The governor’s latest step is a way to boost low vaccination rates in areas where the virus has been foundNew York’s governor, Kathy Hochul, declared a disaster emergency on Friday and said the state was stepping up its polio-fighting efforts after the virus was detected in the wastewater of yet another county in the New York City area.Health officials began checking for signs of the virus in sewage water after the first case of polio in the US in nearly a decade was identified in July in Rockland county, close to the city. Continue reading...
Polish world No 1 has won a slam and all her six finals in 2022 while Tunisian wants to make up for losing Wimbledon finalThe two best players in the world will face off in the final of the last grand slam tournament of the year. It is not a situation that has occurred much in the past few years of women’s tennis, but it is the defining narrative of the US Open final as Iga Swiatek and Ons Jabeur stare each other down on Saturday.With just a few notable exceptions – Ashleigh Barty for a year and Naomi Osaka on hard courts for a short period – in recent years women’s tennis has been characterised by its openness. Seemingly anyone has been able to win on any given day, few players able to maintain their form for long. The last major final of the year, however, pits the No 1 and the No 2 in the WTA race against each other in what could well be a new rivalry in the sport. Continue reading...
Over the past 71 years, the Queen visited America as both a princess and queen, and met more US presidents than any other head of state, according to the White House Continue reading...
Court ‘not the appropriate forum’ for former president’s complaint that Democrats unfairly linked his winning campaign to RussiaA US judge has dismissed Donald Trump’s lawsuit against his 2016 rival Hillary Clinton, saying the former Republican president’s allegations that Democrats tried to rig that election by linking his campaign to Russia was an attempt to “flaunt” political grievances that did not belong in court.In throwing out Trump’s lawsuit on Thursday night, judge Donald Middlebrooks of the US district court for the southern district of Florida said the lawsuit was not seeking “redress for any legal harm” and that the court was “not the appropriate forum” for the former president’s complaints. Continue reading...
Opposition by quintet means Republicans lack votes in upper chamber to end filibuster, with bill heading back to state houseFive Republicans in South Carolina’s state senate have joined the Democratic minority to reject a near-total abortion ban, thwarting the controlling party’s intention to capitalize on the supreme court’s decision to overturn federal protections for the procedure.Their opposition at a special session called on Thursday to approve a restrictive bill passed earlier in the South Carolina House meant Republicans lacked enough votes in the upper chamber, which they control 30-16, to end a filibuster. Continue reading...
Biden has repeatedly hammered the theme of Republican extremism in recent weeks as midterm elections loomDemocrats are trying to defy history in November. Since 1932, there have only been two midterm elections – in 1998 and 2002 – when the president’s party gained seats in the House of Representatives. Democrats hope that the pattern will be broken for a third time.While midterms are generally viewed as a referendum on the sitting president and his party, Biden and other Democratic leaders have instead sought to reframe the upcoming elections as a test of American democracy itself. Democrats believe that, if Americans view the elections as a choice between extremists threatening their fundamental rights and candidates seeking to protect those vulnerable freedoms, then the party may be able to maintain their congressional majorities. In Democrats’ view, a historic election calls for a history-defying result.This article was amended on 9 September 2022 to correct a quote by Joe Biden. Continue reading...
Judge’s special master ruling bars prosecutors from reviewing seized records as part of criminal investigationThe US justice department and the legal team of Donald Trump were due on Friday to jointly file a list of possible candidates to serve as a “special master” to review the records seized by the FBI from the former president’s home.US district judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee in Florida, granted Trump’s request for a special master earlier in the week. Her order temporarily bars prosecutors from reviewing the seized records as part of their criminal investigation. Continue reading...
In the end, Maga is nothing but a scam with hate in its heart and other people’s money in its pocketsBy all appearances, Steve Bannon likes to think that he represents the soul of the Maga movement. He sees himself as a tireless champion of the common man, fighting their battles against America’s corrupt elites. It’s not for nothing that his radio show is called War Room and carried by the Real America’s Voice network. But just like everybody else who has worked closely with Donald Trump, Bannon is either delusional or trying to delude. He’s not the everyman – he’s the corrupt elite.This was driven home once again on Thursday, when Bannon surrendered himself to New York prosecutors to face charges of defrauding donors to We Build the Wall, a non-profit organization that raised over $25m to build a wall to keep immigrants from crossing America’s southern border. Although donors to the group were assured that 100% of their money would be used on construction, large sums were siphoned into the pockets of those running the group. And who as chairman of the board allegedly took the greatest sum of all? None other than Steve Bannon.Andrew Gawthorpe is a historian of the United States and host of the podcast America Explained Continue reading...
