of attacks and threats from the federal government. And each time, he (or his office) has shared his classic clapbacks with the world via social media. Brotherman is continuing to oversee that city’s lowest crime rates in generations. He’s standing on the law and the U.S. Constitution in protecting immigrants with asylum. He’s calling on corporations that make billions off his city’s residents to increase their investments in programs to fund youth job opportunities. And Johnson’s standing on spiritual principles in terms of his outrage at the inhumane attacks the federal government and its officials continue to hurl at him and his city. Yes, we’re in Houston, 1,084 miles away from Chicago. But no amount of distance should keep us from celebrating Black people making a name for themselves for standing up for human decency rather than “bending the knee” to inhumane treatment and policies.
The AI monster attacks Black women
For all the good AI provides, multiple people have for years warned that it could and would be used in nefarious ways to fictitiously show people doing all manner of activities (illegal and otherwise), to sway the court of public opinion, and potentially get the wrong people arrested and/or “un-alived.” Most recently, Black America is up in arms at AI-produced videos depicting Black women in the most derogatory and stereotypical ways possible, cussing out state employees over the loss of SNAP benefits. “What the hell you mean you can’t reload my EBT card?” the fake Black woman yells at the employee. “I got six kids. How am I finna pay for their Happy Meal? Dead ass.” This new-age character assassination, selling the general public (and the world) on the worst possible versions of Black women and Black people, is nothing new. America has always done this. We must never forget that one of the most famous movies this country has ever made (Birth of a Nation, the first movie screened at the White House by a sitting president… Woodrow Wilson) depicted Black people as ignorant savages hellbent on sexually abusing white women, and the KKK as America’s saviors. We must be on guard not to spread this nonsense. Check social media posts two, three, 10 times to verify authenticity, so you’re not contributing to the degradation of our people.
On the web
- Does marriage, children complete a woman?
- Five Houston artists make moves toward stardom.
- Tre Clewis fuels Fulshear’s high-powered offense.