A child welfare investigation drove us from our conservative state. Little did we know that rightwing governors across America would soon be embracing this kind of persecutionOne autumn day in 2011, an investigator from our state’s department of children and families knocked on our door. At the time we lived in a conservative state in the American south. Someone had made an anonymous complaint accusing us of child abuse for allowing our child to have a girlhood. A lawyer told us that, in this state with decades of Republican-appointed judges, we were at risk of losing custody of our transgender daughter.The investigator’s visit felt like a bizarre clerical error; our four kids were thriving and we were well-liked in our community. The investigator ultimately found us to be good parents doing what was best for our child. However, it had become urgently clear that we would have to leave the deep south and move to a place where our youngest daughter, who had recently transitioned to she/her pronouns and a nickname, would have basic rights to equal education, housing, healthcare and, as she grew up, employment.Carolyn Hays is an award-winning, critically acclaimed, bestselling author. She is the author of A Girlhood: Letter to My Transgender Daughter, which she has written under a pseudonym Continue reading...
Death brings end to Britain’s second Elizabethan era and heralds reign of King Charles III. Plus, rural Virginia pivots from coal to green jobsGood morning.Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-serving monarch in British history, has died aged 96, drawing to a close the country’s second Elizabethan era and heralding the reign of her son, King Charles III.How did Joe Biden pay tribute? In a statement issued jointly with the first lady, Jill Biden, the president said: “Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, was more than a monarch. She defined an era.” Tributes have also poured in from former leaders.How have people reacted to the news? From the UK to the Commonwealth and beyond, admirers of the Queen have paid their respects to the longest reigning monarch in British history while crowds gathered at royal residences.What happens now? The UK now enters a period of official mourning which will last for 10 days. Elizabeth II will be accorded a state funeral at Westminster Abbey, expected to be held on Monday 19 September though that has not yet been confirmed.What else is happening? Top former Trump strategist Steve Bannon has been charged in New York with money laundering, conspiracy and scheme to defraud. The former Trump adviser surrendered to authorities in Manhattan on Thursday. Continue reading...
As one of the most brutal September heat events dragged on, the red numbers climbed ever higherCalifornia this week endured one of its longest and most intense September heatwaves, smashing temperature records up and down the state.Since 1 September, more than a dozen cities across the state set new all-time highs, with numerous others tying previous records or setting new monthly records. Thermometers in Sacramento, California, recorded a stunning 116F (47C) on Tuesday. Continue reading...
Visual effects workers enduring long hours and low pay look to secure the same protections as film industry colleaguesVisual effects are increasingly relied upon in the entertainment industry with the explosion of content through streaming services, but the people behind this work have reported poor working conditions, including long hours without overtime, low pay, a lack of benefits, intense workloads and productivity demands.Visual effects (VFX) workers are currently pushing to unionize with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE ), which currently represents over 150,000 workers in arts, media and entertainment. Continue reading...
Bannon joins the ranks of several Trump allies to be recently prosecuted by the Manhattan district attorney’s officeWhen the far-right firebrand Steve Bannon was hit with fresh fraud charges for an alleged border wall fundraising scheme, he joined the ranks of several close Donald Trump cronies recently prosecuted by the Manhattan district attorney’s office.In 2019, then district attorney Cyrus Vance Jr brought mortgage fraud charges against Paul Manafort, Trump’s 2016 campaign chairman. And in 2021, the current district attorney, Alvin Bragg, charged the former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg with fraud, and Ken Kurson with felony cyberstalking, in separate cases. Continue reading...
The Green Bay Packers quarterback offers a reconciliation of sorts for the rival camps of a sport torn between conservatives and progressivesIn late July, as NFL players across the country were dragging their battered bodies back to pre-season camp, the Green Bay Packers posted a slow-motion video of Aaron Rodgers on social media. “Let’s do this,” the caption read, while the quarterback, dressed in a wife beater tucked into a pair of relaxed fit denim jeans, hair swept back, facial scruff untamed, strode purposefully across a parking lot. The clip was, of course, a tribute to Nicolas Cage’s performance in 1997 action classic Con Air. A few weeks later, Rodgers revealed that he had been sent a bust of Cage’s head. The bust now sits in Rodgers’s locker, next to his shoulder pads, calmly looking on as the NFL’s reigning MVP goes about the torrid business of trying to turn himself into a figure of cross-cultural significance.Is Rodgers America’s most interesting athlete, or its most annoying? For much of the 38-year-old’s career in the NFL – now entering its 18th season – the question did not even present itself. Quarterbacks are the focal point of every football team, usually the only players with the star power to transcend the sport. But even as he rose to prominence around a decade ago, leading the Packers to the Super Bowl in 2011 and nabbing two league MVP awards in 2011 and 2014, Rodgers remained an extremely talented but mostly unremarkable fixture of the American sporting scene. If he was seen as anything away from the field, it was as something of a social activist. He went on the record with his support for The Enough Project, a nonprofit raising awareness about the use of conflict minerals in cellphone batteries. He traveled to India with the Starkey Hearing Foundation to fit hearing aids on deaf children, taking a detour to see the Dalai Lama. And in 2015, after a fan broke a minute’s silence at a Packers game held out of respect for victims of the Paris terrorist attacks with the cry “Muslims suck!”, Rodgers used his post-game press conference to eloquently admonish the fan: “It’s that kind of prejudicial ideology that I think puts us in the position that we’re in today, as a world,” he said. Continue reading...
Analysis of ‘amicus briefs’ shows how closely Clarence Thomas’s wife was entwined with rightwing effort to reverse 1973 rulingGinni Thomas, the self-styled “culture warrior” and extreme rightwing activist, has links to more than half of the anti-abortion groups and individuals who lobbied her husband Clarence Thomas and his fellow US supreme court justices ahead of their historic decision to eradicate a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy.A new analysis of the written legal arguments, or “amicus briefs”, used to lobby the justices as they deliberated over abortion underlines the extent to which Clarence Thomas’s wife was intertwined with this vast pressure campaign. Continue reading...
Gabriel Debenedetti, author of book on Biden’s relationship with Obama, reports call on night of 2018 midtermsOn the night of the 2018 midterm elections, as a wave of anti-Trump sentiment swept Democrats to take control of the House, top Republican Mitt Romney urged Joe Biden to run for president.“You have to run,” said Romney, the Republican presidential nominee Biden and Barack Obama defeated in 2012, speaking to the former vice-president by phone. Continue reading...
Those who don’t die from the floods risk death by starvation – yet you’ve probably heard little about the devastationToday, Pakistan, the world’s fifth-most-populous country, is fighting for its survival. This summer, erratic monsoon rains battered the country from north to south – Sindh, the southernmost province, received 464% more rain over the last few weeks than the thirty-year average for the period.At the same time, Pakistan’s glaciers are melting at a rate never seen before. These two consequences of the climate crisis have combined to create a monstrous super-flood that has ravaged the country. Continue reading...
A record heatwave added stress to the electrical grid and made firefighting difficult. Now a hurricane could bring flash floodsA collision of extreme weather events is bearing down on California as wildfires threaten communities, a record-setting heatwave is adding stress to the electrical grid, and moisture from a hurricane is expected to bring thunderstorms and flash floods.Hurricane Kay, swirling off the coast of Mexico, is on its way north, bringing with it the chance of strong winds, severe rainstorms, and possibly dry lightning that could increase risks for new fire starts. It also could bring some welcome relief to the week of brutally hot weather. Continue reading...
Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, had granted a request for an independent figure to review records from Mar-a-LagoThe US justice department has demanded that a federal judge restore its access to documents seized from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort that carried classification markings, saying that if not, it would appeal to a higher court.The demands came in a three-page notice of appeal filed by the justice department on Thursday in the case involving Trump’s request for a so-called special master, and paves the way for the government to submit a detailed appeals brief to the US court of appeals for the 11th circuit. Continue reading...
'So that [the Queen's death] has been confirmed?' the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, said on hearing the news of the death of Queen Elizabeth. Jean-Pierre was discussing the Inflation Reduction Act when journalists interrupted to confirm the Queen's death. Queen Elizabeth, Britain's longest-reigning monarch and the nation's figurehead for seven decades, has died aged 96, Buckingham Palace said on Thursday. 'I don't want to get ahead of what the president is going to say. I want him to, for you all to hear from him first'
Number marks 4% increase since last count, in January 2020, but is believed to be an undercountLos Angeles has experienced a 4% increase in its homeless population during the pandemic, with 69,144 unhoused people counted across the county this year, according to government data released on Thursday.The Los Angeles homeless services authority (Lahsa), which conducted the count in February 2022 after skipping a year during the pandemic, said the growth of the unhoused population had slowed in the last two years, in part due to pandemic programs and funding. The previous count, conducted in January 2020, showed a 13% jump from 2019. Continue reading...
Condolences and prayers poured in from across the country to honor the longest-serving British monarchCondolences and prayers for Queen Elizabeth II poured in from across the United States following her death on Thursday.Joe Biden, the US president, said the Queen was “more than a monarch. She defined an era”. In his tribute, posted to the White House website, Biden called her “a stateswoman of unmatched dignity and constancy who deepened the bedrock alliance between the United Kingdom and the United States”:In a world of constant change, she was a steadying presence and a source of comfort and pride for generations of Britons, including many who have never known their country without her. An enduring admiration for Queen Elizabeth II united people across the Commonwealth. The seven decades of her history-making reign bore witness to an age of unprecedented human advancement and the forward march of human dignity.She was the first British monarch to whom people all around the world could feel a personal and immediate connection – whether they heard her on the radio as a young princess speaking to the children of the United Kingdom, or gathered around their televisions for her coronation, or watched her final Christmas speech or her platinum jubilee on their phones. And she, in turn, dedicated her whole life to their service.Queen Elizabeth II was a stateswoman of unmatched dignity and constancy who deepened the bedrock alliance between the United Kingdom and the United States. She helped make our relationship special.We first met the Queen in 1982, traveling to the UK as part of a senate delegation. And we were honored that she extended her hospitality to us in June 2021 during our first overseas trip as president and first lady, where she charmed us with her wit, moved us with her kindness and generously shared with us her wisdom.All told, she met 14 American presidents. She helped Americans commemorate both the anniversary of the founding of Jamestown and the bicentennial of our independence. And she stood in solidarity with the United States during our darkest days after 9/11, when she poignantly reminded us that ‘Grief is the price we pay for love.’ Continue reading...
Former Trump adviser surrendered to authorities in Manhattan in connection with fundraising scheme for US-Mexico border wallTop former Trump strategist Steve Bannon has been charged in New York with money laundering, conspiracy and scheme to defraud in connection with his role in a fundraising effort to privately underwrite the construction of the US-Mexico border wall, according to the indictment unsealed on Thursday.The indictment includes two counts of money laundering in the second degree and conspiracy in the fourth degree. Bannon surrendered himself to the Manhattan district attorney’s office after being told in recent days that charges were imminent, sources familiar with the matter said. Continue reading...
Her majesty was a source of stability as the country underwent epochal changes at home and in the worldNews of Queen Elizabeth’s death was not wholly unexpected. She lived to the great age of 96. After enjoying markedly good health for so long, the oldest monarch in British history had recently appeared more fragile. She had understandably become a more private woman since the death of Prince Philip last year and had been less publicly visible, undertaking lighter duties. All of us knew that this moment was approaching.It arrives nevertheless as a national shock, but also as a shared moment of reflection, and as the start of a new and unwritten chapter for the British monarchy and the country itself. The Queen’s death brings personal loss for those close to her, and she had also been a constant presence in millions of lives. The longest monarchical reign in British history, stretching more than 70 years, is over. But the record book is less important than the widely shared sense of what has now slipped away, never to return. Continue reading...
She was an emblem of the nation for so long that millions of Britons measured their lives against hers and her familyThe grief is genuine. The admiration for the woman who has been an emblem of a nation for so many decades is deeply sincere. There will be appreciation for the great care she took in such a fractious age not to take a side, express a view or add to the rifts that sharply divide the country. Every nation needs a figurehead; and, however perverse the sheer randomness of being born into that role, she did it with remarkable skill and dignity.How fitting that she should die just after performing her final and most important constitutional role, appointing a prime minister (her 15th). How glad many will be that she lived to see the last hurrah of her platinum jubilee. There’s no tragedy in the death of 96-year-old who kept going to the very last. Isn’t that the way we all wish to go?Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Texas and Arizona leaders have sent thousands of refugees to the US capital to register anger over Biden’s border policyThe mayor of Washington DC declared a 15-day public emergency on Thursday over the buses of migrants and refugees being sent to the city by the Republican governors from the border states of Arizona and Texas.Muriel Bowser announced plans to create an office of migrant affairs to coordinate the “humanitarian crisis” instigated by Republicans, and which appears to be aimed at embarrassing Joe Biden’s administration in the run-up to the midterms. Continue reading...
The 19-year-old paired his athleticism and shotmaking to outlast Jannik Sinner and fill several highlight reelsAs Carlos Alcaraz sat down in the early hours of Thursday morning, time was running out and he knew it. In his short career, the 19-year-old has established a reputation for taking defeats with perspective and a smile on his face, but this time he had nothing. He had generated enough chances to win in straight sets and he had mostly played incredibly well, but never when it really mattered. He found himself down 4-3 in the fourth set to Jannik Sinner, two games from defeat.His composure momentarily gone, Alcaraz spent the entire change of ends ranting towards his distinguished coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, about the one weakness that had handcuffed him all night: “Where do I serve to? I don’t know how to serve,” he shouted. Ferrero did not respond. Continue reading...
Ex-mayor derailed ‘train wreck’ dinner with clients and colleagues, then was later considered for secretary of stateAt a law firm dinner in New York in May 2016, an “unhinged” Rudy Giuliani, then Donald Trump’s suggested pick to head a commission on “radical Islamic terrorism”, behaved in a drunken and Islamophobic manner, horrifying clients and attorneys alike.According to a new book by Geoffrey Berman, a former US attorney for the southern district of New York (SDNY), at one point Giuliani turned to a Jewish man “wearing a yarmulke [who] had ordered a kosher meal” and, under the impression the man was a Muslim, said: “I’m sorry to have tell you this, but the founder of your religion is a murderer.” Continue reading...
The teenager’s quarter-final ended at 2.50am on Thursday. Does the timetable at Flushing Meadows need to change?In yet another late-night epic that concluded just short of 3am on Thursday, Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the semi-finals of the US Open with a thrilling five-set comeback victory over another young star, Jannik Sinner. It was a match full of abrupt momentum shifts, remarkable shot-making, stellar sportsmanship and an extraordinary high level of energy that those in attendance were lucky to be part of.But for many millions of American tennis fans watching on the east coast – and west coast for that matter – the riveting conclusion came too late for their tired eyes. With a return to school and work for many, after enjoying the last fleeting days of summer, it was too tough an ask of fans to stay up well past midnight yet again. And that’s not to mention those who stayed to watch in the stadium, some of whom had to navigate New York’s public transport system in the early hours of the morning, which is never an enticing prospect. Continue reading...
Judge will allow the youth organization to exit Chapter 11 and settle decades of claims by more than 80,000 menThe Boy Scouts of America secured approval of a $2.46bn reorganization plan from a bankruptcy judge on Thursday that will allow the youth organization to exit Chapter 11 and settle decades of claims by more than 80,000 men who say they were abused as children by troop leaders.US bankruptcy judge Laurie Selber Silverstein in Wilmington, Delaware, signed off on the restructuring proposal after the Boy Scouts made changes to address her previous ruling that had rejected portions of the settlement. Continue reading...
Florida district voted 8-1 against a measure that would have seen 12th-graders learning about key supreme court LGBTQ decisionsThe Miami-Dade school board overwhelming decided against recognizing October as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer History month, which included a measure to teach 12th-graders about two supreme court cases affecting the LGBTQ community.Parents, teachers and students spoke for more than three hours on Wednesday, with one group citing indoctrination of students and the other speaking about how Nazis ostracized gays and lesbians with a pink triangle. The board then voted 8-1 against the measure, which was proffered by board member Lucia Baez Geller. Continue reading...
by Abené Clayton, Nina Lakhani and agencies on (#63CM5)
Suspect Ezekiel Kelly held after four killed and three injured in multiple shootingFour people were killed and three wounded after a 19-year-old man went on a shooting spree in Memphis, Tennessee, on Wednesday.The alleged gunman, Ezekiel Kelly, was apprehended after a frantic manhunt that effectively shut down the city, and the teenager is expected to face multiple felony charges when he appears in court. Continue reading...
Investigation into Killian Ryan uncovers violent and racist remarks on social media and ties to white supremacist groupsA former paratrooper who enlisted in the army to become more proficient at killing Black people was given top security clearance despite ties to white supremacist organizations and Nazi ideology.Killian Ryan was arrested on 26 August and charged with making a false statement on his army application for the secret security clearance, and then discharged on the same day for multiple drink-driving violations. Continue reading...
SKKY Partners venture with Carlyle veteran Jay Sammons will focus on consumer items, media and luxuryKim Kardashian has ventured into the world of finance, launching her own private equity firm with the help of a former partner from the US powerhouse the Carlyle Group.The billionaire reality TV star, business owner and celebrity influencer announced the move on Twitter, saying the firm, SKKY Partners, would aim to make minority investments or take controlling stakes in “high-growth, market-leading consumer and media companies”. Continue reading...
Former intelligence chiefs say national security officials are ‘shaking their heads at what damage might have been done’. Plus, the rise of LGBTQ ‘shotgun’ weddings
The party has embraced a precise brand of anti-government rhetoric, with the agency the latest target – and it’s drawing on an old playbookAmong the many subplots roiling Washington DC is a surge in Republican concern about a provision of the Inflation Reduction Act that would invest $80bn in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to modernize outdated technology and increase enforcement of tax laws. Citing this investment, Senator Ted Cruz warned of a coming “shadow army of 87,000 IRS agents”.The preference to pay lower taxes is as American as apple pie and has been a centerpiece of modern Republicanism. Demonizing the IRS is not. In fact, mainstream Republicans have historically maintained a commitment to cutting taxes without promoting hysterical fears about the enforcers of tax laws. When champions of tax cuts have talked of “starving the beast”, even they have been clear that the beast is big government. The IRS is just the messenger.Ruth Braunstein is associate professor of sociology at the University of Connecticut and the author of Prophets and Patriots: Faith in Democracy Across the Political Divide. She is currently working on a book called My Tax Dollars Continue reading...
Failure of the $1.1bn bid by Aqua for the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority is a major victory for campaignersA community in Pennsylvania has stopped the privatisation of its public water and sewer system, scuppering a corporate takeover that residents feared would have led to higher bills.A $1.1bn bid by Aqua for the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority (BCWSA) system would have been the largest sewer privatisation deal in American history. The company’s bid for the water service has already failed, but now the county commissioners have shut the door completely after siding with residents who opposed privatisation. Continue reading...
The term suggests a norm where people do more work than they’re paid for. And guess who’s most likely to do that?When Kim Kardashian said it seems like no one wants to work any more, she hit a raw nerve. That’s because people are working. And for the last several years we’ve had to work through a deadly pandemic, a bad economy, the decimation of our civil liberties and the slow collapse of democracy.What is happening is that tired, overworked, burnt-out working-class people are taking back their agency and refusing jobs and working conditions that are unsuitable for us.Tayo Bero is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...
by Valerie Gonzalez in Reynosa, Mexico, and McAllen, on (#63CXZ)
Public health experts say Title 42 is counterproductive, forcing people into unsafe and unsanitary conditionsFeet away from a landfill and the largest migrant shelter in Reynosa, in the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas, sits a woeful campsite thatched from blankets, tarps and tree trunks.Inside, a family of four wait in the heat and danger of the border city, right across the river from Texas, for their chance to enter the US legally and claim asylum under international law. Continue reading...
Sports is a male-dominated space, just like comedy. I know Serena’s dad told her the same thing my dad told me: ‘Hey, you’re good, but you’ve got to be better than everybody else’What people don’t understand about strong Black women is that we were raised strong. We have a different experience. The one thing I remember my father always telling me was: ‘Hey, you’re good, but you’ve got to be better than everybody else.’ That’s what Serena Williams represents to me. What sets her apart is her endurance to keep going and keep going no matter what the obstacle is to reach that higher standard. To be undeniable.It’s just harder for us. We all know this. Racism is the dumbest thing I’ve ever had to deal with. The fact that she’s dealt with that and still made it to No 1 and never used it as an excuse is something else. We know her as a Black phenomenon, but she just wanted to go into her field like all of us want to go into our fields, as actresses or comics or tennis players. We don’t want to be the first Black this, the first Black that – it’s great when it happens, we’re not scared to be first either – but what stands out is how hard she had to fight just to get a seat at the table. Continue reading...
by Melissa Jacobs, Oliver Connolly, Hunter Felt and G on (#63CSA)
The season kicks off on Thursday night. Will Josh Allen lead his team to glory? Is Tom Brady set for one last shot at glory? And which new stars will shine?The AFC West. Every team in this division improved except arguably the Kansas City Chiefs, who will always be fine with Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid. Every team is a legitimate division contender … and every team strongly dislikes the other three. Get ready for some entertaining, well-played battles and look out for three playoff teams to emerge from the division. MJ Continue reading...
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